Sunday, February 1, 2009
The South Pacific
Samoa brought hiking in the national park and a visit to a Latter-day Saint temple that was consecrated on our wedding day. In Fiji, firewalkers, Vanuatu, a canoe ride and an attack by warriors (followed by singing and dancing). At Ile de Pins, the captain kept talking about all the things the island didn't have, like a town, shopping, restaurants, until we wondered why we were docking there. Then, we went snorkeling. Oh My Goodness! We've been scuba diving 90' down and haven't seen the variety of coral and fish that were available just 2 feet below the surface. It's just too bad the "cheap" hotel in Ile de Pins runs about $600 per night, way too rich for our blood.
Sea Days
We knew the cruise would be fun, but we didn't expect it to be such a total blast that the shore days were almost unwelcome interruptions. The ship, Holland America's M.S. Volendam, came equipped with a Wii video game set up. The first day at sea, a few dozen signed up for a Wii Olympics, although the numbers dwindled as time went on. When the medals were awarded, about 15 men and 15 women were left in the competitions. Ken tied for the Bronze Medal - a Holland America key chain attached to a red ribbon.
It didn't take long to settle into a routine. Holland America has what they officially call Sports of Call dollars, but are more popularly known as 'dam' dollars, since all the HAL ship names end in 'dam.' The first event of each day was a walk around the deck. 3-1/2 laps equalled one mile, the minimum amount required to earn a dollar. Usually, we walked two miles, and occasionally three. Men's Wii olympics started at 9am, with women's following at 10am. Typically, the women showed up early to watch the men, and the men stayed over to watch the women. The olympians formed a pretty close bond that carried over into other parts of the cruise, though we never got into personal questions, such as last names or home towns.
During the day, we could earn dam dollars at various sporting events such as basketball shoots, tennis serves, ping-pong games, putting contests, even a paper airplane flying contest. Very cleverly, the staff included dance lessons in the dam dollar events, causing at least one man to participate who othwerwise wouldn't. In the afternoon, there were lectures about ancient polynesian navigation, bird life, fish life, all kinds of life. Just a couple of times, we laid out by the outdoor swimming pool and relaxed. In the evenings, we'd attend a show and then finish the night in the piano bar playing "Name That Tune" with Randall.
Of course, there was the food - lots and lots of food. HAL has set dining times or open dining. Either way, it took two hours to complete a meal. Eventually, we skipped the formal dining room and ate solely in the informal buffet.
It didn't take long to settle into a routine. Holland America has what they officially call Sports of Call dollars, but are more popularly known as 'dam' dollars, since all the HAL ship names end in 'dam.' The first event of each day was a walk around the deck. 3-1/2 laps equalled one mile, the minimum amount required to earn a dollar. Usually, we walked two miles, and occasionally three. Men's Wii olympics started at 9am, with women's following at 10am. Typically, the women showed up early to watch the men, and the men stayed over to watch the women. The olympians formed a pretty close bond that carried over into other parts of the cruise, though we never got into personal questions, such as last names or home towns.
During the day, we could earn dam dollars at various sporting events such as basketball shoots, tennis serves, ping-pong games, putting contests, even a paper airplane flying contest. Very cleverly, the staff included dance lessons in the dam dollar events, causing at least one man to participate who othwerwise wouldn't. In the afternoon, there were lectures about ancient polynesian navigation, bird life, fish life, all kinds of life. Just a couple of times, we laid out by the outdoor swimming pool and relaxed. In the evenings, we'd attend a show and then finish the night in the piano bar playing "Name That Tune" with Randall.
Of course, there was the food - lots and lots of food. HAL has set dining times or open dining. Either way, it took two hours to complete a meal. Eventually, we skipped the formal dining room and ate solely in the informal buffet.
A trip of a lifetime
To celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, we embarked on a 29-day cruise to New Zealand. We'd always wanted to visit there, but the prospect of 8,000 miles crammed into a 31.0" x 17.2" space was less than appealing. We didn't have enough frequent flyer miles to go first class and we weren't willing to pay first class fares, which were almost 10 times the coach class fare. I read something in USA Today on one of our travels that said the profit margin for first class is something like five times the amount as for coach class. Airlines could certainly lower the price of a first-class ticket, but they don't because so many business travelers on expense accounts are willing to pay the price. At any rate, the cruise was way more fun than a flight could ever be.
Ports of Call: Hawaii
We've visited Oahu enough times to bypass shore excursions there. Our plans to visit my niece in Laie didn't work out. Without a car, traveling a great distance in a short amount of time becomes amazingly complicated. We could walk to Iolani Palace from the port. In all our visits, we've never toured it - don't know why. Hanauma Bay is closed on Tuesdays (what!), so we spent the afternoon like so many first time visitors, sunbathing on Waikiki Beach. Sometime in the seven years since our last visit, The Shore Bird Restaurant discontinued it's Tuesday night 2-for-1 dinners. Oh well. With all the fabulous food on the ship, eating on shore is kinda silly.
On Maui, we'd booked a snorkeling trip but the water in Molokini Crater was described as a "washing machine" and all trips were cancelled. Instead, we tried a trip on the local version of the Atlantis Submarine which we'd seen in so many tropical ports. There are many experiences that must be done once, just to say one has done it, but never have to be repeated: parasailing, golf, rappelling, Atlantis Submarine. The view from the port hole was okay, but I think they try to put way too many people in the space. We sat in little, itty, bitty
On Hilo, we saw a new steam vent in Haleakala Crater. Samoa brought hiking in the national park and a visit to a Latter-day Saint temple that was consecrated on our wedding day. In Fiji, firewalkers, Vanuatu, a canoe ride and an attack by warriors (followed by singing and dancing). At Ile de Pins, the captain kept talking about all the things the island didn't have, like a town, shopping, restaurants, until we wondered why we were docking there. Then, we went snorkeling. Oh My Goodness! We've been scuba diving 90' down and haven't seen the variety of coral and fish that were available just 2 feet below the surface. It's just too bad the "cheap" hotel in Ile de Pins runs about $600 per night, way too rich for our blood.
On Maui, we'd booked a snorkeling trip but the water in Molokini Crater was described as a "washing machine" and all trips were cancelled. Instead, we tried a trip on the local version of the Atlantis Submarine which we'd seen in so many tropical ports. There are many experiences that must be done once, just to say one has done it, but never have to be repeated: parasailing, golf, rappelling, Atlantis Submarine. The view from the port hole was okay, but I think they try to put way too many people in the space. We sat in little, itty, bitty
On Hilo, we saw a new steam vent in Haleakala Crater. Samoa brought hiking in the national park and a visit to a Latter-day Saint temple that was consecrated on our wedding day. In Fiji, firewalkers, Vanuatu, a canoe ride and an attack by warriors (followed by singing and dancing). At Ile de Pins, the captain kept talking about all the things the island didn't have, like a town, shopping, restaurants, until we wondered why we were docking there. Then, we went snorkeling. Oh My Goodness! We've been scuba diving 90' down and haven't seen the variety of coral and fish that were available just 2 feet below the surface. It's just too bad the "cheap" hotel in Ile de Pins runs about $600 per night, way too rich for our blood.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
