HILO and HONOLULU, HAWAII

Aloha from HILO & HONOLULU, HAWAII!

The weather’s been good for sitting by the pool although we’ve had some dreary, cloudy days -- but it sure beats Incline snow!!! Our day in HILO was pretty short, and about half the ship headed for the bus to WalMart!! We did our big shopping of toiletries, wine, medications etc. and headed out to find an internet café -- which we missed by 5 minutes! It rained a little as was expected -- Hilo is the wettest place in the U.S. with over 200 inches of rain a year -- so we decided to go back to the ship. Even the concrete is black from the lava the island is made of, and the rain made the hills look even lusher and greener than usual. We even saw a rainbow for good luck!

HONOLULU was partly cloudy, 80 degrees, and calm seas. We found an internet café where we did our bill paying, banking and answering emails -- what a treat to look out over the ocean, sipping our iced tea, knowing that our connection was working!! (It’s amazing what little things bring us pleasure when we’re traveling …) We wandered through the Aloha Tower Marketplace shops which were decorated for Chinese New Year, then visited Costco where we bought a suitcase to replace the one that was damaged on the way to the ship. We’d visited most of the places of interest on past trips, so were happy to just enjoy the harbor and beautiful flowers and decorations in the shops. Another little triumph was finding a salon and getting our nails done!! The shopkeepers were very different from the Mexican merchants -- they politely let us browse and didn’t follow us down the street dropping prices even lower, the farther we got from their shop… We were ready for the poolside barbeque and mai tai’s back on board.

MISCELLANEOUS TRIVIA:
We traveled almost 3,000 nautical miles from L.A. to Hilo, and we’ll go another 3,030 from Honolulu to Espirtu Santo in Vanuatu. This is an island where the Americans had a base in WW II. It’s a small island, with beautiful beaches, rain forests, water falls and lagoons. They’re the only South Pacific island nation that has ever received a grant ($65 million dollars) from the U.S. Millenium Fund for emerging nations. Michener lived here and wrote Tales of the South Pacific in 1946, the book that the movie South Pacific was based on.

Thank goodness for the rugs in the elevators -- every day they change them to let us know what day of the week it is! That, along with the daily schedules that remind me of high school timetables, are the only way we know what day of the week it is and where we should be at what time to make our lectures and classes!!


Nautical miles are slightly longer than land miles -- 6,076 feet vs. 5280 feet.

In early sailing days they calculated speed by dropping a log line with knots at equal distances from the stern, and then they counted the number of knots that were used in a certain time frame. Today it’s done with Doppler radar, bouncing back underwater signals from the ground or a water layer back to the ship. We traveled 3,000 miles at approximately 20 mph and loved the pace!! Sixteen knots converts to about 18.5 statute miles per hour.

Captain Olav has calculated his course so that at exactly noon on Friday, January 30th we will cross the “GOLDEN LINE” -- the intersection of the International Date Line and the Equator. At that time, we lose a day, going from noon Friday to noon Saturday!!! So to celebrate that, they’re planning a “Thank Goodness It’s Not Friday” cocktail party -- any excuse for a party!

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO & L.A.; AT SEA

Hi Everyone!

We loved Cabo San Lucas and were sorry there wasn’t more time to explore the area. I found it interesting that the pelicans were “blondes” and “brunettes” -- they didn’t seem to be bothered by people, sunning themselves on boats, docks and the piers. The harbor is shallow so we had to take a tender (the lifeboats) from the ship to shore -- I was impressed with how durable and well stocked for emergencies they seemed to be. However, I wouldn’t want to test them in high seas! The beaches are pretty, and the hills are developed with homes and hotels. The overall effect was very different from Acapulco. A large American retirement colony has sprung up because of the wonderful weather and low prices. Even Costco and Home Depot have found their way here!

Our time in LA was limited because we weren’t allowed to get off until all the disembarking passengers and their luggage were offloaded .. Dean (Dick’s son) drove up from San Diego to have lunch with us and update us on all the happenings with his family. My nephew and his wife also spent time with us, and I managed to have the Geek Squad create a “workaround” for the problem I got myself into earlier. Our friends Chuck and Erlyne came on board, and we spent a lovely evening watching the L.A. harbor slip away as we began our voyage to Hawaii.

Our days at sea are busy with fitness classes, arts and crafts seminars, bridge lessons, cooking and flower arranging demonstrations, and ‘explorations lectures’ to choose from. There’s a movie theatre and a showroom where they entertain us with comedians, musical shows and tonight Vicki Lawrence is the headliner. The weather’s been dreary and the swells are a little more than gentle, but no sea sickness …. All this water gives me a greater appreciation for the explorers who first discovered Hawaii (and the New World in general) and how they managed to find it again on later voyages …
We’ve all had some illnesses -- Dick started us out with a bad cough, cold and sore throat which Stela soon developed, and I had abdominal cramps and headache for a few days. But we’re all on the road to recovery, and fortunately it’s on our days at sea so we’re not missing out on seeing the ports of call. It also doesn’t hurt any of us to miss a meal or two! Next stop is Hilo -- and we have our shopping lists for WalMart ready. We’ve all discovered things that we’ve forgotten and can’t live without …

GUATEMALA, HUATULCO and ACAPULCO

Greetings from GUATEMALA, HUATULCO and ACAPULCO:

With all the pills and potions I packed to protect us, I never anticipated that my back problem might resurface … but sure enough I hobbled around for 3 days doing minimal activities. Because of this we could only visit the craft market at the pier in Guatemala and weren’t able to travel inland to see Antigua, a 90 minute bus ride away. The people were mainly of Indian descent and their crafts were embroidered items, silver jewelry and some carvings.

In HUATULCO the drawing card is the beautiful sandy beaches! The shoreline curves around, and there are dozens of little beaches in sheltered coves as far as the eye could see, and the water is warm and clear, perfect for an afternoon swim. We watched a small boat feeding flocks of pelicans…They compare this town with the Acapulco of 40 years ago -- quiet, unspoiled by development, clean and inviting.

ACAPULCO was disappointing -- we haven’t been there for 40 years, and today it could be any large warm climate city i.e. Miami Beach, Honolulu, even L.A. with lots of cars and exhaust fumes, high rise hotels and the usual ‘old town’ slums. We just took a taxi ride down the main “hotel row” and went back to the ship. The harbor, though, is very pretty with lots of hills dotted with houses, and small boats on the water. We saw the cruise ship that passed through the Panama Canal beside us, already docked as we approached.

Dick celebrated his birthday yesterday and at dinner we had champagne, lots of funny cards, balloons, a silver foil crown, cake and serenade by the waiters. That was the second birthday our table had celebrated! We’re at sea today, enroute to Cabo San Lucas. Hopefully we’ll see some of the migrating whales …

The weather’s been great with only one bad storm, but it was overnight so we haven’t had to use any of our sea sick remedies (YET!). Temperatures have been in the low 80s -- no snow to shovel!!

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA and COSTA RICA

Hi Everyone!

We explored Cartagena today, driving through the old and new towns for an overview. It was founded in 1533 and was a walled city -- walls are 50 feet thick at some places, with rusted guns still in place. This fortress on top of a high hill guards the city from pirates and enemy attacks, while a statue of the sailor's Virgin in the harbor welcomes sailors and fishermen home. Several other low and high decorative walls are made of coral. The town was a typical Latin American city with a modern highrise skyline of offices, apartments and condos, while other parts of the town are slums, interspersed with some higher income residential areas. We visited several shops and a jewellery manufacturing store -- of course we had to buy emeralds in the Emerald Capital of the world!

The surrounding countryside is very dense jungle inhabited by unfriendly Amerindians -- anyone moving to Cartagena wanting to have their car with them, has to have it shipped because there will probably never be a highway built for easy land access to Cartagena.

COSTA RICA:
Spent the day in Costa Rica yesterday. The countryside is very lush and green, with lots of hills and jungle vegetation. It’s a typical Latin American scene, with small tin-roofed houses and a few larger more expensive villas, probably belonging to Americans. Pay is about $400/month with rents running about $250. Villas can probably be purchased for $85 to $100 thousand dollars, and there’s lots of For Sale signs around. Tourism is the main industry, with cantaloupes and melons next, followed by bananas and coffee. The literacy rate is very high, and they have socialized medicine.
They’re very ecologically aware, and protect their wildlife in their natural habitats. We saw a white faced capuchin monkey, a racoon, a scarlet mackaw which is absolutely beautiful with the sun glinting on it, lots of other birds, white oxen and horses, and alligators.
We’re at sea today, just catching up. It’s been very calm and we’ve been lucky to miss rain showers.
More later -- I still haven’t mastered how to include pictures -- I’m still working on it. Regards!

OUR CRUISE BEGINS! and PANAMA CANAL

Hi Everyone!

On January 3rd, 2009, we made our last preparations for our Trip of a Lifetime. The luggage had already been shipped, arrangements for mail pickup and snow removal had been made, power strips were shut down, water had been turned off and pipes drained, and our overnight luggage was packed and ready to go.

All that remained was to drop off our beloved 14-year old Jack Russell terrier, Higgins, with his Aunt Margherite in Reno for the 4-1/2 month duration of our trip. He was in seventh heaven because she has horses, a mule, cats, chickens and ducks, two dogs, no stairs and a fenced in yard where he could run free! We knew he was in good hands!!

Our wakeup call at the Peppermill was at 4:00 a.m.! Arrived at Delta by 5:30 a.m. -- forgot hats at the check-in counter and had to go back through security to get them! Ran all the way, but made it! Very frustrating trip due to takeoff delays, missed connections, change of equipment -- but we travelled First and Business Class, so that helped. Delivered from the airport in Fort Lauderdale to the Hilton in our personal stretch limo -- our first! Lights out (at last) at 11:45 p.m.! VERY long day ...

Check in at the terminal the next morning went very smoothly and we were soon examining our home for the next 128 days (stateroom 6162 on the port side) -- compact but comfortable with a lovely verandah where we could enjoy breakfast and/or cocktails while sailing from exciting port of call to port of call.

This promises to be a vacation to remember ....

Arriving in style at the Pier in our private stretch limo!

Our Home for the next 4 months -- compact but comfortable …

Internet access on board is not the best!! It depends on the weather and how many people are using it so we take our chances … We haven’t had our class yet on how to post information, so I’m experimenting and hopefully this will work. I’ll try posting updates every few days.

Our first week has just flown by! The ride has been very smooth so far, and the weather is perfect. We quickly adapted to breakfast delivered to our room, beds being made for us, no cooking or dishes to do, ice and lime appearing magically at 5 p.m., and gourmet dinner selections every night … Our dinner companions are delightful. We also bumped into an Incline couple -- small world! -- Karin and Earl Romach; some of you may know them, but they’re not staying for the entire cruise, and are leaving the ship in L.A.

Preparing for the unexpected “lesser cruise” …

PANAMA CANAL:
We arrived at the first lock of the Panama Canal at 6:00 a.m. It's been fascinating going though them. I didn't realize that the canal joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through a series of cuts through the land as well as using a natural lake to cross the almost 50 miles to the other side.

There are three sets of locks each with 2 lanes, to raise the ships from sea level up 26 meters to the level of Gatun Lake where they navigate around many islands to the next set of locks, which then lowers ships back down to sea level. "Mules" are like railroad engines and attach lines to the bow and stern of each ship to help guide it through the locks, pulling them up to the next level when necessary. Each lockage uses 197 million liters of fresh water from Gatun Lake -- Panama has an abundance of rain and water so this isn't a problem. It will take 8 hours to complete the entire transit through the canal. The vegetation is very lush and it's humid, but not too hot. We're cruising the lake as I write, and it's somewhat reminiscent of the Yangze River scenery -- a narrow, winding river with some hills and cliffs and heavy foliage, mostly deciduous, with a few palm trees. There’s very good lecturers that give us information about the coming ports which is great.

The "mules" at work

Moving into the next higher lock

Leaving the first set of Panama Canal locks to enter Lake Gatun

We saw dolphins playing in the wake this morning off of the coast of Costa Rica. The show was better than Sea World! And we’re on the lookout for large turtles who lay their eggs on the beaches here.

WORLD CRUISE ITINERARY

Mon Jan 5 Fort Lauderdale, FL
Thu Jan 8 Cartagena, Colombia
Fri Jan 9 Panama Canal (Full Transit)
Sun Jan 11 Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica
Tue Jan 13 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
Wed Jan 14 Huatulco, Mexico
Thu Jan 15 Acapulco, Mexico
Sat Jan 17 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Mon Jan 19 Los Angeles, CA
Sat Jan 24 Hilo, Hawaii, HI
Sun Jan 25 Honolulu, Oahu, HI
Thu Jan 29 Crossing the International Date Line
Sun Feb 1 Funafuti, Tuvalu -- REPLACED by Luganville, Vanuatu
Wed Feb 4 Port-Vila, Vanuatu
Fri Feb 6 Noumea, New Caledonia
Sat Feb 7 Ile des Pins, New Caledonia
Tue Feb 10 Sydney, Australia
Wed Feb 11 Sydney, Australia
Fri Feb 13 Melbourne, Australia
Sun Feb 15 Adelaide, Australia
Thu Feb 19 Perth (Fremantle), Australia
Fri Feb 20 Perth (Fremantle), Australia
Tue Feb 24 Lembar, Indonesia
Wed Feb 25 Slawi Bay, Indonesia
Fri Feb 27 Semarang, Indonesia
Sat Feb 28 Crossing the Equator
Wed Mar 4 Hong Kong, China
Thu Mar 5 Hong Kong, China
Sun Mar 8 Shanghai, China
Mon Mar 9 Shanghai, China
Fri Mar 13 Nha Trang, Vietnam
Sun Mar 15 Kemaman, Malaysia
Mon Mar 16 Singapore
Wed Mar 18 Phuket, Thailand
Sun Mar 22 Cochin, India
Tue Mar 24 Bombay (Mumbai), India
Wed Mar 25 Bombay (Mumbai), India
Sat Mar 28 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Sun Mar 29 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tue Mar 31 Muscat, Oman
Sun Apr 5 Seychelles
Mon Apr 6 Seychelles
Thu Apr 9 Mombasa, Kenya
Fri Apr 10 Mombasa, Kenya
Sun Apr 12 Nosy Be, Madagascar -- CANCELLED due to political unrest
Mon Apr 13 Mayotte, Comoro Islands -- CANCELLED due to political unrest
Thu Apr 16 Maputo, Mozambique (maiden stop for Holland America)
Fri Apr 17 Richards Bay, South Africa
Sat Apr 18 Durban, South Africa
Mon Apr 20 Cape Town, South Africa
Tue Apr 21 Cape Town, South Africa
Wed Apr 22 Cape Town, South Africa
Fri Apr 24 Luderitz, Namibia
Sat Apr 25 Walvis Bay, Namibia
Tue Apr 28 St. Helena, UK Territory
Thu Apr 30 Ascension Island, U.K. Territory
Tue May 5 Devil's Island, French Guiana
Thu May 7 Port of Spain
Fri May 8 Barbados
Sun May 10 St. Barts
Wed May 13 Fort Lauderdale, FL

AboutMe:
My lifetime dream of cruising the world is finally coming true!! On January 5th our ship, Holland America Line's ms Rotterdam leaves Fort Lauderdale on the first leg of our journey -- through the Panama Canal on the way to many faraway ports of call on five continents. We invite you to join us (on line!) as we share some of our experiences. Our shipboard group consists of our friends Chuck and Erlyne Beltz (whose idea it was in the first place!), my sister Stela, my husband and myself. After 4-1/2 months together, there should be no secrets left -- we should have some interesting and entertaining stories to tell on our return....! We'll miss our regular club meetings and working on projects, but promise to make up for lost time before the summer fundraisers begin. Trading in the ski season for lounging on south sea islands wasn't too difficult a choice. We're excited and looking forward to learning about new places and new cultures. Welcome aboard!