A big day, nautically, on board. We crossed the equator!! King Neptune came on board midday to conduct the traditional initiation ceremony of converting "pollywogs", or those never having crossed, into "shellbacks", experienced equator-crossers. Dozens of people lined up to be dressed in togas and have their face painted while hundreds of others gathered to … Continue reading Day 8: At Sea

A day of overcast and frequently wet weather but with so many inside activities to attend I hardly noticed what was going on outside. First breakfast was a coffee and yogurt in the Garden Cafe - but I realized that the adjacent restaurant is open for extra buffet seating during breakfast and lunch, so for … Continue reading Day 7: At Sea

Well, it turns out that the couple I sat beside at dinner 2 nights ago are the guest lecturers on board the ship! She spent years as a Professor of Native Textiles at the University of Hawaii, and he was a Professor of Geology. Each sea day, at 9am, one of them gives an hour … Continue reading Day 6: At Sea

The sun shone today! Big puffy clouds still hugged Kauai’s mountain tops as we cruised north this morning, but the cliffs of the Na Pali coast were free of the heavy mist that cling to everything yesterday. We headed north to circumnavigate Kauai just so we could view this majestic portion of coast. It’s been … Continue reading Day 5: Leaving Kauai

A lazy morning today as the ship didn’t arrive to the port of Nawiliwili until 9:30am. Ideally I would have slept in but my curtains were open so I awoke with the dawn about 5:45am. We were just off the coast of Oahu then so we are backtracking north again from the Big Island. It … Continue reading Day 4: Kauai

An unplanned day for me today, just planned to see a little of Hilo and then relax onboard. I therefore caught the 9:30am shuttle downtown to Hilo for a stroll around the historic sights and buildings. It’s Sunday so few stores are open but that’s okay, I’m not a souvenir shopper and I’ll hit up … Continue reading Day 3: Hilo, Hawaii

Courtesy of jet lag I enjoyed both a long sleep and an early wake up. By 6a I was on the deck checking out Maui as we drew into the port. On my way aft to find coffee I discovered some new areas of the ship I missed yesterday: the gym which was chockers with … Continue reading Day 2: Kahului, Maui

Here I go again! I was only home from Spain for less than 12 hours before booking a new adventure leaving just 2 weeks later. I came across a deal in my emails that seemed too good to pass up: a month-long cruise to the South Pacific for a base rate well under $75/day. Truly … Continue reading Day 1: South Pacific!!!