Day 11 Pacific Ocean

Today is another sea day so I thought it would be interesting to tell a little about the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean was named by the explorer Magellan because compared to the Atlantic he considered it peaceful. His term was Pacifico. It is by far the largest ocean on earth. It has about 25,000 islands in it most of which are below the equator. For me, the most unbelievable fact is that at it's deepest point it is 35,979 feet deep which if Mount Everest was positioned at the deepest point would still be about 16,000 feet from breaking the surface of the water. The Mariana Trench is the most notable geologic feature. It is at the bottom of this trench where the deepest point is found. There are three sub-sea mountain ranges which are refered to as "seamounts". In the northern hemisphere the general direction of currents is in a clockwise direction.

OK, enough of the geography lesson. In my defense there is not a lot to see when you are in the middle of the ocean so you start to wonder about the ocean in general. Also it seems early to be reaching for subject matter for the blog, but on a a sea day it happens. This does not bode well for future sea days, so watch out!

Chris - Picture This - The two pictures above were representative of my day today. Every sea day I spend the majority of it in that 100 degree hot tub above looking out at the ocean. I had Paul take the picture with me facing him so you could see what I see when I'm facing the ocean. The other picture is of us eating dinner out on the deck, it's beautiful with candlelight, a warm tropical night and the sound of the ocean. It doesn't get better than that for me. Add in more food, trivia, walking and a spa activity and that's how I spend my sea days. I actually do catch some of the lectures, but it's usually via tape delay on the TV at night.

Day 10 An Entertaining Dinner

Today was sea day, which means that we spent the entire day at sea. I say this as background for the comment that from time to time it seems an adventurous notion to sail around the world on a sail boat. After eyeing the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean for hours on end without any sight of land or anything but water for that matter, the romance of sailing great distances in a small sail boat is quickly vanquished. Admittedly, sitting on deck with a drink in hand and a steward occasionally offering a cool moist towel does tend to exaggerate the difference between our experience and what we expect the small boat experience would be like.

I am developing a profound respect for the Polynesians as sailors and adventurers. What would entice these people to leave one of these island paradises and strike out in a small craft in hopes of finding another island that they did not know would even exist, is well beyond my understanding. One of the things that is clear is that most of the islands of any size can provide all of the basic necessities of food, fresh water and housing materials.

Tonight we had dinner with two of the four singers on board. They are a lovely young English couple that have been on the ship from the start of the world cruise and will remain on board until the start of May. Occasionally, guests like us are invited to dine with the entertainers. Our first experience was to have dinner with the magician that was on board. Tonight's dinner was special for us since we met this couple the evening we left Kauai. We invited them to join us for dinner and struck up an interesting conversation. Obviously, they were very kind to include us in tonight's dinner. The other dinner guests include a Japanese man, a lady from Luxembourg, an actress from LA and a Canadian couple from Ottawa. Both are aspiring musical theatre performers and are quite talented. With Stephan's career and experiences it is nice to have such common ground to share thought and experiences.

While we were in Oahu we picked up some traditional Hawaiian entertainers. You will notice them standing in the picture behind me.

Chris...Now let's talk food! There are some great dining spots on the ship. Paul is sitting in our favorite (above) as it's an indoor/outdoor restaurant (Colonnade) that serves all meals. It has both a buffet and table service for breakfast and lunch and only table service for dinner. There is a formal dining room (The Restaurant) serving all meals, a very high end gourmet restaurant (Restaurant 2) and a grill by the pool that serves lunch, snacks and dinner. Then there's always room service that can be served on our veranda (see pic). The food is amazing! They have been voted best food in the cruise industry by travel magazines. It's mostly gourmet in all the restaurants but the grill and room service. They serve more "classic" meals like steaks, burgers, pizza, pasta, and fish. All the restaurants have a "classic" menu available every night with steaks, fish, chicken and pastas (thank goodness). The Colonnade has ethnic theme nights every night and they always provide the menu the night before for all the restaurants so you can plan where you eat. The Restaurant's menu has things like...Foie Gras Torchon, Carrot Velcoute, Island Snapper Grenobloise (wrapped in bick dough, truffle accented cauliflower puree, sauce grenobloise) and Crisp Duck Breast & Heirloom Apples (red cabbage, soft rosemary gnocchi)....SAY WHAT??????????????? Then there's the high end restaurant with Lime Kissed Duck Presse (Soba Pasta, Shitake Bok Choy, Grilled Chili Balls) and Spiced Halibut (Crisp Foie Gras, Roasted Pineapple Chutney) for example. Of course this is all served with endless wine. Where does a girl get nachos and chips & salsa?

Day 9 Maui

While the financial meltdown may have affected many things, by all appearances, Maui along with the other islands we visited in Hawaii do not seem to show any signs of a weak economy. Today we landed at the port city of Lahaina which is remarkable due to the presence of the largest Banyan tree in the world which over the years has expanded to encompass an entire city block. We have included a picture of the tree which does not do it justice since you only see a small portion of the tree. We have also included a picture of the two of us in our newly acquired Hawaiian outfits. ALOHA!!!

There is a small island to the west of us which gives the feeling of being in a large lagoon. This lagoon is teeming with whales. As we cruised in this morning we saw nine whales in the period of about 45 minutes. During the day as we were on the beach at Ka'anapali we could see their spouts. Today we dropped anchor and used the life boats to tender into Lahaina.

A note to those who are followers; we enjoy your comments. We are open to any suggestions you feel would make it more enjoyable or informative.

Chris - Finally able to blog after my "big" Thursday night wine tasting! Maui was a delight as usual...plentiful whales, beautiful beaches, fabulous weather and great shopping. Lahaina has grown since we were here about 10 years ago, but still maintains the look of an old frontier town with clapboard facades. Some of the facades are a century old and some clever imitations. The biggest difference I saw were the number of high end stores, particularly bordering the beach. Back to the water for 3 days of cruise and snooze.

Day 8 Honolulu, Oahu Hawaii

Pictures are of The Arizona, Diamond Head, and The Bowfin Submarine

What a lovely day. The great majority of the day was spent at the Pearl Harbor memorials. First, we went to the battleship Arizona memorial and while there also toured the submarine U S Bowfin. This was a major accomplishment due to Chris' claustrophobia to see her climb down the hatch and work our way through the sub. It probably had to do with her agreement with Tracy to drink some wine each Thursday at dinner. She might have felt today was a day to take some risks. After the sub we visited the Pacific Air Museum which had a collection of planes from WW II.

So at least for the next few days we will be experts on the sneak attack that occurred on December 7, 1941. A few more days at sea, with some drinks mixed in, on my part, will no doubt blur our recollection and we will be back to our normal state of blissful ignorance.

This evening we were entertained at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel "The Pink Palace of the Pacific" on Waikiki Beach. We were struck by how much development has taken place since we were here last. There is quite a collection of very high end retailers that have taken up residence just off the beach.

Tomorrow we are to land at Maui.

Day 7 Kauai, Hawaii

Landfall at last. This morning we entered the harbor town of Nawilwili (Na willy willy) on the island of Kauai. This is a charming little port which is basically sailing into the crater of an ancient volcano. The hills are lush with vegetation and the water is clear and a brilliant blue color. We had our first sighting of whales, albeit they were about three miles away, but we could see their spouts and a fin or two from time to time. Hopefully tonight as we depart for Honolulu we will travel up the Na Pali coast so we can see the rugged beauty that made it famous.

Today's photos are clockwise from upper left: Chris on Bali Hi beach from South Pacific. Chris and Paul at waterfall, Chris with swimming pool of Marriott Kauai in background; and Chris on the beach in front of the Marriott. If it isn't clear from the pictures the Marriott is spectacular! The entire island is infested with chickens that due to a past hurricane were set free and have done a marvelous job of multiplying. It also helps that there are no predators on the island. I hope free range chicken is not on the menu tonight.

Chris - Back to my "South Pacific" roots - I love Kauai! We were here around 1990 and it has always been one of my favorite places I've ever been to. It's so lush and you know I love waterfalls...this place is known for its waterfalls. It was fun to stand on the dock and beach where they filmed "South Pacific" as it was one of my favorite shows from high school where I got to be Nellie Forbush for only one rehearsal (as an understudy, obviously not enough arsenic to the lead). We look forward to another beautiful day tomorrow in Hawaii.

Day 6 Nearing Hawaii

Today was our last day of the longest "at sea" stretch we will have. I will try to post some more pictures of the ship with this entry. We have had some problems due to the minimal satelite coverage so uploading pictures is tedious. I had the blog written last night with six, count them, six pictures but when I went to post the entry I lost everything.

I spent part of today online with a support person from HP and found out that my battery is not functioning at all. I will have to have a power source to continue to have access to the net.

I did see some flying fish today which was pretty neat. They are about 6 inches long and about a big round as a cigar.

We need to send birthday wishes to Scott since 34 years ago on the 27th he joined our happy family.

We had a nice dinner tonight which was a special menu of the chef. It was a seven course meal which ended with homemade macroons.

Day 5 More of the Ship

Today we are having some trouble posting but we will keep trying. The ship has six hot tubs, three pools, an exercise room, a salon/spa, about six bars, putting green, and a shuffleboard court. Hopefully, the pictures we have attached do most of the talking.

We had dinner with the magician who performed last night (we did not see his show) and he gets off the ship in Hawaii.

Chris - A routine day... and you all know I love routine. I usually exercise between 7-8 and eat breakfast at 8. My days consists mostly of reading or sitting in the hot tubs at the back and front of the ship where I can sit in the 100 degree tubs and watch the water. I love the different shades of blue and watching for signs of wildlife. I haven't seen any whales, but I did finally see two birds. I often go to lectures (today was Broadway Women!), trivia every noon and someday maybe a specialty class. Tonight we went to Liar's Club after dinner where 4 ship personnel (including the Captain) define a real, but funny word and each team had to guess whose was right. They were all funny, but the Captain was particularly funny. He's charming, funny and VERY accessible...does the man EVER work? It was a beautiful, calm day. Thanks for following us and leaving comments. I don't know how to answer comments so until I talk to Tracy I'll answer here or via email. Yes, Sue, I did get Xanax ... but seriously I never felt THAT anxious to take one...after all I DO have two 10 hour or more flights ahead of me and I might need all 30 of them for those flights!! Stan, Christmas Island is after Hawaii. Gotta run as it's very late and we keep losing our messages every time we try and post. Wish us luck!

Day 4 Our Room

M
Mobile to left is a gift from Tracy to Chris so
she can always have her kids and dog with her

Yesterday we gave you a brief overview of the ship with more to follow in a day or two. Today we give you a glimpse of our room.

The room is actually quite large in comparison to what we have experienced on other ships. We have a queen size bed and a spacious bathroom. The bathroom has two sinks a bath tub and a separate shower. It is fully covered in marble to make it quite attractive. There is a walk in closet with plenty of hanging space and drawers. There is actually a lot of other drawer space as well. There is even a make up table.

The room is divided into two areas, one where the bed is and on the other side we have a table two arm chairs and a couch. We also have a private veranda with a table and two chairs just outside. We have s small flat screen television that has limited channels so far. Mostly channels like CNN and Fox News as well as the ability to select among a variety of movies that you can play "on demand". There is a small bar with a small refrigerator.

As for the voyage so far we have seen no signs of sea life or any sea birds. I suspect that will change as we get closer to Hawaii and as islands become more plentiful.

We are told that we may be out of satelite coverage tomorrow so if there is no entry that is why.

Dasy 3 About the Ship

We are sailing on the Seabourn Odyssey. The ship is small as cruise ships go. There is room for 450 passengers and 330 crew. The ship is 650 feet long and 84 feet wide. After a couple of days of being tossed about like a cork in the ocean some of the charm of a small ship was lost. Now that we have found calmer seas some of that charm is returning.
There are 4 restaurants on board and a few cafe type spots that serve finger food and beverages.
We are located on deck 6 on this 11 deck ship. Passengers are berthed on decks 4 thru 10 with the balance being used either for equipment and crew which are mostly the lowest decks and common areas on the upper decks.
The passengers are a widely diverse group of people albeit mostly older. From what we can tell at this time they seem to come from mostly european countries and north america. They do seem to have a penchant for dressing up as the suggested dress for many of the dinners is either "black tie optional" or "elegant casual"

My two cents worth....OK how many of you really thought I'd never post anything even though it really is Paul's baby. I thought I'd give you my perspective on the last two days. We were very fortunate that neither Paul or myself got sick, thanks to Emily and her telling us about ginger so we made sure we had some before meals. I never had nausea but I DID have a nervous stomach the first night because I thought we were going to DIE! The waves were enormous and the wind at times was 45 mph. The Captain said the high winds were good as it help knock down the waves...hmmmm. We got upgraded to the 6th floor before sailing...thank goodness. Even on the 6th floor the waves spray reached our veranda and veranda's door. There is salt everywhere! I got up a couple times during the night to make sure the waves weren't above our level of the ship. The fact they weren't seem to calm me for some reason. After the first night I didn't seem to have any concerns as the conditions improved a little and we saw the Captain and he seemed happy. Well I DID check out how much wine he had at dinner as we ate across from the Captain's table. After the last two days I felt I needed to relax so a massage seemed like the thing to do. So things have calmed down considerably and the weather is supposed to warm up tomorrow. Maybe they can even fill the pools and hot tubs! All for now.

Day 2 More Rock & Roll

Before I update today's activities and observations I need to acknowledge Patrick and Tracy for their help in making this blog more interesting and user friendly. Patrick is responsible for the map at the top of the blog which gives you a picture of our itinerary. Tracy is responsible for making it work with the blog and the nautical themed background. Tracy is amazingly talented in web based application design and her efforts made this blog much better.

Finally, the map is really neat and you can click on settings in the upper right corner to see it from Google earth.

Today's activities have been somewhat restricted due to the high seas we are experiencing. As reported yesterday the ginger has been a real help in eliminating sea sickness. Who knew? Ginger is made available at each restaurant and seems to do a nice job without having to take any real medication. The entertainment for this evening has been cancelled due to the weather and replaced with a solo guitar player.

The pictures I have attached are from yesterday and show Chris in front of the ship and the two of us toasting the start of our extended journey. One quick observation: Champagne seems to flow like water. It is surprising to see the amount of that bubbly stuff people can drink in a boat being tossed about. What will happen when we hit calmer seas will be interesting.

Day 1

Tonight we left the protective harbor of San Pedro, California and headed out to sea. The weather is the story of the day as a major low pressure system has moved into the area dumping significant quantities of rain on southern California causing mud slides and of course creating some high seas. As I write this the ship is pitching about and there is no one we can see outside of their stateroom. Chris and I each had a small piece of candied ginger at dinner which is supposed to have a calming effect on your body and minimize the chance of sea sickness. So far we can report it has worked successfully. No doubt we will have to follow up with a report tomorrow after our first night.
We suffered a major blow to our planned communications with the kids via the use of SKYPE. The boat blocks the use of SKYPE because it takes up so much band width. We will have to rely on this blog and email until we can find some place that will allow it.
We have altered our planned course and headed almost directly south to try to get out of the clutches of the storm as quickly as possible. Our next land fall will be in Hawaii in five days.

We are now fully unpacked, which was an interesting test of cramming 4 months of clothing into a barbie doll house chest of drawers. Nevertheless, we are pleased with the accommodations and had a delightful dinner.

As we clean up from Christmas, we are reminded why we love Montana. The beautiful coating of snow adds a new perspective to an already lovely landscape. Our thoughts are now focused on all the details we must take care of as we prepare to be gone for almost four months. While we enjoy the winter in our rural home we will be heading south of the equator to the summer and fall of the southern hemisphere.
Packing for a trip this long has its challenges, but we are reminded that what ever we need is probably available somewhere along the way. What could we possibly need except for a couple pairs of shorts, a few golf shirts, toothbrush and five pair of underwear?