Cruising the WorldDay 46

Guam, U.S. Territory

I was able to change the tee time to 10:30 from 8:45. Customs at 8 and then off to the course.

Every passenger had to go see the custom agents. The little form was given to one of the 12 officers that were processing passengers. If you had something to declare you were immediately labeled (sucker) and sent to another line. If you checked “nothing to declare” you were moved along quickly. The tall round container that the collected forms were put into filled up quickly. I’m sure they will be sorting these later. The processing went smoothly because the officers really didn’t do anything. Some were busy with donuts, others asked about the golf game as we had our clubs in tow. Processing is in the dining room. For good reason. HAL takes care of these officers with lunch when they are finished. Free donuts and lunch? I’m sure there is no issue with getting officers to volunteer for duty and I’m sure there are very few, if any issues getting the ship cleared.

The course was about 8 miles away and we were able to get a taxi right outside the port. It was hot and humid. The taxi was expensive and we paid almost as much for the taxi as we did the round of golf. Travel was slow. About 30 mins to get to the course.

The folks at the golf course knew that we were from the ship and were interested in hearing about our adventure. They know everyone that comes to play the course and we were definitely “outsiders”. They really went out of their way to take care of us.

We were ready to go at about 9:30 am and they let us start early. We started on the back 9 as there was a larger group starting on the front.

We missed the sign on the cart that says “cart path only” and had our cart lock up in the middle of the fairway on hole 10. A few good shoves got it moving again but this rule really slowed play down. We might have played faster if we had a pull cart.

The course was in good shape and the greens fast. A good amount of water in play but not so much jungle on the sides of the fairways to loose balls in. Balls in the pro-shop were $10. Not a box, a ball. Glad we had plenty in our bags.

We finished our round at about 2:30 and called our taxi driver. Raphael showed up quickly and soon we were back in port.

We watched the ship pull out of the harbor during dinner. Only 130 miles to our next port in Saipan. We will be crawling to get there.

Evening entertainment was a movie (with popcorn). We decided to play cards out on the back of the Lido deck. My lead diminished by one.…

at Sea

Our last day crossing the Pacific. The crossing was very rough and I am guessing it is typical for the area we crossed. Lots of white caps and large swells. It’s amazing to see everyone on the ship adapting to the ships movement. A waiter carrying a load of trays makes it look simple. Passengers walking down the hallways do also. Things change and we adapt.

I am so impressed with the training that the staff receives. There is never a time any type of employee will pass without saying good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. The filipinos work the bars, the Indonesians, the food service. The Russians work on the ships power structure. The Dutch run the hotel and bridge staff. All will say hello. It doesn’t matter if they have 4 stripes on their sleeve or a patch of grease.

I have watched numerous examples of young food service employees helping a passenger to their seat, walking them through line, standing up, or sitting down. Many on these longer cruises are on their final stretch of life. It appears that they expect help and often appear that are unappreciative. I have seen a mid 20s waitress help numerous passengers. She could easily ignore them or go about her regular job but she doesn’t. She and many others go out of their way to help. If it is insincere, one would never know it.

When we walk into the dining room you would think we have celebrity status. “Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Oshnock” is repeated over and over as we walk to our table.

Staff tipping is handled differently than it used to be. At one time when a cruise ended, passengers would tip their wait staff and room stewards. Now a “crew incentive” is automatically added to your account. I prefer this method. Charge me upfront and I will expect them to earn it. They do.

It is possible to have the crew incentive removed from your bill. Do this, and you will be charged a different rate on your next cruise.

Group trivia was lightly attended today. A team of 2 is all we had. Our other team members were listening to Kimberly’s port talk on the main stage. We did rather well with just the two of us. We knew the minimum age to be in the Masters golf tournament, the name of the California city named after a film studio, the author of the Canterbury Tales, the location of the cancelled 1940 Olympic Games, and the oldest known swimming stroke. We didn’t know who Cuba trades with to get automobiles for sugar, which islands are growing at a rate of 1 inch per year, or the Tanzanian Mountain that has a Swahili name.

We skipped the evening entertainment and played cards. Judy Carmichael was doing her second set. Great pianist but not a humorist. I think she should drop that part of her act. Terri let me win another game as she moves in for the kill.…

at Sea

Another day closer to Guam. We are finally on Guam time and are 15 hours ahead of home. All those 25 hour days are really nice. I’m not looking forward to the 23 hour days that are coming.

I sent a note to the Zuiderdam staff about the inability to hear the Captain when he speaks at noon. I received a nice note in response thanking me for taking time to do this. They did address it the next and turned up the volume. DIdn’t help much since it is really the way the Captain speaks. Very strong initially and then trails off. He does this over and over. It’s really inexperience with the microphone. No issue when Kimberly comes on right after. She has years of experience from being on the home shopping network.

We received a customs form for Guam. Same one we received from Saipan. Everybody on the entire ship needs to go see the customs officials just like they do on our southern border. I want to get in the line for the free hotel room and preloaded debit card.

It looks like our tee time may not work since custom officials do not begin until 8 am and our tee time is 8:45am. It looks like a 30 min ride to the course. Hope we can change the tee time.

The evening entertainment was another set by the Bird Dogs. The house band accompanied them and they played some great tunes. They emphasized artists that influenced the Everly Brothers and those that they influenced. Early influencers were Roy Orbison. They played Pretty Woman with an Everly Brothers feel. Those that they influenced included the Beatles and they performed Get Back. Elvis Presley and they performed Falling in Love. Chuck Berry and they played Johnny B. Goode. Fun show and the house band kicked it up a notch. Pianist was very good. Bass player not so much. Drummer fair and guitarist good.

After the show we sat back and chatted with Janet and Brian. They are from Calgary and we knew them for the 2019 world cruise. We of course talked about how each of our countries were run by people that have no idea that there people are suffering. We also chatted about all of the stores that have closed. There is still a Kmart in Calgary. I had no idea. We also laughed at the ridiculous things government was forcing businesses to do. You could go into Walmart but you couldn’t buy certain items. You could buy a gallon of milk but not a tomato plant. A fifth of gin but not a gasoline can. They did these things in Canada also.

As we chatted, we met some other folks today that were on the 2019 world cruise with us. I remember her because she was the executive assistant for Pierre Trudeau when he led Canada. They also were on the 2020 world cruise. This is the cruise that gives folks nightmares. The ship was near Australia when the world decided to shut down because of the pandemic. The ship had a difficult time finding a port to dock. Passengers were being whipped into a frenzy by the media and other passengers. Everyone had to stay in their room until something was worked out. Getting flights home was another nightmare. Some waited for 8 months to finally get their luggage.

We really lucked out that year. We spent the entire month of January 2020 in Australia. 6 weeks after we left it was turned into a crazy, authoritarian place. Much like home.…

at Sea

Today we had customs forms to fill out for our visit to Guam. I’m guessing that those who have checked the box “items to declare” will have their forms set aside for further aggravation. Do they think that customs officials are going to check every room on the ship? It’s amazing to me that the country that hassles us the most is the US government. We are living on a ship for 4 months. Does the government think we are going to bring alcohol and tobacco in to Guam? For what reason would we be doing that?

In addition to this form from Guam, there was also a yellow fever questionnaire. Luckily we have the vaccine and brought the proof with us.

We have two excursions that will take us off the ship overnight. One in China and one in Seychelles. There is a form for that. The ship is responsible for giving information about guests spending the night to immigration officials.

Three of us at team trivia today. The questions continually get more and more difficult. A metal that remains liquid at standard temperature and pressure? Team with the most Super Bowl appearances? Celebrity who cloned their dog three times? Number of eyes a bee has? First president to live in the white house? Brightest star in the evening sky? First video game that Mario appeared in? The animal that has the most human like fingerprints? It’s not a gorilla, chimp or orangutan.

How did you do? That’s how well we did.

I talked to the morning chef about paczcki’s. He never heard of them. He said he would talk to the main chef.

We spoke with Oscar (nice haircut!) again at dinner about the pazcki. He has no idea what we are talking about but it is fun anyway. Oscar is one of several that talk to us everyday to ask how their staff is doing. How was dinner? Could anything be better? How was the service? Can I bring you something else? It’s tough being treated like this.

We went to play cards right after dinner. Wind was bad up on the back of the lido. We used all kinds of items to weight the cards down. My win tonight. Am I up by one? Don’t remember.

I listened to a rather obnoxious passenger talk about how he gambles and takes any money he wins in the casino and donates to a non-profit that he runs. He then takes a tax write off. It sounded like the money ended up in his pocket when it was all over. The IRS is full of agents that are experts at catching tax cheats . The people that created the IRS are some of the most notorious cheats. Maybe that is just Russian disinformation. I’ll send a note to the big guy.…

at Sea

Today is Valentines day and the ship is in full Valentine mode with costumes for the employees and special drinks and snacks.

Gym of course and then lunch. Terri has watercolor class today and I decided to attend the lecture on Guam and the Mariana Islands and skip team trivia. The speaker lived on Saipan and spoke about things to see on the islands. Something called Latte. He did make a Starbuck’s joke but the latte’s are stone structures. Stone post with another post on top. Another one of earth’s mysteries. How were these built?

The Mariana Islands are important to the United States because of the strategic location. Spain lost Guam after the Spanish American War.

The Mariana trench is located in this area. Deepest part of the earth’s crust. The deepest part is more than a mile further from sea level than the peak of Mt. Everest is.

Dinner was formal attire. Not many tux’s anymore but Kimberly did make a lunch time announcement about proper dress at dinner. We noticed a few that consistently wear jeans to dinner absent tonight.

We moved into a storm rather quickly. The skies were very dark shortly after this photo was taken. Rough water, white caps, lightning, wind. Luckily there are things to hang onto as we traversed the ship.

I did ask Oscar about Paczki’s. “No Paczki’s? Maybe tomorrow”, he said. When I asked him if he knew what a Pazcki was he said no. I told him it was a jelly filled donut that has become part of Fat Tuesday. He laughed. He has no idea what I am talking about.

The evening entertainment was Judy Carmichael. We first saw her in 2019. She is a very accomplished pianist that plays jazz in the stride bass style. Many Fats Waller tunes. Her show was just like the one she presented five years ago in that she used the stage band drummer to accompany her and Justin did just that. A good musical show but her attempt at comedy was only fair. She said that this is the first cruise she has done in 5 years. It’s good news that the cruise industry entertainment is started to come back to the way it was before the pandemic. Her musical performance is a 10. Give up the attempt at comedy.

There was a Valentine Day party in the Crow’s Nest after the show. DJ, drinks and special treats.…

at Sea

It’s Tuesday. I will be skipping Monday in the blog since it didn’t happen here.

No pazcki at breakfast today. Maybe I will talk to the chef next time he visit’s us at dinner.

Gym this morning. The seas are calm and that helps the workout. The Captain said we are about halfway to Guam.

There were only three team members at team trivia today. I don’t think Richard is coming back. Clare and Susi went to the afternoon lecture. The three of us really struggled.

Who was the cigar smoking comedian? What animals were Rocky and Bullwinkle? What river feeds Victoria Falls? Which tune was Duke Ellington’s signature tune? What was the event called that they created the tune “We are the World?”. Hope you are struggling, we did too.

We continued to plan shore excursions for the new ports on this trip. Making progress on Seychelles. I chatted with a taxi driver and asked how much for the 1.4 mile ride from the ferry port to our hotel on Praslin. $15. Sounds excessive but we don’t have a lot of choice.

We are working on Capetown. Table Rock on one day. Hop on Hop off Wine tour next. Golf another. Still have to work all of this out.

The afternoon was a Mardi Gras party. Hurricanes were the drink. Lots of beads and other costumes. Some great King cake!

We had dinner with Brian and Janet. We had some great discussions especially about politics and the leaders of both of our countries.

The evening entertainment was a duo called the Bird Dogs. They did music of the Everly Brothers. They were also brothers and their harmony was outstanding. Bye, Bye , Love. Wake up a Little Susie. Great show. I gave them a 10!…

at Sea

Today we spent the afternoon watching the super bowl. The game started at 11:30 am and the staff provided food on the main stage and popcorn in the ocean bar. We decided the ocean bar would be the place to watch. Lots of obnoxious 49er fans. I really don’t car but decided to be a KC fan. Entertaining game. Halftime sucked big time and most agreed.

We continued to work on the new ports. I was able to book a hotel on the island of Praslin. I need to fill out a government application to travel within Seychelles. The form cannot be filled out greater than 30 days from the day of travel. I’m guessing a fee is involved. No place on this planet seems to be immune to dumb government fees.

With effect the 1st August 2023, the Seychelles government will apply a new Tourism Environmental Sustainability Levy. The Levy has been introduced to add to the country’s efforts in securing and enhancing its natural environment. It applies to all international visitors to Seychelles over the age of 12 years.

With respect to your stay at Colibri Hotel the Levy is 75 Seychelles rupees per person per night. Payment of the Levy by credit/debit card will fetch merchant fee. If the fee is paid in foreign currency either cash or card, we charge an environmental fee of 6 euro per person per night.

If you don’t understand this it is simple, 75scr = $5.38 usd. Pay in a foreign currency and 6 euros will be added. Environmental fee?

Taking Seychelle Rupees out of the country is illegal. I guess if you get too many it may be best to feed them to the pigeons.

I’m considering renting a car but rates seem a little ridiculous. It looks like the ferry leaves at 10:30 am and the ride from Mahe to Praslin will take 70 to 90 minutes. The ferry back to Mahe leaves at 2 pm the next day. It looks like golf will need to take place on day one. All aboard is 5:30 on day 2.

Things like this is why we spend a year planning excursions.

Tonight we move clocks ahead 24 hours. There will be no February 12. Super Bowl Sunday to Mardi Gras on shrove Tuesday. Pazcki’s? Not sure. At least muffins.

…

at Sea

Breakfast was back to normal as more fresh fruit was loaded in Honolulu. The fresh fruit is timed to last to the next pickup. Sometimes it makes it, other times they will run out. Bananas get old and blueberries disappear.

It was nice sitting outside for lunch. The balcony can get very hot in the morning on a clear day since it faces east. We sit by the pool on the Lido deck. The roof can be opened and closed. It was opened about halfway at lunch. Ocean looks calm but the swells can be felt.

We learned that the HAL excursions for all of the port changes have opened up. Many were already full or had limited space. We are planning on doing our own thing anyway. I planned on working on that after team trivia.

Team trivia was an absolute low point for this cruise. What is another name for a camel leopard? How many tablespoons in a cup? What measurement is a pinch to a chef? What does GATT stand for? (4 pts). The largest island in Japan? Encephalitis is the inflammation of which organ? What does an arctophile collect? How many verses in the Greek national anthem? How many is a giga? What is the royal family last name?

How did you do? Get the idea that this is difficult. We were down one team member as Richard left in a huff. Richard and Mary constantly argue and he got up and left. Thomas, the host, asked where Richard was. I told him we insulted him and he left. Thomas said that Richard submitted a note to HAL that he thought Thomas was the worst host ever. Kind of makes one feel less sorry for Richard.

We worked on future excursions for Male, Maldives. I think we are going to walk around the city. It is fairly large for a city I never even heard of.

Alexandria, Mahe in Seychelles Africa was next. There are about 1200 islands that make up this country. We found an island with an 18 hole golf course. I found a ferry that can take us there. It is about a 70 minute ride. We are in Mahe overnight so the plan is to travel to the island of Praslin, play a round of golf and spend the night in a hotel. We would return the next day.

The Lido and dining room were decorated for the Chinese New Year. The food represented the best of China. I was prepared to order by number but Ari only took mu order by name. Back home I always order a numbah five. Poak fwied wice. The best part of dinner was the fortune in the cookie. “It could be better but it’s good enough”.

We skipped the evening entertainment and the piano trio. Nice night to play cards. Terri up by one.

Soon we will cross the international dateline. February 12 will be skipped.…

at Sea

Our first of 8 sea days to get to Guam. Our routine starts right up after port days. Breakfast, abs class at 7:30 and then back to the room to change and then we hit the gym.

Communication from our third party bookings is excellent. Since covid 19, the tour agents allow people to reserve a tour with no money due until 30 days before the tour takes place. Great policy if itineraries change. Every once in a while, a tour states that it is “non-refundable”. I certainly understand the policy but things happen beyond our control. We had a tour in Dubai that we prepaid. I contacted the tour company direct and received no response. When I contacted Trip Advisor, I received an email the next day stating that I would receive a refund. This is one reason I continue to use trip advisor and partner Viator. Great customer service. Today I received an email from our guide in Tokyo asking about spots we would like to see and transportation needs.

Honolulu was the end of the cruise for some passengers and the starting point for others. Most are doing the entire cruise but a fair number buy only segments. Many of the staff ended their tour of duty here also. New folks are easy to spot. A little lost and a little too polite in the aggressive feeding lines at breakfast and lunch. The big hungry bellies are always first. Thinner people are pushed aside. They are obviously not in as much need.

The line for ice cream never seems to end. The cookie line is at the end of it and I am able to snag a few if I get really aggressive.

Team trivia was an all time low for this team. 10 out of 23. Too many Shakespeare questions for me. There was a quote about hands and perfume. Lady Macbeth was the answer. Sometimes there is a question about an old tv series. Clare was smart enough to identify the four legged animal introduced on Roy Rogers. If you were thinking Trigger, his horse, you were with a lot of us. The answer was Bullet, his dog. Sometimes there is a reference to a television series that I never watched. Gary Coleman was the answer to one of them. Bring on the periodic table or the pythagorean theorem and I am right at home. The music questions rarely are in my span of education. Usually they refer to some musical artist in the late 20th century that I never listened to.

Another block party took place right before dinner. I was too busy doing my hair to participate. We chatted with Oscar at dinner, he told me it was his idea to do more block parties with free alcohol and less holiday decorations which go right into the trash. I told him a nice delivery of a bottle of booze every month right to the room is a better idea. He liked the idea as he would benefit too.

Dinner was superb once again. It’s hard to decide which soup to go with as a starter. The cold bisque that reminds me of a smoothie or the hot bean or chicken soup. Decisions….

The evening entertainment was Helena Angley. Helena is close to my age and grew up in Detroit. Maybe I will ask her where if I see her at lunch. She spoke about her life experiences, husband and kids. It was alright but not enough to keep Terri awake.…

Honolulu, Hawaii

Today we arrived in Honolulu and had a scheduled HAL trip to Pearl Harbor. Normally we would do this on our own but the travel time and all aboard time did not make it easy to do this.

We met at 8:15 and and by 8:30 and were off to the harbor.

We had admission to the USS Missouri and this was first stop. Our guide would take us back to the ship at 1:30. We had a reservation to see the USS Arizona Memorial at 3:15 so we opted to stay behind and catch an Uber. A young passenger heard me ask the guide about staying behind as she also had a 3:15 reservation. She asked me if she could join us. She was young and was trying to be smart about getting back to the ship safely. She was on the ship with her mother but mom decided this was the day to get her nails done and Citra went alone.

The USS Missouri was a massive battleship built in 1944. It is parked near the USS Arizona and serves they serve as bookends to WWII. The Arizona was the beginning of WWII for the USA and the Missouri was the ship that the Japanese signed their surrender in 1945.

These guns can fire a 2,700 lb shell 23 miles with pinpoint accuracy. 6 bags of powder are used to fire each bomb. Each bag weighs 110 pounds. A bag of powder can be seen in this photo to the left of the bomb that is below the guns. The deck is teak. This ship was retired in 1955 and sat mothballed for 29 years. It was Ronald Reagan that built up the military during his tenure and this ship was outfitted with the latest technology. It served in the Persian Gulf War and then again retired in 1992. Now it is a museum. This is the last battleship to be built by the United States. The Navy uses different types of ships today such as aircraft carriers and destroyers

We spent a few hours on the Missouri. Ship living for the crew was a bit different than it is for passengers on the Zuiderdam. Crew mattresses were 1 inch thick. Three bunks high. I imagine hot and noisy. Officers mattresses were 4 inches thick and they had a private room. Mess hall was like a cafeteria. There were rooms for television or card playing. There was a post office, a lawyers office, psychologist, dentist.

We stepped off the ship and had lunch. Hot dog for me, salad for Terri. One soft drink each. $32 I think they we are going to have to add some zeros to our currency to keep up with prices.

There was a WWII museum on Ford Island. Ford Island is an active military base. I did visit the museum but was disappointed in its size. Much smaller than the Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, that I have visited numerous times. The most interesting thing I did see was a plane that was rescued from Lake Michigan. It was a training plane that crashed into the lake in 1944. 65 years later it was brought up and put back together and repainted in a shop in Kalamazoo. Later it was brought to this museum.

The door to the hangar where many of these planes are restored still has bullet holes from 1941.

The Arizona Memorial was next. Our appointment was 3:15 and when we showed up, Citra, was waiting for us. She joined us for the boat ride over to the memorial. There are many pictures of the Arizona on the web and I only snapped a few. Over 1100 died on this ship and this marks their grave. Crew who survived have had their remains interred here following their death.

We spent about 15 minutes on the Arizona Memorial and took the boat back to shore. We walked to the entrance of the National Park and called an Uber. Honolulu traffic was heavy but we made it back in time for dinner. I think Citra was relieved that she had us to travel with. No place for a young girl to travel alone.

The evening entertainment was a group from Honolulu. They came aboard and did traditional Hawaiian music and dance. It was very entertaining. Terri thought some of the girls were too plump but I found them to be thinner than the traditional polynesians I was expecting.

The ship left at 11:00. 8 sea days until we get to Guam.…

Hilo, Hawaii

Today we have a 10:48 am Tee time at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course.

The ship was at the dock and cleared by 8 am. We left about 8:15. All aboard is 4:30 and we would be cutting it close with our time. We hoped that we could get on early.

It was a little bit of a walk to get out of the port. Our Uber driver was waiting for us when we got to the exit. Tara was one of 4 regular Uber drivers in Hilo. She had 6 kids and described how her and her husband saved to travel to California and Las Vegas. Disneyland, Legoland, Universal and the like. They were there for 2 weeks but cold weather closed most of the parks and or rides.

We arrived at the course at about 9 or so and were able to start after 2 groups hit the tee. Maybe 30 minutes. Everything was handled through windows. Signs warned that a mask was necessary to enter the building. Pencils were also sterilized after use. I guess they didn’t get the message that Covid 19 is a respiratory disease and clean pencils aren’t the answer.

The course was tough. The grass was zoysia or bermuda or whatever they use in the heat. Lots of roll. Every green was elevated and 3 feet around every green was sloped away from the hole. Land here and your ball would roll all the way down. Maybe even across the cart path. This made chipping even more difficult. Not enough and the ball comes right back to you. Too much and it will roll off the back of the green. The course was fun and in good shape. Too bad neither one of us thought to take pictures.

We finished about 2:30 and went in the clubhouse for a drink. Locals were in there cussing at each other about their game. I don’t understand bald men with pony tails. I have a lot to learn I guess.

We called for an Uber and Thomas picked us up. Retired fireman. Lived in the islands his entire life. Build like a typical Polynesian. The fireman was built like a fire hydrant. He was very interested in the world cruise and hopes to take his wife one day.

Another exhausting day. We did dress for dinner, listened to the piano trio and came back to the room to call it a night.…

Kona, Hawaii

Surprisingly, things went much better than predicted. The shipped was cleared early, border patrol did a cursory glance at passports and we were on the tender at 7:45. Our tee time was 1 pm at Makalei Golf Club. Plenty of time.

The seas were very calm and getting the clubs on and off the tender went smoothly. We were ashore quickly and hailed an Uber.

First stop was Walmart to get golf balls and a few other items. Our driver was very familiar with the golf club and encouraged us not to get the 12 pack at Walmart. Get at least a 24 pack. Beer of course. Walmart was only 7 or 8 mins away.

We finished shopping, looked at receipt and gave each other the same disturbed look since bidenomics was implemented. I guess the way to look at this is the quality of the economy. We are paying so much more for everything. The quality of the economy must be higher.

We hailed another Uber and were off to the course. The driver was a former high school teacher so we had lot’s of stories to share.

Up and up and up we went. Up to the top of mount krumpett. Sunny back in Kona, cloudy up in the mountains. I checked in at the proshop and had already pre-paid online for a $50 savings. We purchased a bucket and hit the range. This course is a favorite of locals. Not many tourists were here so the tee time was no issue.

The range was a blast. Straight down the mountain. Even the low screamers looked good.

The pro-shop manager said it was a 15 minute drive in the cart up to hole 1. The range was about halfway. We hit our bucket and checked in with the starter. He asked if we had plenty of balls. We laughed and said yes. Another 7 or 8 minute drive up and we were at hole 1.

This selfy is looking down the driving range. If you are a skier, think double black diamond to get an idea of what the mountain looks like. None of the pictures can convey what it looked like in person.

The starter did say there are lots of animals on the course. Wild pigs being one. We didn’t see any bacon running around but did see some peacocks.

The peacocks here watched for proper technique here.

The course was challenging and we had a blast. It did rain quite steadily for holes 7 through 12. We played 13 – 18 with no rain but we were already wet. I did lose a number of balls but those were wild ones. We finished about 3:30 and hailed an Uber. It did take our driver some time to come and get us. We were back in the port about 4:30 and stopped in to the “Big Kohona” for a drink and something to eat.

We took it easy the rest of the evening on the ship. We were tired and needed the rest for another round in Hilo tomorrow.…

at Sea

The night was rough but the morning was the roughest. We lost a wine glass and a bottle of wine to the floor.

We have been discussing Africa but haven’t landed on anything yet. We have had some discussions with other couples and everyone is waiting for HAL to present what they have. I suppose the itinerary can still change.

Group trivia was again difficult. What is a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations? Did you say algorithm? What color is the black box on an airplane? Which director made the most movies that he was the star of?

We had dinner at the pinnacle grill with Joe and Anne. Brother and sister traveling together. We met them on the African cruise. The pinnacle is the high end restaurant on the ship. We compared notes on the tours we have done and also what we plan to do in Africa this year.

We finished the evening with cards. Tie score.

Tomorrow is the Kona tender port and US immigration. Let’s hope for calm waters and an organized immigration team. It will be nice to be in the USA again after 30 days. No cell issues, Uber issues, money issues.…

at Sea

Roughest day yet. Things are sliding off the desk in our room and items sliding off the table in the Lido. This is not a day for those who are prone to sea sickness. Waves are at 12′ with promises to hit 16′ tonight. I know that when we have flown to Hawaii, the last 2 hours are very rough. Head hitting the ceiling kind of rough. I’m guessing the wind in this area is always an issue. 2 hours on the plane is about 3 days on the ship. I’d rather be on the ship. I can’t help thinking about the plane that had the roof entire roof ripped off coming into Hawaii back in 1988. Aloha Airlines 243.

Workouts in the gym can be interesting to dangerous. I know that when the ship was climbing from the bottom of a trough my pushups became suddenly heavier. You may be thinking that I had too many cookies but that is only partially true. Free weights are almost out of the question.

Group trivia is getting noticeably more difficult. What was the name of the girl born in 10,000 BC. Did you say Pebbles Flintstone? Neither did we. The name of the most photographed mountain? How about the first American team in the NHL. I guessed Boston Bruins. Good guess.

I’ve started reading “They Thought They Were Free – The Germans 1933 – 1945 ” by Milton Mayer. Published originally in 1955, the author went to Germany to live amongst average citizens to gain a better understanding of Nazism and how it took hold. Growing up I could never understand how this happened. During the past 5 years I have gained a complete understanding and I believe it can easily happen again. There is so much corruption in our own government. What is one citizen to do? How will others view this person if they do stand up?

Getting to our dinner table was exciting with the ship rocking. Terri thought the dining room looked empty. Maybe they are in line for cookies or maybe tossing cookies?

We listened to the piano trio and they did a nice Hadyn piece. The night before they did cello and violin duets of popular music. The violinist kept rushing, rushing, rushing…. I was surprised the cellist could keep up. I’m sure it was keep complete sight reading off of some app. We used to call them fakebooks. A book of leadsheets that a band could BS their way through if they needed to. I don’t know what they are called today.

Jose Sarduy gave a second show today. He was good and it didn’t bother him that some of the jokes fell flat. He just kept at it and gave a good show.…

at Sea

Another time change puts us 4 hours behind home. One more change will put us on Hawaiian time.

The seas keep getting rougher. Sometimes when you walk across the ship it feels as if you are walking up hill. White caps as far as the eye can see.

Our morning routine really focuses on the gym when we are at sea. We have been doing an abs class at 7:30 am right after breakfast. 30 mins of abs and then the gym. I tried the elliptical the other day and it felt great. Later my knee said “no, not a good idea”. Our balcony is a great place to do some stretching in the morning. The sun is hot but the air is definitely getting cooler

Formal night and then a “Great Gatsby” theme. Many of the women had dresses from the 20s. Some of them could really pull it off. We listened to the piano trio and then played some cards.

Golf in Kona and Hilo. Kona is a tender port with the immigration nonsense before we can board. I hope this doesn’t delay us.…

at Sea

Seas appear calm but the swells are huge. Makes everything a bit more difficult except sleeping. We have gone back another hour but seem to be behind our actual position. Currently we are on Pacific time and will have 2 more time changes before we reach Hawaii on Tuesday.

All passengers have to meet U.S. Customs on Tuesday morning with our passport in hand. I’m not sure how these officials even operate with a straight face anymore. Here is a ship full United States citizens. All have had successful careers and have donated to the US treasury every April 15. Meanwhile, back on the southern border, non-citizens are allowed to come in freely, no passport, no ID. They are given transportation deep into the country where they may be housed in a hotel, given a drivers license, and in some cases given social security paid for by donations from US citizens.

We spend most mornings in the gym and most afternoons on the balcony. We have enough reading to keep us occupied.

The evening entertainment was DJ Bucciarelli, a male vocalist that did mainly female pop hits. Carol King and Carly Simon were his favorites. He did do some James Taylor also. He shared a lot of his life story and how he was discouraged from pursuing music. He did have quite a high opinion of himself but his act did not support that opinion. Terri flashed me a 2. I gave him a 7.

We finished the evening by watching the movie about Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. I don’t think folks that weren’t yet on the planet in 1973 know all of the controversy surrounding this game. Women at the time were very proud that King beat Riggs. Today we have men pretending to be women in order to beat them. I’m not sure why today’s women are not up in arms.…

at Sea

Another day heading due west to Hawaii. Ocean is as smooth as can be. No land anywhere.

We received a letter from Henk, the hotel manager, about the itinerary change. It seems that some passengers were angry that we were bypassing India. Henk explained that careful consideration has to be given to which ports have availability on which dates. The location of ship provisions that are placed around the world. Timing and fuel usage. Henk said there is no way we could may a stop on India and then head south to go around Africa and end up in Fort Lauderdale on May 11. Other ships have been re-routed also. Future cruises also are taking a hit on the area in question.

Today was the donut buffet in the Lido.

I did stop after group trivia. Very fresh. Made on board. I gave them a 7. I like kryspi kremes.

Group trivia went well. Third place. Atomic number of hydrogen was a gimme. I did remember the competitor to spacely sprockets in the Jetson’s. Cogswell Cogs. Where is the land of milk and honey? Which has more wrinkles per square inch. Prunes or raisins? What the famous 4 word line from Jerry Mcguire?

A muster station drill must be done once per month and today was the day. Things have changed a lot from the past. In the past, one had to suit up in a life jacket and meet at the life boat station assigned to your room at a specified time. Now, no life jackets, report to the station between a certain time and have attendant scan your key card. Go back to your room and watch the mandatory safety video. Most people turn it on and leave the room.

Dinner and then the piano trio. I know they don’t practice but instead discuss what they each already know and then the ability of them to sight read before a live audience. They admitted as much at a chat Kimberly had with them last month. They are all accomplished players and pull off this feat daily with no issue.

We decided to skip the Zuiderdam singers and dancers and went up to play cards. I think Terris is up 3 to 2. One of the officers came up to the deck to present a star watching event. He took a laser and pointed out the many different stars by name. We continued with cards but did view the stars from our balcony later. It’s incredible how many stars can be seen with the naked eye. Growing up in Detroit, we were limited to the big dipper and the moon. Too much light pollution to see anything else.…

at Sea

We are heading almost directly west to Hawaii. We were able to make a tee time in Kona. It is going to be cooler and should be nice for golf. Two stops on the big island of Hawaii, Kona and Hilo and then over to Oahu with a stop in Honolulu. It’s amazing how things have changed with starlink. Booking or calling from the ship at a reasonable rate was just not possible before.

The resort in Manzanillo was featured on “Lifestyle’s of the Rich and Famous” back in the day. It’s amazing how things change over the years. I can still hear Robin Leach.

The Pacific Ocean is very calm compared to the Atlantic and I can tell we are not going top speed. The sun is still rising in the rear of the ship and it is a nice view from our balcony.

There are lots of talks on the main stage about the ports in Hawaii. We have already been to Hawaii numerous times and this is the reason for golf. Hawaii is nice but it is so far from home. It is much easier to head directly south from Michigan and spend some time in the Caribbean if you are seeking reprieve from the cold winter weather. Not enough upsides in Hawaii to spend the travel time necessary.

We haven’t decided what we are going to do in Africa yet. We are waiting for the HAL excursions to be updated. Maybe another safari.

Dinner is always a great experience. The chilled soup that is served tastes like dessert. Blueberry or banana or blackberry. I like to start and finish my meal with dessert.

Comedian Jose Sarduy performed on the mainstage. His shared his many life experiences being a Cuban American growing up in Miami. He was nearly 40 but looked like he was 12. This added even more humor to his act.…

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta is a big tourist destination unlike Manzanillo. Today we decided to get the items we needed at the Walmart that was right across the street from the ship, and then walk into the old section of town.

We arrived at 8 am and it was a big day for shopping for both passengers and crew. We headed over to Walmart to hopefully purchase more golf balls. No pelotas de golf found here. Unfortunate. We bought some coffee and a few other items and dropped them back off at the ship.

We headed out on our walk at about 10 am. About 4.5 miles to Old Town Vallarta. Walk was ok but like other parts of Mexico, keep your eyes on the sidewalk. Many holes and other traps to collect legs and other spare body parts. There was even a walkway next to a 15 ft drop into absolute muck. No safety rail, no sign, no nothing.

We arrived in the old section just in time for lunch. Lots of gringos here. Bald men with pony tails. That tells me a lot. Ship people are obvious here. They seem to share a similar look. Maybe its the goofy hat but I believe goes beyond that.

Lunch was very good. I had a steak burrito and Terri the nachos. I had a Bohemia Oscura beer and Terri some wine. We spent about an hour relaxing here and then visited some of the shops. The call for tequila tasting was everywhere.

This picture shows shops and cobblestone street. Nice area. Nice weather.

We spent an hour amongst the shops and started the walk back. All aboard was 4:30 and we arrived back about 3. A letter in our mailbox was the information we were expecting. An itinerary change. No Red Sea or Suez Canal. That meant no India, Oman, Dubai, Italy, Spain. Instead we would go around the southern tip of Africa. There is no other way. Not enough time to go into the Mediterranean from the west side. This was a huge disappointment and we would be visiting many of the same ports that we visited on our trip around Africa last year.

After dinner, we started cancelling all of the tours we had already booked. About 6 months of work. I know that some folks did not go on this cruise because of the potential of changes in the itinerary. To do that, trip insurance must be purchased. It is not cheap. It is over 10k but it does allow one to cancel for any reason.

Manzanillo, Mexico

Today we arrived in Manzanillo, Mexico. We decided after reviewing all of our options that we would play a round of golf. Las Hadas was the closest course and were able to book a 2 pm tee time.

The ship had a later than usually arrival time and we were able to get off the ship a bit after noon. This gave us the opportunity to have breakfast and lunch on the ship.

There was a long pier for the ship. We collected our clubs at guest services and were on our way. Long walk off the pier and then we did manage to secure a taxi for the 10 mile drive. Much more reasonable here than the other locations we hired a taxi for. $15 out and $15 back. Raul spoke no English but I managed to communicate that he could come back to get us at 6 pm.

I had learned earlier in the week that Manzanillo was made famous by being the location that the 1979 movie starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore “10” was filmed. What I didn’t realize was that the course we played was at the Las Hadas Resort that was made world famous by the production. I never thought much of the movie but it did make Bo Derek, the cornrow hairstyle, and Ravel’s “Bolero” famous.

We met the golf pro Jaime that I chatted with yesterday. We questioned the high price for a round of golf and only managed to get use of the driving range for free. Jaime recommended a caddy since the course was not marked well. We didn’t use the caddy. Jaime said it is a challenging course and 14 of the 18 holes have water hazards.

We followed the driving range attendant to the range and met another golfer that obviously was not Mexican. He was from Alberta, Canada but now lived here permanently 6 months out of the year. Our first clue about the condition of the course came from this gentlemen and the range attendant. There were no balls ready for us on the range. The attendant took a shag bag and his cart and proceeded to pick up balls using the shag bag. The Canadian told us how the course was built after the filming of the movie and it was absolutely beautiful. Hard times hit and the course went into a slump. An investor purchased it and decided to put some money into it. I got the feeling that this golfer lived down here because it was famous 45 years ago. Maybe he thought he would find Bo Derek here. The city of Manzanillo saw no signs of being famous and neither did the resort. The golfer I chatted with joked about how many balls he loses on this course during a game.

I did a search of the course from the 1970s and it looked beautiful. The many stone bridges that went over a river that flowed through the course now only went over weeds. The pumps that kept the water flowing are not running and some of the bridges had collapsed.

The greens weren’t bad, the fairways were ok but if a ball went off the fairway, good luck finding it. If I ever play this course again, I’ll be sure to bring a wheelbarrow full of balls.

We did enjoy our round of play and our many jokes about the condition of the course. I had asked Jaime if we were going to have the course to ourselves and he said that the members will start to show up later in the afternoon. We had the course to ourselves. No members showed.

We finished about 5:30 and stopped in the clubhouse for a drink. Raul showed up on time and took us back. We had dinner back on the ship and finished with some cards on the Lido while the ship left for our next destination, Puerto Vallarta. We arrive tomorrow at 8 am and then a 6 day cruise to Hawaii follows.…