Monday April 28, 2014 At Sea

Dawn today was the start of our last day at sea.  We really slept in this morning.  We only had coffee in the room.

I was able to publish yesterday’s blog on Blog Spot, share it on Facebook and collect Gerri’s e-mail.

We picked up the Sudoku puzzles at the library and then went to lunch at the Crown Grill.   Today was the Pub Menu.  I had fish and chips while Gerri had shrimp and chips.

Gerri went with me to the intelligence lecture.  Today’s topic was intelligence efforts before and during the Gulf Wars.  I recently finished Bill O’Reilly’s book, “Killing Lincoln.”  Part of the book outlined Lee’s retreat from Petersburg to Appomattox and Grant’s pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia to end the Civil War.  What a contrast in the intelligence available to modern battlefield commanders and what Lee and Grant had at their disposal.

I went to the Internet Café to try to get my e-mail.  I did get on the internet but all my e-mail wouldn’t load.  Gerri went to the room to get started on packing.

At 3:35 we tried to get on the internet to confirm our flight reservations with Southwest Airlines.  We did get Gerri’s e-mail but wasted time trying to get on the Southwest website.

We met Rick and Rosie and Hans in the Explorer’s Lounge for hors d’ouvres and final geocaching talk.

The Princess Theater tonight featured Ric Steele, whom we had seen before.  It was a great show and included one of my favorite songs, Country Roads and a grand finale with  the other entertainers and Cruise Director Bill Hygate joining Ric singing Sweet Caroline.

At dinner we finished the meal  by celebrating our 43^rd Wedding Anniversary early.  Tonight was also the March of the Baked Alaska and recognition of the food service staff.  We said goodbye to our table mates and retired to our room to finish packing.

We have to vacate our room at 8 am and our departure group doesn’t meet until 11:15 and our flight to Las Vegas is at 3:35 PM.

Sunday April 27, 2014 At Sea

Looking out this morning it looked like May Grey in southern California.  It did clear up later.  It was still windy out but again the sea wasn’t running very high.  This is the day the Lord made, and we will rejoice in it.

We had coffee in our room but no breakfast.  At 10:00 we had our third and last meeting with the geocachers on board.  Today a member of the cruise staff checked in with us to make sure we had got a spot to meet in the Wheel House Bar.  He told us that geocaching was the most asked about activities listed in the Princess Platter. Another person joined us today that wasn’t a geocacher,  she was a letter boxer.  She explained that game for those of us that didn’t know about it.  Letter Boxing has been around a long time.  It is similar to Geocaching but without the electronics.  There is a website where Letter Boxes are posted with clues on how to find them.  The Box contains a notebook and a stamp provided by the hider.  The seekers carry a notebook and a stamp designed by them.  The Letter Boxer that finds  a box stamps his book with the stamp in the box and the notebook in the box with his stamp.  The lady showed her book and stamp.  Many of the stamps, including hers, were literally works of art.  We swapped stories and passed around traveler bugs for other cachers to discover.  The meeting broke up after about an hour.  Besides talking about finding ways to have event caches on cruises we discussed wearing shirts identifying us as cachers.  Normally we try to remain inconspicuous when hunting caches, but on the cruise ship we may want to be identified as cachers.

Before the Geocacher’s meeting we had gone to the library and picked up our daily Sudoku puzzles.  After the meeting we went to the plaza area to watch a towel folding demonstration.  It was SRO but we found a seat on the edge of a planter and had a good view.  Two of the cabin stewards and one of their supervisors folded towels and washcloths into a variety of animals.  While waiting for the demonstration to start we worked on the Sudoku puzzles.  Both were rated as medium difficulty.  Gerri and I both got stalled at the same place on one of the puzzles.  We looked at the solution and it was wrong, it had two nines on one line.  We both were able to solve the other puzzle.

At 1pm I went to the intelligence lecture.  Today’s topics included bloopers with landings of the U-2.  It has been described as one of the most difficult aircraft to land.

After the lecture I met Gerri in the Explorer’s Lounge and we watched the passenger’s talent show.  One of our tablemates did a dance from her native county, India.

Gerri had eaten in the Horizon court so I went to the Lido Deck and had pizza slices.

The hors d’ouvres tonight was smoked salmon and a full complement of cheeses and vegetables.  On the way out of the lounge we met Jerue and Shandra, our tablemates from India by way of Toronto.  We talked and listened to the group Sol Play until dinner time.

At 10pm we went to the Princess Theater for the International Crew Talent Show.  This show is put on by the cruise director’s staff and features very talented members of the crew.

Back at the cabin it was a little reading time and then bedtime.

Friday April 25, 2014 At Sea

Today was cloudy and windy, but the ride was fairly smooth with only a few bumps.  We had coffee and breakfast in our room.

The internet is still balky and I haven’t been able to get my e-mail since Wednesday, maybe longer.  I have been able to get Gerri’s e-mail only it has been slow.   I haven’t been able to get on either Blogspot or Facebook.  We may have time to get things posted in Los Angeles.

We picked up Sudoku puzzles but today there were two puzzles rated hard.  Gerri solved them both, I didn’t even try them.

At 1pm I went to the intelligence lecture on manned aerial surveillance.  Gerri went to the pool area.

We went for the hors d’ouvres in the explorer’s Lounge.  We talked to the couples we had met there before from Vancouver, BC and Whidbey Island, WA.

After hors d’ouvres we went to a comedy show in the Princess Theater.  Then it was dinner time.  After dinner we went to the Vista Lounge and saw a solo singing performance by one of the cruise staff, Jamie Carr which was one of the best shows we have seen this cruise.  Then it was off to the room.  Gerri went to sleep pretty quickly and I finished my book, “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.

Saturday April 26, 2014 At Sea

More grey skies and wind today.  Even with that the ride was pretty smooth.  We have been lucky on all our cruises.  We have had some grey skies and rain but never experienced rough seas.

We had coffee and breakfast in our room after sleeping late.

I put in a shout out for another geocacher’s meeting and then went to the intelligence lecture.  Today’s topic was satellite reconnaissance.

Gerri had gone to the pool area but it was too windy and cold to stay there.

After the lecture I went to the library and tried to get on the internet, no luck.  I did have the names, screen names and room numbers of the geocachers at the last meeting printed up.  I then put them on the respective cabin doors.

This was the last formal night.  After getting dressed we went to the Explorer’s Lounge for hors d’ouvres.  We talked with the couple from Whidbey Island again.

Tonight the show we went to in the Princess Theater was a production show, British Invasion.

After dinner we went to the Explorer’s Lounge for a cruise director staff version of the Newlywed game.  Most of it was funny but some was way too personal to suit me.

Back at the room we found that the Princess platter listed the Geocacher’s get together at 10:30 in the Wheel House Bar.  Tonight we also set the clock forward one hour.  This is the last time for that.

Friday April 25, 2014 At Sea

Today was cloudy and windy, but the ride was fairly smooth with only a few bumps.  We had coffee and breakfast in our room.

The internet is still balky and I haven’t been able to get my e-mail since Wednesday, maybe longer.  I have been able to get Gerri’s e-mail only it has been slow.   I haven’t been able to get on either Blogspot or Facebook.  We may have time to get things posted in Los Angeles.

We picked up Sudoku puzzles but today there were two puzzles rated hard.  Gerri solved them both, I didn’t even try them.

At 1pm I went to the intelligence lecture on manned aerial surveillance.  Gerri went to the pool area.

We went for the hors d’ouvres in the explorer’s Lounge.  We talked to the couples we had met there before from Vancouver, BC and Whidbey Island, WA.

After hors d’ouvres we went to a comedy show in the Princess Theater.  Then it was dinner time.  After dinner we went to the Vista Lounge and saw a solo singing performance by one of the cruise staff, Jamie Carr which was one of the best shows we have seen this cruise.  Then it was off to the room.  Gerri went to sleep pretty quickly and I finished my book, “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.

Thursday April 24, 2014 At Sea

The day started cloudy with rain on the horizon.  Rain closed in toward the ship but never reached us.  The rocking and bumpy ride increased during the day  It was still a pleasant day which we enjoyed quite a bit.

Today we only had coffee in our room.  Gerri had put out another “shout out” for a geocacher’s meeting.  The meeting was announced in the Princess Platter for 10 AM in the Wheel House Bar.  We arrived early and staked out a few seats.  We were pleasantly surprised when more people showed up.  We moved to an area where there were a couple of couches and moved some chairs around on the dance floor.  We had one couple there to see what geocaching was about and another man who knew other geocachers and was hoping to get some information to help him decide what kind of GPS unit to buy.  Our little group of cachers grew by three more couples.  We did a round robin introduction after I gave a brief description of the game for the benefit of the inquiring minds.  Our group now consists of cachers from Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Washington, North Carolina and California.  We had some discussion on the merits of different GPS units and some talk about unique caches that we had experience.  We also had a brief discussion describing Travel Bugs and their variations.  The meeting started to break up at 11.  We decided to ask for another meeting before reaching Los Angeles.  I asked everyone to bring their GPS units to the next meeting along with a story about their most unique or fun caches.  I had also asked everyone to contact their area approvers to help bring back virtual cachers.  I also asked that they contact the approvers about how to set up a meet and greet aboard cruises so that they can be posted on geocaching. com and add to the attendees stats. A member of the Cruise Director’s staff came by as the meeting broke up, he had the wrong time on his schedule as he was assigned to come to view our meeting.  Gerri told him that we wanted to arrange another meeting, he said he would take care of it.

We had lunch in the Donatelli dining Room.  After lunch we went to a presentation on paying for long term care in the Princess Theater.  The presentation was made by a couple of passengers who were also elder law attorneys in Kentucky.  The presentation centered around obtaining Medicaid and was very informative.

I went by the library to try to get on the internet.  I haven’t been able to collect my e-mail since Tuesday.  I wasn’t able to get on even with the help of the Internet Café manager.  He said he didn’t know why but the service had been slow since yesterday.

The Sudoku puzzles today were a hard and a medium.  I failed on the medium.  Gerri failed on both, so I didn’t even look at the hard.

We went to the Explorer’s Lounge for hors d’ouvres. Tonight was sushi. We then went to the Princess Theater and saw a singer who sang Nat King Cole songs.  After the show it was to dinner at our regular table.

After dinner we went to the Explorer’s Lounge for a rock and roll show.  Before the rock and roll music we saw the end of a round of the Princess Pop Star contest.  This is an ongoing karaoke contest and finalists are chosen for a final contest later in the cruise.

After the show we went to our room and read for a little while.  Tonight we had to set the clock forward an hour.  That will happen one more time before we are on Pacific Time.

Wednesday April 23, 2014 At Sea

Another day at sea started with some overcast which cleared up as the day went on.  We had coffee and breakfast in our room.

We went to the library as usual and picked up the daily Sudoku puzzles, again a medium and a hard.  I was able to solve both, this is two days in a row.  Gerri finished both easily.

At 1pm I went to the intelligence lecture.  Today’s topic was use of unmanned aircraft or UAVs.  Gerri had been in the pool area and I met her there.  We watched the “Mister Sexy Legs” contest.  There were six male contestants and three women acted as judges.  Each judge gave a score of 1 to 10, with one score being kept secret.  The contestants had one of two things in common; massive ego or no pride at all.  A couple of the contestants were obviously unable to interpret what they saw of their reflected images or had never seen themselves in a mirror.  However, it did bring lots of laughter from the spectators.

For lunch I had pizza slices and Gerri had a grilled hotdog with sauerkraut.

We went late for hors d’ouvres in the Explorer’s lounge.  We did talk to a couple from Vancouver, Canada.

We went to the 7 PM show in the Princess Theater.  We saw a mostly different act by the ventriloquist, Jerry Goodspeed, that we had seen in the Vista Lounge a couple of nights ago.  This time we did sit close enough that we could see that the ventriloquist mouth didn’t move.

After our usual dinner time we went to the Vista Lounge and saw a show called Motor City put on by the Princess singers and dancers.

The internet has slowed down so much for the last week or so that we have been unable to post pictures.  Today I couldn’t even collect my e-mail.

Tuesday April 22, 2014 At Sea

I haven’t noted that the last few days have been sunny and warm and the seas smooth.  I remember noting the cloudy and overcast days and have neglected the fact that most days have been beautiful weather.  Even when I note that the weather is not perfect, don’t think I am complaining.  I am just describing the conditions around us.  We enjoy every day to the fullest and count each as a blessing from God.

Today started as most of our days (by the way, it was sunny out) with coffee and breakfast in our room.  Today we only had fruit, saving ourselves for the taco bar on the Lido Deck later today.  I really had nothing to do yesterday, but I didn’t finish it until this morning. (Joke)

When I collected my e-mail today I had a message from another geocacher who wanted to get together,  It seems that during the meeting of geocachers he had missed seeing the group.  I guess we should have had a sign.  I told him that we would be in the Explorer’s Lounge for hors d’ouvres at 5 PM.  I also told him where we would be sitting.

After breakfast we went to the library and picked up the daily Sudoku puzzles.  Today’s sheet had puzzles with difficulties rated at medium and hard.  Amazingly during the afternoon I was able to solve both.  I think this was the first hard one I have been able to finish.  We also put in another shout out for a meeting of geocachers.  In all fairness I shouldsay that Gerri does the hard puzzle first and then easily finishes the medium difficulty puzzles.

We went to the pool area on Lido Deck.  There was too long a line at the taco bar for me to get lunch before the intelligence gathering lecture.  I headed to the Crown Grill hoping to get the featured pub food.  There was a long line there. too.  After the lecture on spies and spying, I went back to the Crown Grill and had fish and chips.

We went to the Lounge at 4:45 and got seats in the described area.  Today’s feature was shrimp.  The group ended up being three couples;  Gerri and me, Rick and Rosie of R&R Cruisers and Hans and Lori Weber of 2hanweb.  Hans and his wife live in upstate New York.  After discussing our finds, dnfs and experiences we went our separate ways.

We then went to the 7 PM show in the Princess Theater and saw Jim McDonald.  He was a comedian that had been featured on the David Letterman show.  He had a very funny act.  On this cruise we have seen several comic acts and they have all been good.  On other cruises there has been at least one act that we didn’t enjoy as much as others.

Guess what we did next!  If you guessed anything but dinner at our regular time, you missed it.   After dinner it was back to our room for some reading and then bedtime.

Monday April 21, 2014 At Sea

This was our first full day at sea on the return trip to Los Angeles.  We had breakfast and coffee in our room.

Today was wash day.  While getting things ready Gerri went through the pockets of clothing that I had worn.  She found two coins, she said one looked like a dime and the other like a penny.  She laid them on the dresser.  A little later I looked at them.  The one that looked like a dime was a coin from Western Samoa.  The reason the other coin looked like a penny was that it was.  More correctly it was a US minted one cent coin.  The interesting part was that it was an Indian head cent minted in 1887.  While Gerri did the wash I went to the library and picked up the daily Sudoku puzzles.  Today one was medium and the other hard.  Later I managed to solve the medium puzzle.

After getting the wash finished, Gerri went to the pool area and I went to the Intelligence lecture.  Today’s segment was on the Cuban missile crisis and events leading up to and following it.  I went by the library after the lecture to post the blog.  Earlier this morning the internet in the room was poor to load.  I tried to add pictures to the blog for Bora Bora.  Even though we still have a lot of minutes left it was loading too slow to be tolerable.

I went to the pool area and walked around looking for Gerri.  I saw Rick and we talked for a awhile.  He had seen Gerri earlier on the opposite side of the pool.  When I went there she was gone.  I did run into her when walking through the covered pool area.

Tonight we saw the sunset from our balcony.  Our course it must have been north east because the setting sun was a little behind us but we could see the sun meeting the horizon and there were a few clouds to pick up the orange color.

This was formal night.  After dressing we went to the Princess Theater and saw a county western singer, Ric Steel.

We had dinner at our regular time.  We then went to the Vista lounge and saw Jerry Goodspeed.  He is a ventriloquist.  His act with jokes was funny, but from where we sat I couldn’t tell if his mouth moved.  After the show we went back to the room and read for a while before calling it a night.

Sunday April 20, 2014 Boa Bora, French Polynesia

We arrived in Bora Bora at 7 AM.   The only plan for today was to get a taxi or bus to Bloody Mary’s Restaurant and look around the shop areas.  We had breakfast in our room and leisurely enjoyed our coffee.  We have found that in ports where we have to take tenders to shore it is best to wait until all the passengers that have booked tours have already left.  They are given priority in loading the tenders.  By waiting on boarding the tenders are usually quicker.

I called Rick of R&R Cruisers, to see what they planned.  Their plans were to go to the beach in the morning and then to Bloody Mary’s for the cache on the way back.  We agreed to meet at 5pm in the explorer’s lounge.

On the way to the tender area we stopped at the library and picked up the daily Sudoku puzzles.  Not a lot of hope for me today the sheet had a medium difficulty and a hard.  The way these puzzles have been going I sometimes fail on the easy ones.

Once ashore we got a taxi to Bloody Mary’s, $5 US each, $5 each for the return.  Also in the taxi was a couple that we had met on board earlier, Cathy and Doug from Dayton, NV.  The reason for the trip to Mary’s was to find a cache there that I couldn't find two years ago.  The cache had been found several times since I missed it.  Once at the restaurant the cache was an easy find.  It couldn't have been there when I looked before.  After signing the log we joined Cathy and Doug for lunch.

Back at the harbor area we didn't do any shopping.  We went back aboard  After some rest and cleaning up we met Rick and Rosie in the Explorer Lounge.  They had gone to Bloody Mary’s for the cache.  Rick had trouble with his GPS and his iPhone and didn't have the hint that would have led him to the cache.  We told him he would have to do another cruise that included Bora Bora.

Rick and Rosie dine at the early seating so we parted company.  We went to the production show in the Princess Theater.  I am not a fan of this type of show.  After removing my hearing aids I was able to sleep through most of the show.  We went to dinner at our usual time.  Tonight our head waiter gave us our Easter menu to take home.

After some reading we called it a night.  We have eight more days at sea before reaching Los Angeles.

Saturday April 19, 2014 Moorea, French Polynesia

Today our tour around Moorea wasn’t scheduled until 12:20 on the shore.  We were at anchor at about 7 AM.  We took our time getting dressed and moving around.  Can you guess what we did for breakfast?  If you guessed anything besides breakfast in our room, you haven’t been paying close attention to our habits.

On the way to the tenders we stopped and picked up the daily Sudoku puzzles.  I haven’t done well on them recently, failing on the easy ones while Gerri had solved both the medium and hard ones.  From where the ship anchored the tenders traveled a large arc to get to the dock, around a shallow area.  This was our next to last port of call and I still haven’t managed getting from the ship to the tender with any grace or dignity.  Now dock to tender is a different story, I do that pretty well.

Our tour bus was a Hyundai, 28 passengers.  It had a sound system, but when moving the rattling usually overpowered it.  Our driver and guide did manage to point out points of interest as we made our way around the island.  On our last stop here we had only wandered around the village at the dock area.  

The island is quite scenic and many places inside the surrounding reef had the turquoise blue water indicating shallow water with white sand.  The tour took us along the beach through several villages and to a higher viewpoint called Belvedere.  From that point, about 1500’ above sea level we could see both major bays of the island.  One where large ships like ours anchor and the other where smaller ships and the daily ferries from Tahiti dock.  Our guide said that there are 18000 people living on Moorea and that over 2000 commute daily to work in Papeete.

I had hoped that our tour would take us close to one of the two caches on the island.  No such luck the closest we came was 1.27 miles and that one included what the owner described as a difficult walk.

We got back to the ship at about 3:30 and cleaned up.  Even with air conditioning on the bus we felt pretty sweaty.

We went to the Princess Theater for a show by singer Karen Beckett.  After dinner we went to another performance by comedian Scott Harris.  Back at our cabin it was some reading and bed.

Tomorrow we have our last port of call at Bora Bora.  Then it is 8 days at sea back to Los Angeles.

Friday April 18, 2014 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

We were up at sunrise and met Rick and Rosie, R&R Cruisers, at the International Café.  We then went ashore.  Rick had reserved a rental car through Europcar and there was supposed to be a shuttle to the office at the pier.  We never found the shuttle so we went across the street and got a taxi to take us to the airport.  The fare was $22 US.  When we left the airport the closest cache was back toward town, we went the other way.  The car cost 105.00 USD until 5 PM.  Our plan for the day was to drive around the island seeing the sights and trying to find any geocaches along the way.

Our first cache was at the Tahiti Museum.  Rosie found it by sticking her hand in a hole.  Another lady from the ship saw us looking very closely at the tree and walking around it several times.  We explained geocaching to her.  Two years ago the closest cache to the harbor was a virtual at this museum.  I found it then.  Rick and Rosie don’t normally do virtual caches but I convinced them to do this one since they were here anyway.

We continued along the coast.  We stopped at a swimming beach and took pictures.  This being Good Friday school was out and businesses closed.  There were a lot of families at the beach.  We had our first DNF at a beautiful Grotto.  The problem was when we got close to GZ the signal jumped around too much for accuracy.  We gave up.  The next cache was in a botanical garden and was an easy find.  The next cache was on a part of the island that is connected to the larger part of the island by an isthmus.  This cache was past a viewpoint at an elevation of about 1600 feet above sea level.   We had to walk up a path to a large tree that hid the cache.  I downloaded this cache in late March and no one had logged it at that time, so we thought it was possible that we might get a first to find.  No such luck.  Three cachers had been there before us.  The road to this cache was paved but in poor shape in spots.  At time there was doubt as to whether the car had the power to pull out of some of the potholes where we nearly stopped to negotiate.  There was also doubt at some points whether the car would pull  off the steep portions of the road with everyone inside.  This was the last cache of any note.  There was one at a busy beach where there were a bunch of girls sitting at what appeared to be ground zero, so we didn’t find that one.  We found a total of seven, 8 for Rick and Rosie.  There were three that had several DNF before us, so we didn’t look for them.  The last three were near the ship.

After the cache on the mountain we had lunch at a local fast food restaurant, Mc Donald’s.

We returned the rental car after filling it with gasoline, another $42 US.  We were provided a shuttle back to the ship.  We got cleaned up and went to our usual dinner.  After dinner we went to the Princess Theater and saw a performance by a local group of dancers.  It was one of the best “Folkloric” type show that we had seen for a long time.  A little reading and we called it a night.

Thursday April 17, 2014 At Sea

This is our second day at sea, en-route from American Samoa to Papeete, Tahiti.  We had our breakfast in the room.

Gerri went with me to the Intelligence lecture.  Today’s topic was activities at Area 51.

We met Rick and Rosie in the Explorer’s Lounge.  Hors d’ouvres today were chips, salsa and guacamole.  We discussed and finalized our plans for the day in Tahiti.  We plan to do geocaching while driving around the island in a rental car.  Rick had already arranged for the car.  We agreed to split the costs.

Carved Watermelon

Carved Fruit and Vegatables

We went to the 7 o’clock show in the Princess Theater.  Tonight was another performance by the comedian and, impersonator, Michael Wilson.  During the last act he impersonated Johnnie Carson’s character Carnac the Magnificent.  During this part of the show he was joined by another comedian, Scott Harris.  Scott played the part of Ed McMahan during the skit.  It was hilarious.

We went to dinner at our regular time.  We went to bed shortly after dinner since our plan for tomorrow is to meet Rick and Rosie at 7am on deck five to get started to the airport to pick up the rental car.

Wednesday April 16, 2014 At Sea

Today we are at sea, sailing from American Samoa to Papeete, Tahiti.  Our day started with our regular routine of coffee and breakfast in our room. 

In Honolulu I had met another couple while geocaching, R&R Cruisers.  We had met them after that time and talked about geocaching.  We ran into Rick again a few days ago and we discussed checking if a meeting could be set up for other passengers that were geocachers or interested in geocaching. Gerri did what is called on board a shout out.  She sent a note to the cruise director.  The next day on the Wake Show the cruise director announced a meeting on Wednesday, April 16, at 10:30 in the Skywalker’s lounge for geocachers and anyone who wanted to find out about geocaching.  Neither the cruise director or his staff knew what geocaching was.

At the appointed time we went to the Skywalker’s lounge.  Besides us, there was Rick and Rosie (R&R Cruisers) from El Paso, TX, Jim from Mesa, AZ (Gold Viper) and another couple that we had met earlier in the cruise that weren’t cachers but came to see what it was, Dee and Bob from Palm Desert, CA.  We spent some time describing what geocaching was about to Bob and Dee.  Bob wasn’t very interested after he heard what it was about.  A lot of people expect it to be more exciting with prizes for finding cache.  We spent some time telling stories of memorable caches we have found.  We all live in desert climates but have travel all over finding caches. Rosie is originally from Germany and she and Rick said German cachers seem to try to outdo each other with clever and difficult hiding.  After the others left we discussed with Rick and Rosie our plans for caching at our next ports of call.  The islands we stop at are Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora.  We had tour plans in both Tahiti and Bora Bora but decided to cancel them in favor of geocaching and seeing the islands on our own. Rick had already planned to rent a car on Tahiti, we were invited to go along and share the cost.  We will do some caching and some sightseeing.  There is only one cache on Bora Bora, one of my DNFs from our last cruise in the area.  We plan to take local transportation to that one which is at a popular restaurant, Bloody Mary’s.   On Moorea we plan to take an Island tour and hope we can pick up a cache at  one of the stops.

In the afternoon I went to the lecture on A real Intelligence gathering while Gerri went to the pool area and then the art auction.  We met back at the room later and just lounged around until going for hors d’ouvres at the Explorer Lounge.

Sunset at sea

Before we went to dinner we saw a comedy act in the Princess theater.  This comedian has been the best entertainer so far, he was voted the best comedy act in Canada recently.  After dinner it was back to the room and bed after some reading.  We did set our clock forward one hour.  This will happen three more times on the way back to Los Angeles.  

Tuesday April 15, 2014 Pago Pago, American Samoa

We arrived at the dock in Pago Pago at 7:00 AM.  Our tour wasn’t scheduled until 12:05, so we had coffee and breakfast in our room.  When I went to get the daily Sudoku puzzles I went on the upper deck and checked the GPS for nearby caches.  There were four listed on the island.  Two near the harbor at lookout points on tops of nearby mountains.  The other two were 3.6 and 7 miles away respectively.

We went out on the street planning to find a taxi to take to a cache named “On My Honor” that was 3.6 miles away at the local Boy Scout office.  There was a lady that was kind of dispatching the taxis, but all the taxis wanted to sell 4 hour tours of the island.  At about 11am the lady was out of taxis but agreed to take us herself.  One problem was she wasn’t sure where the Scout office was.  We headed off in the right general direction.  The road curved around the coast and it was quite a while before we seemed, according to the GPS, to get any closer to the cache.  Our driver stopped at the building where the Scout office use to be and asked directions to the new office.  We impressed on her several times that we needed to be back at the dock by noon for a tour.  She repeatedly assured us that we would make it.  This particular cache was located inside the Boy Scout office.  The office hours were listed as 8-3 and they listed an alternative to signing the log to show that you found the cache. 

On My Honor

Flower Pot Rock

Graves in front of a Samoan home

That method was like many of the old virtual caches, take a picture beside the sign and send it to the cache owner.  Since we were short of time we took the picture choice and headed back to the dock.  We made it with time to spare.  As it turned out nearly an hour to spare.  Although the GPS showed the cache about 3.5 miles from the ship, that distance was straight line.  To get there we actually drove a little over 8 miles each way along the road.

When we got to the dock it was about 11:50, we were shown where to line up for our tour.  It was very disorganized with at least two tours lining up without direction.  There was no shade and it was very hot.  Our meeting time for the tour was listed as 12:05.  It was after one before we boarded the bus.  It was hot and miserable.  The bus was old with no air conditioning and very lightly padded plank seats.  Fortunately our bus didn’t fill up so we had room.  Once underway it wasn’t as hot with the breeze coming through the open windows.  The noise level was high when the bus was moving and the guide had to yell to make herself heard.  Our first stop was at the end of the line.  There we saw a show put on by some local dancers.  The master of ceremonies called himself Chief Smooth and was both funny and informative.  We were entertained by an Ava ceremony and dancing.  It was also very hot during the show, but at least we had shade.  They did serve cold coconuts and the coconut water was very refreshing.  Back on the bus we worked our way back to the ship with two more stops for picture taking,  We got back to the ship a little before four, sailing time was scheduled for 4:30.

A refreshing break

Back in our room we changed into bathing suits and went to the pool area at the aft of the ship on deck 12.  We chatted with a couple from England and another couple from Dayton, NV during the sail away.

We got cleaned up, the shower felt REALLY good.  We went to the Princess Theater to see a new comedian act.  The comedy was proceeded by the cruise director singing several songs.  He was very good.  We read later that he started his career as a Cabaret singer.  We also enjoyed the comedian.  We also sat by a couple who were from Henderson, Nevada. 

After the show it was dinner at our appointed time and then back to the room for some reading and then bedtime.

Monday April 14, 2014 Apia, Western Samoa

tours and I planned to try for a virtual cache at Robert Lewis Stevenson’s  Tomb.  We contracted a taxi for a four hour tour around the island.  Out driver, Tom, took us first to the Robert Lewis Stevenson Museum.  The cache was a little over a third of a mile away, but the walk had an elevation gain of about 800 feet.  I decided against it since the walk was estimated to be 45 minutes each way.

Our driver took us around the island with a few stops at beaches and other points of interest, including two waterfalls.  We saw quite a variety of homes and terrain.  Most of the houses had a pavilion with a roof with open walls.  Many had raised crypts with grave markers near the house.  Our driver called the pavilions  open houses and explained that in good weather extended families gathered there for activities. 

Back at the ship we rested for a while and then cleaned up for the evening’s activities.  It was a great day in a beautiful place.  We sailed at about 6:30, next stop Pago Pago, American Samoa.

We went to the Explorer Lounge and had Sushi. We saw the nicest sunset we have seen on this trip, but didn’t have a camera with us. After that we went to the Princess Theater and saw a performance by an Australian singer, Karen Beckett.  Afterward we went to our regular dinner.  After dinner we retired to our room.  After some reading we called it a night.  We arrive in American Samoa at 7 AM and have a tour at noon.

Papapaitai Falls

Sunday April 13, 2014 At Sea

Today it was overcast again, with the sea running at about 10’.  The ride on the ship was pleasant with only a few bumps.

We ordered breakfast in our room, are you surprised?  We did vary the menu.  Today we ordered scrambled eggs and bacon.  They served what they called two servings but there was enough eggs and bacon for at least three or even four people.   This was a real lazy day for us.  I didn’t go get the Sudoku puzzles until noon and Gerri didn’t get dressed until much later.

We went to the Explorer Lounge to see a game show put on by the cruise director’s staff.  It turned out to be a board game type of thing.  As we were getting ready to leave we ran into Rick, who had just finished the passenger pop choir practice.  We talked awhile about geocaching.  Then we went to the Future Cruise office to check on New England Cruises for fall of 2015.  The schedule had not come out yet.  We headed to the Princess Theater for a show that featured a concert harmonica player, Bernie Fields and a mentalist.  Not together but an abbreviated version of each of their regular shows.

After that is was to our regular dinner seating.  After dinner we went to our room and after reading for a while we called it a night.

Saturday April 12, 2014 At Sea

The sky was only partly cloudy today, with clouds on the horizon.  We had breakfast in our cabin.  I did manage to get the Blogs for Thursday and Friday posted, but still couldn't get the corrections to Wednesday’s Blog from Maui to post.

Gerri went to the photo shop and got all the photos that the ship had taken together.  We don’t plan to buy but a couple.  I went to the Library and picked up the daily Sudoku.  Well maybe not the daily Sudoku, this is day 12 of the cruise and the Sudoku sheet was printed day five.  Of course it doesn't matter what day they came out or if I did the puzzle earlier, I can’t remember the solutions anyway.

Today’s lecture on Intelligence activities was earlier than usual, 11:15 AM.   It was on intelligence gathering in the Pacific Theater of WWII.  We met back at the room and went up to the Lido Deck to see the ceremony marking the crossing of the Equator.  It was crowded and the sun had come out so it was hot unless you could find shade.  If you have never seen the ceremony it consists of harassing people who haven’t crossed the equator, pollywogs, and then declaring them shellbacks.  The cruise staff acts as Neptune’s court and brings pollywogs who have volunteered to trial for different crimes at sea.  The crimes are fanciful and the punishment consists of being covered with meringue and other food stuffs or some trick being played on the accused.  The last thing being that  they have to kiss a fish.  Like I said the people harassed are volunteers and they have been prepared for the treatment by interviews.

Gerri drug me to an art auction.  At first it was interesting but it went on and on.  I won’t say I was bored but I did become less interested.  At one point I would have been thankful if someone had tried to throw me overboard.

In Honolulu I had met another couple while caching.   They were Rick and Rosie Alpi from El Paso, TX.  We met them in the explorer’s lounge and had a long talk mostly about geocaching.  I’m sure Gerri was ready to jump overboard on her own before we broke it off to go to dinner.

Dinner was at our usual time and both of the other remaining couples were there.  After dinner we went to a show by Bart Rockett in the Vista Lounge.  The show was different from the one he did in the Princess theater.

After the show we went back to our room and read for a while before calling it a night.

Friday April 11, 2014 At Sea

Today started and ended as another partial cloudy day.  We again had breakfast and coffee in our room.

Later we ventured out.  Gerri went to the pool area and I went first to the Library to see if the internet signal was stronger.  The Blog corrections from Maui still were loading too slow, so I gave that up.  Next I went to the Princess Theater for another installments of the lectures on the U-2 Spy Plane.  Very interesting, especially the video of landings.  The U-2 was and is very difficult to land.  After the lecture I joined Gerri at the pool area.

We spent some time in the cabin before getting ready for the Captains Circle Reception in the Vista Lounge.

Dinner was at our usual time.  We were down to just us and one other couple.  Tonight one of the choices was lobster tail.  We all had that and our waiter offered us another serving, which three of us accepted.  We didn’t go to a show after dinner.  We read for a while and I tried unsuccessfully to complete the medium Sudoku puzzle.

Thursday April 10, 2014 At Sea

I wasn’t able to post yesterday’s blog with corrections and an additional picture. After we were out of range of Verizon from Maui I haven’t been able to post.  The ship satellite connection won’t allow the photos, maybe it will allow them but it is too slow to tolerate.  I’m sure that the cloud cover is slowing down the satellite connection and hope to get a better connection when we are ashore.

As I said above we are in heavy clouds with a heavy sea.  The ride isn’t uncomfortable, just a few bumps now and again.

We had breakfast and coffee in our room and then went down to the Plaza level.  We read and did Sudoku while taking in the entertainment and other passengers.  We had soup and sandwiches before I went to the lecture in The Princess Theater.  Today’s talk was on Intelligence operations in Vietnam.

We walked around the upper decks for a while and then sat and read until time to clean up for hors d’ouvres.  Today the party for Elites and above was moved from the Skywalker’s Lounge to the Explorer’s Lounge.  The setting wasn’t as nice as the Skywalker’s Lounge.

We went to the Princess Theater and saw an impressionist, Sean O’Shea.  It was a good show and ended with an impression of Elvis.

We went to dinner at the regular time.  Our table group is down to three couples.  After dinner we planned to watch the outdoor movie but there were no suitable seats.  We went back to the room and after some reading we called it a night.  The clocks go back another hour tonight.