LIVE from the 2018 HAL Grand World Voyage!

[Scrapnana]

If you see Sajith, Amsterdam's SECO, tall Indian gentleman, tell him hi please

 

Mission accomplished!

 

More questions for you. Out on "my deck" there are two stairways leading down to deck 5. What is their purpose? Second, is the Chief Engineer and the Chief Officer (or is that Staff Captain?) equal in rank or is one superior to the other? Could you give a quick rundown of the hierarchy of officers?

[Scrapnana]

Avatiu, Rarotonga – January 26, 2018

 

Kia Orana from Rarotonga! Yes, we actually made it although the captain said he thought long and hard before allowing the tendering. The announcement was made at 8:10 that tendering would be begin but they were not going to allow any walkers, wheelchairs, etc. at all because it was too dangerous for the crew carrying them up and down the stairs and into the tender. The first numbers were not called until about 9:10. Evidently, the first tender that went over just had excursion groups.

 

On the topic of tenders, we received this notice a couple of days ago.

“Dear Guest,

During the last few days we have issued a plethora of tender tickets. And, as you will have noticed, in order to best facilitate this process we have adjusted not only the ticket issue location, but also the ticket quantity per guest, and have started issuing the tickets earlier than done prior. We are pleased to say that is seems that these improvements are positively assisting you in making your way ashore independently.

We’ve also noticed that a good few of you are progressively creative in trying to out smart this well-intended process, or, that you are so caught up in the joys of this process that you might have forgotten to return the remaining spare tickets in your possession?

Should that be you, then we would highly appreciate for you to return those to the drop box at the Front Office…”

 

Sounds like people have been trying to get a low number in order to get on one of the first tenders on another day. Today they fooled them by starting with “blue 40” instead of #1.

 

While waiting for my number (blue 15) to be called, I played morning trivia (which was at 11) with Marilyn, Rodney, Tom, and Jeanette. We had 16 correct but the winners topped us with 17 out of 18.

1)What does the “MI” in MI-5 or MI-6 stand for?

2)Which European country is known as the Hellenic Republic.?

3)In what town did Jesus Grow up?

4)What modern country did the Romans call Lusitania?

5)What jewel is known as the “Deadly Diamond”?

 

Tendering was very slow because the boats were bobbing up and down a number of feet. Each person had to be held onto and guided onto the tender. Just as I was beginning to worry that I would not make it to shore for my 1:00 tour (which met on the pier), an announcement was made for all those who had afternoon excursions to come to the show lounge by 11:45. We were given numbers (as is the usual practice for excursions that leave from the ship) and then escorted down the crew stairs to get on a tender. I saw at least four or five people who decided against going on their excursions when they saw how badly the tender was bobbing about.

 

I decided to stick it out and made it onto the tender. The tender dipped just as I was stepping on and I would have fallen if I was not being held up by Henk and a crew member.

 

Made it to shore with about 45 minutes to spare so I looked around at the craft stalls near the pier.

 

The buses pulled up for my tour, “Island Discovery”, and we were off promptly at 1:00. Andre was our tour guide and we had a mini-bus with only 16 onboard. The first stop was at the National Museum which had some great artifacts but no pictures were allowed. We continued to the marea of the Makea tribe where they once practiced human sacrifices. There was a short stop at the Seven Stones Monument which commemorates the place where early Polynesians set out for New Zealand.

 

At the Mooring Fish Café we had a snack break with a soda and a muffin. Some of the guides then showed us how they split coconuts with a large sharpened stick. Our last stop was at a beautiful beach the guide called Titikaveka. As we were coming back into town we passed Black Rock and the airport (there is one direct flight each week to Los Angeles).

 

Some things I learned on the tour…

• The coconut tree is known as the “tree of life” because they use all parts of it

• #1 industry is tourism, #2 is weddings, and #3 is black pearls

• Most supplies come once every three weeks from New Zealand although there are occasional deliveries from other countries

• There are no buildings taller than three stories

• There are no stop signs and only two roundabouts on the entire island

• The population is about 9500

• Many of the homes and businesses have solar panels that at least heat water but many power the entire home with energy left over to sell back to the power company

 

The final tender was at 4:30 and we returned just before 4. Getting back on board was much easier than leaving this morning.

 

In honor of Australia Day the 5:00 trivia was all about Australia and very hard. Even the Australians didn’t know most of the answers. The winning team (which was made up of all Aussies) had 7 and we had 5.

1)How many countries are larger than Australia?

2)What is the largest sand island in the world?

3)What is the highest grossing Australian film?

4)What is the tallest waterfall in Australia?

5)Where is the “Big Prawn”?

 

After trivia I had dinner in the Lido. I had a very good Australian meat pie and mashed potatoes with cookies for dessert. It was then back to the Piano Bar for Friday night Name That Tune. I played by myself and had 20 out of 31. Staying in the Piano Bar, I worked on the blog until the Aussie Sing-Along. Glenn-Michael, who has been a piano bar entertainer on a number of HAL cruises and is from Australia, led the singing.

 

Ended my evening my going to see Gary Arbuthnot, a flautist.

 

We gain an hour tonight and tomorrow is a sea day.

 

Morning trivia…

1)military intelligence

2)Greece

3)Nazareth

4)Portugal

5)Star of South Africa

Australian trivia…

1)5

2)Fraser Island

3)Crocodile Dundee

4)Wallaman

5)Ballina

[kazu]

Glad you made it to Rarotonga :)

 

Sounds like the tenders were real "roughers" for this one.

 

Good that you had 2 strong men supporting you so you didn't fall in :eek:

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love that you give us some of the trivia questions.

Well, since I use a walker, I would have had to stay on the ship.

Great reporting.

[Happily@Sea]

Love that you give us some of the trivia questions.

Well, since I use a walker, I would have had to stay on the ship.

Great reporting.

 

 

I don't use a walker - but an announcement like that [with my balance problems] would have kept me on the ship also.

[INSIDERS CABIN]

Great reports, thank you. Want to do the hibiscus feeding too! Maybe everyone else knows this, but I just had an aha moment....finding it interesting how the entertainers, such as the wonderfully talented and personable Gary Arbuthnot, are headliners on other lines we've been on recently..... Celebrity for example. These people seem to do Vegas too......Which makes me wonder when people compare entertainment now- because same acts are being booked by different lines. Although it does seem the names we recognize from world cruise entertainers are ones we remember, so probably the best acts are in high demand. Have a wonderful trip.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Copper10-8]

Mission accomplished!

 

More questions for you. Out on "my deck" there are two stairways leading down to deck 5. What is their purpose? Second, is the Chief Engineer and the Chief Officer (or is that Staff Captain?) equal in rank or is one superior to the other? Could you give a quick rundown of the hierarchy of officers?

 

Thanks! :)

If you are referring to the exterior metal stairs on both port and starboard side behind the bridge wings, they are an escape descend in case the main/central entrance to the bridge is blocked/unusable

The chief engineer is the highest ranking officer in charge of the technical/engine department, whereas the staff captain (chief officer is the old name) is the highest ranking officer in charge of the nautical/deck department. They are equal in rank with each having four gold bars as their rank insignia, the staff captain having the addition of a loop, known as the "Nelson loop" signifying the nautical aspect of his dept. Besides responsible for "driving the ship," the staff captain also heads the security and medical sub-departments.

The captain, as we know, is in overall command, so in charge of the departments under him: nautical, technical and hotel. As such, he has ultimate responsibility for the overall management of the ship. He has four and a half gold bars, one of which is looped

The hotel director heads, and is responsible for, all aspects of the hotel department. He/she has four straight gold bars with white filling in between. The sub-departments under him/her are administrative, information technology, housekeeping, beverage, food preparation, food service, entertainment, and contract revenue, also known as concessionaires.

The above four individuals, with the addition of the environmental officer (old title; safety, environmental and health officer/SEHO), a single person department, three gold bars with blue filling, are known as the ship's senior management. You will see all five during your crossing of the equator/"Neptune ceremony" sitting in "judgement" over crew members who have never crossed the equator before, and are thus known as "pollywogs," hoping to become "shellbacks" ;)

Edited January 27, 2018 by Copper10-8

[scluvsrain]

Wow. That's great info, thanks Copper!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scrapnana]

Thanks! :)

If you are referring to the exterior metal stairs on both port and starboard side behind the bridge wings, they are an escape descend in case the main/central entrance to the bridge is blocked/unusable

The chief engineer is the highest ranking officer in charge of the technical/engine department, whereas the staff captain (chief officer is the old name) is the highest ranking officer in charge of the nautical/deck department. They are equal in rank with each having four gold bars as their rank insignia, the staff captain having the addition of a loop, known as the "Nelson loop" signifying the nautical aspect of his dept. Besides responsible for "driving the ship," the staff captain also heads the security and medical sub-departments.

The captain, as we know, is in overall command, so in charge of the departments under him: nautical, technical and hotel. As such, he has ultimate responsibility for the overall management of the ship. He has four and a half gold bars, one of which is looped

The hotel director heads, and is responsible for, all aspects of the hotel department. He/she has four straight gold bars with white filling in between. The sub-departments under him/her are administrative, information technology, housekeeping, beverage, food preparation, food service, entertainment, and contract revenue, also known as concessionaires.

The above four individuals, with the addition of the environmental officer (old title; safety, environmental and health officer/SEHO), a single person department, three gold bars with blue filling, are known as the ship's senior management. You will see all five during your crossing of the equator/"Neptune ceremony" sitting in "judgement" over crew members who have never crossed the equator before, and are thus known as "pollywogs," hoping to become "shellbacks" ;)

Thanks, John!

[Scrapnana]

At Sea – January 27, 2018

 

After not being able to fit a swim in my busy schedule yesterday, I was up early and in the pool by 8:30. Water aerobics started at 9. After an hour in the pool I was hungry and had bacon and a roll (and, of course, orange juice) for breakfast.

 

Changed and headed off to Sit and Stitch at about 10:15. Stayed until almost 11:30 before heading to trivia which was another hard one. We had 7 out of 15 and the winners only had 10.

1)In what year was Ringling Brothers Circus founded?

2)Who wrote “The Time Machine”?

3)What was the name of Darwin’s survey ship?

4)What was the name of the original Love Boat?

5)What animal gives birth to identical quadruplets?

 

Headed back to my cabin after trivia to bag my laundry, get my book, and leave my knitting before heading to lunch.

 

Met Cyndi at 1:30 in preparation for arts and crafts. Today’s project was a Pandora-style beaded bracelet.

 

Sat out in the sun and read until after 4 and then to afternoon trivia where we had 11 correct but two teams tied with a perfect score of 17.

1)What is the currency of Norway?

2)Who was Hamlet’s girlfriend?

3)Where was the Panama Hat invented?

4)What is Taphephobia?

5)Who wrote the 007 novels?

 

Listened to Jamm in the piano bar who was playing golden oldies before dinner. Cyndi and Ed were at the Captain’s Dinner so there were only five of us. I had fruit, a salad, prime rib and cookies and cream frozen yogurt for dessert.

 

Went to the show which featured a comedian.

 

My computer continues to refuse to resize pictures. The little blue circle just spins and spins and spins. Guess it is time to talk to Claudia, the techspert.

 

Alofi, Niue tomorrow.

 

Morning trivia…

1)1870

2)H.G. Wells

3)Beagle

4)Pacific Princess

5)armadillo

 

Afternoon trivia…

1)krone

2)Ophelia

3)Ecuador

4)fear of being buried alive

5)Ian Fleming

[kazu]

Great info Copper - thanks :D

 

Sorry to hear that your laptop isn't co-operating, Kathi.

 

Hope the "techspert" can help you.

[Floridiana]

It's Niue tomorrow! If you make it ashore, you will be on a rare ship that even goes there. I am looking forward to hearing all about it. We flew in many years ago.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love your trivia questions.

Glad you are keeping busy.

Hope the tech support person can help you out.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Good morning Kathi,

Well I feel good about Triva questions today! I got 5 right!!!! For me that’s a landslide. I hope tech support can finally help you out with your computer.

Enjoy your day.

Denise:)

[erewhon]

Thanks for your reports.

Hope you are able to get ashore at Niue.

[Scrapnana]

Alofi, Niue – January 28, 2018

 

Although we arrived at about 8 am, I had decided to wait until tender tickets were not needed so I got my swim in first thing.

 

We needed to have special approval to tender in today and for some businesses to be open because it is Sunday. Normally nothing is open on Sunday which is a day for church and family.

Open tendering started at 10:35 but I was still in the pool at that time. I arrived on Niue about 11:30. Even if it wasn’t Sunday, there is not a lot to do on the island – there were not even any excursions available. How many ports have you been to where the cruise line does not offer any excursions?

 

The steps at the tender dock were a bit difficult but there were plenty of crew members there to help you get off the tender and up the steps. There were two island ladies handing out maps before we started uphill to get into the town of Alofi.

 

The few stores that were going to open were not supposed to do so until noon so I started walking. To my arthritic hip it felt like I walked for miles and miles (I forgot to take an Alleve before leaving the ship) but in reality I walked about two miles.

 

On the way back a few things were open including an Indian restaurant, a store that sold SIM cards, and the Information Centre. The Information Centre had a few artifacts on display.

 

There were lots of dogs running around but all seemed to be friendly. There were also lots of flies that were not so friendly. Any time you stopped walking they descended on you. At least they were flies and not mosquitoes!

 

Although it had been mostly cloudy all day – there were even a few sprinkles – it was very warm and humid. When I returned to the ship I took a quick shower before heading to the Lido for a late lunch.

 

I started a new book today so I sat by the Lido pool and read until it was time for trivia at 3:30. Not one of our better games with only 8 points – the winners had 13 out of 15.

1)What is the national bird of India?

2)How many gold medals did Carl Lewis win in the 1984 Olympics?

3)How many pawns are on a chessboard?

4)Name all 7 of Snow White’s dwarfs.

5)What color is the Golden Gate Bridge?

 

Not much time between the two trivias but I used it to return to my cabin and get a bag of laundry ready to go and to take some pictures from my deck. Just before I came in the captain announced that our good weather and smooth seas were going to abandon us for a day or two. Tomorrow is scheduled to be rainy with 40 mph winds (gale force) and this might carry over into the following day.

 

We had a little better showing at 5:00 trivia with 11 correct. Winning team had 14 out of 17.

1)What is the name of Batman’s butler?

2)Who cannot be on a US postage stamp?

3)What is the highest waterfall in the world?

4)According to Greek mythology, who was the first woman on Earth?

5)What color is a Himalyan poppy?

 

Changed for dinner and was second in line to see Claudia about my photo issues on my laptop. Turns out she had no idea what was causing the problem and suggested I visit the Microsoft Store in Sydney. Not what I wanted to hear. I am going to try to load the pictures onto the blog using my iPad although it will take much longer. I may be a few days behind on pictures until I see if they can figure out my problem in Sydney.

 

Listened to the “Broadway Extravaganza” by Jamm in the Piano Bar before dinner. I had a shrimp cocktail (no more shrimp until Auckland we were told – they are also out of spinach although nobody at our table was much concerned about that), beef brisket, and a mixed berry strudel for dessert.

 

“The Knights” performed their second show with songs from Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, as well as others. Another great show.

 

Day at sea tomorrow.

 

3:30 trivia…

1)peacock

2)4

3)16

4)Bashful, Sneezy, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc

5)orange

 

5:00 trivia…

1)Alfred

2)anyone still living

3)Angel Falls

4)Pandora

5)blue

[rafinmd]

That's a bummer about image resize. Just in case you haven't tried them rebooting might help. I'll guess though that you did that when you visited the expert. If you find a place with good free internet I'll also suggest you delete and reload image resizer.

 

Roy

[Floridiana]

Just stepping foot on Niue is an adventure. It's so rarely visited and almost never by a cruise ship. It has caves and yes, you need to prearrange to make sure the owner is willing to take you there on a Sunday. It also has a sad but interesting history with religion, murder and mayhem.

[rafinmd]

Has anyone said anything about a coming lunar eclipse? I know we're a few days behind you but you should also be in a pretty good location for viewing. Should be the night of January 30-31 around 1 to 4 AM.

 

Roy

[Scrapnana]

Has anyone said anything about a coming lunar eclipse? I know we're a few days behind you but you should also be in a pretty good location for viewing. Should be the night of January 30-31 around 1 to 4 AM.

 

Roy

No mention but with the downpours we are getting there will likely be no clear skies before the night of the 31st.

[Scrapnana]

No such thing as January 29...

 

Overnight we crossed the International Date Line and lost January 29.

[Scrapnana]

All my pictures are now on my blog. :D:D:D Will explain all about it in tonight's blog post.

[whogo]

Has anyone said anything about a coming lunar eclipse? I know we're a few days behind you but you should also be in a pretty good location for viewing. Should be the night of January 30-31 around 1 to 4 AM.

 

Roy

The total eclipse begins about 7:00 AM in my part of the Midwest. I think it will be down near the horizon and hidden by trees from my house. Looks like the best viewing is in the Pacific Ocean.

 

 

Details for Honolulu from https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/honolulu

 

 

Global Event: Total Lunar Eclipse

Local Type: Total Lunar Eclipse, in Honolulu

Begins: Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 12:51 am

Maximum: Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 3:29 am 1.32 Magnitude

Ends: Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 6:08 am

Duration: 5 hours, 17 minutes

[DeeniEncinitas]

All my pictures are now on my blog. :D:D:D Will explain all about it in tonight's blog post.

Hi Kathi!

Saw your pictures on your blog!! That coconut 🦀 crab!! Yikes. One of those crossed my feet under a table at a beautiful restaurant in Moorea!!! Yikes. The wait staff said it was normal😃!

Glad your pictures are up! I would not be happy either to have to wait till Sydney for help😞

Denise:)

[bennybear]

The total eclipse begins about 7:00 AM in my part of the Midwest. I think it will be down near the horizon and hidden by trees from my house. Looks like the best viewing is in the Pacific Ocean.

 

 

Details for Honolulu from https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/honolulu

 

 

Global Event: Total Lunar Eclipse

Local Type: Total Lunar Eclipse, in Honolulu

Begins: Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 12:51 am

Maximum: Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 3:29 am 1.32 Magnitude

Ends: Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 6:08 am

Duration: 5 hours, 17 minutes

 

Thanks for the details!