FAMILY OF RAYS: August 2008

Sapphire Princess – Leaving Sydney

Day 1 - On Monday, April 14, 2008, we checked out of the Sydney Harbor Marriott. I had to go to work for a few hours but at around 1:00pm, I met Kelly at the hotel, we gathered our luggage and headed off to Circular Quay (pronounced Circular Key) to board the Sapphire Princess for 31 days of luxury. We were headed home after being overseas since August 9, 2001. That day we ate at the buffet (several times) and just sat on the deck and enjoyed the harbour for the last time. Our room was fantastic, with a king size bed and a balcony overlooking the ocean the whole way home. Later the first evening, we got in our swimming suits and sat in the hot tub for a while. It was quite chilly outside, being in the Southern Hemisphere this time of the year, it is fall, heading to winter. We didn’t stay out on the deck very late since we had a balcony room because we could just go to our room and watch the city fade behind us.
Day 2 – Tuesday, April 15, 20908 - The next morning, we woke up, ate breakfast of course (24 hour buffets) and then started our hope to be routine. We went to the gym and walked on the treadmill and did a tiny bit of resistance training. I say tiny bit because it has been a while and we didn’t want to be stiff for the entire trip. After the gym, we got in our swimming suits and sat in the hot tub. Remember, it is quite cold right now (and we are certainly looking forward to the day we head north) and the hot tub felt wonderful. We kept looking at the swimming pool, outdoor of course, and wondered if we dared attempt to getting in. Remember, this is a 31 day cruise so you can imagine it is full of our age or older, some much older, people, so no one was in the swimming pool. We decided that after staying in the hot tub for a while, our body temperature would rise enough that we would dare attempt the swimming pool. We did and it was surprisingly warm. We kept that a secret because we wanted it all to ourselves, and we had it. With the ship moving through the Tasman Sea, it got a little rough, which made the pool act like a wave pool but it was great fun and we certainly did look brave to all the onlookers wondering how we could brave this cold water in the rough like conditions, or so it seemed. We stayed in the pool, swimming laps, for quite a while and then back to the hot tub. The wind was blowing so getting out of the pool and into the hot tub was a brave feat. We stayed there a little while longer, had a few people stop to talk and ask us how it was (we still tried to keep the warm pool a secret) and after a while, back to the swimming pool. We decided to sit on the deck for a while before going back to our room and there we were, minding our own business when two people walked buy. The man had a big pack on and the woman was carrying a basket. Lo and behold, the pack was full of milk and the basked full of warm peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Of course, after all the work they had done, we couldn’t very well say no, so we accepted their generous offer of nice cold milk (which he had a hose type spicket to fill the glass) and warm cookies. It was the least we could do before we headed back to our room. After we showered and got ready for the rest of the day, we once again relaxed on our balcony, looking out over miles and miles of water, and thought, THIS IS THE LIFE. We took a nap (like all good old people should do) and watched a little TV. After all, we are on this ship for 31 days, so we didn’t need see everything in one day, and relaxing was one of our major goals.
That evening, we dressed up, smart casual was the dress code for the evening, and went to the dining room for dinner. Dinners in the dining room are quite fancy and I had sea scallops and Kelly had a New York steak, medium rare of course. After a great meal, we headed off to the theater to see what performances were going on and it was full, not even standing room, so we left. We found the casino and (we know, we know, we shouldn’t gamble) tried our luck at some quarter slots. Of course we didn’t win a thing, so Kelly gave me $20 and told me to try playing on a 21 table. It was scary, like handing someone $20 and saying thanks for nothing, but I did win a little, ended up with $65, but that only helped recuperate what we lost on the slots. All in all, the casino adventure cost us around $15, so not bad for an evening of illegal (in our religion at least) fun. We just decided there was nothing else we wanted to do so we just went back to our room and watched TV. I had been to the library and checked out a Stephen King (CELL) novel to read while I lay around being lazy, my favorite past time. I read while Kelly watched TV and then off with the lights and the end of our second day at sea. Tomorrow Melbourne, Australia.
Day 3 – Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - We spent the day in Melbourne, but being our ambitious selves, we didn’t even leave the ship. Melbourne, as wonderful of a city as it is supposed to be, didn’t interest us, so instead of going ashore and spending money we didn’t need to spend, we stayed on board and had the ship almost to our self. That is saying something on this 17 story ship. We started the day by going to the breakfast buffet (of course). I only had a bowl of oatmeal and Kelly had some fruit and yogurt but we didn’t fret over only having that because we knew we would be back. Then we went to the room to relax after spending an exhausting morning eating, sat on the deck and watched all the jelly fish congregating around the ship (from 14 stories up, where our room is). Of course, a few hours had passed by then and the breakfast buffet was calling again, and after all we only had a small amount, so back to the buffet to have a titch bit more and then back to the room to rest a little more. After we were well rested, we got dressed for our hopeful daily routine and went to the gym. Of course, we had it pretty much to ourselves too so we got the pick of the treadmills and the best view. The gym is positioned in a fantastic place, in front of a huge picture window looking over the ocean. I was a little braver this time and walked/ran for 45 minutes and then a little resistance training. Then back to the room, into our swimsuits and into the hot tub. We sat there for a while and then went swimming, for a long time, and back to the hot tub. I brought my scary Stephen King novel out and then stayed on the loungers reading and getting some much needed sun. Kelly sat there too relaxing and then the smell of barbecued hamburgers got our attention, and of course, we had worked so hard in the gym and in the pool we thought we would treat ourselves to a hamburger. Boy the pizza smelt good too but that would have to wait for a few hours. Looks like we better start spending a little more time in the gym. We laid in the sun for a few hours (not too hot being this far south though) and then Kelly went back to the room. To be honest, he left because a really big lady sat next to him and she didn’t care that she was very large, with big moles all over her back with her boobs hanging out. I think it just didn’t sit well with him because he wanted some bathing beauty sit next to him. I guess that is what we get for taking a cruise where only old people could afford to be away from home that long since they were probably all retired, and were basically the only age that can afford such an extravagant vacation. Thank you US Government for helping us pay for ours or we wouldn’t be able to afford it either. I went back to the room and got Kelly after a short while, because the ship was getting ready to sail away from Melbourne, headed toward Tasmania, and I wanted to be on deck to hear the captain blow the horns. Of course, the smell of the pizza was getting to me too, so of course, I had to get two slices, one for Kelly one for me. He didn’t eat his and I only took a few bites, but it was good. Had to save room for dinner of course. (By the way, the captain didn’t even blow the horns, which upset me, I wanted to hear them, but….) It was formal night which meant we were supposed to dress in evening gowns and suits to go to dinner in the dining room, but we decided we had worked way too hard that day, the gym and swimming pool and all, and we didn’t want to get all dolled up. We just stayed in our room for a while, sitting on the deck watching the sunset as we pulled out to sea. We just sat there until the dinner buffets called us and we once again took the long trek (which is on the same floor as our room and the swimming pool) to have our dinner. Maybe later a voice will call us back to the buffet, it is open for 24 hours after all.
Day 4 – Thursday, April 17, 2008 - We woke up this morning a little later than usual, 7ish am. We went to breakfast and, believe it or not, we only had one breakfast, we’re getting better. We went back to the room for a while; I finished my scary book while Kelly got ready to go to the gym. I told him I would finish a chapter and meet him there but I cheated and finished the rest. By the time I got to the gym, all the treadmills were taken. Who would think that all these old people would be so into fitness? They act like this is a fat camp, what's with that. I ended up having to suffer and go to the jogging track, poor me. It is an outside track, on the 17th floor of the ship overlooking the Tasman Sea. It was very pleasant but not as easy as the treadmill because I had to use sheer willpower to go around and around. 10 times equals one mile and going around and round and around was hard but I did it. Kelly met me about a ¼ way through and he went around with me a few times and then went down to save us a table on the outside deck so when we decided to eat lunch we could sit outside. I went around a few more times and that was it. Around the pool, they had set up a small Italian station where they made pasta and a few different kinds of sauce. I got me and Kelly a plate while he saved our table. It was good, like all the food has been so far. Boy, if we don’t work out more and watch what we eat, we will have to go to a fat camp, what's with that. After we ate and sat outside for a while, we went down to the 5th floor where the library was to get me another book. It was closed, go figure, so we decided we had had enough exertion for the day and decided to go back to the room and relax, this is exhausting after all. I didn’t really want to lie down in bed and watch TV so I decided to get my swimming suit on and go swimming. I first went down again to see if the library was open so I could find another book and sit on the deck and read when I got out of the pool. The library wasn’t open but there was a book sitting on the counter so I took it. It isn’t like stealing because I will return it when I am through. I went down and went swimming for an hour or so and Kelly took a little nap. It wasn’t a real warm day so I didn’t have to worry about getting sunburned. After I went to the room, we had a little pow wow about whether to go to the dining room (and get all dressed up) or just to the dinner buffet again. It was a consensus that we just go to the buffet again, just too lazy to get all dressed up. The food in the buffet is always good and a lot to choose from so it is always a good choice. Sometimes when we go to the dining room we overeat because they actually wait on us and of course we feel obligated to order everything (usually 5 courses) and clean our plates. We ate dinner and went back to our room. Our cabin steward had turned down our bed and of course, put the chocolates on the pillow. Fat camp, I think it is going to be drastically needed. I read for a while, Kelly watched TV and then we finally dozed off for the night.
Day – 5 Friday, April 18, 2008 - We landed in Tasmania at around 8:00am this morning. It was very brisk, being this far south. We were actually probably as far South as we can go without being in Antarctica. Maybe in New Zealand we might be a little closer, but all I know, until we start heading back up north, it won’t be getting any warmer. We decided this time we would venture off the boat and see part of Hobart, Tasmania. I wanted to get a mug from Starbucks, we can buy them without buying coffee of course. I have tried to buy them at all the countries I have visited, but of course I didn’t start collecting them until Australia. They had a cup but it only said Hobart and I wanted it to say Tasmania, so I opted out of spending $20 for something I didn’t really want. I will wait until New Zealand and see if I can get one. We walked around Hobart for a few hours but decided it was too cold. We only had on light sweatshirts we had bought at Paddies Market. We thought that would be enough, and for the most part they are. A few times I wish I had a big blanket to wrap up in but I keep telling myself we will soon be heading north to warmer weather. After a while, we went to lunch (buffet style of course and then I decided I wanted to go out on the deck and read my book and Kelly decided to take another nap. I went up to deck 15, one above our deck, and got a great chaise lounge to lie on and started reading. I read for an hour or so then Kelly came back after he had woke up and went to the gym for a while. We decided we would go swimming so we came back to our room and changed into our suits and swam for a while and sat in the hot tub. The hot tub felt wonderful in the cold weather. Then we got out and just sat on the deck for a while before going to our room. By then, it was getting close to time to sail for New Zealand and we knew the Hobart Fire Department bagpipe band was going to play on the wharf to send us off and we wanted to hear them. Kelly loves bagpipes - we listened for a while until the ship lifted anchor and started pulling away. Once again the decision to dress up and go to the dining room or eat dinner in the 24 hour buffet needed to be made, guess what, lazy again. We didn’t feel like showering again and getting all dolled up so we chose the buffet. We also stole about 8-9 peanut butter cookies so we could sit on our balcony and watch the city fade away while we ate our cookies. Of course we will save some for tomorrow and maybe the next day, for crying out loud, we aren’t pigs after all. Right now, as I am writing this, Kelly is watching “Happy Feet.” We have seen it probably 5 times since we have been aboard but we love it. We keep looking out hoping to see some penguins, being this close to Antarctica and all. We haven’t seen a whale or a dolphin, but we will keep looking, after all, we still have 26 days, and LOVIN IT. However, we heard it was going to be rough sailing tonight, so we might not feel the same way tomorrow. YEAH, WE WILL!!!!
Day 6 – Saturday, April 19, 2008 - It was a wavy night last night, which is the best way I can explain it. I slept okay but I could feel the boat a rocking. We were told it might be a rough night and it was, a little that is. We woke up this morning, our first of two sea days in a row, at almost 8 in the morning. We had to move our clocks up and hour, which we will do probably every day until we hit the International Date Line. We went to breakfast, well of course we did, a little later that morning, but seemed like the rest of the ship had the same idea because we couldn’t find a place to sit so we had to sit outside, but it was a covered part of outside. We are starting to eat a little lighter because, frankly, we are kind of getting sick of eating and we really can't afford a fat farm. After breakfast, we came to the room for a little while and then decided we would go down to the 7th deck and play bingo. We haven’t done much of the activities, mainly just because we haven’t wanted to be real structured while we have been on board. We went down and bought $20 worth of bingo card, which was five games. We lost of course but it was kind of fun. After bingo, we went back to our room and got our suits on and braved the outside hot tub and swimming pool. We had it to ourselves, too cold and rocky but we had a great time. It was cold and it was rocky, but that actually made the pool more fun. People actually kept looking at us like we were crazy and it looked that way, but as cold as the outside air was, the pool water was warm, and of course the hot tub was hot. We stayed there for probably an hour or more and then braved the elements to get out. Now that was cold. By then it was around 1:30PM so we went back to the room, changed out of our suits and went back to the same deck to eat. Kelly had pizza and I had a hamburger. Every day from 11:00am – 6:00pm they have hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza on the deck, which was a little change from the buffet. They were great, of course, just like all the food on the ship. After that, I was getting a little sea sick, we went back to the room and I took a ginger pill for motion sickness. It helped, we laid down and slept for a few hours, it was still very wavy and the bed rocked back and forth. I fell asleep and Kelly decided to go to the gym, I was a little queasy so I wanted to stay in and rest for a while. After he worked out for about an hour and I just laid down, rested and watched TV we had the same ole discussion, do we dress up and go to the dining room and eat or stay lazy and just eat in the buffet. The buffet lost and, thanks to Kelly, I actually showered and got cleaned up and we went to the dining room to eat. It was a smart casual night meaning no formal wear but we dressed nice and had a great dinner. After dinner we decided to go to the casino again. After all it is right across from the dining room so why not. I found a quarter machine that I actually got lucky on and ended up winning $250.00. With what we lost and what we won, we ended up ahead $170.00. Not bad for a night’s entertainment. After that we headed back to the room where we stayed in for the evening. It was almost 11:00pm, which was pretty late for us. We tried to sleep good but the ship was still rocking and a rolling. I was still a little queasy but I kept taking ginger tablets which helped so luckily I didn't get sick that night. We were told once we got out of the Tasman Sea, it whould not be so choppy and the ship should settle back down. We couldn’t wait.
Day 7 – Sunday, April 20, 2008 - Since it is the day of rest we decided we would rest and rest we did. Right now it is almost 1:00pm and we have only gone out a few times. The first time we went down to the deck 6 so we could see what the meal menu was for that night so we knew whether or not to dress up and go down, we decided we would go down. Then we checked out the International Dining room to see what they were serving for breakfast. We have only done the buffet for breakfast so far and thought we would expand our horizons. We just missed the cut off, it was 9:30am and that is when it closes so we ended up getting our oatmeal from the buffet again, but the oatmeal is always a good choice. We went back to the room for our day of rest and put on the TV and we both went to sleep. We slept for a few hours, of course missing the time when they come in a clean the room and make the bed. We sat on our outside balcony for a while to see if we could see some ocean wildlife. Nothing yet, we are hoping to see some whales jumping or dolphins, or at least a sharks fin or something. Nothing yet, but the further south we go and the colder the water gets, we know we will see something. By then it was time to go out and see what was in the deck side mini buffet. Yesterday it was bread and cheese, today it was fruit. We decided we would just have fruit for lunch and fruit we had, lots and lots of it. It was very tasty and quite refreshing considering all the heavy meals we had been having. Then back to the room to complete our day of rest. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that so far we have moved our watches two hours forward as we head toward the International Date Line. That will be very interesting. We rested most of the afternoon, but later that evening, we decided to go have a snack, so to speak, in the buffet (go figure). Everything was good, as usual, especially the mashed potatoes which they have all the time. They are real. It is hard to believe that a ship that holds over 2700 people would have real mashed potatoes. Then back to the room, me to finish my book (3rd since the start of the cruise) and Kelly to watch some TV. The sea was settling down a bit so it wasn’t so wavy and we, especially me, were able to sleep a little better. We were going to get up early to see the ship enter Fjordland National Park in New Zealand so I set the alarm. Good night!!!!!!!
Day – 8 Monday, April 21, 2008 - We got up very early, around 6:00am, to see the ship enter the Fjordland National Park in New Zealand. What a site, very beautiful; more beautiful that I could have ever imagined. We are so grateful to have an outside cabin, especially during this leg of the voyage. The sites are absolutely awesome. I took wonderful pictures and a little video but I don’t think they can begin to capture the beauty. There is a gentleman from the National Park doing a minute by minute narration of what we are seeing. I tried to see if my Blackberry had a signal so I could call the kids and have them get on the Internet and view the bridge cam. I would love to have them be able to experience this at the same time as us. Unfortunately, I can’t get a signal so I guess they will just have to listen to our stories and see our pictures. I went to the buffet and got us some fruit so we could just stay out on the balcony and watch the beautiful scenery float by. We are still hoping for some marine wildlife soon, I am sure it will happen. Here is one picture of the Fjord:

This is the first cruise we have been on where we had to wear a jacket. Kelly and I decided we would head to the gym so we changed into our gym clothes and headed on up to deck 15, just one above us. We actually found a couple of empty treadmills so we walked/ran for about (me) 30 minutes (Kelly) 45 minutes. I did a little upper body strength workout until Kelly was finished. Then we decided to brave the elements outside and go swimming a sit in the hot tub. We went to our room and changed and then first got in the hot tub. The air was very cold and it was quite overcast so we couldn’t see much. We are still in the Fjordland but not much visibility. We sat in the hot tib for a while and then, much to our chagrin, got in the swimming pool. The pool is so misleading. It was freezing getting out of the hot tub but once we got used to the initial shock of the pool, it was very warm and delightful. It started to rain but we just stayed in the water. We could tell it was very cold outside and the rain was cold and the wind was blowing. That made it all the more fun because the water in the pool was really rough and made it more challenging to swim; a good workout before lunch. We swam for about 20-25 minutes and then back in the hot tub. Of course, as usual, people looked at us like we were crazy but once again it is a well kept secret how warm and pleasant the pool actually was, even though it didn't look like it. After a while we decided to go to the room to get dry and change our clothes for lunch. Lunch was great, actually the best so far, because they had breaded shrimp, along with all the other great stuff. They also had a soup bar which I tried but it wasn’t as good as I had anticipated. We skipped dessert, we really didn’t need it. Then it was back to our room to rest and relax, one of our favorite things. The only thing that will be better is when we start heading north and it warms up and we can relax in the sun, YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That night was a bad night, very wavy. I actually was quite sea sick. I took several ginger tablets to help my stomach and they seemed to help because I didn’t, and have not, gotten sick, yet. The ship skipped one of our scenic tour destinations that day; the Captain just thought it was too rough to go through the small canyons, wise choice I am sure. Later that evening we decided to try and get some dinner, even though neither of us was real hungry. They say that when you are sea sick the best thing to do is keep a little something in your stomach. It was a little scary for me because I didn’t want to get sick on a full stomach, but actually eating a little was probably a smart thing to do. I had a little pork roast and some mashed potatoes and it seemed to calm my stomach. That night it was really, really wavy, high waves and the boat was really rocking. I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up at our next port and get off the ship for a few hours. We watched a little TV and then we dozed off for the night.
Day 9 – Tuesday, April 22, 2008 – Well, we don’t get to get off the boat any time soon. An announcement came on from the Captain the morning of our 9th day saying we would not be stopping in Dunedin, New Zealand, our next port of call. He said the weather conditions were deteriorating to the point of possible hurricane force winds and the Captain wanted to get the ship ahead of the winds so he opted to not stop and head off to Auckland, New Zealand, ahead of the storm. That means two more days at sea, making it a full five days without getting off. We decided a long time ago our favorite part of cruising is sea days, but sea days in warm weather is what we like. Right now, we aren’t real happy campers because it is not warm and we have two more full days at sea before we can finally get off the ship. Oh well, we have good news a few days in the future so we will just hang in there and roll with the flow, so to speak.
I decided to do some laundry today so I got up and took a shower to get ready for breakfast. We decided we would have breakfast in the International Dining Room, a new experience for us. We got our laundry ready and went to the Laundromat. Four quarters to wash, four quarters to dry, no big deal I guess. We headed down to deck 12, just one below us (never a deck 13) and then headed off to the dining room. This was actually a fun meal because other people sat with us that we would not have otherwise met. Then off to put our clothes in the dryer. Fun and exciting trip so far, huh??? We have clean clothes now, not that we needed them, we actually have plenty. We came back to our room to watch the world go by. It was starting to warm so I decided to sit out on the balcony and read my fourth book while Kelly took a nap. I could only read for a short while because it was still pretty wavy outside and the peripheral vision with the choppy waters and the movement of the ship made it hard to read and was making me queasy. I came inside, where it was very warm, and laid down with Kelly and soon I was out. Then we decided we would go get some fruit for a light snack. It was good but we knew it wouldn’t hold us over long. We knew it was almost time for Bingo so we went down and bought $20 worth of Bingo cards and didn’t even get close to winning. We came back in the room for a while and decided we would get our suits on a go sit in the hot tub for a while. It felt good, it was still quite cold outside but the sun was shining and the ocean was pretty. We stayed out there for about half an hour and then decided the hamburgers, which were right next to the hot tub, smelled good. We went in our room to dry off and change our clothes and then we got the delicious and dreaded hamburger. Boy, I will really need to go on a diet when I get home. After we devoured the hamburgers, we went in our room and put on our gym clothes and went to the gym. I don’t think we are working out enough to make up for all the food we are eating but at least we are trying. We laid down to watch a little TV and went to sleep again. Once thing about it, when we get home, we will be plenty rested. Then what to do? We decided to go check to internet to see if the money we had wired for selling our scooters made it to our bank account. It had but we certainly did take a bath on them. Out of $4000 AUD we got $3600 USD, that is for approximately $7000 worth of scooters, but that is another story all together. At least there will be money in our account to buy our washer and dryer and put some money down on our fridge when we get home. After that we went back to the casino but we weren’t lucky that night. I lost $40 and Kelly lost $20, so we left that place fast, and still had $30 in our pockets that we decided we would keep. We went to the buffet to see what they were serving for dinner and decided to take a little fruit back to the room and wait a while longer to go eat dinner there. It was 8:02PM when we got back to our room so we knew we wouldn’t wait too long.
Day 10 – Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - We were stuck on the ship for more consequtive sea days than we would have liked, in this type of weather. I was getting used to the rocking of the ship, actually I didn’t feel it anymore, but I did want to get on land and some point soon. I felt how the people on Noah’s Ark must have felt. We didn’t do much, we swam, sat in the hot tub, took a nap or two, played bingo, all the regular stuff. We are just looking forward to getting to Auckland, New Zealand, so we could get off the ship. Of course, we didn’t win anything when we played Bingo, we didn’t even go to the Casino. It was formal night in the dining rooms but we went swimming and sat in the hot tub pretty late and by the time we were finished, we just didn’t want to get all dressed up so we went to the buffet. We have had three formal nights so far and we haven’t done any of them, but when we get in warmer climate, I promised Kelly I would have more ambition and dress in one of the 5 formal wear dresses I brought on board. I think we have decided that when we get to Hawaii, depending on what day of the week it is, we will mail some of our things home, we brought way too much with us, especially since we haven’t been going to the dining hall like we should.
Day 11 – Thursday, April 24, 2008 – We made it, we were in Auckland, New Zealand, and finally got to step foot on solid ground. Never thought I would say that I wanted to be on solid ground because I love the sea days so much, but we were ready. We didn’t sign up for any tours this entire trip, which is okay by us because we didn’t want to be tied to any schedules. We decided we would just roll with the flow when we got to ports. Here in New Zealand, the main thing I wanted to do was get a cup from Starbucks and a magnet for our collection. We walked around a lot, Auckland seemed like a very expensive city, maybe even more so than Sydney but we weren’t there long enough to really tell. All I know is we turned in $40 AUD and got $35 NZD. $40 AUD is about $42 USD, and a Starbucks mug cost $25.00 NZD and the ones we bought in Sydney cost us $19.95 AUD. Sales tax in New Zealand is about 1.25%, so that is quite high. All this money exchange bogs my mind so I won’t even try to figure it out, but we did buy our mug and our magnets. Walked around Auckland as much as we wanted to and then back to the ship to “veg,” go figure. On our way to the ship, we ran into a guy that was on his fishing boat. I asked them what they had been catching because they had baskets all over their boat. I know it was either crab or lobster and he said it was lobster. I asked him if he had one he would show us and he did. Wow, it was huge, he told it us how much it weight but it was in kilos so we weren’t sure how many pounds it was but he said in a restaurant, if we were to order it, it would cost us more than $200, so it was very big. We were are on vacation after all so we just decided to relax for a while; we ate breakfast late so we didn’t go eat lunch for a while. I sat on the balcony and started my new book while Kelly laid down, then meandered down to the buffet and see what they were serving for lunch. I am sure we will go swimming and sit in the hot tub, which is “our thing.”
At 6:00pm, we went up on the top deck to see the ship pull away from Auckland, New Zealand. I took lots of pictures because it was really beautiful. New Zealand is a beautiful country, one I would like to work in, but we won’t, we are going home and that is where we are staying. We were tempted to go to the dining room because they were serving prime rib, but once again, we just didn’t feel like getting all dressed up, too much effort (boy, we are lazy). We ended up going to the buffet and lo and behold, they served prime rib, so no need to get all dressed up, we got what we wanted any way. We went to our room, which was all clean and the bed sheets pulled down for the evening. I forgot to mention that we have a cabin steward and he comes in every morning, once we have left the cabin, and cleans, gives us clean towels, makes the bed and straightens up. In the evening, he comes in and pulls the bed down, makes sure everything is straightened up and leaves us clean swimming towels since we use ours’ everyday. I could really get use to this life. I finished my book, number 5. People might think I am bored, that is why I read all the time but to tell you the truth, I am not bored, it is just relaxing to sit around and read and now I have all the time in the world to do it. Kelly went to sleep and after my book, I stayed up and watched TV. The day in the life of two carefree old folks.
Day 12 – April 25, 2008 – We woke up kind of early this morning, around 6:00am. I think we were anxious to look outside and see what the weather was like. We have been looking forward to the climb north and to warmer weather. It is definitely warmer weather, but the day was overcast and rainy. We went out of the balcony for a while and just listened to the waves and watched to world float by. Then we decided to go to breakfast. We seem to not be eating as much because we have eaten in the same place so many times that everything starts tasting and looking the same. We put out the “service please” sign so our steward knew we had left the room. We seem to eat fast because we finished fast and made it back before the steward. We decided to sit on the balcony again for a while, deciding what to do next. There is a day full of activities but we just haven’t felt like doing any of them, so the decision on what to is always a puzzle. A few days ago, I had signed up for ladies night at the spa for tonight. We decided to go up there and see what that was all about. Then we walked down to see if I could find another book. The two I just read, Dean Koontz, I had bought on the ship but I donated them to the library, so I needed to look for another one. I got “Eclipse.” I remember Heather saying that McKall had read the entire serious of these books so I thought I would give it a try. Then we went down to see if the bingo had started and if not we would join in. It had started so we left and took the scenic elevator back up to the 14th floor, the Lido Deck, our deck. We noticed a line gathering and checking it out we found a pastry buffet. Just what we needed. It was after breakfast and before lunch so I guess we had pastry for brunch. There were lots of very sweet and delicious looking things and we sampled many of them. They are never as good as they look so we didn’t eat much. Then back to the room to once again do our favorite thing, rest.
It is currently raining, very hard. We still went swimming and sat in the hot tub, rain and all. We had the pool all to ourselves. Once again it is a well kept secret. People just assume that since it is raining and a little cold outside and windy, the swimming pool isn’t desirable. They are wrong, we love it. The pool water is still warmer than the air water so it feels great. We are hoping that tomorrow, Saturday, April 26, 2008, the air will be warmer than the pool. That is what we love. Sitting outside, getting some sun, and then getting in the pool to cool off. Right now we are getting in the pool to warm up, especially the hot tub, but with the cold rain and the wind, it is hard to get out. After we went in the room to change and dry off, we decided to go see what they were having for lunch. London broil, yummy. We went in and ate a little. I even had some rice pudding. Just a little though because it was very rich. All the desserts here are a little too rich. As soon as it warms up we will try the ice cream station. We came back to the room and I started watching TV so Kelly decided he would go to the gym. I wanted to stay behind and read my book a little. I still haven’t gotten into it yet but I will. I did watch “10 ways to lose a guy” a show that I just love. Then Kelly came back from the gym and was forced to see the end with me. He hates chic flicks. Then he went around the corner and got us a slice of pizza, just for a snack. This was “Ladies Pamper Night” and I signed up for it. It is an hour of so called pampering but I was still not sure what it was all about. I left do go to the spa at 8:00PM. They took us (6 ladies in all) to this room in the spa. The first three of us laid down on these heated benches that were curved to the full length of the body. They felt wonderful. Two young girls took charge. We three ladies, with one of the young girls, first did facials. I was a little disappointed because we just used their products but did the work ourselves. The products were actually great though and we ended up getting great facials. After 30 minutes had passed, we went over to the body scrub part. We first used a brush sprayed with tree tea oil to brush our arms and legs, in an upward motion don’t forget. Then we used a sea salt scrub to scrub the dead skin off, then the rain forest shower to get the salt off. It really did feel great. Then she gave us some very strong emollient aromatherapy oils to put on our legs and arms, we had our swim suits on after all. The night turned out pretty great and we were told we could get 50% off a full facial before the end of the cruise if we wanted, just for signing up for ladies pamper night, I just might do it. When I got back, a little after 9:00PM, Kelly and I decided to go to the 24 hour buffet to get just a little bite to eat, it was pretty late after all and we didn’t want to go to bed on a full stomach. We ate a little and then came back to our room. We sat on the balcony for a little while. It was pitch dark but we could tell we were traveling north because the air was starting to get warmer, thank goodness. Then we came in and went to bed.
Day 13 – April 26, 2008 – We woke up this morning to very warm air outside, something we had been waiting for. We knew we were finally getting into good weather and we were elated. We read in the Princess Platter (the daily newsletter) that we could not go outside and put towels on chaise lounges to save them so we decided we would just go out and sit on them. We started about around 7:30am and sat out there all morning. It was very pleasant, windy with a few little rain showers, but for sure much warmer. We were pretty much the first people out there so we got an ideal spot, which we had intended to keep all day long. Neither of us was hungry so we didn’t go eat but we laid there, me reading my book, Kelly listening to his IPOD, very relaxing. It was getting warm out so we decided to go take a little swim. The pool was pretty popular so we didn’t stay in too long, it did feel good though. Then back to the loungers to relax. At about 10:00am we decided we would go in a get just a little breakfast, I had a little watermelon and some raw oats with raisons, Kelly had eggs and stuff. Then we went back up to our loungers to lay there a little longer until the dreaded rain started. We stayed there a little while thinking it would stop but it continued with the wind, long enough that we decided we would just go to our room for a while. After we had stayed in our room for a while, and while Kelly was sleeping, I decided I would go out on the deck by the swimming pool where they were serving an American style buffet. I wanted to see what was on it. It looked decent, ribs, meatloaf and other things one would except to see on an American family’s dinner table. I decided to surprise Kelly and take back two plates of food to the room for lunch. He was surprised and just waking up so we sat on the balcony and ate lunch. We still had a full day at sea before we arrived in Fiji so it was fun just to do whatever it is we wanted. After we ate and watched a little TV, I decided I was so oily from the night before that I should take a shower and wash it off. That escalated into deciding we should get all dressed up, just smart casual of course since that was what the required dress for the dining room was. First of all, we watched the sun set and got some very beautiful pictures that I would love to get big copies of and frame for our new house that we can’t wait to see. Of course it was too early to eat and we weren’t hungry so we just walked around in our cute dress up clothes and tried to act cool. We even went in a sat in the Wheelhouse Bar to watch the dancing, even though we didn’t dance. By then we thought we should go see if we could even get into one of the four dining rooms, one of the ones we hadn’t tried, and they told us it was about a 25 minute. They gave us a pager to page us when a table was ready and we went into the casino and as slick as snot lost (I lost) $50. We know we shouldn’t gamble but it must be in my blood because I am drawn to it. After the lost we just waited for the pager to go off and when it did, we went in and had a great dinner. We probably eat less when we go to the dining room since we can’t just grab whatever it is we want so we should go there more often. We for sure will go to the next formal night, which we haven’t done thus far and they have had two or three. We went back to our room and being the old folks we are, settled down for the night. We want to go to bed kind of early because we wanted to get up early to watch the ship sail into Fiji.
Day 14 – Sunday April 27, 2008 – We got up early, around 6:00am, to first view the bridge cam and see if we could see Fiji coming into sight. We could so we went outside and watched the pilot boat guide us into our next port of call, Fiji. There are over 300 islands that make up the Fiji Islands and it was quite a breathtaking view. I never dreamed that all of these islands in the South Pacific were so mountainous and the Fijian Islands were no different. Very mountainous and very beautiful. We have been told that the majority of the islanders are LDS and that there is an LDS Temple in the center of the city, so that is the first thing we are going to look for. Hopefully we can see it from the ship and get a good picture. Since it is Sunday some of the shops and things on the island would probably be closed. These are a very spiritual people and observe the Sabbath Day, or so we have been told. We hope to at least get to walk up to the Temple and get a good look at it and take a picture. Who knows, we may go on a mission here some day. We saw the temple, a glorious and an “at home” sight, and it is right on the top crest of the Island where the Angle Moroni stands out so you can’t mistake it for the Temple. I got a good picture from the ship but we hope to walk up to it and get a better close up picture. We are going to get off the ship in just a bit to walk around the Island and we hope to have a great time. We started walking around Fiji and a cab stopped to see if we wanted a ride; we did. We weren’t sure where to find the temple even though we could see it from the ship. We knew the general direction but not sure we could walk from there so the cab was a welcome relief. He charged us $3.50 Fijian dollars to get to the Temple; he wasn’t sure where it even was so we had to point him in the general direction. We made it there just fine and decided we were glad we didn’t have to walk. The Temple was beautiful. We haven’t seen a Temple anywhere in the world that wasn’t beautiful. We were grateful to be able to see it. The only thing better would be if it wasn’t Sunday and we could go in and do a session, but beggars can’t be choosers. We went around with the cab for about an hour; he took us to some really pretty places to see the Island. It was quite warm and I was about ready to get back to the ship so we told him to take us to a near buy market where we could shop a little and then we would walk back. He did as we told him; we gave him $20 Fijian dollars, shopped for a little while and walked back to the ship. We went to get a little lunch and then our favorite thing so far on this trip, relaxation. I had thought about getting my swimming suit on and going out by the pool but I know I have about 18 more days of sun so I didn’t worry about it; I just laid down with Kelly and we took a nap. We slept for probably just less than two hours. Kelly decided to get up and get ready to go to the gym so I got on my swimsuit and went out to the pool. I found us two lounge chairs to stake out for the afternoon so when Kelly got through at the gym he could come out and lay with me. That was probably around 1:45PM. Kelly came out to the pool about 2:30PM and by then I was in the pool. The pool was very crowded since it was getting later in the afternoon and the weather was very warm. It did feel good though and it was fun to just piddle around and talk to everyone. I got out of the pool and found our lounge chairs where Kelly was lying and I just laid there with him for a while. It was warm but I was sitting away from the sun so I didn’t get anymore sun on my face for a while. I just laid there a read my book, Kelly dozed, then we decided it was getting hot and we both got in the pool. We stayed outside until about 4:30PM and then wanted to get in where it was a little cooler. We went to our room where we could just sit on the balcony. The sun was on the other side of the ship so we were in the shade. It was still warm but very pleasant. The ship was going to sale at 6:00PM so the band that welcomed us in was there setting up to welcome us away. It was fun sitting there listening to them and seeing the excitement on the ship. Everyone was joining in on the excitement, some dancing and singing to the band. They played until we took off with people staying out on the pier waving and bidding us farewell and people on the ship yelling and waving at the Fijians bidding them farewell; it was a really great send off. We are headed to America Samoa but we cross the International Dateline first, at midnight tonight. At midnight, we just subtract 24 hours from our present time, so when it is midnight on April 27, 2008, it will be midnight on April 27, 2008, all over again, COOL!!!!!
We decided we wouldn’t get all cleaned up and just went to the buffet for dinner. That was fine with me because, even though I had to shower to get all the chlorine off me, I didn’t have to wash and dry my hair, I could just go scraggly. Then back to our room for bed to get ready for another great day at sea and another adventure on our way to America Samoa.
Day 14 – Sunday, April 27, 2008 – GROUND HOG DAY, we are doing Sunday, April 27, 2008, again. We crossed the International Dateline last night at midnight and started Sunday all over again. We are at sea today, having left Fiji last night; we get to American Samoa (Tonga) tomorrow morning at 6:00AM. This has been a great day. We went ahead another hour so we are gradually getting used to the time zone we will be at in Utah, much better than flying home and having to get used to it all at once, YEA!!!! We got up early, 6:30AM and went and sat in the hot tub for a while. It was a little hard for me because I was a little burned from being in the sun so much but once I got used to it, it felt good. Then we went back to our room, got our robes and towels so we could get ready to stake our claim on our lounges for another wonderful day in the sun. After we found the lounge chairs we wanted to sit on, we put our stuff on them and went to the buffet to get a little breakfast. After breakfast, we went down to deck 7 where they were selling the International Date Line T-shirts so we could each by one. We also went to the drug store and bought some sun screen. SPF 30 for our faces and SPF 15 for the rest of us. I didn’t want my face to get burned anymore than it already was so it was SPF 30 on my face for the rest of the cruise. After we took our stuff back to the room, we took our faithful sunscreen and went back up to the lounge chairs to relax and it was very relaxing. We didn't get in the pool this time but the day is still young so we probably still will. We stayed out there for several hours and then decided to go get some fruit from the outside buffet of the day, exotic fruit. We filled up our plates and went up to our lounge chairs to eat. It was very tasty and enough for lunch. We made reservations to eat in the dining room tonight at 8:15PM, so we didn’t want to fill up on a heavy lunch. Then we just laid out there for a while longer until I felt it was time to get out of the sun. A couple we were laying by started up a conversation. They were from Michigan. He was retired from being a football coach. Kelly was impressed with him because he used to be the Assistant Football Coach of the University of Michigan. He name was Bud. They stayed out longer than us and they were very brown, browner that I want to be. Some people sit out there all day long, but we are being a little more smart about it since we still have a little more than two weeks left in the sun. After a little while longer we went back to the room to watch a little TV, rest and cool off. We decided we would go play bingo again at 3:45pm so we just stayed in the room a little while and then down to play bingo. We left a little earlier so we could stop and check the Internet before the game started. I like to keep the kids posted but they haven’t emailed us much at all. Oh well, we will be home soon enough; I guess they don’t need to worry about us now. Once again, bingo wasn’t a success for us again, we never win. We always buy a $20 pack which gives us five games and the final game is the big money. It is up to around$3600 by now and so far nobody has won the big pot. They have to get all the holes punched by a certain amount of numbers and it was up to 47 numbers but no one won the big pot and the person who did win that game won $500, NOT US. It was fun though and one of the only activities we have participated in thus far. After bingo we went back to the room for a while before getting ready for dinner. I forgot to mention that we keep running into a guy that looks like Jack Texeira. We spotted him the first time a couple of days ago and every time we see him now Kelly says “There’s Eddie.” It makes him happy to see Eddie, he really likes Eddie. I read my book outside on the balcony for a while and then started getting very sleepy so I came in and lay down for a while and was asleep in no time. We got up in time to shower and get ready for dinner. We were a few minutes early so we decided to have our picture taken since we were dressed up. We won’t know what they look like until the next day but if they look half way decent we might buy them. We ate at the Vivaldi Dining Room. We wanted to eat there because we had heard that their special every night was Osso Bucco and we have been wanting to try it every since the first time we watched “The Santa Clause” with Tim Allen. It was very tasty and very tender. Just another thing we got to experience on the South Pacific. After dinner (and we didn’t even have dessert) we were pretty much wiped out because of all the sun that day so we just headed back to the room and went to bed.
Day 15 – Monday April 28, 2008 – Today we dock in Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango) in American Samoa. We woke up early to watch the ship enter the harbour and just like all the other islands, this one was very picturesque. It looks like it might be an overcast day but that is okay because with the amount of sun we got yesterday our skin could use a break. We got off the ship around 8:30-9:00AM. We didn’t schedule any tours for today, just like we didn’t schedule any tours for any other ports. We just don’t feel like having to conform to any time tables, just our own. We walked around for a while. We found our friend, the one I have had a heart ache over. Her name is Megan and she is from Sydney. She is what we would call special needs but she is very self sufficient. She is confined to a walker and takes it with her everywhere. I do not feel sorry for her, my heart just aches because she is here alone but she is so very happy. I feel the need to take care of her but she doesn’t need anyone to take care of her so we just wanted to be her friend. She is amazing; she goes everywhere and does everything. The other night at dinner I saw her sitting alone and I couldn’t stop crying. Mainly because she made me think of Casey and his good heart and how he would have loved her and would have wanted to take care of her. Then of course my mind just kept going to Casey and I got more and more sentimental until I could hardly talk. I miss that boy do much. Most of the islands we have stopped at we have bought an item to put in the tree by his grave. I hate to have to do that but that is the only thing we want to do right now. We want to see our baby; we miss him so much and we love him even more!!!!!! We bought a phone card for $5 so we could call the kids. We called Heather first and she was surprised to hear from us. Imagine getting a call from American Samoa. Then we called mom and it was great talking to her. We miss everyone so much and can’t wait to get home. Then we called Bo but his phone went directly to his voice mail so we had to leave him a message. He is our sweet boy and we miss him very much too. We are very proud of him and his accomplishments and his sweet family. Okay, I am getting sentimental again and will soon cry so I have to change the subject. We finished walking around Samoa after about two hours and we were ready to go back to our room. We just can’t handle the hot muggy weather anymore. Good thing we live in Utah, the kind of weather we think these old bodies can handle. We went back to our room to spend the rest of the day in Samoa in our air conditioned room, we are pathetic but we love it. I started getting a little hungry so I went to the deck and got a hamburger and fries, Kelly didn’t want one. I brought it back to the room and it was good. Soon after Kelly decided he would go see what they were serving for lunch and, would luck have it, they were having ribs and enchiladas, two things I love but of course I was full so he just went and got something himself. About 3:30PM, we went back to the buffet just to see what they were serving for the afternoon snack. We got peanut butter cookies and chips and salsa. We just brought it back to our room so we could get away from the crowds and just snack at our leisure. Sure does seem like we eat a lot. Maybe that is why are clothes are getting tighter. We will just stay in the air conditioning for a while, for sure not getting cleaned up to go to the dining room. We will just wait until later this evening and go the buffet, AGAIN. We told our friend Megan we would be there. I want to be there with her. I bought two root beers in Samoa while she was walking around with us. She said she had never tasted root beer so I bought me and her one. If we see her in the buffet room, I will give it to her then. I sure hope we do meet up with her. I forgot the mention that Kelly said when we were walking around Samoa, he would put his arm around Megan and she kept pinching his butt, funny huh??? We ate dinner at the buffet again because of the usual reason, too lazy to get cleaned up. We have been on two other cruises and both times we went with other people. Those times we pretty much stayed on a strict timetable, eating at a particular time, going on tours, etc. As much fun as we had on those cruises, this one is great because we only have to stay on the timetable we set for ourselves and we haven’t been on ANY timetable. The closest thing we have had to a time table is to move our clocks ahead an hour when we are told. Dinner was pretty much the same, they change the menu but after as many days as we have eaten in there, things pretty much start tasting the same.
Day 16 – Tuesday, April 29, 2008 – We are at sea today, which is always nice. As much sun as we have had the last couple of days, we don’t care what the weather is like, whether it is hot, cold, or raining, we just don’t care. Good thing because it rained in the morning. I went out on the balcony to read since it is a covered place to sit and, of course, very private. After a few hours Kelly asked if I wanted to go swimming. I wanted to finish a few more chapters so he went out and I followed a short while later. He was in the hot tub so I got in with him and boy, the hot water burned my already sun burned skin. After a while, we decided to get in the swimming pool. The ship was pretty rocky so the pool was very wavy but we like it like that. Then it really started raining but who cared, we were already wet so we just stayed in for a while longer and swam. It is probably more exercise when the water is rough so we didn’t mind at all. After a while, we decided to get out and get dried off. We took a shower in the outside shower, meant for the pool users, to get the chlorine off us. We sat outside, under the awnings, watching the rain on the ocean. It really made for pretty scenery. Then we decided to go to our room, get changed, and go down to see what was on the dinner menu. It is funny how our total existence on this ship, and probably in our lives, is centered around what, were and when we eat. The menu didn’t look all that good but it was formal night and since we hadn’t been to one formal night so far, we decided to make a reservation. We made a reservation at the Savoy, one of the four and one we hadn’t been too. I am getting my nails done at 4:15PM, so I knew that I would be done well before time to get ready, in our formal attire, for dinner at 8:00PM. We had dinner in the Savoy Dining Room in our formal attire. The specialty in that restaurant was pork chops and that is what I had. It wasn’t that good but we wanted to try every dining room. We probably won’t go to that one again. We met a nice couple from Queensland, Australia, and it was fun talking to them all evening. We had our pictures taken again so hopefully we will have some good picture memories to take home with us. After dinner we just went back to the room to call it an evening.
Day 17 – Wednesday, April 30, 2008 – Roratonga, Cook Islands – We anchored off shore just off Roratonga. It is a very beautiful island and not very big. After we ate breakfast we went and got our tender ticket to board the boats to go over to the island. This was so far our favorite port of call. When we got off the boats, we immediately went and rented motor scooters for $25 NSD for the whole day. Since we had Australian driver’s licenses with motorcycle permits on them, we were able to by a Cook Island driver’s license for $10.00, now we have a great souvenir. We rode clear around the Island and saw the beautiful aqua marine blue waters and the white sandy beaches. We parked a few times and walked to the water to see how beautiful it really was and it was gorgeous. We had our swimming suits on but neither of us wanted to actually get in the water and get all sandy and salty so we just looked at it and took some pictures. In hind sight I guess we should have gone in the water because the coral reefs were breath taking and the water looked absolutely fantastic, but we didn’t. After we rode around the Island, we took the scooters back and walked back to the dock where they were shuttling us back and forth to the ship in their tender boats. It felt good to be back on the ship and into our air conditioned rooms. We decided to go rest for a while before we went to eat lunch, and rest we did. We feel asleep until around 2:30pm and then Kelly mentioned we should go to the grill and get a hot dog, which we did. Then we went back to the room because we were pretty wiped out from all the sun from riding the scooters that morning. We hung around on the balcony for a while and watched the sunset. Boy, we have seen some spectacular sunsets. We took several pictures and hope to get some of them enlarged and framed.

Then back in the cool air conditioning of the room to lie back down. Unfortunately, we feel asleep again. We must have been really tired. We slept through the ship leaving port and everything, so we must have been pretty sound asleep. Later that evening, we decided we would go check out the buffet to see if there was anything worth eating for dinner. They had a great shrimp dish and we both got a lot of it. We ate quickly, as usual, and then back to the room. They were having a full blown Island paradise party out on deck, but we weren’t interested. We have been semi-antisocial this trip and haven’t done a lot as far as entertainment and besides we were still pretty wiped out. We watched TV for a while and the next thing we knew, it was morning. This was our laziest day so far and it felt great.
Day 18 – Thursday, May 1, 2008 – A day at sea, and a good one at that. Since we had slept so much the day before, we got up very early, 6:30am. We went out on the balcony for a while and looked at how smooth the water was. It was the smoothest it had been thus far and it was very nice and pleasant. We decided to go sit in the hot tub and since it was so early, we pretty much had it to ourselves. I decided to take all of our gear out and stake out our lounge chairs for the day, the thing we do on sea days. We found our favorite spot, got our stuff all organized and headed to the hot tub. As usual the water was very hot and it was a little hard sitting there as long as we usually do, especially since our skin was still a little burned from previous days. We decided to cool off and get in the swimming pool. That was a shock because it was very cold. We usually fill a subtle warmness once we get in but this time it was remarkably cold. After a few minutes it felt good though so we stayed in for a while. They we decided to go sit on our lounge chairs until we were ready to go get some breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the loungers and sat for several hours. Kelly decided to go to the gym to work out and I decided to go down to see if our pictures were ready and to check the internet. They were selling some t-shirts so I bought one and then I went to look at the pictures. I liked them and since Kelly and I don’t have any recent pictures of ourselves, I decided to buy some. Then back up to the lounge chairs. I had to get back in the pool because it was very warm and then back to the chairs. After a while I decided I was getting burned again, even with the sun screen we were slathering on. I packed all our stuff up and went back to the room. I then went to the gym to tell Kelly I was in the room and when he came back we just laid around for a bit. Then it was time to go get some lunch. They had some great snapper and that is what we both had. They have great fish on this ship; that is one thing I can say. We went back to the room and I read a little while Kelly took a little nap. I think I was all rested up because I didn’t feel the need to sleep. I did take a shower because of the all the chlorine and put a good hair conditioner on my hair and kept it on for a while out in the sun on the balcony. I was able to read a lot while the conditioner saturated into on my hair. My hair is getting way too much sun and chlorine so I thought it needed it. We stayed in the room for a few hours, me reading, Kelly watching TV and then we decided to go see what they had for dinner, the buffet of course We didn’t want to get all dressed up again so, to the buffet it was. The meal was decent. I decided to make it an all fish night so I had tilapia, tuna, scallops and a seafood salad, all very good. Kelly had pretty much the same thing. By then it was time to go to the room to get ready for our busy day in Bora Bora in the French Polynesia the next day. When most of the ship is probably out partying and going to the entertainment and drinking and dancing, we are being our unsociable (or responsible) selves and just going to our room to retire for the evening. We did decide to out on the balcony and listen to the water and look at the stars. Previously, the stars haven’t been real visible even though it is thoroughly dark outside, but tonight they were glorious. We saw the constellation Orion; also it appeared we were looking at the Big Dipper but it was upside down. We will have to Google it when we get home to see if, while in the Southern Hemisphere, the Big Dipper appears upside down; who knows.
Day 19 – Friday, May 2, 2008 – Bora Bora, French Polynesia – We have traveled around 6500 nautical miles since we have left Sydney. We know the ship travels approximately 20 knots so when we get home, we have to Google the difference between a nautical mile and a regular mile and exactly what a knot is. We still have more than a week until we get home and this is the first time we have been excited for one of our many vacations to actually get over. It has been wonderful, fantastic, but we have bigger and better things waiting for us back home, our wonderful family. We woke up at a little past 6:00AM to watch the ship arrive in Bora Bora. The Island is beautiful just like all the other South Pacific Islands. We will wait for a few hours before we board the tender boats to go to the Island. These smaller Islands do not have docks big enough to pull the ship right up to the pier so we are having to use the ships tender boats, which double as the life boats. We aren’t sure what we are going to do today but we anticipate taking one of the local buses to go to the beach. We haven’t done much as far as exploring the Islands and visiting the beach in order to go swimming so this time we just might do it. We would love to go snorkeling so once we get ashore; we will probably look for a vender that offers such a thing.
Even though we weren’t real hunger, we went to get a little breakfast. We don’t want to eat anything on the Island for the fear of getting sick, so we wanted to eat a little to tie us over until we got back on the ship. Breakfast is always good on the ship but we just had a little fruit and an English muffin. Then we went back to our room to get ready for the rest of the day. We tendered over to the Island and boy it was hot. Once we got there, took a few pictures and realized how expensive it was, we decided we wouldn’t take any local tours. So, we didn’t go snorkeling, nor did we do anything but walk around. We stopped and bought two diet cokes and a bag of Cheetos and we gave them a $20 and got $5 francs back. $5 is just a little more than $5 USD so that means the little “snack” cost us almost $15. We didn’t stay on the Island long and decided to tender back to the ship, or as we call it, our resort. We did take some great pictures though. All of the South Pacific Islands that we have been to thus far have all had tall mountains that just jet out of the sea and this was no different. After we arrived at the ship, Kelly decided he would take a little nap and I decided to go out on a lounge chair again. It was around 11:00AM and the sun was hot but magnificent, plus the pool was right there and I knew I could jump in and cool off any time I needed too. I stayed out there a couple of hours and then Kelly came out and we went and got a little lunch. Then he joined me on the lounge chair and we stayed out there a couple more hours. Of course, I went back and forth to the pool to cool off because it was very hot. After more than 4 hours in the sun (of course with a lot of sunscreen) we went back in to cool off. The sun pretty much drained all the energy out of me and I fell asleep for several hours. We stayed in the room where it was cool until time to go to dinner, around 6:30PM. We met our little friend Megan, because we had bought her a root beer several Islands prior and we wanted to give it to her. She was surprised because she thought it was beer and she liked it. Then Kelly and I went down to the Internet Café so he could check the Utah Jazz scores, and they had won that series of the playoffs so he was happy. Then we went out on the deck of the 7th deck to just sit out there in the warm night air, it was very romantic. Then to the room to call it a night.
Day 20 – Saturday, May 3, 2008 – We docked this morning at 6:51AM in Papeete, Tahiti, which is still in French Polynesia; therefore, they will speak French and it will be very expensive again. By 7:09AM we received clearance that we are cleared to depart the ship so after we have some breakfast we will go visit the Island. We left the ship a little after 9:00AM and it felt good to be on solid ground again. We weren’t sure what we were going to do since we hadn’t signed up for any tours that the ship sponsored. We did know we wanted to try and get to a beach and at least swim one time in the South Pacific Ocean. We walked to the main downtown, which was not too far from where the ship was docked. I asked the first taxi driver we came to how much it would cost us to go to the beach. He said it was very far away and he could take us but he would not guarantee we could ever get back. He said the local transportation services the downtown area only so if he did take us to the beach the chances of a bus being out there for our return trip was impossible and the chance another taxi would show up was possible but not very probably. Therefore, we decided to just walk around town and not take the chance of getting stranded. Tahiti, as glorious as it sounds, wasn’t that impressive to us. It was quite a big metropolitan island and, of course they spoke French so we knew we would never find a Starbucks to buy our cup since the French do not like the Americans very well. We did stop and ask one guy who was sitting in an outside restaurant if there was a Starbucks but he didn’t speak English so we just decided to chalk it up as no Starbucks cup from Tahiti. We haven’t seen Starbucks since New Zealand and that is about the one thing I wanted from all the Islands but, oh well.
After we found the few souvenirs we wanted to buy, a t-shirt, a magnet and something for Casey’s grave, we decided we would head back to our floating resort. We really would have liked to have bought everyone a prize from at least one of the Islands, but with the prices of everything and the amount of room we had in our suitcases (none) we decided against it. Hopefully someday our kids will get a chance to visit the Islands their selves and buy their own souvenirs. We got back on the ship before 11:00AM and decided once again to stake out our territory in the sun in our favorite spot so that is what we did. We also saved two lounge chairs for two people we met that have a lot in common with us and we enjoy spending time with. Their names are Dee and Bud but so far we don’t know what their last name is. I mentioned earlier that Kelly had met Bud and that he was a former football coach for University of Michigan. We were wrong, he was a former baseball coach for UM but Kelly and Bud could sit out in the sun all day long and talk sports while Dee and I just laid out and enjoyed the vitamin D we were getting; we both loved to read. Kelly and I have both been getting a lot of sun on this trip but I guess that’s what it is all about. We have been slathering on the sunscreen so hopefully that has helped in the skin cancer arena. We have really enjoyed Bud & Dee’s company and we think with the last 10 days on the ship, we will start hanging out a little more socially. We stayed out in the sun until the ship sailed off for Hawaii. It left the dock at 4:00PM and it is fun getting wrapped up in the excitement of the launch as everyone stands up around the boat and waves at those watching this beautiful ship sail away. Then we decided it was time to go in since we had spent the last five hours in the sun. We are on the side of the ship (Port side) that always gets to witness the sunset so we were able to take several beautiful sunset pictures before it settled down for the evening. The sights were spectacular and I took so many pictures that I will never need them all. My goal is to get some of them enlarged to hang in our house. After the sun went down, we decided to eat an early dinner. We weren’t very hungry but we ate a little and then went back to the room to lie down for a while. Next thing we knew it was morning.
Day 21 – Sunday, May 4, 2008 – Sea day – We woke up at 6:00AM but with all the sleep we got the night before 6:00AM wasn’t very early. We wanted to catch the sunrise but we missed it by about 20 minutes so we decided we would set our alarm on Monday so we can see if we can get a good picture. We sat out on the balcony for quite a while and then thought it would be a good idea to go swimming and once again stake out our territory on the deck with a good lounge chair. We found our regular place and saved two spaces for our new friends, Dee and Bud. Then we went down for breakfast. We got back to the deck chairs between 9:30AM – 10:00AM. Our friends came out less than an hour after we got there. Kelly and Bud talked their regular sports and Dee and I just read our books and worshiped the sun. We stayed out way too long, again. By the time 2:00PM came around, I was cooked again so we decided we should go in and cool off out of the hot sun. Bud had asked us to come down to their room about 4:00PM, so we had two hours to relax. I sat out on the balcony and read my book and Kelly took a little nap. While he napped, I took a shower and washed my hair and boy, it is getting bleached by the sun. I had it done just before we left Sydney and had a little dark put in it and now the dark is gone and I am just a toe head. At 4:00PM, we went down to Bud and Dee’s room. They are on the 9th floor, we are on the 14th. Their room is a mini suite and it was lovely and a bit bigger than ours plus a bathtub, cool. We stayed there for an hour or so; then we left so they could get ready to go to dinner. We just wanted to go to the buffet and shied away from getting all dressed up again. We first went to the library so I could return two of the books I read and then we went to the buffet for dinner. We got back to our room around 6:00PM and sat on the balcony and watched the lightening storm that was brewing. Kelly watched a little TV and I started another book, my 10th, and then to bed to get ready for another grueling day in the sun with great friends and wonderful conversation and hopefully another good book. Three more sea days to go until we get to Honolulu, Hawaii and that much closer until we get home, YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 22 – Monday, May 5, 2008 – Sea day – Well, I thought it would be another grueling day in the sun with great friends but it looks like it will be a grueling day in wavy, cloudy, rain in the room or the covered part of the ship. We woke up this morning a little later than usual because it was so overcast and rainy that it still appeared to be night. Kelly wanted to sit in the hot tub but my skin is still pretty tender and quite dry so I opted to just sit outside on one of the covered lounge chairs out by the hot tub reading my book while Kelly got in the hot tub and then the swimming pool. Today is Cinco de Mayo so we knew they would be having a Mexican food (one of our favorites) buffet on the deck today for lunch so we decided to skip breakfast and wait until lunch. After Kelly got through swimming we just sat outside on the covered part of the deck and watched all the people heading for breakfast. People watching is one of our favorite things. We had met a great gay couple that usually sits where we do on the sun deck and the obviously female version of the partnership walked by us and we found out his name was Kevin. He is a great guy and we liked him almost immediately. We don’t care that he is gay; to each their own. If people are nice to us, not matter their persuasion, we are nice to them. We still don’t know the name of his partner, he is very shy, but Kevin is very friendly and we can picture them as being our friends. He talked to us for a while, they are British and we think they are married because he wears a wedding band, but who cares, that is their own business. If we were to ask us to join them in any activity (within reason of course), we would do it with them because they are very nice people. Bud and Dee like them as well so I hope before this cruise is over the six of us can get together maybe for dinner or perhaps a card game or two. After a while out on the deck, we decided to just go to the room in hopes the weather would settle down. We will see. (Bud and Dee’s email address is bm2741@hotmail.com). The weather settled down after a while but we still didn’t want to get out in the sun. We thought a day out of the sun would do us good; so we stayed inside. At about 11:00AM, I went up to the spa to see if they had any room to fit me in for a body moisturizing massage and they did so I went down to tell Kelly I would be out of commission for 75 minutes. It felt great and really put some moisture back into my skin. Kelly decided to go to the gym while I was in the spa, so when I got back he had just got back from the gym. After he cooled down, we decided to go try out the Mexican food buffet in honor of Cinco de Mayo and it was great. Not as good as our favorite LaFrontera, but it was good. After lunch we went back to the room and rested for a while. I read my book and Kelly took a little nap and then I got jealous of him sleeping so I laid down and went to sleep as well. Before I went to sleep though, I called and made us reservations for dinner at the Savoy Dining room. We had read the dinner menu earlier that day and it said they were having crab legs. I had waited this whole trip for them to have crab legs so we decided we would give it a try. After we woke up from our nap, we noticed the sun going down so once again; we went outside to watch God’s wonders and took more sunset pictures. One thing I can say about being in the middle of the ocean, the sunsets are spectacular and we will get some of the enlarged and framed to hang in our new home. We crossed the Equator today at about 6:00PM and they are going to have a ceremony but not until tomorrow; I am glad to be in the Northern Hemisphere where we belong with the rest of our family, now Spring is Spring and Summer is Summer.

We got ready for dinner, it was just smart casual dress so we didn’t have to get on our formal wear but we dress up pretty nice. I wore my lucky dress, the one that I won so much money in the casino the other night. We grabbed some money out of the safe before we left for dinner because we felt lucky. Our reservations were for 8:00PM and we were a little early but they fit us in just fine and the crab legs were as good as I had expected them to be. Kelly isn’t much on fish so he had a New York steak and he said his was great too. We skipped dessert because we were both full and we headed over to the casino. I went to the slots and Kelly went to the 21 table. All said and done, together we won $90, so we quit while we were ahead and pocketed the ships money. Then back to the room to sit on the balcony for a while to look at the stars and then to bed. We know the weather will be clear and hot tomorrow so we will probably spend another day in the sun, but we will once again slather on the sunscreen.
Day 23 – Tuesday, May 6, 2008 – Sea day – Kelly got up and wanted to sit in the hot tub but my skin was still a little too tender so I just went out with him and sat on the lounge chairs to read my book while he got in the hot tub. Then he got in the swimming pool but I wasn’t in my swim suit so I just continued reading. It was very windy and when we staked out our lounge chairs up on the top deck, I hesitated even wanted to lounge out. However, we saved our two chairs and two for our friends and then went to breakfast. After breakfast, we decided to go upstairs and lounge in the sun. I didn’t get in my swimming suit because I didn’t really need any more sun for a while so I just lounged in my crop sweatpants and a shirt. I wore a hat to shield my face and just read my book, I thought that would prevent any sun damage. It was very windy and we could feel the ocean spray on our skin and it wasn’t real pleasant but I just stuck it out and continued reading (big mistake). I thought I was being really smart with turning my face against the sun but I had on my reading glasses and the sun reflected through the glasses, bounced off my eye socket bones and burned my eyelids. At least from now on I will have permanent eye shadow. We started at around 10:00AM and at 2:00PM they started the “Crossing the Equator” ceremony, a pretty silly little play about King Neptune. We had premier seats because it was out by the pool but everyone started crowing all around us so finally I just stood up to watch. A man was standing behind me and kept pushing me up against the railing and more people started crowding around to watch the silly ceremony so after about 30 more minutes I decided to call it quits and just gathered up all of our stuff and went back to the room. None too soon; the combination of the wind, the salt and the sun totally burned my face that I so pain stakingly tried to shield from the sun. My right armed was also pretty burned, boy did I screw up this day sun wise. I had made reservations as the Pacific Moon dining room for dinner that night so we could have dinner with our two friends. We met them at their cabin (they had a mini-suite) and had canapés and we just sat around and talked until it was time to go to dinner. It was formal night so we were pretty dressed up. They were shocked to see how red I was and I was pretty miserable that night but we ate a long leisurely dinner of prime rib and then went to the musical review in the Princess Theater. It was a fun night but I was glad to be back to our room so I could put lotion on my skin and just lie down on the cool sheets. I will not go out tomorrow and lie in the sun; I will just stay in our room and read my book.

Day 24 – Wednesday, May 7, 2008 – Sea day – Still pretty windy but I decided to lie out on the lounge chairs and just keep my clothes on but try to get some sun on the back of my legs. We went to breakfast and then went up top to where our friends had saved us two lounge chairs. We put our stuff out but then we left to go check email and I wanted to go to the store and buy some stronger sun screen. I had been using SPF 15 on the legs and arms but SPF 30 on my face but I thought I should start using SPF 50 so I bought the only thing they had which was children’s’ sunscreen. It was a spray and it must have had alcohol in it because it burned when I put it on my face. I stayed outside for just over an hour and couldn’t take the wind anymore and decided to just go lay in the cool sheets of my bed and read. Kelly had gone to the gym so I laid down and before I knew it I was asleep. I guess the sun takes it out of me. We went to lunch and then came back to watch some TV. I was pretty much sick of being in the sun so we didn’t go back out. We will be glad to be in Honolulu tomorrow so we don’t have to worry about laying in the sun. We might try and go to Waikiki beach though, at least for a little while. We are packing our big suitcase and taking it to the post office in Honolulu to try and mail it home. We are overweight with our luggage and instead of paying money to the airlines for overweight luggage we are going to mail it home. We decided if they won’t let us mail just the suitcase we will box up the stuff and throw the suitcase away. We packed way too much stuff. We went down at 3:30PM to give another try at winning bingo, we didn’t win. This stage in the bingo game there are so many people that play that our chances of winning are getting worse. The snowball bingo jackpot is now over $5000 so it is really drawing in the players. At least this time we were one away from winning the $500 game but of course, they didn’t call our last number. Oh well, that’s okay it was still fun. After bingo we just walked around the ship, checked our email and the American Idol results and Kelly checked on the Utah Jazz playoffs. Jazz lost, LA Lakers one. He is happy because Friday night they are showing the game in ESPN and we get that in our room. We took some more sunset pictures and once again we weren’t disappointed with the beauty.

We decided to eat dinner in the buffet because of the usually reason, we didn’t want to get all dressed up. After dinner we just went back to the room so I could read and Kelly could watch TV and then we were out for the night.

Day 25 – Thursday, May 8, 2008 – Honolulu, Hawaii – We woke up at 6:00AM in the hopes of seeing a little land start appearing in the horizon but still none. We don’t arriving in Honolulu until 9:00AM and we have a customs inspection on the ship before we can disembark. We stay in Honolulu until 9:00PM so we should be able to go to the post office and still go to the beach and tour as much as we want. We usually don’t stay in port too long because we don’t want to pay for the expensive tours so we just go on our own. We have been to Honolulu before so we will just role with the flow.
They called our number to go through immigrations and we left the ship. We filled up our old black suitcase with things we didn’t need and walked to the post office to mail it. We weren’t sure they would let us mail the suitcase so we were prepared to put everything in boxes and then throw the suitcase away. However, they let us mail the entire suitcase and it was only 40+ pounds which totally floored us because we thought it weighed a lot more. It was so easy to mail that we took a couple of boxes back to the ship so we could go back and mail some more stuff. On the way to the post office, we found a Starbucks so we stopped on the way back to the ship so I could by a Hawaii mug. Before we went back to the Post Office, we took the free shuttle to Walmart they were offering for anyone wanting to go. We wanted to go because we needed a few things like toothpaste, Listerine and some snacks. Plus, yea, we were finally in the United States so we could by Diet Pepsi, so we indulged and took a 12 pack back to the ship. After we got back from Walmart, we boxed up the rest of the stuff we wanted to mail and walked back to the Post Office. After that, we decided to walk to the Federal Building to see if the FBI was located there. It was, so, having taken my credentials with us and our diplomatic passports, we went to the office because we wanted to by some Honolulu FBI hats and shirts. We wanted to give one to each of our friends, Bud and Dee and Kelly and I bought one for ourselves, plus I bought a T-shirt. Then we walked back to the ship and got in our swimming suits and went swimming. By then it was a little later in the afternoon, so the sun wasn’t too hot but we swam for a while and then laid out for a while. Shortly after that, there was a performance by some local musicians and some little girls doing hula dancing. We stayed out and watched them perform and of course took tons of pictures, then back to the room to get ready to go to dinner.

We only went to the buffet but it was good, as usual. Then we went back to the room so we could get ready for our fun packed day tomorrow on the big island of Hawaii where we were going to dock in Hilo. The last port of call before the four day sea only trip before we land in Los Angeles, YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 26 – Friday, May 9, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii – We work up several hours before we landed in Hilo. We are starting to run down, physically and emotionally; we both want to be home. We weren’t that excited about seeing Hilo but we thought we would just get off the ship for a while to see if there was anything interesting. We ate breakfast first and sat on the balcony watching everyone leave the ship. We did see the sunset this morning but a storm was brewing in the East so the sunset wasn’t as vivid as I was hoping but it was still pretty.

We just didn’t have a lot of energy to even participate but soon we got up and got ready to leave. They had a free shuttle that took us to Hilo Hatties, the main tourist shopping center to buy Hawaiian things. We saw a Sears nearby so that is where we spent most of our time. We looked at TVs and washers and dryers and refrigerators. Just seeing how much they were, not that we were going to buy any. We had contacted Duerdens in Bountiful and have scheduled them to deliver our “RED” new washer and dryer and our new silver, sleek looking refrigerator on the Thursday or Friday we get home. We are also having all our household goods delivered out of our storage unit at the same time so we have some work cut out for us, and that is where our mind is. Our mind is on getting home, seeing our family and getting settled back in the good old USA. We only stayed out for probably a little over an hour. They had some tourist booths set up at the terminal where the ship was docked and that is where we bought our stuff. We wanted to take the kids a little something so we bought each of the girls, including our little Londyn, little flower hair clips for their hair. That is what Heather and Cassandra are getting too. We couldn’t go without buying the boys something so we bought Cody and Mason masculine looking necklaces made out of coconut shells with a surf board emblem hanging from each of them. We wanted to buy mom something but we just couldn’t find anything we thought she would need or wear because basically, she doesn’t need anything. We bought a bunch of lays to hang on the tree by Casey’s grave. We have bought things for his grave this whole trip. It is sad that we have to do that, but we do. It helps us to stay a little grounded; that we our buying our baby boy something from our trip. Then it was back to the room, probably for the rest of the day, to just relax. We will probably go eat a late lunch, but other than that, we are through for the day. We slept off and on while watching TV. Kelly was waiting for the Jazz, LA game to come on so we stayed inside until the game was on and he was able to get his fix. The Jazz won so he was happy. We went down to the internet machines so we could check email see if we could sign up for Dish Network for TV when we get home. I ended up having to call them but we got it all set up which made Kelly very happy. Now when we get home we will go buy him a nice big HDTV set. I picked up another book which will be my final one for the trip. Four days to go and three books should tie me over. We didn’t eat lunch so we thought we would get an early dinner and we met our Australian friends and had dinner with them. Their names are Bruce and Carolyn but we don’t think we ever got their last name. It was good company and conversation. After we ate we just went back to the room to settle down for the evening so we could get the last four days over with.
Day 27 – Saturday, May 10, 2008 – Sea day - We went to breakfast (well, of course we did) but not until we got up and sat on the balcony for a while. It looked like it was going to be a clear day so we planned to sit outside most of the day. I had a facial scheduled for 8:00AM that morning but the day before I wasn’t feeling too well so I cancelled. After a while, we went up and staked out our spot on the top deck, as usual, so we could sit with all our friends. I took my book and started to read. I didn’t even get my swimming suit on because I didn’t want that much sun. A few days ago when I did that, I ended up getting too much sun anyway so this time I went prepared with SPF 50 sunscreen. Good thing because it ended up being a glorious day. I sat outside reading with just my shorts and a t-shirt and ended up getting plenty of sun. Kelly went and did other things. He went to the golf lecture, went to the gym and I don’t know what else, but I stayed out there all day long without him. At about 2:00PM, I decided I had enough sun and went to the room. Kelly was there watching TV and he had a card on my pillow with a gift certificate for a “Head to toe” treatment at the spa. I was so happy and even more glad that I had cancelled my spa treatment for that morning. We also had decided to go to the steak house on Mother’s Day for dinner with our friends so I made us reservations for 6:00PM that next day which was also Mother’s Day. So, needless to say, my Mother’s Day was looking to be pretty nice, but without my kids and the reason I even get to celebrate Mother’s Day. After a few hours, we went to the buffet for dinner. They had shrimp and other seafood which I totally enjoyed since sea food is one of my favorite things. Then we just went back to the room to sit on the balcony for a while and watch the sun set. Once again I got some beautiful pictures and can’t wait to get home and go through them and choose what ones we want to get enlarged and framed. Then it was bed time and being the social butterflies we were, we went to bed while the rest of the ship was out partying, drinking, dancing, and having a gay old time. Since we don’t drink, we just don’t participate and opt to go to bed.
Day 28 – Sunday, May 11, 2008 – Sea day - Mother’s Day – What a fantastic way to spend Mother’s Day, but of course I am without the very reason I am a Mother, except for Kelly of course, my love and eternal companion. I got up early because my “Head to toe” spa treatment that Kelly bought me was for 8:00AM. We have moved the clock up several hours since we left Sydney so 8:00AM isn’t as late in the morning as it used to seem and we will move the clock one more time before we get to Los Angeles. My spa treatment was wonderful and very relaxing. When I got back we decided to go to breakfast and then stake out our lounge chairs. After breakfast we went right upstairs to start our sunning ritual but the weather didn’t cooperate with us so we went in, and that is pretty much where we stay for the rest of the day. We didn’t go eat lunch because we knew we were going to the steak house for dinner and the steaks were supposed to be huge and delicious, and they were. Kelly had a 22 ounce porterhouse (T-bone) steak and I had a 10 ounce fillet. It was a great meal, the best we have had so far, but there was a $15 a piece cover charge but not a bad price for the meal we got. We went with our friends and we always have fun with them. Kelly and Bud talk sports and Dee and I just talk kids and shopping and decorating and other stuff we have in common. After dinner, they wanted to go to the variety show and Kelly didn’t want to go so he stayed in and I went with them. It was a great show but didn’t start until 10:30PM and I hadn’t stayed up that late for a while so it was a little hard but I did it. When I got back, Kelly was till awake and watching TV so it was a while before we finally went to bed.
Day 29 – Monday, May 12, 2008 – Sea day – We woke up a little later than usual but we didn’t have anything planned. The entire cruise is winding down and we were just going to relax and do something different. I went to the very back of the ship to get us lounge chairs just to lay somewhere different this time. It was nice seeing different scenery and we thought, a little too late, that this is where we should have been sitting all along. It actually was cool today, so I didn’t think we would do too much laying out and I was right. After we ate breakfast, I went and laid down for a while on our lounge chair and got my book out. Kelly walked around the ship for a while and then he joined me. He didn’t stay long, it was quite cool outside with the breeze but I wrapped up in my towel and stayed out a while and read my book. I stayed out until just after noon and then thought I would just go in where it was warm. Kelly was already in the room watching TV so I joined him but read my book. It was much warmer inside than out so it was much more relaxing. We ate a late lunch and then decided to go sit in the steam room. Kelly went in the men’s and I went in the woman’s but I didn’t stay to long because it was pretty uncomfortable in that wet heat. I went outside to the adult pool and waited for Kelly and then we got in the hot tub for the second time. We stayed out there for a while and then just back to the room. We still have time left on our account for the internet café but for some reason we didn’t even go down. We will have to go tomorrow so we can use all our time up. After several hours in the room, we got dressed and went and met our friends down in the Princess Theater to watch the variety show. It was pretty good and even Kelly liked it. After that we just went in a near buy bar so we could just sit and talk. I had a diet coke and Kelly just shared it with me. We didn’t stay there long because it was getting late and we hadn’t even had dinner yet, so we parted ways with our friends and went to dinner. We ate just a bit and then back to our room. We have to pack tomorrow, one of the things I hate, but I am actually looking forward to it this time because I know that means we are going home soon. I can’t wait. We watched Happy Feet for probably the 100th time and then just went to sleep to get ready to wake up tomorrow to pack so we can GO HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 30 – Tuesday, May 13, 2008 – Sea day – What a sea day it was, rough and cold. I guess the sun was out of the question for us but that was okay, we had had enough. We didn’t eat breakfast because we wanted to sleep in a while and we moved the clocks ahead one more hour to be on LA time, so we are only one hour different from home. It certainly was easier to get used to the time change doing it gradually like we did. We aren’t one bit sad to be leaving the cruise ship, in fact, we are happy. Most people on the ship are solemn and sad but we aren’t. We have our family to look forward to seeing and most of these people haven’t been gone as long as we have. It is still hard for me to believe that we are actually going home for good and boy, it feels great. We went down at 10:0AM to play bingo. The big jackpot was up to over $6000 so we thought we should give it a chance; we didn’t win. We still had a chance at 4:15PM to win. We went and ate lunch and they had the Mexican buffet set up by the pool. It was good. We went to the room to start packing. Actually, Kelly started packing and I tried to finish my book. Then soon it was time to go try the afternoon bingo. We went; we didn’t win, but it was fun trying. After bingo, we went back to the room to finish packing and I actually packed. By 8:00PM we were almost ready to go. We went to eat our last dinner in at the buffet and they had one of my favorites, sea scallops. They were great. We met out friend Megan there and we sat with her. We think we convinced her to try and travel to Utah to come and visit and I bet she does. She is such a cute little girl. When we left, we each gave her a big hug and she cried. I did my best to hold my tears because I really liked her. Then it was back to the room to finish up and then go to bed to get ready to GET OFF THE SHIP. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 31 – Wednesday, May 14, 2008 – Los Angeles, California in the good old USA. Soon, home at last, home at last.

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8/13/08

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