Rarotonga, Cook Islands (Somewhere in the South Pacific)

After spending three wonderful days in French Polynesia, our "home away from home" had a day at sea as we sailed west towards the Cook Islands.  Everyone on board ship was excited about our visit to Rarotonga because there was a big uncertainty that we would ever step foot on the island.  The ship has to anchor off the coast and tender the passengers ashore just like we did in Moorea.  Tenders can only be used safely when the water is not rough.  Due to the strong currents and swales, many recent attempts to land at Rarotonga have been unsuccessful.  In fact, several passengers on board have made seven previous visits, but had to leave without setting foot on the island due to the conditions.  Our first attempt on the east side of the island also failed, but Captain Buer took us to the other side where a new jetty has been built.  Everyone was thrilled when he announced that the ship was cleared for us to go ashore.  We spent the early morning hours up on the front of Deck 10 watching the maneuvering.

The Cook Islands are managed by New Zealand and have a population of about 14,000 people with over 9,000 people living on Rarotonga.  It is an English speaking island, thus having a different vibe than the French culture of the French Polynesian islands.  The main industry is tourism.  The largest number of tourists come from New Zealand and Australia.  They drive on the left side of the road just like in England.

Rarotonga is another South Pacific Island of stunning beauty.  Its mountains are smaller than French Polynesia, but still beautiful.  What we really enjoyed during our 3 hour tour of the island was the incredible variety of colorful trees and plants.  Linda and I both fell in love with this pristine, unspoiled island.

Rarotonga is circled with white beaches protected by a reef.  We spent a couple of hours in the afternoon swimming in the clear, warm water and relaxing on chaise lounges under some palm trees on the beach.  The Kiwi owner of a beautiful little resort on the beach invited us to use her chaise lounges.  The name of this resort is the Magic Reef.  We took her business card in case we ever have an opportunity to come back to this magical spot. 

Before heading back to the Sojourn in the late afternoon, we found "Wilson's Beach Bar" where we met several crew members.  We had a couple of "Tui" beers which are brewed in New Zealand.  We remembered the Tui beers from our visit to New Zealand seven years ago.  It was a great way to finish up our visit to Rarotonga.

We will soon pass the International Dateline on our way to Auckland, New Zealand...

Bonjour from French Polynesia

The Pacific Ocean is massive.  The northern hemisphere of our planet has the higher population, but the southern hemisphere has the most ocean.  We sailed for 6 days after leaving Hawaii and enjoyed every sea day.

We made 3 stops in French Polynesia - Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora, which are all part of the Society Islands and are territories of France.  We wake up early each morning and go up to Deck 10 and watch the entry into each Port from the front of the ship.  There are several retired airline pilots  and many experienced sailors on board.  It's great to have their comments on the winds, currents and navigation conditions as the ship is maneuvered into each Port.  Deck 10 is also a perfect venue to enjoy the view as we approach these amazing mountainous islands.  They appear as silhouettes from the far distance, then as we get closer, the colors and the details come into view and we are mesmerized by the natural beauty.  It's like unwrapping a gift from Mother Nature each day.

In Tahiti, we visited the French colonial city of Papeete and enjoyed the mountains in the background.  It was very hot and humid in the busy city, but we enjoyed exploring the waterfront area.  It was fun trying to read the French street signs and try to get around.  Fortunately, Brian has retained a good bit of his high school French and does pretty well.  Late in the afternoon, we finished our visit in Papeete with a cold, local beer called Hinano.

The entry into Moorea was breathtaking.  The Soujourn anchored in beautiful Cooks Bay and we were taken by the ship's tender for a quick ride to the pier.  We both agree that Moorea may be the most beautiful place we have ever seen.  The high dramatic rockface peaks reach up into the sky, then the many shades of green of the rain forest covers the hills below reaching down to the white beaches along the turquoise waterline.  In the morning, we walked along the waterfront taking in the scenery.  In the afternoon, we took a snorkeling tour.  We swam and snorkeled with the giant stingrays and blacktip sharks.  The water was  many shades of blue and as clear as a swimming pool and the temperature was perfect.

Bora Bora was another stunning island.  We saw several of the resorts that offer the iconic over-the-water bungalows.  They are really amazing and look like so much fun.  However, the prices run around $1,000.00 per night so we passed up the opportunity to stay there overnight.  We took another snorkeling tour and saw the graceful sharks and giant stingrays and many colorful fish in crystal clear water.  It was thrilling to have the 4 foot blacktip sharks swimming by our legs and making eye contact with the huge stingrays.  The stingrays appear to enjoy the human interaction.  In the evening, we returned to Deck 10 and watched as we sailed away from this beautiful lush green island and sailed due west into a spectacular sunset with a glass of champagne in our hands.

Au revoir to beautiful French Polynesia.  We hope we can return here some day.

Next stop -- Cook Islands.

Hello from Latitude 0 Degrees

We crossed the Equator on Saturday, January 19th at 10:00 am (3:00 pm EST).  Prior to the crossing, in keeping with seafaring tradition, we had a deck party the day before to prepare.  The crew put on a ceremony around the pool in which the  newer crew members who have never crossed the Equator are rounded up and made to appear before King Neptune.  In the end they are all thrown in the pool and a party ensues.  It was a lot of fun for the passengers and of course plenty of food and drinks got consumed.  Any excuse for a party!

At the Equator, sunset and sunrise happen exactly 12 hours apart.  Brian and I watched a beautiful sunset on deck at 6:15 pm.  The next morning we watched a sunrise from our balcony at 6:15 am, thus confirming the theory.  Just a little fact checking on our part.

The weather has been splendid - 70s and 80s.  As we continue south, the summer season is in full swing so we expect it to get hotter and more humid.

We have met many interesting people on board the Sojourn.  Most of them are very well traveled and we enjoy talking with them around the ship.  Here are few descriptions we want to share:

Mrs. W. from Maryland - Down the hall from us is an elderly woman who is quite a legend on board ship.  She cruises every year.  She has almost 3,000 sea days with Seabourn -- that is almost 10 years!  Apparently, she finds it more affordable to cruise than live in a luxury nursing home.  She spends most of her time in her cabin.  When she leaves the cabin to go to dinner, she is always elegantly dressed with her hair neatly styled and her make up applied.  She is always escorted to the dining room by an officer of the ship.  We have seen her a couple of times.

Jan and Harvey from California - They are seasoned travelers and have been on many cruises.  They are on board for the first segment of this cruise.  Several years ago they were on board the Seabourn Spirit when it was attacked by Somalian pirates.  They told us of hearing the small arms fire hit the ship.  Also, an RPG hit the ship.  Fortunately, there were no injuries.  The RPG struck a cabin and a woman in the cabin was covered in ceiling debris, but was not harmed.  The ship out ran the pirates after deploying the high frequency sound device.  The pirates were never caught.  Even a pirate attack can't stop these two adventurers from traveling.

JoAnn and Steve from Buffalo, New York - When we first boarded the ship, we noticed that the cabin next to us was empty.  A few days later it was occupied by this couple who are doing the world cruise, but their flight out of Buffalo to Los Angeles was twice canceled due to weather.  They finally made it out of Buffalo and flew to Honolulu where they joined us at that point. 

Many of the passengers that we have spoken to are leaving the ship either in Sydney on February 8th or Hong Kong in early March.  Some of them have added on overland trips at the end.  Our neighbors are getting off the ship in Sydney, then boarding a train to travel across Australia to Perth before returning to their home in Oregon.  Our English friends are adding on a trip to Dubai to visit their children that live there.  Our core group of 82 passengers doing the entire world cruise will be together for a long time!

According to the directory of passengers, here is a breakdown of the nationalities currently on board:

U.S.           211
U.K.            84
Australia     23
Germany     22
Canada        18
Switzerland 15
Belgium        9
France           6
Others          21

Our days at sea give us many opportunities to meet people from around the world, both passengers and crew members.  However, we are very excited to reach Tahiti on Tuesday.  We plan to be on the front deck early because we have been told that sunrise over Tahiti is an experience not to be missed.

D

Days at sea.....

 We are now into our third of six days at sea on our way down to Tahiti. Our latest position report shows we have sailed 953 nautical miles from the island of Kauai and have 1492 nautical miles to reach Tahiti. Our exact position is 06 deg 32.41N and 155 deg 28.61W with a course of 166 deg at a speed of 15.6 knots. Last night and today the waves and swales have really picked up pretty good. The Sojourn is rocking and rolling through the waves of the Pacific. Linda and I are handling the motion very well with no issues. In fact I am enjoying it. It just makes walking and dancing fun.

 We are enjoying the days at sea. We have tried to behave ourselves with all the great service, food and drinks. But, I must confess I would give myself a grade of D- for the first 7 days aboard and Linda a C-. It would be an F but at least we have been working out, and walking around the deck and imposing "no elevator days" so we do some stairclimbing. Yesterday we took a Zumba class. It was fun but hard to do when the ship is moving. The last few days we have done much better, maybe I can get my grade up to a C soon!!

 The service on the Sojourn is really quite amazing. The crew go out of their way to assist you and give you the ultimate Seabourn experience. When you are leaving the lunch buffet line they will come up to you and say " may I carry your plate to your table?"

 If your having toast and jam they will come up to your table and say " may I open the jam jar for you? "  Now I know what it must like to live in Downton Abbey!!

 Yesterday I was on my chaise lounger on the pool deck reading and relaxing for a change when up comes a server with a tray full of drinks containing a scoop of lemon sorbet drowned in champagne! Of course when offered I said " yes please ". How bad is that? About a half hour later the same server came up with a tray full of Pina Coladas. Need I say anymore!

 Besides all of the above we have been attending some very enjoyable lectures and presentations. Yesterday we heard a presentation from Dr Jeffrey Hoffman a NASA astronaut who made 5 flights on the shuttles. He gave us a great overview on the preparation for a space flight, talked about the science of zero gravity and the re entry process which is so dangerous. He brought some amazing photos. We all enjoyed it very much.

 Later today we will be crossing the Equator and there is a big ceremony planned on deck. Our next post will be about that special occasion along with some photos.

 Aloha from the Seabourn Sojourn

Aloha From The Ladells

After 5 days at sea, we arrived in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii on Friday, January 10th.  We were greeted by whales surrounding the ship as we entered the Port.  We took an excursion to the Volcano National Park which was fabulous.  The opportunity to see an active volcano up close and personal and to witness the power of Mother Nature is extraordinary.

Next, we cruised overnight to the island of Maui and experienced another early morning greeting by the whales around our ship as we entered the harbor at Lahaina.  We spent the day by ourselves.  We walked to a nearby beach and spent the morning there.  In the afternoon, we explored the town of Lahaina which is located on the waterfront.  There are beautiful galleries, shops, parks, restaurants and bars there to enjoy.  Late in afternoon we stopped at bar and grill called Moose McGillicuddys which we were surprised to find that it still exists after our last visit to Maui 27 years ago.  It looked exactly as we remembered it.  Last time we were there was a family vacation with Hayley and Stephanie.  We enjoyed the cold beer there and the reminisced about our last visit.  How could it possibly have been 27 years ago?

Our next stop took us to Honolulu on the island of Oahu for a 2 day visit.  We took a 1/2 day tour on Sunday morning to Pearl Harbor that was a very moving experience.  After watching a short film on the history of the attack which included graphic live footage, we visited the USS Arizona memorial.  The sunken wreckage of the battleship Arizona where there are almost 1,000 sailors entombed in the hull still leaks oil and gas after 72 years.  It is said that the trickles of fuel are the "tears of the lost seaman".  The memorial is a very touching tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in that attack.

Later that day, Seabourn treated us to an incredible event aboard the USS Missouri battleship which is moored in Pearl Harbor.  "Big Mo" is the battleship on which the Japanese signed the treaty in September, 1945 after surrendering.  We had cocktails on deck while a band played patriotic music.  We got to tour the battleship.  It was a beautiful moonlit night on board this proud battleship.

When we returned to the Sojourn that evening, we heard party music playing as we passed through the terminal.  When we turned the corner, we were greeted by the Sojourn's wait staff dancing and greeting us with a tray of "Cosmos" and welcoming us back on board.  We are constantly amazed at how they treat us like Rock Stars.

On our second day in Honolulu we toured the natural wonders of the island of Oahu including Diamond Head volcanic crater, rain forests, mountain vistas and beautiful beaches.  Later in the day, we went on our own to visit famous Waikiki Beach.  We ended our visit with a cocktail at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel overlooking Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the background.  It was a very "Hawaii Five-O" day.

Our last stop in Hawaii (and the U.S.) was on the beautiful island of Kauai, known as the Garden Island.  We took a tour to Waimea Canyon which is often referred to as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific".  We saw other beautiful sites around the island.

The temperatures have been in the 70s and 80s with some light rain -- perfect weather for our visit.  The Pacific Ocean looks so very "pacific blue" against the backdrop of the lush green mountains rimmed by black volcanic cliffs and beautiful beaches.  The bonus of seeing whales spouting and breeching, sea turtles frolicking in the surf and beautiful exotic birds make it hard to believe that we are still in the U.S.  HOWEVER,  at every stop the passengers have been offered a free shuttle to Walmart.  We have seen a number of passengers return to the ship carrying the familiar Walmart bags!

We leave for a 6 day sail to French Polynesia.  We will be traveling 2,437 nautical miles at a speed of about 15 knots.  TAHITI HERE WE COME!!!



    

Settling In To Life At Sea

Built in 2010, the Sojoun is a smaller ship with a refined elegance.  It has all of the amenities of the larger ships, but on a smaller scale.  There are many comfortable quiet places to hangout around the ship.  Our cabin very comfortable with  plenty of smart storage space.

One night we had a block party where all guests were invited to step out into the hallway at 6:15 to meet the neighbors.  We had drinks and snacks in the corridor and met all of our immediate neighbors.  Brian and I have also elected to sit at large tables for dinner so we can meet other passengers.  Most people we have met are repeat Seabourn guests and are very well traveled.  We pick up a lot good travel tips during these dinnertime conversations.

At a reception, the Captain told us that the circumference around the Earth is 24,900 miles.  On our world cruise, we will sail over 27,000 nautical miles.  We will cross the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, International Dateline (2 times) and the Equator (2 times).

The passengers come from 22 different countries.  There are 43 Australians, 84 Brits and 162 Americans.  There are 330 crew members on board, thus we are really receiving royal service!

We have a 5 day sail from L.A. to Hawaii where we will make 4 stops.  The weather has been pretty cool, but we were prepared for that.  I suffered a little motion discomfort the first morning on board because of the swales, but some over the counter pills and crystallized ginger cleared it up quickly so no further problems. 

Brian and I spend our days working out in the mornings, attending lectures and activities throughout the day and reading.  On yes, we also spend a lot of time eating and drinking, but we're trying to moderate that activity some.  The other travelers are so much fun, we are really enjoying the socializing.  The veteran passengers call it "Camp Seabourn".

We hope all is well back home!

SOMEBODY PINCH ME - I MUST BE DREAMING!!

Brian and I cannot believe we are finally in Los Angeles to begin our trip.  After a great couple of weeks of enjoying the holidays and send-off celebrations, we left our home in Safety Harbor on Friday

to fly to LA.  When we got off the plane at LAX we were met by our limo drive that delivered us to the historic Beverly Wilshire Hotel.  We were greeted at the hotel by Seabourn staff that coordinated our check in.  We are in a beautiful room on the top floor of the hotel.  Our balcony overlooks Rodeo Drive. 

Seabourn treated us to a cocktail reception and dinner with entertainment.  At the party, we met many of the world cruise passengers and several crew members including the chef that will feed us for 4 months.  We also met the cruise director and some of her staff, the ship's purser and other crew members.  So far, the crew members we have met are from America, England, Scotland, New Zealand, South Africa and Croatia.  They all treated us like royalty.

About 80 passengers are doing the entire world cruise.  The ship holds 450 passengers and we are told that it is almost full.

The Seabourn staff came to the hotel this morning to check us in for the cruise.  Our private limo driver will pick us up at 12:15 and take us to the ship.  We will step out of the limo and go on board immediately.  The world cruise passengers board early.

We woke up this morning at 5:00 a.m., in part, because of the time difference, but mostly because we are too excited to sleep.  We are anxious now to get aboard the Sojourn!