Traveling Cows

At 7:50AM: temperature 77ºF, relative humidity 82%, wind from the NE at 43 kts 9 Beaufort, speed 16.1 kts, heading 284º, sea depth 17170 ft. We have traveled 7331 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale.

Tai Chi in the morning, followed by a combined presentation by Barbara, the port lecturer, and some one from the Excursions office talking about the ports and available excursions in New Zealand and Australia.

Then I listened to a lecture by a new speaker, Cluny Mcphearson, a Kiwi with extensive experience in the South Pacific. In 1996 he was a professor on Pitt’s Semester-at-Sea program. He gave a fascinating talk about how the social/political life of Pacific islands have changed since WW II. For example, some islands, like the Cook Islands, were able to export the young people and relieve congestion. But the remittances returned to the islands by these emigrants have transformed social relations. For example, wealth accrued to families that formerly had been poor, so the formerly wealthy and powerful families started to lose their importance. But other changes, like electricity and refrigeration have meant the families no longer had to give away food—from a fishing trip or a pig slaughter because they could not preserve it for themselves—which reinforced relations with extended family and significant religious and political people.

Janice went to another culinary demonstration.

Movie: Salt with Angelia Jolie. It was a pretty good, non-stop action/suspense movie.

Rest of the day just hanging.

Dinner was at the Pinnacle Grill for their French Dinner. It was to have been the three of us and Jinny and Noel, two friends from the ’09 cruise. Unfortunately, Jinny came down sick last night so she couldn’t come. Each course was accompanied by a different wine. The meal was very good. (Unfortunately afterwards Janice came down with the same bug Jinny had.)

Entertainment: Stride Pianist Judy Carmichael. She was excellent, both musically and personality. She also hosts a radio show called Jazz Inspired (jazzinspired.com).

There was supposed to be star gazing, but since our dinner started at 6:45 and lasted until after 9 PM and I went to the 10 o’clock show, I just joined Janice in bed.

At 7:50AM: temperature 79ºF, relative humidity 73%, wind from the NE at 30 kts 7 Beaufort, speed 14.7 kts, heading 242º, sea depth 15610 ft. We have traveled 6777 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale.

Tai Chi in the morning: added Jade Ladies on the left side. Then Barbara talked about Niue and the Kingdom of Tonga, the ports coming up after tomorrow’s Cook Islands stop. A new speaker, Brigadier General Charles M. Duke, Jr., talked about the beginning of the space program. Duke was an astronaut with over 21 hours of extra vehicular activity, including time on the surface of the moon. He is a good speaker and gave a general review.

After lunch we went to the Tai Chi practice session with Bronwyn. Most of the rest of the day was just hanging out. Dinner was formal with a tropical island theme. We had Sam at our table, an up-and-coming young officer who is currently in charge of safety. We’ve heard her voice announcing the crew drills, and we’ve seen her assisting with the tendering. A very nice and smart woman from the English midlands. The gift was an apple-green (the cruise color) messenger-style bag with the cruise logo on it.

Entertainment: a Rat Pack tribute trio that could have been better. We left early and turned in early. Janice is at the end of a cold and still somewhat congested.

At 7:55AM: temperature 75ºF, relative humidity 77%, wind from the NE at 23 kts 6 Beaufort, speed 16.6 kts, heading 296º, sea depth 13720 ft. We have traveled 6028 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale.

Tai Chi in the morning: added Jade Ladies. Barbara talked about Raratonga, where we call after Bora Bora. We’ll be there on Sunday when much of it will be closed. That was followed by Melvyn on “The Great Ocean Liners”.

Lunch was a Mongolian BBQ on the lido deck. That’s where you collect the raw ingredients and the cooks stir fry them to order. It was delicious!

After lunch we had a Tai Chi practice session, some ice cream, and naps.

Dinner was at the Pinnacle Grill, the premium restaurant. Lillian, one of our table mates and also on the ’09 cruise, received a free dinner for four and invited the three of us. It was delightful. Lillian is from Texas via Michigan.

After dinner we strolled the deck, then listened to Diane’s Movie Themes set.

At 7:50AM: temperature 73ºF, relative humidity 69%, wind from the NE at 24 kts 6 Beaufort, speed 19.3 kts, heading 284º, sea depth 13200 ft. We have traveled 5558 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale.

I got the Blog up to date today, and invited many friends to take a look.

Tai Chi in the morning, followed by Barbara talking about Papeete, Tahiti and Vaitape, Bora Bora, both part of French Polynesia, our next two ports of call. That was followed by Melvyn on Captain Cook who made three voyages in the Pacific and died in Hawaii. After lunch we had a Tai Chi practice session. We are learning a form that we did not have two years ago: Golden Cockerel Stands on One Leg (except at sea it is hard to stand on one leg).

Rest of the day just hanging. Janice did some more laundry. I worked on photos and learning more open-source Linux programs.

Formal night tonight with a gift of a security wallet, the kind of pouch you hang around your neck and tuck under your shirt. Very nice quality—with the 2011 Grand world Voyage logo on it. The theme was pirates and all the waitstaff were in pirate apparel. Of course Pitcairn was about mutiny, but pirates are nautical as well.

Entertainment: The Amsterdam Singers and Dancers in Broadway’s Grand Voyage. In ’09 we saw more of the ship’s dancers. We are wondering if it is part of the general belt-tightening. Standard glitz by second rate performers. Oh, and the movie of the day was Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, and Richard Harris.

Spent about an hour listening, and singing along with, Diane and her “Pirates and Pub Songs” set. Had another Chocolate Versailles. About 10:45 PM a woman came in and had a word with Diane, and they hugged and talked. Turns out the woman’s husband died this morning at 59 years old. We don’t know the circumstances, but we had several deaths on the ’09 world cruise. Diane sang Cabaret for the woman.

Clocks set back, again. Now we are on Tahitian time.

At 7:50AM: temperature 72ºF, relative humidity 72%, wind from the NE at 30 kts 7 Beaufort, speed 16 kts, heading 277º, sea depth 11430 ft. We have traveled 4725 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale.

Tai Chi in the morning, with a practice session in the afternoon. Most of the day just hanging.

Another repeat from Melvyn: Women Pirates.

Cruise Specialists, the travel company that we booked the cruise through, threw a cocktail party for all the people who booked through them. There were two parties, early and late dinner seating. For our group, about half the attendees indicated that it was their first cruise with CS. We sat with a couple from Florida and someone we knew from ’09.

Entertainment: “Mulit-Instrumentlist” Andy Bünger. We decided to go to the movie, Agatha a fictional account of the ten days in December 1926 that Agatha Christie’s whereabouts was unknown. It was OK.

Walked the outside decks enjoying the balmy salt-air, then listened to a few tunes from Diane. She had a full house when we got there.

Clocks set back, again.

Tai Chi in the morning, with a practice session in the afternoon. Most of the day just hanging.

Melvyn is repeating himself; today’s lecture was on the Rum Trade, the quest for bread fruit stock, the Bounty Mutiny, and Pitcairn Island.

End of Code Red!!! I think I mentioned that a GI infection got aboard from the Galapagos excursion. To combat it the captain declared a Code Red that invoked a stringent sanitation regime including eliminating self-service, hand shaking, the removal of all public toys including jigsaw puzzles, sports equipment, the locking up of all books (you could still order them and then pick them up after they had been sanitized), and nightly sanitation and fumigation. Well, this noon Code Red was lifted. This evening, the captain and the hotel manager treated us to wine with dinner.

I borrowed a computer from some friends and burned two DVDs-worth of photos and videos taken so far. The videos at the Paso horse farm are particularly large files.

Entertainment: “International Vocalist” Cheryl Sinclair. We stayed for a couple of tunes, but she just wasn’t good enough to keep us there.

Went to the lounge outside the piano bar to talk and write. Diane came by and we talked to her about learning to appreciate Jazz, since the tunes she gave us of her work were all Jazz. She offered to take on the challenge and meet in a couple of days, share some music, and talk about it. Met some friends and talked and showed each other pictures. Listened to Diane.

Clocks set back, again.

Tai Chi in the morning, with a practice session in the afternoon. Most of the day just hanging.

Happy Birthday Kalyn!! Our baby turned 25. WOW!

Every once in a while, I stop to realize how amazing this whole thing is. When I was young, I never dreamed I’d have cruised so much, much less around the world, much less on another world cruise. Then there is the ship. It sustains up to 1380 guests and 615 staff and crew for days at a time. I think the captain told me two years ago that they can go up to two weeks without resupply. The ship generates its own electricity, purifies water, and treats sewage. There are 12 public elevators and who knows how many lights in its thousands of feet of corridors and in its public rooms and private cabins. Today is the last of four days at sea. We are surrounded by Pacific Ocean; I haven’t spotted another ship in three days. After Rapa Nui/Easter Island tomorrow, we will have five days at sea. I doubt we’ll take on much in the way of supplies tomorrow. (As it turns out, the florists received an order of flowers, which we should be seeing over the next few days.)

The cruise director, Bruce, who also has a birthday today, has a morning “talk show” on sea days. Today he asked the audience how many like sea days better than port days and got an almost even response. I admit, I’m torn too.

Entertainment: Ken and Casey: a Man and His Duck. Turns out he have a very funny ventriloquism act. Followed by a few tunes from Diane.

So far, we have had great sailing weather: slightly cloudy skies, relatively calm, amazingly deep-blue seas, with a following wind pushing us along and giving us a slight pitch.

Tai Chi in the morning, with a practice session in the afternoon.

Melvyn spoke on the history of Rapa Nui/Easter Island. I hadn’t realized how complex a history is has: formed by three volcanoes, origin of first inhabitants unknown, rife with civil wars even before the Europeans appeared, its population has seen many ups and downs. Now it is claimed by Chile but the natives are still restless.

The evening meal was formal. One of our table-mates was in self-quarantine. The group that went to the Galapagos brought a GI infection that has spread through the ship. Our companion wasn’t affected, but the ship has taken strong measures to limit the spread of the illness. The cafeteria in the Lido no longer lets you serve yourself. The large chess pieces, the shuffle board, basketball, and tennis equipment has been locked away. Even the library has locked up the books. You have to request a book and come back later to get it after they have wiped it down.

We did have a staff member at our table, the second of the three formal nights we’ve had. With the staff person comes free wine and a chance to get to know another one of the ships personnel. Tonight it was the acupuncturist.

Entertainment: The Horizons, a trio doing Motown tributes. Great voices, good moves, and very entertaining. Then we caught a few of Diane’s tunes.

Tai Chi in the morning, with a practice session in the afternoon. Most of the day just hanging.

Melvyn Foster, an excellent lecturer returning from previous Grand World Voyages, spoke on whales. Beyond baleen vs. toothed, that dolphins and porpoises are different, and we are very unlikely to see the latter, I need a job aid to keep track.

Janice won a bottle of champagne in a culinary trivia quiz. The dining room has a policy that if you bring a bottle of white wine, including champagne, that you got on the ship, they will replace it with a chilled bottle of the same and serve it without their usual corking fee.

Evening entrainment: Katzenjammer, two high-energy British pianists who play one piano with humor. Sat with the John and Jill from NYC to listen to Diane and had Chocolate Versailles (w/ cognac).

Tai Chi in the morning, with a practice session in the afternoon. Most of the day just hanging and working on this blog.

We had a long lunch in the Pinnacle Grill, courtesy of Cruise Specialists. CS invited all the people from whom this cruise is their first with CS. The food was excellent and the wine flowed freely (too freely for an early afternoon lunch). We met a couple of people for the first time, one a Cunard Lines snob and the other a quite friendly, first-time world cruiser from the Florida Gulf Coast.

Evening entertainment: Martin Beaumont, a comedian from the UK with our sense of humor—playing with words and unexpected punch lines.