2014 Whisper World Cruise Live Blogging Segment 1

[fdnycruiser]

I was able to book 3 segments of the 2015 WC the day they became available. It was a small window of opportunity though,as they only made a few cabins available for segments.And I did get a cabin assignment at the same time.

[RachelG]

You could compromise and just close one curtain.;)

 

Haha, he considers even a small crack in the curtains to be "open".

[CanadianKate]

A relatively quiet day for me. Not so quiet for dh, he had to wake me up to stop my snoring on the pool deck!

 

Did a morning destination lecture on the Big Island, and an afternoon lecture on theatre. Eating, physio on the balcony, and trivia filled out the day.

 

Lovely formal dinner tonight. I'm annoyed because I don't fit any of my formal outfits so feel like I'm slumming it but enjoyed looking at the lovely ladies and their gowns.

 

Captain said there are more crew than passengers. But I still don't have more accurate numbers than that.

 

Tomorrow at 11a.m. is the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle

 

(I bolded that to remind anyone on board who didn't get an invite but sees this, to pop along; we're in Panorama Lounge.)

 

We came second again at Trivia. I despair for our team once the pianist and lecturer get off, even if we do know the answers ourselves, they give us confidence that we know what we know. It is a great team and there's lots of laughter and fun, no pressure in our corner of the bar.

 

This evening the comment I heard several times is that it feels like we've been on board for a week, not just two days. Familiarity with the ship, the large number of repeat guests (I heard 100 of the World Cruisers are repeat World Cruisers, plus the usual high % of Venetians), and the wonderful staff makes it feel like we can't possibly have only been on board for just over 48 hours.

[WesW]

Thanks again Kate for your WC seggie on board reports. Hope y'all win your next Trivia competition and y'all have a well attended CC/SS meet & mingle.

[Stumblefoot]

....the large number of repeat guests (I heard 100 of the World Cruisers are repeat World Cruisers...)

I can only dream to be so blessed one day to enjoy multiple world cruises. It's just not something my mind can comprehend at this point that I'd ever be so lucky to do even once. But, dream I will!

 

Thanks for continuing to share your perspective CK! It sounds like a fun segment to try someday.

[CanadianKate]

The weather is improving day by day. It is also getting rougher but nothing more than a long swell. I've stopped exercising on the outside deck and am using the treadmill (when I actually exercise) because my knees can't cope with the side strain of the ship's movements when I'm walking quickly and I can hang on better on the treadmill.

 

The Meet & Greet was well attended by SilverSea staff but only 4 out of the 6 who had signed up, showed up. (To be fair, it was against bridge.) We had a lovely visit with GGP's and then enjoyed dinner with them and a lecturer in the evening. Mr. GGP's was on stage in the evening assisting the magician.

 

Trivia continues to be fun. We are consistently second place. At this pace, I'll have 60 cruise points to 'spend' when I get to Sydney.

 

Today the schedule is shook up with the concert at 6:00, a pool deck meet & greet of everyone on board at 6:30 and a movie tonight. The movie is "50 First Dates" which probably will be sparsely attended if I'm a good judge of demographics and taste. If this was a recent movie or a long past classic the attendance might be better. But with a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Drew Barrymore instead of John Barrymore, I can't help thinking the Hawaiian setting of this film won't be enough to pack people in.

 

Still haven't figured out how our 7 p.m. Hot Rocks reservation will work with the 6:30 party in the same space, but we had our butler confirm it.

 

Spoiling ourselves with the Verandah cabin has us worried we'll never be able to return to deck 4. It has warmed up to the point where I can have my breakfast on the balcony now, and between now and Sydney I'm not sure we'll need the blankets our butler brought to us. Except maybe in the theatre (there is constant muttering about the temperature in there - seriously, folks, you are all experienced SS cruisers and that theatre is always chilly. Bring a wrap.)

[Wellseasoned]

Kate, glad things are settling down for you! Enjoying your posts. Sorry about the cancellation of your Fanning Island stop. It is a unique port, but getting in and out is dicey. We were lucky to visit last year in January on the Spirit.

 

I'm surprised that your TA couldn't book a WC segment for you with a specific cabin assignment once they became available. We booked a segment of the 2015 WC as soon as they became available for segment booking and requested a specific suite, which we received. If your TA really knows Silversea, this should be achievable. And your TA should know that segments on a WC always become available, and when they do.

 

Hope we meet at trivia one of these cruises! Look forward to the rest of your posts!

 

Dieter

[CanadianKate]

Dieter: that might be true for Verandahs but for Vista cabins, the two times I've tried to book a segment early, we've been denied a cabin assignment until after full payment was due. The first time I was sick so just canceled the whole booking because there was no way I'd be well enough to travel in 3 months. The second time, I bitched and threatened to move the booking to a cruiseline that would provide a confirmed cabin.

 

I can only assume the difference between your experience and mine is that Vistas are in short supply compared to Verandah.

 

As well, we were booking 2 segments (to Auckland and then Sydney) which is a little trickier since the cabin has to be empty for two back to back segments.

Edited January 12, 2014 by CanadianKate

[brimary]

A bit discouraging to hear that there seems to be a different level of service for the world cruise passengers vs segmenters. I understand they want to offer extra special events for the world cruisers, but this seems to not be handled very well.

 

Interestingly, when I inquired last year (twice) about booking one of the segments of the WC that you are on, I was told in no uncertain terms that they would NOT be booking segments. My TA, who books a lot of Silversea, was told the same. When they did announce that segments could be booked much later, we couldn't do it because we had already made other plans as I have to plan my schedule a year in advance.

In 2007 we did a fifty four day segment of the World Cruise because the itinerary was to our liking.Unfortunately it was the only good thing about the cruise.It was like a charter for a large group who dominated the ship and commandered restaurants bars and lounges with little or no notice to the 212 non world cruisers of the closure of restaurants and facilities.Never again for us but it is regretable to hear that 7 years later the same problems are evident which turns the world cruise and or segments of it into first and second class experiences.

[CanadianKate]

In 2007 we took the NYC - Southhampton cruise following the WC and many of the Brits stayed on to go home. Some are still friends today. And this lot seem very friendly, although I've arrived on board at the start, this time so they haven't had a chance to form a clique yet.

 

I will say that I greatly enjoyed the socializing on the WC segment from Sydney to Hong Kong, despite arriving in the middle.

 

It is important to remember that us newcomers in the middle of a WC are 'fresh blood', new conversation, new stories to hear. We choose to sit at tables of 6 so perhaps the WCers I meet are those who want to interact with the newcomers and so I meet the welcoming ones and simply ignore the rest.

 

I'm sorry, Brimary, that your experience wasn't as positive as ours have been as far as socializing goes.

[CanadianKate]

To pick up with the blogging after an exhausting 3 days in Hawaii.

 

First an update: my 7 p.m. dinner reservation at Hot Rocks didn't happen at 7:00 but 7:45. No offense, but if I wanted to eat at 7:45, I would have booked my reservation for that time. I was starving and did not manage to stick to the healthy eating I had planned as a result. I will say our waiter was exceptional at getting food to me quickly. Once again, they don't 'get' that messing with meals might not be a great idea for guests that suffer severe mood swings due to low blood sugar. My dh learned early on in his travels with me that keeping my meals regular is of utmost importance for his safety and well-being.

 

After an almost completely smooth crossing to Hawaii, we enjoyed three ports over three days. We've never been here before but hope to return for a land based vacation some time. Now I understand why people come here.

 

Hilo, on the Big Island, was first. It was wonderful to see land again after 5 days at sea. There was a shuttle to the centre of town provided by Silversea and another to the Walmart (with a large mall across the street) on the outskirts, provided by the port.

 

We went into town in the morning and enjoyed walking around and checking out the shops that were open (about 1/3 of them - it was a Sunday.)

 

Our noon helicopter tour was canceled due to low cloud ceiling after we had finished the safety briefing. We went back to the port and waited for the shopping bus. I then proceeded to spend a lot of our 'savings' from the canceled flight on clothing.

 

Ours wasn't the only tour canceled, two others were as well due to heavy rain that had fallen overnight. (We were treated to thunder and lightening all night long.)

 

The second island we visited was Maui and we enjoyed a strenuous hike through the rainforest to waterfalls. We loved the whole 7 hour day, although we returned to Lahaina muddy and exhausted. We dumped our hiking poles and swimming towels with the security at the pier and then shopped some more. Loved Maui, hope to take our family there some day and hire the same, superb, guide to explore the island further.

 

Today was Honolulu. My dh went on a VIP tour of the bases. He said the tour was good but the guide was poor. I had intended to explore on my own but couldn't find a tourist information kiosk. Seriously. No materials on board aside from the basic printed sheet. No materials in the cruise terminal. No kiosk at Aloha Tower. So I took the shopping bus to Ala Moana mall, figuring it would be a stop on a hop-on/off bus tour and asked at the information booth where to pick up the tour bus. They told me none came there (apparently, that isn't true) and my only option was the $2 trolley to Waikiki to find tourist information there. I didn't take it because it was exact cash fare, and I only had 3 singles. I did shop, spending the last of the canceled tour savings.

 

Liked the Big Island, loved Maui, but will probably pass on Honolulu when we return to Hawaii.

 

I can hear the winches now as we prepare to cast off. Six days at sea now, since Fanning Island was canceled. No tours offered at Pago Pago (none to SS standards) so not sure what we'll do there. As for the following stop in Tonga, I've heard they were badly hit by Cyclone Ian so will not be surprised if they are canceled for the same reason as Fanning Island.

 

By the way, forgot to tell you (I think) that the Always Available menu uses the term Always Available loosely. So far there have been three different ones (we are 8 days into the cruise.) Tomorrow is day 9 and I think we have cycled back to the first Always Available menu. At least the baby back ribs have returned. We suspect it cycles through every 3 days. At least that has been the pattern so far.

 

The internet billing has not been changed back. My dh keeps asking me if I've disconnected and I keep asking him why he's asking. There's no incentive for me to disconnect anymore, doesn't cost me a cent more.

 

Since hypoallergenic soap didn't arrive in my suite after Hilo or Lahaina, I bought a bar today and have given the receipt to housekeeping for my account to be credited the $2.89. Yes, that's petty but I'm pretty pissed about this right now. I'm collecting examples of SS promising/advertising one thing and not delivering. A bar of Dove did appear tonight in my bathroom but since it is a full-size bar, my guess is someone went out and bought it. Fine, but they could have done that two days ago. So could I but I waited to see if they'd take action. When nothing happened, I bought one today because I don't have enough soap of my own to last to NZ.

[jollyjones]

There really isn't much to do in Pango Pango but you could consider taking a taxi over to Tisa's Barefoot Beach bar - it's on the other side of the island so you get a tour on the way, and it's quite a pleasant spot for lunch and a few drinks.

[Champlain]

Several years ago, my husband and I took the next-to-last leg of the first WC. We chose it for the itinerary (Alexandria to Lisbon), seeing 2 races of the Louis Vuitton Cup, and having Walter Cronkite as the featured lecturer. The itinerary and ship's activities did not disappoint. However, the atmosphere on the ship was markedly different from all other SS cruses we've been on. We felt like interlopers at an a-list party. Asking to join other guests at dinner typically produced the same people (no WCers). At times, there was palpable tension between different cliques and there were a lot of very high maintenance people who seemed to treat crew like personal servants. While I played Trivia with some WCers including Duct Tape, that was pretty much the extent of enjoyable interaction. We decided we wouldn't do it again, and now, with the expedition ships offering new and exciting itineraries, we don't feel as if we're missing anything.

[RachelG]

Kate, you made me laugh. I too am one who becomes dramatically hypoglycemic if my meals are not appropriately spaced. And my husband has put himself in charge of making sure this happens, because if it doesn't, his health and well-being are severely threatened too.

[fdnycruiser]

Kate,I've been enjoying your blog.Please keep them coming. Can you tell me if Oliver is tending bar?

[oregon50]

 

The internet billing has not been changed back. My dh keeps asking me if I've disconnected and I keep asking him why he's asking. There's no incentive for me to disconnect anymore, doesn't cost me a cent more.

 

Brilliant!

[CanadianKate]

Fdnycruiser: Yes Oliver is tending bar (one of my trivia team members confirmed that for me since we don't use the bar.)

[CanadianKate]

All these sea days just run one into another here. I just got through explaining to an elderly relative who got email so she could follow my trip that it was Friday night here. Nope, it is Saturday!

 

 

I'm getting a feeling for what a crossing would have been like during the days of the liners since they didn't stop at assorted ports of call but just went straight across the ocean. Today was day four at sea. I have two more before land.

 

 

The sea continues to be eerily calm. And aside from a rain shower yesterday morning, in general the weather is fantastic.

 

 

We crossed the equator at 12:23 today. At the noon update, Captain reminded us to “mind the bump!” King Neptune made his appearance at 4, delaying tea for me while I watched.

 

 

Trivia continues to be delightful nonsense full of laughter and good fun. Fernando risked turning the event from PG to R waters when his tongue slipped and he referred to an erection instead of eruption at one point.

 

 

I'm back on limited internet but managed to get the $250 package back. That should last us to Sydney if we ration carefully. We average 40 minutes a day. During sea days it is tempting to surf the net but once we are in NZ there were ports day after day and our usage should drop.

[CanadianKate]

I dislike the new tvs. There, I've said it. Yes, they take up much less room than a CRT tv, but there is a major disadvantage to the new tvs.

 

 

Actually, it is mainly the remote control I hate. No mute (nor a mute button or volume control easily accessible on the tv; volume, channel, power are all out of sight/reach on the top of the tv) and no digits so you can't directly enter a channel, you have to press channel up/down. The receiver on the tv for the remote control is finicky so you have to be pointing the remote 'just so' in order to make changes. I can't do it from most spots while sitting down.

 

 

I don't use the tv much but I keep it on, muted, all the time on either bridge view or map view and use it for listening to announcements. Since running the volume up takes almost 30 seconds, I now just bolt for the door and listen the announcement from the hallway. That's faster, despite the fact the tv was already on and often on the channel.

 

 

I'll be adding this comment to my end of cruise survey.

 

 

BTW: we have had problems with the satellite feed (even in port in Hawaii) so, the channels are not any more reliable than they used to be. A 'repair' attempted a few days ago made no difference. As well, the tvs on the exercise machines will not start to work until Auckland or later.

 

 

On the plus side: there are lots and lots of inputs. We are still working so travel with a video cable in order to add a second screen to our laptops, or connect to a customer's projector. We are using that to feed the streaming movies offered on the internal system through the tv instead of having to watch on the laptop or tablet.

 

 

I'm not sure anyone has talked about the streaming video content, yet. Aside from the dvds you can borrow from the library and the movies they put on three channels (btw, that printed schedule only went to Jan 9 and nothing has been delivered since), you can also stream additional content by accessing the wifi sign-in webpage. On the sign-in page you have the choice of streaming movies and older tv shows for free (Downtown Abbey, season 1 for example, Pacific Rim was one of the movies offered). Once the weather gets bad, we'll start watching movies. It is also a plus when one spouse can't sleep; the awake person could go elsewhere on the ship and still watch a movie, sitting in the observation lounge, for example.

 

 

This is a very positive change and opens up other possibilities. For instance, we'd like to see a link to the daily schedule put on the same internal webpage so that once can access the schedule using a wifi enabled device anywhere on the ship. Yes, I know I can ask to see the schedule kept at the bars, etc, but if I'm snuggled into a cabana, I don't want to have to move in order to see if the lecture is at 2 or 3. At this point, I take a photo each day of the schedule and carry that with me so I don't have lift my lazy butt out of a chair.

[CanadianKate]

Currently stuck in Tonga - a tropical depression and the wind is too high to make maneuvering safe. Captain hopes this will pass shortly.

 

Here's an update on the past few days:

 

We continue to be blessed with amazing weather. The seas were calm all the way from Hawaii to Pago Pago and then on to Tonga. At times it looks like we are in a harbour, not out on the open seas.

 

 

 

The other night, after a delightful dinner on the pool deck with the surging of the pool water sounding like waves on a shore and live, lounge, music in the background, we went up to the bow to look at the stars now that we are below the equator. The Milky Way was gorgeous and the sky was amazing. Along the horizon to the port side of the ship was an active lightening storm but overhead, the sky was clear. We had one rain shower one morning and another 5 minute shower one afternoon but aside from that we don't seem to get rain in the daytime.

 

We figured Pago Pago (pronounced Pahngo Pahngo) might bring rain. After all it is the worlds rainiest habour. But the day dawned beautiful and it remained that way .

 

After so long at sea it was lovely to be able to be on deck to fully enjoy the approach to land.

 

Tiny flying fish dashed out of the way of the bow as we came towards the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. The harbour is almost hidden from view as you approach since it was formed when the seaward wall of the volcano collapsed and the sea rushed in. It is deep like a fjord, almost cutting the island in two. We docked, late, because everything runs on Island time here. That's okay, it wasn't raining and we had all day in port.

 

Dh and I dressed to protect us from the sun and headed off. The temperature was hot (33*C) and humid, so we'd only go a half a kilometre or so, and then duck into a museum or a store. Prices at the grocery store were very reasonable, not much more than LA.

 

We visited the local museum and then walked along the waterfront some more, stopping into McDonalds to cool off and check out the menu (it was too early to eat) and then on to National Park Visitor Center where we took advantage of the a/c and the wonderful facilities to rest while watching a cultural documentary on the mat weaving by locals, and checked out the displays.

 

The views along the waterfront of the lushness, the tropical plants and the beautiful water were breathtaking. We were blessed with unusual weather.

 

We walked back to McDonalds and had some lunch and used their wifi to do all that random googling we wanted to do but can't bother paying for on board, caught up on email and I managed to download two more editions of The Economist so there's a chance I'll get them read before getting home.

 

After our lunch break we continued on, past the port, to the beaches. There we sat in a shade structure, enjoying the cooling breeze and drinking in the scenery.

 

While we were sitting there, dh spotted sea turtles surfacing and then diving. This is the best shot of that we have. It was tricky to predict where they'd surface and finally I said we should just sit and enjoy the moment rather than trying to capture it. As we walked back towards the ship, I came across one of my trivia team girlfriends and so we sat in the shade chatting. Her dh went in swimming, stripping down to his skivvies and so dh did the same.

 

Dh reports that the water was the same temperature as the air so there was no difference to his skin when he stepped into the water, it was just wet. No major rashes yet so I'm assuming he hasn't contracted any awful parasites from the Starkist Tuna Factory across the harbour. Actually, that's another blessing of the day, the slight wind was blowing the factory's rotten fish smell away from town.

 

We walked back to the ship and I did a bit of shopping on the pier, picking up a souvenir, and a tropical top to wear around the ship. Then we came back aboard, peeled out of our clothes, showered, started a load of fine washables in the laundry room, had tea, hung up the clothes to dry, and I played trivia. After trivia there was a cultural dance/drumming show on the pier and then sail-away. As we headed out to sea, we watched a rain storm come across the water toward us, just brushing by one side of the ship.

We had a lovely evening. There was an early show, a Cole Porter review, then dinner, then we went to Karaoke night. We sang Bohemian Rhapsody (with a lot of help from the crowd) and Daytime Believer. It was a lot of fun. BTW: Oliver served me my Coke at the bar and now I know why you all love him so much!

 

 

 

The sea day yesterday was quiet and uneventful.

 

 

Tonga today was wonderful but I haven't written the travelog yet so will post that in a few days. Next stop is Auckland.

 

 

For those joining us in Auckland: I'll be having dinner at 7:30 in the restaurant and will open up a table for newcomers. Ask the Maitre D if you can join Kathryn and Ken if you are interested in meeting us the first night.

[Stumblefoot]

For those of us who are following you along your route to the southern hemisphere, THANK YOU, for continuing to provide nice perspectives of your voyage. This last update was the best yet! And, after reading about Hawaii, we've decided to head there for spring break.

[CanadianKate]

We got out of Tonga 2.5 hours late and the seas are suspiciously smooth considering the high winds we experienced earlier today. At dinner everyone was discussing how they had expected a rough time of it and yet it was calm.

 

I've been napping, doing Trivia and then enjoying dinner so haven't written up Tonga yet, but have lots of good things to say when I finally get it written. Everyone had good stories about the people.

[CanadianKate]

First of all, we have leaped into the future so are now a day ahead of most of you. In a moment, we went from 23:59:59, Wednesday Jan 22, to 00:00:01, Friday, Jan 24. Thankfully, no-one on board had a birthday on the 23rd! There was one couple who had birthdays on the 20th and 24th so, for the first time, their birthdays were only 3 days apart, not 4!

 

We had an ordinary day at sea, including a lovely dinner on the pool deck with friends and a fun show with both the classical guitarist and the South American harpist. The next morning we woke up early in order to watch the arrival in Tonga.

 

Tonga. Wow. Everything was dramatic. The pilot boat, the tying up at the pier, the rain, the blowholes, the countryside, the fire dance, the traffic, the wind, the delay leaving but most of all the people. They were wonderful. So, while the sun didn't shine to show off the lush beauty of the island, we still had a fabulous time and so did almost all the other passengers I talked to or overheard talking about their experiences on the island.

 

The weather was iffy so aside from the pilot jump, we didn't stay on deck too long as we arrived in Tonga. I was pleased to see the pilot jump because it was so interesting. It was the smallest pilot boat I've ever seen, probably not much more than 18' and with an outboard motor. Because the pilot boat was so small, the pilot had to climb up a rope ladder. As precarious as my shots are, it was even worse in the afternoon when he had to return to the little boat. In the morning he was going from bobbing boat to steady ship, in the afternoon he was descending onto the bobbing boat and it was much rougher than in the morning. Other passengers said they had never seen anything like it.

 

 

I was on deck 5, having breakfast on our balcony as we came into the pier. It was amazing to see the following - the buoy was moving strangely because it wasn't a buoy, it was a man, standing out in the water, fishing.

 

First of all, we have leaped into the future so are now a day ahead of most of you. In a moment, we went from 23:59:59, Wednesday Jan 22, to 00:00:01, Friday, Jan 24. Thankfully, no-one on board had a birthday on the 23rd! There was one couple who had birthdays on the 20th and 24th so, for the first time, their birthdays were only 3 days apart, not 4!

 

We had an ordinary day at sea, including a lovely dinner on the pool deck with friends and a fun show with both the classical guitarist and the South American harpist. The next morning we woke up early in order to watch the arrival in Tonga.

 

Tonga. Wow. Everything was dramatic. The pilot boat, the tying up at the pier, the rain, the blowholes, the countryside, the fire dance, the traffic, the wind, the delay leaving but most of all the people. They were wonderful. So, while the sun didn't shine to show off the lush beauty of the island, we still had a fabulous time and so did almost all the other passengers I talked to or overheard talking about their experiences on the island.

 

The weather was iffy so aside from the pilot jump, we didn't stay on deck too long as we arrived in Tonga. I was pleased to see the pilot jump because it was so interesting. It was the smallest pilot boat I've ever seen, probably not much more than 18' and with an outboard motor. Because the pilot boat was so small, the pilot had to climb up a rope ladder. As precarious as it looks in my shots, it was even worse in the afternoon when he had to return to the little boat. In the morning he was going from bobbing boat to steady ship, in the afternoon he was descending onto the bobbing boat and it was much rougher than in the morning. Other passengers said they had never seen anything like it.

 

 

 

 

I was on deck 5, having breakfast on our balcony as we came into the pier. It was amazing to see the following - the buoy was moving strangely because it wasn't a buoy, it was a man, standing out in the water, fishing, a long way from shore.

 

Like Pago Pago, the pier was much too short for our ship but I'd never seen lines taken ashore by boat before. It was interesting to watch.

 

While we were watching the ship being docked, on the pier the police band was playing to welcome us to Tonga. The first piece caused both Ken and I to laugh. It was "Nearer My God To Thee" (reportedly the piece the band played as the Titanic sunk!)

 

We were cleared to go ashore and warned it was very windy and rain was forecast so to take our umbrellas. By the time we made it to the band, it was raining hard and we sheltered and listened to them play. They were getting buffeted by water but played on cheerfully for us.

 

One wise Thai passenger, when encouraged to hurry up and get under our shelter responded with, "I'm going to get wet today. Why rush as well?!" That became my motto for the day and I hope I remember it for the future.

 

We found our tour bus and headed off on a tour of the island. First stop were the blow holes. They run along a 16 km stretch of the coast line and windy days are the best to see them.

 

The rain held off at key moments of the day, and the blow hole visit was one them.

 

From there we went to the other end of the island to Hina Cave (pronounced Heena) for a snack and cultural show. Along the way we saw lots of the countryside. Among other things, the island grows breadfruit, banana, yams (which are part of special occasions and ceremonies with royalty), tapioca, mango, taro, coconut, chickens, cattle, pigs, dogs. Our tour guide had 6 dogs, 9 pigs. And yes, they eat dog there. She says it is very good roasted.

 

The area is very lush and the food production seemed plentiful. People would sell at stands at the road, rather than take their food to the market where they'd have to pay for a table to display their food. We even passed a prison market stall since the prisoners are expected to farm in order to supply their own food as well as sell the excess.

 

Livinia our guide (her name means "floating on the river", although she pointed out there are no rivers on the island) was a wealth of information, from the education (compulsory from age 6 - 18, free only until age 12, but the country has a 98% literacy rate in English, even though it is the second language - Tongan being the first), the effects of Cyclone Ian (only one dead but many islands had 90% of the housing wiped out), to pointing out different buildings and telling us the burial traditions (this was top of mind for her since she also works in a home for disabled people and a resident died the previous day.) The island is flat so, in the event of a tsunami, there is no high ground to move to, just coconut trees to climb. I asked if she was good at climbing coconut trees, and she said, no, but a mango tree would do! There are areas where tsunami warning systems are being installed but unlike Pago Pago, where it was obvious where to run (up hills) it isn't obvious what good the warning will do on Tonga.

 

We arrived at the Hina Cave and walked down the steps to the beach. There, in the cliff was a large cave with the rock remains of Hina, a woman who would come and watch from the beach as her man fished and one day he didn't come back in. In her grief, she lay down in the cave and died and turned to stone. There was a rock formation that did look like a woman so it was an interesting tale.

 

The family that owns the property now has revived it, built a restaurant and villas and offers cultural shows in the cave. For us, we were offered a light fruit snack, served on plates made from banana fronds, in the woven coconut leaf thatched restaurant, right on the beach. It was an idyllic site.

Our snack of watermelon, papaw (spelling?), pineapple, seaweed and coconut. The seaweed was really salty but good, and the coconut when consumed with the seaweed reduced the saltiness.

 

We watched an abbreviated version of the cultural show. There highlight for me was the war dance. At least until two of the dancers scampered up the rocks of the side of the cave and started blowing conch shells. Then the fire dance began. There were three dancers, including the grandson of the owners making his first appearance as a fire dancer.

 

The older dancers would come in with only one side of the torch lit. One set his hand on fire and then used that to light the other end of the torch, the other set his mouth on fire and touched the unlit end of the torch to his mouth to light it. It was incredibly impressive.

 

We made our way back up the cliff to the bus and headed back to the port. The traffic at noon surprised us, it was so heavy. While the countryside had just small lean-to style shops, the town had more substantial stores but was still what we were used to seeing in Africa and south Asian islands. There was a bill board proclaiming "High Speed Internet is coming to Tonga. It is an exciting time!" but there was another one indicating we were entering the wifi zone so it seems that wifi is available throughout the down town (we didn't test it.)

 

The wind was very high by then. The bus was able to take us closer to the ship and I adjusted my Tilley hat to the Hurricane Setting and we walked back to the ship. I had hoped to buy souvenirs at the pier but that was not to be since the winds had driven the sellers away and people were struggling to take it down before it blew away.

 

The wind was blowing at gusts of up to 60knots. And we had to walk, into the wind, just over the length of the ship to get re-board. Thankfully, at that moment it was just wind, no rain. Despite the weather, the Tongans were so welcoming that their actions are what I'll remember most of the day.

I overheard one elderly woman telling a friend, “the wind was so strong, it kept pushing me back and a Tongan woman came and walked, holding on to me, taking me back to the ship.”

 

 

Others were out walking in an residential area when the skies opened and the rain flowed. A Tongan in an SUV pulled over at the side of the road and offered them a drive.

 

 

When the weather was better, people came to the entrances of their offices (government, law, etc, not stores) and called out a welcome to the passengers out for a stroll.

 

 

And my friends were in a taxi and arrived back at the pier when the rain was really coming down. The guard at the gate indicated that was as far as the taxi could go and the driver said something, the guard laughed and waved him through. They get to the next check point, same thing. So they were taken almost to the gang plank. They asked their driver what he said. It was, “I have two really old people here who can't manage the walk!” It wasn't true (she and I are competing each sea day to see who walks the most) but it got them successfully to the gangplank so they didn't know whether to laugh to or be insulted. Regardless, they were certainly thankful for the white lie!

 

 

The weather played havoc with our ability to leave. It was too rough to get a man onto the piling. I watched as over and over, they'd approach the piling in a little 12' aluminum open boat, with one person bailing in the front, one steering the outboard motor at the back and the other supposed to climb up. The ladder was on the windy side so it was too dangerous for them to take the boat around to that side (it would be crushed against the piling.)

 

 

The captain came on and announced that with winds over 100 km/h it was unsafe to try and leave. So we waited 2.5 hours until the winds dropped enough that they could get our lines detached and we could safely pull away.

 

 

We had lunch in the cabin (I wanted pool deck food that wouldn't be served there due to the weather) and we watched Monsters U. There are now streaming movies available on laptops (or tablets) for free and we'd been wanting to watch things but the weather has been so good we didn't want to waste our time watching tv. So we got one movie viewed.

 

 

Surprisingly, it wasn't rough after we left, despite an angry looking sea. I napped, missing tea but awakening in time for trivia. The evening was Tropical Night so we wore our outfits that we picked up in Maui.

 

We had another nice dinner with friends and then skipped the show in order to get to bed only slightly late, rather than way too late.

 

 

Today is rough. Not unbearable rough but I awoke with a headache and the desire to stay in bed all day. I put on my sea-bands and am feeling much better now. The captain reports that we are in a tropical depression with 10' waves, long swells, rated Force 8 on the Beaufort Scale, and winds up to 50 knots. There was thunder and lightening at noon and the rain is heavy at times. That makes it easier to spend time in the cabin writing. Ken's watching streaming movies. We are working our way out of the weather (already it looks like the rain has stopped) and so things should be calmer later. It is formal tonight so I need to do my nails and shower. But first there's a lecture, then tea and finally trivia.

[duct tape]

Thanx, CK, enjoying it!

[Stumblefoot]

What an exciting adventure to Tonga! The stories of hospitality alone makes me want to visit someday.