“the Big One”! World Cruise on Sojourn

[galeforce9]

11 minutes ago, shark b8 said:

Yeah, I remember the Nicholas Whatever-it-was had a strange, slightly metallic taste.   To me anyway.  

 

Today we’re sailing Pitcairn as previously mentioned.  Some of the islanders set up shop in the MDR, selling handicrafts & souvenirs.  Last night we got a notice in our mail clip that anyone who wanted to do so, could have Guest Services pull their passports, and they’d be stamped.  Surely one of the rarer stamps, but haven’t actually seen it yet.  So now, strangely, we landed on Easter Island but couldn’t get a stamp, and we didn’t land on Pitcairn, but got one.  

 

 

Probably because you’d already entered chile and Easter island is Chilean so already had the entry stamp. 

[shark b8]

An interesting article:

 

https://archive.archaeology.org/9905/etc/bounty.html

[shark b8]

The locals load up their boat, to head back to the island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shark b8]

[cadburysmom]

5 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Nothing.

 

Except maybe I'm not about to enjoy it.

My thoughts exactly

[shark b8]

So now we’re sailing WNW, we should arrive in Papeete Monday morning.  I don’t think seas get much smoother than this:

 

[shark b8]

CruiseMapper.com shows our sailing today.  Pretty sure it’s an approximation, as I don’t remember running aground that many times.  🤪

 

 

[lincslady]

I feel sure I am being a dope here, but could you have landed,  presumably by tender,  on Pitcairn?  I see the locals were in a pretty sturdy boat to come aboard. 

[shark b8]

27 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I feel sure I am being a dope here, but could you have landed,  presumably by tender,  on Pitcairn?  I see the locals were in a pretty sturdy boat to come aboard. 

 

The following is my speculation, happy to be corrected if nec:

 

As saminina and others have mentioned, the sea conditions are very, very rarely conducive to any landings, other than by experienced sailor-types.  I gather the landing is essentially a ramp down into the surf, which would be very difficult for the tenders, let alone the….ahem….older clientele that Seabourn tends to carry.  And mostly, the island has now a grand total of 48 inhabitants (more than half of whom came onboard and were great fun, doing talkstory and singing songs) - so they surely just don’t have anywhere near enough requisite guest facilities, anywhere on the island, for several hundred passengers.  Sure would have liked to go ashore, though!

[florisdekort]

16 hours ago, lincslady said:

I feel sure I am being a dope here, but could you have landed,  presumably by tender,  on Pitcairn?  I see the locals were in a pretty sturdy boat to come aboard. 

By local longboat or zodiac only. 
 

[shark b8]

We are (roughly) halfway between South America & Australia.  

 

[saminina]

There is a ramp on Pitcairn that was cemented a few years years ago to accommodate the legal folks from New Zealand that prosecuted and convicted a few men for child molestation.  I toured the prison in which they lived.  The gates were open and nobody was home.   Why?  Because these were the men that drove the longboats to get the islanders onto the ship.   Of the 48 residents, none are under the age of 18.  Population was 58 fifteen years ago.   

 

 

[shark b8]

Meant to mention this several days ago……the is the first cruise (meaning for us, of course) since Seabourn “re-opened” for business after COVID-closure that they have allowed a “galley meal”.  Guessing most anyone reading this probably already knows what that is, but if not - they set up an elaborate buffet-style meal, but located in the galley of the MDR.  So diners get to wander around that amazing stainless steel jungle, and assemble lots of goodies, take it all back out to the dining room to be enjoyed.  Obvs for a period of time when COVID concerns were just starting to ease for a lot of people, there were still worries about customers (and crew) mingling close to each other, especially in food-prep areas.   Anyway, they’re a fun twist on the dining scene, and nice to see yet another aspect of cruising that might be continuing to return to a sense of normalcy. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by shark b8

[shark b8]

…..and btw, when diners were allowed to wander the galley and select their stuff, they were first asked to thoroughly wash hands in a galley basin, and were required to wear masks (in the galley only).

[shark b8]

[shark b8]

We’re in Papeete, and as we walked off the ship to our shore excursion, we got our best starboard-glimpse yet of the damage that was done at the Manta, Ecuador dock.  Florisdekort “broke the story”, earlier in this thread.  anyway, when we got back from our day off the ship, the crews were almost done re-painting.  Before and…..nearly after:

 

[shark b8]

At least it looks like there will be no shortage of pineapples going forward.  Sauternes…..we’ll see.  

 

[lincslady]

Well, it is a French island and Sauternes is certainly French, so you might be in luck.

 

I think today you may be having a changeover of passengers?

[highplanesdrifters]

7 hours ago, shark b8 said:

Magical

[florisdekort]

5 hours ago, lincslady said:

Well, it is a French island and Sauternes is certainly French, so you might be in luck.

 

I think today you may be having a changeover of passengers?

I was told 55 leaving, 57 joining for a new total of 323 to Sydney. 

 

[lincslady]

323 passengers means a good amount of space for everyone - and I would have thought no need for lots of reserving of sun loungers.

[topkatz]

Here is the timelapse I did of our Panama Canal transit. Waited to post until I could find shore based Wi-Fi, didn't want to overload the ship Wi-Fi.

Enjoy

Edited February 7, 2023 by topkatz
Notee on upload

[shark b8]

5 hours ago, florisdekort said:

I was told 55 leaving, 57 joining for a new total of 323 to Sydney. 

 

I was told the same thing - “50-some leaving, 50-some arriving”, so the net amount stays about the same.

[goaliedad30]

Sunset last night over the harbor. The ship moored next to us is a large private vessel, oddly enough named "Arctic" ... He seems lost! 😎

[tv24]

323 on board.  Are they limiting capacity, or just not a sold-out crossing?  Or a combination?