Day 33 - Monday Jan 30 at Sea

Day 33 photos

position at 7:00 am: S34:15:02 latitude E169:28:26 longitude
(1050 E of Sidney, Australia)
temperature: 70F, 100% humidity, cloudy
distance since FLL: 12,173 miles

Some updates: Regarding the delay of arrival in Auckland and at dock in Auckland. Don't know if we logged it here, but we were docked on the starboard side in Auckland. There was still plenty of view from either side, but we did not have the dockside action. We did have the fuel boat tethered to the port side for most of the stay, but not much fun in that. Don't know if we mentioned that when we went ashore there was a truckload of divers and their equipment on dock suiting up to go into the water by the ship. They had welding equipment, etc. So, we have never heard an "official" explanation for what happened that night when we blew the fog hour for an hour between 2 and 3am or whatever time it was supposed to be after midnight that night with the date/time change, but we have heard lots of reasons that other passengers got from their own sources. Two have to do with pipes. One with steam pipes high on the ship that caused the fog horn to blow and blow and we had to stop to fix because the ship was rocking too dangerously at speed. The other was with diesel pipes and was below water and required divers from the ship in the water to repair and that was why we had to stop the ship, no explanation for the hour of fog horn blasting, unless you are just supposed to do that if you stop at sea, who knows. The last explanation was from a passenger who spoke to the divers working on the ship at dock in Auckland. They said they were repairing the stabilizers on that side that had broken in the "big swells" we had experienced on our way there. Clay heard part of the captain's announcement that morning after the stop/fog horn incident. He did not hear the whole thing and was not really paying attention, but the Captain apologized for waking anyone with the foghorns and said they were repairing a diesel pipe. So, we still have no idea. We can't understand why Capt. Dag or Jamie, or someone, didn't just step up and tell us the whole unvarnished truth and that we would be very late arriving in Auckland right up front, rather than giving half-stories and letting the rumor mill run with it and moving the arrival back by 1/2 hour to 2 hour increments at every announcement. It just annoys people and causes false stories to spread and frankly it does not inspire confidence from the passengers should something be really wrong and we are not kept fully informed about it.

So far, the fierce Tasman Sea has been mild compared to the Pacific. There is motion but nothing compared with what we saw in the Pacific. We were making 19 knots with very little wind at all when the Captain gave his vords of visdom this morning, and he said we were making more than sufficient speed to get us to Sydney on schedule. Freddie did not share any marine statistics with us at noon other than the depth of the ocean, but it appears to be about 3-5 foot choppy waves. While in the Pacific, we had ocean depths right on up to 11-12,000 meters (more than 6 miles deep). Today, Freddie said the depth was only 2000 meters.

Debbie was in the laundry room on deck 6 just minutes before 7:00 am and got two washers so she could get the laundry out of the way on this sea day. The machines on deck 7 were already in use. They unlock the rooms sometime after 6:30 am. She met Clay for CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS at the Coffee Corner after getting the washers started. There must be a new choc. croissant baker onboard now. These were not near as good. Before they were light and flaky and airy, with a double roll from either side, so had 2 narrow strips of chocolate running through just off-center. Today they were heavy and chewy with one thick strip of chocolate running right down the center. Oh, well. Clay got his computer from the room and worked, went to LaVeranda. Debbie went back to the laundry room. We had to wait for Mishiel to finish up with our cabin. Got back in the cabin about 10 of 9am. Debbie had time to brush her teeth and change for exercise classes to begin at 9:15am. Aerobic fat burners and absolutely abs, then meet Clay at 11am in Compass Rose for a new wine tasting, New Zealand whites. (Debbie was early enough to sit down outside CR and eat 2 mini-chocolate croissants off a table tray. Clay had one on his way in too. Just to check. Debbie said they were better than the 2 she had for her breakfast.) We tasted Esk Valley Chardonnay 2004 (which was served for dinner last night in Compass Rose), Mission Valley Pinot Gris 2005 (which we learned will be replacing the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio because they have run out! And it will be served starting tonight in LaVeranda), Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2005 (which will be served tonight in Compass Rose) and a sparkling wine, Lindeaur Special Reserve Blancde Blancs N.V. All were good and to our liking, but there were no really special standouts for us. Then upstairs to get the laundry put away and it was time for lunch. There was a New Zealand lunch at the Pool Grill, but it was all lamb and fish. We went up and looked but nothing really screamed eat me at either of us, so we back down to Compass Rose. Debbie had seen on the menu that the dessert there was Chocolate Croissant Pudding with Chocolate Ice Cream. Now, here is a problem. How the heck did they build up such a supply of leftover chocolate croissants that they needed to use them to make bread pudding? Anyway, it was not a spectacular dessert and could have been made with plain croissants and chocolate custard for the pudding part. Clay had the cold sandwich of the day and Debbie had the cold soup of the day and then a made-to-order sandwich. Wheat bread, butter and turkey breast. They got it right and served it with the crusts removed and cut into 2 triangles. Extra points! It hit the spot for Debbie and was a little bit of comfort food for her.

We spent most of the afternoon doing our research on Sydney and making plans for what to do and how to get around. Capt. Dag announced very early in the cruise that we were going to dock first at Darling Harbour and then move at dinner time (1st night, 2nd night?) to Circular Quay, we have not gotten any notice that has changed, so we were trying to work things out with maps. As Debbie was leaving for a 3:30pm exercise class, she noticed we had an invitation to eat with the Hotel Manager, Lars Olsson, this evening at Compass Rose. She came back after classes at 5:30pm and we got dressed for our 2nd in the Rotation Celebration cocktail parties. Tonight was the Laundry Party on deck 2 from 6 to 7pm. We went down and forgot Bob. So, Debbie had to go back for him. Bob is now OUT because Debbie had to explain why she needed to leave deck 2 and she had no pockets in her Informal outfit, so when she returned everyone was looking for Bob and he was exposed. Bob met another mascot while at the cocktail party, a panda. Bob had actually seen a small, white poodle hanging from a woman's purse on the tender yesterday afternoon. Bob is not really very fond of other animals.

Bob came back to the cabin at about 6:35pm and Clay changed for dinner. We were the last to arrive for the 7:15pm dinner with Lars, which was just as well since they were not ready for us. There had been a cancellation and apparently they did not want us to sit with a vacant chair, so they had to change the table to only seat the number who would be present. Anyway, we lingered in front of the maitre d's station for a few seconds admiring the giant New Zealand crawfish (picture an enormous lobster but with no claws!) on a big block of ice. We were seated with a frequent cruising couple who are getting off in Sydney and with another woman who got on in LA for the World Cruise (her husband has a flu/cold and he cancelled) and Lars. We had a pleasant evening with Lars and company. Lars is from Sweden. It is either mostly dark or mostly light there for much of the year!

Executive Chef Mike stopped by and told Lars that only about 100 of the New Zealand crawfish were ordered. Mike thought that people did not understand that it was the biggest lobster tail they would ever be served. Mike said that was fine, that he would be serving it in LaVeranda tomorrow night and bbq'd for lunch and in salad... Debbie will not trust any broth or consomme for a long time. Clay was disappointed that he did not take his camera to dinner because it was one of the most impressive plate presentations of the entire cruise to date. They served the empty, hollow heads resting on a nest of spaghetti. Debbie wonders what happened to the insides of the heads? She will probably worry about this for days.

We turned the clocks back another hour tonight. This is 2 nights in a row, but moving clocks back is better than moving forward. When we crossed the International Date Line, we actually moved our clocks FORWARD 23 hours, but it felt like just moving back another hour. Traveling west feels much easier than traveling east! The seas are the same so far and the ship seems to still be riding pretty smoothly. Lars recounted tales of encountering the storm at about this point in last year's cruise and we hope for no repeats this time around. Lars also told us that the divers we saw in Auckland on the dock were there to scrape barnacle samples from the bottom of Voyager's hull. He said it is part of an ongoing ecological study by a New Zealand University. So, again, we say, who knows.

Day 33 photos

Day 32 - Sunday Jan 29 Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Bay of Islands photos

position at 7:00 am: S35:15:17 latitude E174:061:13 longitude
(Bay of Islands, New Zealand, close to Russell, NZ)
temperature: 74F, 100% humidity, cloudy
distance since FLL: 11,874 miles

Woke up to a gray cloudy rainy day. There were dolphins playing beside the ship on and off through the early morning. They were enormous ones. We ordered room service this morning since we have to meet for our tour at 8:05am. Time to test Debbie's new plan for getting a chocolate croissant. No joy. Really nasty chocolate-topped doughnuts were delivered instead. Now Debbie is really getting testy. Especially since we had Voyager Today on the TV and Jamie said it is a 30-minute tender ride to Waitangi which is where the tour letter says we are going to and returning from. She hates tender rides worst of all. Jamie said no tender would travel until it had at least 80 people aboard, so everyone better be where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be or it would mess up transporting all the ship's population that they had timed out to a T. What are the chances of this happening? Not a great start. The forecast today is a high of 72 degrees with a 70% chance of rain. Taking umbrellas again today. Yesterday they warded off the rain, maybe today too. Keep fingers crossed.

We have had very sporadic Blackberry and internet signals. Debbie's Grandma was to have surgery on Friday the 27th and we have had not had any word yet. We hope it is a no news is good news scenario or because of the sporadic Blackberry and internet signals. Keeping fingers crossed on that score as well and wishing Lee all the best.

Here is the brochure entry on the ship's tour that we are taking today.
=======================================================================
Bay of Islands Countryside Drive

Duration: 4 Hours.
Hiking.
This pleasant drive in the Bay of Islands region by private mini-coach will take you to some of the more interesting 'off the beaten track' places. You will have the opportunity of seeing fine Maori arts and crafts, taste delicious local cheeses and be taken on a guided tour through the Kawiti Glowworm Caves.
From the Waitangi Wharf, you will be transferred to nearby Mountt Bledisloe for panoramic views across the Bay of Islands. Then see the picturesque Haruru Falls, before continuing on to the Kerikeri area where you will have the chance to sample delicious local cheeses at Mahoe Cheese.
Next stop is in the little township of Moerewa, where the local Maori community have built up a thriving arts and crafts cottage industry. Take a look at their galleries where fine wood and bone carving plus art and fashion clothing are made on site. Continue onto Kawakawa, where the stop will be made to see the amazing Hundertwasser designed toilets, that are quite unlike any in the world!
Finally, visit the beautiful Kawiti Glowworm Caves, where you will be guided through the caves by a local Maori elder. These caves have strong ancestral ties to the local Maori people who have lived in this region for centuries. See the amazing stalactite formations and the glowworms that light up the highest ceilings in the cave.

Then return to Waitangi Wharf via Paihia.
Please note: This tour involves considerable walking, including 150 steps inside the Kawiti Glowworm Caves.

Program Pricing
Adult: $59.00.
========================================================================

We received a letter a couple of days before this tour telling us that there would be changes. Instead of Kerikeri, we were taken to Mahoe Cheeses outside of Oromahoe. The visit to Moerewa, the arts & crafts community was canceled. We did visit a furniture, wood and fibers gift shop at the cheese place where we got to taste some 18-month old Edam and see some of the cheese workshop through glass and have an opportunity to shop. At the Kawiti Glowworm Cave, there was no local Maori elder available, we got a grand-daughter and her 2 young cousins, who are guides in training. After the tour, we were taken to the Copthorne Hotel where we had tendered in and given a really bad buffet lunch. Apparently we needed to kill time before they bused us to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds for the "Birth of a Nation" special event. The special event was really special. They had catered food there that would have made a really great lunch if we hadn't just eaten cold, overcooked roast beef (lamb?) and cold, overcooked root vegetables, bread, salad, fruit and chocolate cake. Anyway, we only had about 30 minutes to tour the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and visit all the Maori demonstrations that RSSC had set up before we had to be seated for the performances under an enormous tent. The demonstrations and performances were great. We really enjoyed it. The Maori specialize in making scary, threatening faces and shaking their hands, like a tremor, and then the war dances always ended with nose touching, so everyone is friends. Then they sing happy-sounding songs but with the same hand tremors and scary faces. It is a little confusing. Capt. Dag was called onto the stage for the first dance/song and had to represent us as the visitors/foreigners. He kept a straight face and made peace for our group. It was a moving ceremony for those who were paying attention. Sadly, there are always some will not. And they were making rude comments about the performers and laughing out loud and the MC had to remind them that we were honoring all of our ancestors (or dishonoring as the case may be!). We had a really good time there and it is a special place that celebrates the creation of the country of New Zealand. They were gearing up for the annual Treaty Day so we got some extra special touches for our visit. We also really enjoyed our morning tour. We probably would have been happier if they had either let us have lunch at the special event, which clearly someone had planned for since all the food was there. Or, if they had let us have a bit more time at each stop on the tour instead of rushing us along to get us to the hotel buffet on time. It did not rain until after the end of the special event, but then it really kicked up. We were lucky.

Our morning tour: we started off at the Kawiti Glowworm Caves. There were 3 buses and each must have started somewhere different. We loved the caves, the glowworms, and the nature trail back to the parking lot. Frankly, this outdoors walk was where most of the walking and 150 steps were! But, it was an amazing landscape and we were happy it was not raining. Apparently, they have had heavy rainstorms for the past several days and were thrilled when we brought sunshine, but it was very humid and moist here anyway. It was pretty comfortable inside the caves. The glowworms are the larva of a fly. The eggs are laid and when they hatch they spin themselves a hammock with threads hanging down to "fish" for flying insects. They live in this tube/hammock for 11 months and eat mosquitoes and flies and moths. They are all attracted to the fishing lines by the glow of the larvae poop. Finally, they spin a cocoon and turn into a fly. They have 3 to 4 days to mate and lay eggs and then they die. It was really fascinating and not a very big cave. So, it was not too scary or overwhelming. The whole walk inside the cave was on raised wooden walkways and stairs and ladders. They were wet and slippery though, so we all went very slowly and carefully. Back on the bus, we backtracked to Kawakawa and the Hundertwasser Public Toilets. It was a charming little town that this former Austrian architect/artist chose to live and die in, and clearly showed his influence all over the tiny downtown. Clay bought a really nice wooden walking stick in the gift shop across the street from the toilets. He needs it! Then, we went to try cheese and visit another gift shop. (Cow's milk cheese. The guide says they are moving away from sheep and into cattle in this area. He also said they have 3 local wineries and that Susan Sarandon had just bought one of them.) We bought a set of wooden coasters here. They have a lumber yard across the driveway and a huge kauri tree stump out in front. Then we went to Haruru Falls. The guide, Bruce, told us that they are a set of horseshoe-shaped falls like Niagra. Yeah, but a LOT smaller! It was a nice scene. Then we drove up to Mt. Bledisloe for the view of the bay and the 2 cruise ships anchored in it. It was a good tour.
The tenders did run full and it was a long tender ride. The bay did not provide a very smooth ride in either direction. There were large crowds today with the holiday weekend here, the Treaty Day approaching and 2 cruise ships in a remote area all at one time. The Pacific Princess was also in Auckland yesterday. Someone said that it was also in Papeete, but we thought that was the Tahitian Princess. (Just checked the pictures, it was the Tahitian Princess.) We were a half-hour late leaving Bay of Islands so we hope this won't cut into our time in Sydney!!! ;)

Tonight was casual. So, we just kind of drifted off into Compass Rose. We have a problem. We asked for menus several times when we first boarded and we got them, but we always had to argue for them. They want to sign you up for a program where they will give you all the menus for your cruise at the end of it. We had to explain after each meal that Clay was keeping a journal and he could not use the menus to help him work on it in real-time (and get it posted on the internet on a daily basis) if we did not have the menus in real-time. About 5 days in, Patrick got us and our menu request and told Clay that they would deliver all the menus for each day during the night before. They have. It is some kind of service they provide for people with dietary special requests that allows them to see the menus in advance and they have until 10am to discuss them with someone in Compass Rose.

Anyway, these menus have never 100% represented what was actually offered on any particular evening and lately they seem to be diverging more than usual. Tonight for example, we were not wild about anything on the menu, but when we got there Debbie noticed that they were serving fresh New Zealand raw oysters on the half shell. The menu said they would have fresh marinated New Zealand calamari salad. We would not have made a trip anywhere for that. But, for oysters? Clay would go some for fresh raw oysters on the half shell. The serving was 3. He ordered a double and sucked them down. It was maybe the best thing he has eaten on this ship, but he wouldn't have known and might have missed them. And, they will remain undocumented except for this because Clay does not mark up the menus when he scans them.

We begin to cross the Tasman Sea tonight and we have heard so many horror stories for so long. Pray for us!

Tomorrow night we have our invitation for part 2 of the celebration rotation. We have been invited to the laundry room for a cocktail party. The invitation says to wear the suggested dress code of the evening (which will be Informal on Monday!) "or you may wear just a plain white 'T' shirt for the party." Just? Nothing else? That is not going to go with the Informal dress code after 6pm, but this may explain why we never say anyone in the dining room the other night (which was casual) who had come from the Laundry Room party!

Bay of Islands photos

Day 31 - Saturday Jan 28 Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland photos

position at 7:00 am: S35:15:04 latitude W176:41:06 longitude
(160 miles NW of Auckland, New Zealand, our next port later today)
temperature: 70F, 100% humidity, cloudy
distance since FLL: 11,570 miles

It is cloudy outside with no sun showing. The weather forecast for Auckland is 80% chance of showers. We are falling further behind with the swells and wind. We expect to pick up the pilot now at 2pm and first people ashore by 3pm.

Breakfast at LaVeranda just because Debbie has decided to take the only 2 exercise classes offered today. Morning stretch at 8:15am and Fusion Fitness (not for beginners) at 9:15. Compass Rose does not open until 8am so it is LaVeranda at 7:30am. No chocolate croissants, no strawberries, no bananas. Debbie orders a ham and cheese omelet. Clay eats pastries and fruit.

Fusion Fitness is a quick-paced combination of Pilates and Yoga. It is challenging mainly because of the motion of the ship. Jacquie (misspelled earlier because her name badge had Jackie, now she has got a new one) could not hold more classes because of the mandatory crew drill at 10:15am. After Debbie came back from classes and before lunch, we used the clippers we packed in shipped luggage to cut each other's hair out on the balcony! Thus saving $95 plus tips.

There was a pool deck steak and lobster grill but we stayed in and ate at Compass Rose. Soup and spaghetti for Debbie. Salad and a Gorgonzola burger on bagel for Clay. Rice pudding for Debbie and ice cream for Clay. We changed into our shore clothes and then went up to the pool grill for ice cream and cookies and to watch the sail-in to Auckland. We did pick up the pilot right around 2pm.
The hop-on/hop-off tourist bus stops running at 4pm, so no go. The museums close at 5pm, so we are hoping to get to the Auckland Museum, though all the Maori cultural performances will be long over. We hope to get there in time to see at least a good part of the the museum exhibits, though. Then to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Experience in Auckland's converted sewage storage tanks on the outskirts of town. It is open until 8pm. Then back to the city center and the Sky Tower is open til midnight. But, frankly if it is still cloudy, raining or completely dark, we see no point in paying to go up there. Not sure if we will try to find a place to eat in Auckland or back to the ship. All aboard is 10:30pm and we sail at 11pm. Sadly, pretty much a lost first day in New Zealand.

Oops! Learned after arrival that Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Experience closes at 6pm, last entry at 5pm. We set foot on solid ground at 3:50pm and were among the first off. We were docked at 3:15pm. So, we were over 6 hours late arriving in Auckland. But, we did get to Antarctic Exp. to spend an hour or so, which was plenty. We were very sorry to miss the Auckland Museum, and Lionzone the Brewery Tour. But, we did go to the top of Sky Tower before sundown. Then back to the ship. Clay couldn't take much more walking in the 4 hours we were ashore. On the way back downhill to the ship from Sky Tower, Clay bought a Red Lion beer for the fridge and we got 2 ice cream cones. New Zealand is supposed to have world-famous ice cream. The #1 flavor is Hokey Pokey. It is vanilla ice cream with pieces of hard candy that taste like butterscotch mixed in it. It was very good. We are docked right next to a Hilton Hotel. You could toss something from ship's balcony to hotel balcony. Hope those people at the Hilton did not pay too much for that view room! Bet they were surprised!

Hope Clay's ankle swelling goes down by morning because tomorrow is to be a full day ashore. We have to walk 150 steps in the glowworm caves. I have no idea what RSSC did for people in Auckland who had booked 12-hour tours. Today was also the Virtuoso full-day tour. Our first choice of shore tours here was 12 hours. We are so glad now that we had planned instead to do our own thing here. Even though we still didn't get to do want we wanted here either. There was also an overnight excursion here. We saw a lot of people with their overnight suitcases waiting in the atrium to leave when we left the ship. Again, no idea how RSSC handles being 6 hours late for these big, pricy excursions.

We got into Compass Rose for dinner at 8:30pm. We ate light. The day turned out to be sunnier and warmer than forecast. That coupled with the high humidity made it a little uncomfortable out today. But, at least it did not rain. We rode a taxi and 2 buses today. The cab ride from Princes Wharf to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Experience was $15NZ. Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Experience was $26NZ per person. The bus ride back was $3NZ per person. And the 2nd bus over to Sky Tower was a free ride on the red bus. Sky Tower was $21NZ per person to go all the way to the top level.The first bus driver welcomed us to his country and said that people here love Americans but loathe George W. Another local chimed in. We couldn't help but to agree with them. It was interesting.

Just as we were leaving the dock, Clay got to see the Southern Cross constellation for the first time rising over Auckland.

Auckland photos

Day 30 - Friday Jan 27 At Sea Day 4

Room Service Popcorn

position at 6:45 am: S31 05.11 latitude W175:50:41 longitude
(670 miles NW of Auckland, New Zealand, our next port)
temperature: 72F, 100% humidity, partly cloudy
distance since FLL: 11,052 miles
The seas are a little calmer this morning. We tried to catch a sunrise, but it was too cloudy. We are making between 17-18 knots but this speed will not likely get us to Auckland on schedule. We still have a pretty good headwind and swells of 4-8 feet. Capt. Dag at 9am vords of visdom said that the earliest we would pick up our pilot in Auckland was 1pm. He did not sound too optimistic about that time and said he would make another announcement in the afternoon. Of course, unless you just happen to be standing in the hallway or have you TV on channel 2, you won't hear that announcement and he did not specify a time when he would update our ETA. In any event, at this point the day in Auckland is a write-off for us. There is little of interest to us in the evening. Oh well, the pressure is off Clay now.
Debbie did get the allergic reaction to the Relief Band and conductive gel again. So, it seems that can only be used for emergencies now and then only on alternating wrists with enough days in between to clear up the rash. Sadly, this is the pattern that had developed on the first segment after years of Relief Band being her steady cure for mal de mer. Oh, well. She's always got that stash of Dramamine and can just sleep through the rough patches. The problem is perception, of course, since all the patchs are defined as rough by her right now.
We went to LaVeranda for breakfast. There were no strawberries and no chocolate croissants. Debbie had oatmeal and a banana, cappucino and a piece of bacon. Clay had 2 eggs over easy, etc. We sat outside in the back because it was not too sunny and didn't seem to windy. It started raining pretty quickly. We had a fast breakfast. So, Debbie had gone dressed for exercise because frequently we can't get back in the cabin between breakfast and her first class. Anyway, since we had a quick breakfast, Debbie went to the morning stretch which she has been avoiding because of the crowds. It was still crowded. Then she stayed for the next 2 classes. Circuit training and butts abs and backs on the fitball. She will probably skip this afternoon's classes because she says she has a headache.
Lunch in Compass Rose. They were having pizza and pasta at the Pool Grill and we figured we could have that anytime we wanted from room service. The pasta onboard has been uniformly delicious. The pizza is ok to satisfy a craving, but it is real doughy and we prefer a thin crispy crust, so not much to tempt us up top today. Debbie had a lettuce salad and ate the whole thing. Clay had the thinly-sliced cold roast beef with pickles and brown bread. Debbie had thinly-sliced chicken breast and parmesan risotto and Clay had deluxe chicken bagel sandwich that came with a load of bacon and skinny French fries. For dessert, Debbie had floating islands and Clay had a triple-flavored bowl of ice cream.
We may have finally solved the chocolate croissant problem. On some nights, leaving the CR we see a table set up in the hallway outside with a French flag draped over the top of it. On those days, they also have tiny tablecloths over the tiny tables set among the chairs there in the atrium. There can't be more than 10 tables and 20 chairs spread along the center hall there. Anyway, it seems they have some kind of special mid-morning tea there with liquors,coffees, etc. served from the flagged table. On all the little tables with the tablecloths there are the tiered gourmandises trays and on each one is a miniature chocolate croissant. Only one. Not two. And it is not self-serve, where you can get only chocolate croissants and leave behind the variety of other little goodies that they are serving. This must be what is keeping the chocolate croissant baker from making the big breakfast chocolate croissants. Debbie is not pleased. May have to come up with a strategy. Maybe if we put out the room service card every night requesting chocolate croissants that would ensure a steady supply. We'll ponder it.
Les Gauguines are leaving us in Sydney. They are going to be rejoining the Paul Gauguin when it gets out of drydock in Australia and sails back to French Polynesia. Handy timing.
Lazy afternoon with popcorn. We did not even get a DVD stuck in. Clay just left the TV on Bob the Butler. Debbie ordered 2 big bowls of popcorn from room service. Delivered was one big glass bowl on a tray with 2 microwave bags of popcorn and a saltshaker. The popcorn was not hot but it was good. Debbie took a long nap. Tonight was Informal. Clay did not really want to have to wear a sportscoat and there was nothing to tempt Debbie except crepes with ice cream for dessert and that was not a good enough reason. So, we went to Italian Steakhouse at LaVeranda. The menu tonight was worded a little differently (sorry we did not get a copy of it) and the cowboy steak that has been served there from time to time since we boarded was described as a T-bone. That is what Clay got. Debbie got her usual tournedos with barolo and raisins. Dessert flambe tonight was plums. It was not good. There was no flambeing and it was just fruit in liquor with a scoop of vanilla. We had each gone up to the dessert buffet while waiting so we did each have a chocolate-filled profiterole which was one of the better desserts we have had. Desserts are a definite weak point on Voyager. They look delicious but are not usually very tasty. You get a good one often enough to keep you trying, but...
We never did hear an announcement about what time we expect to get into Auckland. It will be a surprise. The newsletter gives the time as approximately 2 pm.

Day 29 - Thursday Jan 26 At Sea Day 3

Day 29 photos

We skipped Wednesday, Jan 25 due to crossing the International Dateline from east to west.

position at 6:00 am: S27:00:14 latitude W168:53:39 longitude
(1200 miles NW of Auckland, New Zealand, our next port)
temperature: 74F and 99% humidity
distance since FLL: 10,548 miles

We had our roughest night yet last night. We thought we would get tipped out of bed! The soap dish fell into the sink on one roll and scared us to death. About 2 to 3am, the fog horn started blow and just kept up, stopping and starting in long blasts. The ship slowed way almost to a stop. We were sure that we had almost had a collision or something and got up and looked, but it didn't seem overly foggy and we couldn't see anything else. We even turned on the TV to the bridge cam and there was nothing to see. Debbie went to stargazing last night with about 100 other people. She said that she saw the milky way and the southern cross as well as other stars we can see at home intermittently as the low clouds obscured and cleared. She said when she first got around the darkened corner at the crew only area that the sight of the Milky Way was breathtaking.

On Voyager Today this morning, Jamie reported that the volleyball game yesterday was postponed to today due to the size of the swells in the pool. (Not looking good for today either.) They did a spoof about a passenger who turned 85 on Jan. 25 wanting his cake and he to had to take his gripe all the way up the chain of command. He started with Jamie, who told him that well, most people plan their vacations better so they would not lose their birthdays when they crossed the dateline. To Patrick, the dining room manager, who told him NO BIRTHDATE, NO CAKE. To Mike, executive chef, who concurred with Patrick, even though the passenger called them cake nazis. To Lars, the hotel director, who got out a big thick 3-ring binder and said, no, these are our corporate policies. The rules say you can only have a cake on the date of your birthday. To Capt. Dag on the bridge, who told him no, you already know the rules and we will not break them for you, there's the door! The passenger rang the ship's bell hard and yelled I want my cake. Jamie intervened and asked the Capt. if he could use the phone in his office to call Mark Conroy. Dag agreed. Jamie sat down in the Capt. desk chair and the ship rolled and Jamie's eyes bugged as he scooted all the way across the office until he hit the wall on the other side. He was surprised! Anyway, of course, after Jamie gave a weather report over the phone, the passenger got his cake. It was very funny. The funniest was unplanned and unscripted though, Jamie rolling across the office with a look of panic on his face. You could hear Capt. Dag laughing off camera.

It is still very rough this morning but we are not getting the steep angles of roll that we had last night. We are getting ready to try going up to LaVeranda for breakfast. Debbie is dressed for exercise class again and still wearing her Relief Band. Yesterday was a Step aerobics class to start and she just couldn't face that. Today she will start with morning stretch followed by aerobic fat burner and if things go well, abs backs and buns on fitball. We'll see how it goes. Debbie did all three exercise classes and feels much better for it. Oh, chocolate croissants for breakfast!!!

At the 9:00AM 'vords of visdom' announcement from the captain, he said they had a leaky pipe problem overnight and had to slow down some to repair it, and that was why the ship was rocking so much overnight. It was one of the pipes that works the fog horn and that was why it kept up the blowing. The guys replacing it were having too much trouble with all the rocking and it wasn't safe for them up there, so he had to stop the ship until the repair was complete. Then, they had to test the pipe and blew the horn some more. He apologized, but said it was fixed now and we were back to speed, and the ship is not swaying as much as it did overnight. Capt. Dag also said that we were running late (due to the slow down and the head winds), and it looked like we would not make Auckland until 11 or 12 instead of 9 am. He said that he would try to make up the time but did not know whether it would be possible or not.

We had email back from the Auckland brewery and they could not book us on the 3pm tour so she had put 12:15 tour instead. We hope that we get there in time. Also, we will need to rethink that if we lose 3 hours in Auckland how we want to spend the time we have remaining. Guess it will depend on what time we actually do arrive. It may all be moot if we don't get in until afternoon.

Well, to the pool deck for lunch. It was pool curry day. Yum. Clay had chicken, lamb, beef and mussel curries with rice and papadams. Debbie had a cuban sandwich and fries. Ice cream today was green tea and vanilla. Bleh! Clay was asked if he would like anything else to drink and asked for a chocolate milkshake. The waiter came back and told him they only had green tea and vanilla ice cream. Debbie told him they could use vanilla ice cream and some of the chocolate syrup topping. He repeated that and looked like she had asked him to perform cold fission. Clay told him to nevermind. Clay went and got some vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup topping. Debbie went inside LaVeranda and got surprised with a lime eclair but enjoyed a chocolate tart. Not big crowds up there today. It was very windy and still a fairly rough ride.

Nap time this afternoon.

Debbie did 2 more classes in the afternoon. Total body toning and stretch tone and stabilize on the fitball. She got back just in time to get changed for our special engagement this evening. A few evenings ago, we got a full-page poem to World Voyagers, from Jamie Logan, the cruise director, delivered to our bed at turndown. It was titled "A Celebration Rotation." It told us to watch for invitations to 3 cocktail parties on the 26th and 30th of January and then into the next segment on 2/12 from 6 to 7pm each time. Well last night we got our first invitation for the 26th's party. We were invited to an "officers only party" on the Navigation Bridge. We were instructed to wear the evening's dress code and also put on any attire we had with a nautical flair. Tonight was casual, so we just wore normal casual clothes. When we arrived at the entrance to the bridge, we were stopped by Dionne, the social hostess, and Dana, the assist cruise director, they taped cardstock, color photocopies of striped epaulets on our shoulders. Debbie got 2-stripes as a navigation officer and Clay got 2 stripes as an electrical engineer. It was very funny. There were lots of people on the bridge all with 2 strips and of different departments. Bob finally made it to the bridge. (We forgot to take him first time we went and we forgot to take him on the galley tour. No wonder he is still holding a grudge over the dunking!) Bob was too small to get stripes! While we were on the bridge we learned that there were 2 other parties going on with other groups of world cruisers. One group was in the engine room and one group was in the laundry. We wore the epaulets out of the party on the way to dinner. We were saluted by various staff and crew along the way and it was very silly. When we got to the dining room, they all jumped to attention and laughed. They told us to look for the people coming from the engine room. They were sweaty and wearing white Tyvek coveralls. They looked like they came from NASA! They all said it was very hot in the engine room. We never did see anyone who had come from the laundry room party. We joked that they must have put them to work and they could not leave until after the final rinse cycle. One imagines it would be hot and sweaty in there too. We look forward to seeing where we go next. We have never been to either the engine room or laundry room of an ocean cruiser.

When we got back to the cabin from dinner we had another surprise. There were two black boxes with a note about how we pass through 21 time zones and the dateline and how these gifts would help us keep track. Inside were round brown zippered leather cases each containing an enormous 2 time-zone watch. The cases were embossed with Seven Seas Voyager World Cruise 2006 and the watches have the lyre logo on each clock face of the watch as well as on the back.

We visited the boutique at some point today and they had several new items with Voyager World Cruise printed on them, different kinds of tote bags and collapsible nylon bags, polo shirts and umbrellas, etc. They had done away with the year. There are several items that they started out with that had Voyager World Cruise 2006 that they have sold out and it looks like as those go they are replacing them with year neutral items.

Day 29 photos

Day 28 - Tuesday Jan 24 At Sea Day 2

position at 7:00 am: S23:06:59  latitude W162:24:04 longitude 
(1650 miles NW of Auckland, New Zealand, our next port)

temperature: 76F and 97% humidity

distance since FLL: 10,059 miles

We started really rocking and rolling sometime in the middle of the night. It was dark when we awoke between 5 and 6am and it has been light with just the right timing for catching good sunrise pictures just after 6am. We did not really get a sunrise this morning because of the heavy, low cloud cover and rain. Debbie dressed for exercise and put a pair of pants and sweater over so she could go directly from Compass Rose and our Sunday morning make-up meal. Debbie had the Swedish pancakes (crepes) with black cherry jam and bacon and cappucino with a starter of raspberries. Clay had baby lamb chops with 2 eggs over easy and wheat toast with a croissant starter. Day 3 and NO CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS again! Is anyone else detecting a withholding pattern here? At 9am the captain makes his morning announcement and apologizes for the rough ride. He says that we are about 600 nautical miles from a developing L pressure/gale system that is moving in the opposite direction we are. We are traveling in a westerly direction and the gale system is traveling in an easterly direction.(Does that mean what Debbie fears it means? That we are on intersecting paths. It is not clear from the announcements.) High swells continue throughout the day and with a 20-25 mph head wind that is making the ship snap, crackle and pop and bob around somewhat.

This morning on Voyager Today on TV, Roger, the Tour Manager, complained that only 400 of the over 600 people invited had picked up their event tickets for Bay of Islands, NZ for this Sunday. Now, this announcement was made back in the 18th's Daily Passages, but it was not well explained. It did say if you were on a morning excursion that you did not have to do anything, that you would be taken to a shoreside luncheon and then bused to the Special Event at Waitangi Treaty House. So, we had done nothing. However, this morning, if you happened to catch it on TV, Roger explained exactly what will happen that day. It seems in the morning at 8am we will anchor in Russell and the tours will tender in, then independents can tender in. At noon, the last tender will return to the ship for independents. Then the ship will move. For 2 reasons, there is another cruise ship there that day and also there is a big nationwide holiday weekend going on and anyway, Voyager has to be out of the harbor. So, Roger's point was that if you did not have an Event Ticket allowing you to tender to and from the Special Event in Waitangi that you were not leaving the ship and if you did not get back on the ship in Russell, and did not have an Event ticket that you could not tender back. This is all way too complicated. It sounds like Roger is saying that if you do not do the ship's things that day that you can only be off the ship for a few hours in the morning only and then you have to stay on the ship the rest of the time, because if you don't have a Special Event Ticket they will not let you ride tenders in Waitangi. Can that be right? It seems way too complicated, but in fear, we went to the Tour Desk this morning after breakfast to make sure that we understood our own situation and that we were covered for the entire day ashore. Manuela did not look us up, but when Debbie told her we were doing the Countryside Drive, Manuela said yes we would be taken to lunch after the tour, then to the Event, then to the tenders and back to the ship and we did not have to do anything other than show up at our designated time and place with our tour tickets. Whew! PS. This afternoon we got door mail from the Tour Desk that informs us of changes in our tour. They are substituting Oromahoe for Kerikeri and there will be no visit to Moerewa now for Maori arts & crafts. The letter does still say that we will see a waterfall, sample cheese, visit the Hundertwasser Public Toilets in Kawakawa and visit the Kawiti Glowworm caves with 150-steps. So, since Debbie has always referred to this tour and cheese and glowworms with toilets it sounds as if it is still more or less complete. Now, it also includes lunch.

The ship is bouncing so much that Debbie skips her morning exercises to watch a DVD in our cabin. She also skips lunch. Clay went to lunch on the pool deck alone and just ate a hamburger and some cookies before coming back to the cabin. It was very rocky and windy up top and there were not many people there for the International BBQ. Tonight the ship plans to try again on a much more limited scale, the outdoor evening BBQ dinner. Tonight they plan a European BBQ from 6:30 to 8:30pm with 30-guest seating capacity and first-come, first-served. (The last one was also first-come, first-served but it was for the entire ship since all restaurants were closed except CR and it was scheduled to run an hour longer. Of course, since it got off to such a bad, slow start with the weather they kept it going until after midnight.) Right now the weather is looking less promising than the evening in Raiatea's weather, but good luck. The ship's safety officer called inquiring about how Clay was doing. Debbie told him she thought he was no better and maybe worse. Clay told him that at this rate, it was taking time to improve and it was not much better. Late in the afternoon Debbie finally said she needed something in her stomach and ordered a pizza and some ice. We shared the pizza and each had a Coke and Clay used the rest of the ice on his ankle.

At 10:30 tonight and tomorrow night, the lecturer/astrophysicist David Aguilar is taking people out to the front of the ship on deck 6. This is something and someplace that Debbie has wanted to do and see for a long time, but it does not seem that the weather will cooperate. He has also scheduled to repeat it tomorrow night (or in this case the 26th, since we will not have a 25th!). Originally, 2 nights were scheduled for accommodating the number people who might get to do it, but now it might be a weather thing instead. We will keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow night. Of all the nights, we have spent below the equator, and/or below the equator on ships, we have never gotten a look at the Southern Cross because of light pollution or weather or both. We were really hoping that with an astrophysicist onboard this sailing we would be able to do this. Keeping fingers crossed for the 26th.

Debbie stayed upright after her pizza, a good sign. She had not tried to return to her Relief Bands since early on in the first segment but she did get one on her left wrist after breakfast and before she went back to bed and so far so good. Of course, there were no problems before until she took them off and there was the skin reaction under there and she couldn't put them back on without causing too much pain to use them. Keeping fingers crossed on that too. Not looking like we will see calm seas for a long time now. Since Debbie was upright, we reviewed her research for Auckland and sketched out a plan for accommodating Clay's reduced walking ability. (We hope!) We also sent email to Lionzone requesting a brewery tour in the afternoon. We will wait to hear back and then re-evaluate the plans accordingly. There is obviously more to do in Auckland than could be done ina single day anyway, so we have lots of options. Roger, the Tour Manager, said on his TV show for Auckland that we would be there on a big, long, national holiday and could expect things to close at odd times, be extremely crowded or just not available at all depending. He said it is the end of summer, last weekend kids are out of school blow-out and Auckland has a great long weekend celebration of it. So, still not really sure what to expect and we will have to be prepared to change our plans accordingly once we arrive anyway.

Tonight is Informal. We will try for CR tonight as they have Hungarian Goulash on the menu.

Tonight is the night where we will make the time adjustment for crossing the International Date Line. The ship's clocks will be moved ahead 23 hours at 23:00 this evening. This essentially means we are skipping Jan 25. On the Voyager Today
show, Jamie apologized to anyone who would be missing a birthday or anniversary. We have never passed the International Date Line before. Frankly, if the ride tomorrow is as rough as today we will be happy to skip it!

Got a phone call about 6:15pm from Ursula, the Guest Relations Manger, who has been handling our IPS problem since Ft. Lauderdale on Dec. 28th. She told Clay that her contact at IPS had mailed a settlement check to our home and it would be waiting there for us in May went we get back. OK. Clay told her, great news and bye. He did not ask her what the amount of the check was or what would happen if we actually never see the check 3 months from now. We did not ever submit an actual claim form and did not ever respond to what the actual value of our losses were after all of our port day replacement shopping trips. Oh, well. Clay said he couldn't take it. If there is no check, fine. If there is an inadequate check, fine. He can't take it anymore. Anyway, that is the update on the whole luggage pilfering situation.

Debbie did eat the Hungarian Goulash in Compass Rose and it was better than the goulash she had at Wolfgang Puck's. Clay had calf's liver and it was tasty as well and a change from the food he has been eating.

Sorry, no pictures to post today.

Day 27 - Monday Jan 23 At Sea

Day 27 photos

position at 8:00 am: S19:07:08 latitude W155:58:18 longitude
(2150 miles NW of Auckland, New Zealand, our next port)
temperature: 80F and 89% humidity
distance since FLL: 9562 miles

We had a long night back sailing again. The cabin is creaking and cracking and it is hard to imagine that we could have forgotten what it was like with only a few nights spent at dock! We both slept in past the sunrise this morning and after going to bed early, it is a tough life, we must have let ourselves get too soft! Clay decided he would go to the infirmary between 8 and 10am this morning when they are open. Debbie filled Clay in on her new 2nd weekend plans and that meant we could not go to breakfast before 8am when Compass Rose opens anyway. We watched the Voyager's TV channels for a while before breakfast and saw the Brang Dinner menu for Latitudes which was to be closed 1/21-22/2006 to reopen as a Polynesian theme with Les Gauguines. We decided that we would ask for a reservation at breakfast in CR since it sounded like Debbie was at least willing to try a number of the dishes. Though we were mystified by the Polynesian Chicken Salad that began with Tiger Prawns and listed no chicken at all. It must be one of those "tastes like chicken" things.

(Debbie just realized that we had a moment like that from Acapulco, Mexico which is not here in the journal. After our pork pozole lunch, we were hiking up a mountain with Estaban, our guide, when Debbie jumped at the sound of something scuttling underbrush nearby. Estaban said it was probably an iguana, turning back uphill and kept walking. He casually chatted then about how if you catch, skin and cook an iguana 3 times that it tastes just like pork. He went on about roast it, boil it, fry it, something like that but Debbie's brain had already cut off all new input because she was thinking about lunch and that shredded, boiled "porklike" meat we had just eaten. Just as her stomach started to roil, Estaban must have eyes in the back of his head because he turned around and looked back down the path at Debbie and told her, "but not you, you ate pork, real pork, I would not take you to a place that substitute iguana!" We both just about fell off the path laughing, Clay had been thinking the same thing and also wondered how Estaban had interpreted our silence as a sign that we were worried. Debbie told him later that she thought Estaban might have been close enough to hear the sound of her stomach as she fought the urge to retch. Anyway, too funny.)

Debbie is also taking an extra day off exercise classes. Glad for all the toning work because she is really sore in the arms, shoulders, upper back etc. from all the muscling work yesterday driving the waverunner. She commented as she was learning that it is not at all like driving a motorcycle which she is familiar with and expected a similar experience. She says it is all arms and hands. She told one of the other drivers yesterday that her hands were going to sleep and becoming numb between stops and she thought it was a fear response related to her death grip on the handles. He told her that it wasn't, that his right hand was numb at each stop too, the other driver nodded agreement. The other driver must have complained to his wife about sore arms because when she saw Debbie at lunch today. She grabbed both of her own shoulders and asked Debbie, "Are you sore today?" Yes! (Postscript: I tore my right rotator cuff!)

We went down in the elevator to breakfast at CR just after 8am. Abigail, the Latitudes Hostess, was there and we made a reservation for tonight at Latitudes for a sharing table for 6 at 7pm. She said that they had actually reopened it last night with Les Gauguines and the Polynesian menu and it was quite a hit. She said it is still served family-style except the main course is just a tiny serving per person. Not sure what that means, because the menu on the TV they said it was a Maeva Platter with 3 different items. Guess they could be just a single bite of each item. We'll find out later. Tonight is formal night and also Seven Seas Society cocktail reception at 6:30pm. On the last segment we got pins with our invitation on the bed the night before, so we could wear our pins to the reception. Last night we only got the invitation, I guess they figured we already had pins!

Breakfast was ok. Clay tried the Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries. The lingonberries come in a tiny bowl so they are not actually touching the crepes. That is good because they were better with jam. Debbie might try them in the future. She wasn't sure what to get today. Not hungry enough for Eggs Benedict. There were NO CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS for day 2 after the embarrassment of them she ate on the 21st! Anyway, Adorable, came and asked her what she wanted. She questioned him about the waffle types. (Don't know if we documented it here when it happened but she ordered waffles. The menu says Traditional Belgium Waffles. The waiter asked if that is what she wanted, she said ok. A regular, thin, mushy waffle came with 4 daubs of whipped cream and a 1/4 strawberry on each segment. She just scrapped the cream and berries off on her bread plate and put the maple syrup on. The waiter came over all upset and told her if she didn't want whipped cream, she shouldn't order Belgium waffles. She told him, ok, I know now.) Adorable told her there was only one kind of waffle served. Clay told him about the whipped cream episode and he said, yes Belgium waffles come with whipped cream. If you don't want whipped cream, don't order Belgium waffles. Debbie said but you said there is only one kind. What kind would I order to not get whipped cream. He said you want regular waffles. Debbie asked do you have regular waffles. Yes. OK. The waffle was the exact same thing, mushy one as she got before but without the whipped cream. OK. Now every Belgian waffle we have ever had or made was very thick and has a crisp outer with deep indentations and may come with a variety of things on top. We are still trying to learn the lingo after a month onboard. Debbie overheard the guy behind her order the 7-grain French Toast, which is not on the menu either, only French Toast, which is thick, mushy with golden raisins but no cinnamon. So, go figure.

Then down to the infirmary. Clay limped in on his ACE Bandaged ankle and the nurse asked what happened. He told her that he fell yesterday morning on the slippery spot by the Pool Grill. She asked if there were any witnesses. Yes. Clay could not provide names, she said OK Security would track them down. He asked if he could just get an x-ray. She told him to fill out a personal info. form and then an accident report, then he went back to the doctor. He poked the ankle some and got 2 x-ray shots. The doctor said he did not see any obvious breaks. The nurse replaced the Ace bandage with an elastic ankle brace and gave him ziplock bag for ice and to continue with the ibuprofen and ice/elevation/rest. Good luck and no charge.

Just before lunch, Freddie the Navigator told us that we would be sailing through the Cook Islands and "on a clear day" we should be able to see one called, Mauke, at a distance of about 7 miles from Voyager, between 1 and 1:30pm. He said we are in moderate seas and the motion we feel is from the swells of the following sea. Lunch was a South Pacific fresh fish barbeque on the Pool Deck. Clay had grilled tuna, halibut, moon fish and shrimp. Debbie had a proscuitto sandwich. Les Gaugines performed and a girl did a hula dance right in front of Clay. Compass Rose was repeating a lunch menu and had fish and chips that Clay had enjoyed. While we were eating a kid came out of LaVeranda and sat outside with his family and he had a special black wire cone containing a piece of newspaper. Fish and chips, LaVeranda version. Clay was very intrigued but was ready to put his leg back up. Some sleeping and waiting for dinner time! Saw on TV that the astrophysicist lecturer onboard, David Aguilar, said that tomorrow night and the following night at 10:30pm to come up top with binoculars and he would show us around the sky. Debbie has looked forward to this on 2 under the equator sailings now and has yet to see the southern stars because of shipboard light pollution or clouds or both. Keeping our fingers crossed for this and hoping to stay up late enough! Just after lunch we did see one of the Cook Islands go by at a distance, it looked like an airfield facing us through our big binoculars and zoom not strong enough on the camera to capture any detail. It is not clear if that is the only land we will see before New Zealand on the 28th.

Twice today out our balcony we have seen double rainbows. The afternoon ones were really close and amazing. They looked like projected holograms. First one and then the other just faded away, like someone had turned down the dimmer switch.

We got email from Clay's brother-in-law, Mike from Grifton, NC. He had a brilliant suggestion for next TV's season. "Survivor: RSSC Voyager" Hilarious! Hi Mike, thanks for the good laugh. Debbie says the network will have to find someone else to star in it next year, because we're done!

At the Seven Seas Society cocktail party they honored guests with over 500 nights to over 300 nights. Gudrun, the cruise consultant, announced that over 400 passengers had been invited to the party which meant that over 2/3 were repeat guests with the average number of nights per person at 99.97. We had to leave early to make our Brang Dinner reservation in Latitudes, but we heard that the crew put on a short show. The Brang Dinner was great fun and good food. The chicken salad really did have chicken in it, topped with a big shrimp. They had the whole restaurant redecorated in a Polynesian theme. The fabric we saw Laurens buying in Nuku Hiva was on the tables and on the waitresses. Les Gauguines performed and gave everyone flowers and Clay got invited to dance and no one believed the sprained ankle defense! He did get to spend some up close time with the dancers anyway though.

So, it has been a lazy sea day with the excitement of double, double rainbows and local cuisine with beautiful women singing and dancing, x-rays and napping. All the while with Bob giving Clay the stinkeye from his corner.

Day 27 photos

Day 26 - Sunday Jan 22 Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bora Bora photos

position at 8:00 am: S17:29:37 latitude W149:42:23 longitude
(Bora Bora, Tahiti)
temperature: 80F and 95% humidity
distance since FLL: 9081 miles

====================
Tour Description from Radisson
Circle Island by Waverunner (2 persons-approx 1 hr ride)

Duration: 2½ Hours .
Adventure, Water.


This excursion offers a fun and exciting way of discovering the lagoon of Bora Bora and completely circumnavigating the island (weather and water conditions permitting). Following a short transfer by Le Truck, your escort will introduce you to the safety regulations for waverunner operation, then guide you to the most remote and lovely spots located in the lagoon. During the trip, your escort will select the best location for a stop to explore a motu or take a swim. Stops may vary due to the wind and water conditions.
Please note: Price is per waverunner, which will accommodate 2 average-sized adults. When requesting online or via fax, please request only 1 ticket. In order to participate in this excursion, you must wear the life-jacket provided, remain in line and follow thirty yards behind the waverunner in front of you. A minimum of 15 years of age is required to ride as a passenger or drive. This excursion is not suited for pregnant women or people suffering from back or neck problems. Wear shoes you do not mind getting wet. There is a small storage compartment on the waverunner.

Program Pricing
Adult: $255.00 per jet ski
================================

This has turned out a day that Clay wishes could be a do-over day. He got up around 5am and did his 4-mile walk on deck as usual. But then when he left deck 12, instead of taking the inside (and safe) route, he walked down the outside stairs in front of the pool grill to check if they had orange juice out yet. When he saw they did not, he turned to go inside and slipped on the wet deck. (This is the spot that is always wet and always slippery. Right at the corner from the Pool Grill where the flooring surface changes from wood to tile. Everyone knows this spot.) The result is a very sore, bruised and swollen ankle. So, he rushed back to the room and Debbie got ice from room service so he could ice it down for 2 hours before we were off for our waverunner ride around Bora Bora. Debbie gave him 800mg of ibuprofen and wrapped it in an Acebandage that his reef shoe would still go over. (Debbie advised an x-ray to be sure about the ankle, but Clay said if he could put weight on it, and he had walked back here from deck 11, then it was not broken. Could be dislocated, not just an impact injury? Clay said he would not go to the infirmary.)

There is a beautiful sail out of Raiatea to Bora Bora. We exited the lagoon at Raiatea by going out the opposite direction from which we had entered. So we sailed by Tahaa which shares the same lagoon with Raiatea. So, it is very slow and smooth and lots to see. Capt. Dag gave us a special sightseeing at a little church just before leaving the lagoon. Jamie announced that there are usually big turtles there and a photogenic little church on the starboard side. Since it was on the starboard side, Debbie took the camera out to deck 6, hoping for some good pictures of the photogenic church on the point and some turtles. Didn't see any turtles. After Voyager passed the point, Debbie came back through the ship and found that Dag had rotated the ship and was going by again from the other way, then turned again and went back out by the starboard side. She laughed because the first time by, there were some men sitting under the porch of the "magasin" across the street from the little church and they waved, yelled, got up and crossed the street to wave and shout. They must have thought we were coming back for them! Clay refused any breakfast so he could be left alone to fume over his fall and Debbie went up to LaVeranda alone where she did not find any chocolate croissants. She had a quick bowl of oatmeal with a tiny, citrusy-tasting Tahatian banana. (It turns out that our weekend breakfasting schedule is not working out. We had two busy port days this weekend and next weekend we will be in New Zealand!)

We were late to arrive in Bora Bora. We were not anchored by the time we were to be on the excursion. We were in the Constellation Theatre though at the earlier designated meeting time and were with lots of other people waiting. We were visiting with Tina & Lou when Debbie saw Donna & Alan and asked Tina if she had met SouthernLady from LCT. She hadn't and wanted to so off they went. Donna had the same reaction Debbie did when Tina recognized her from the internet. It turned out that they were only about 4 cabins apart and opposite sides and had already met once during a block party, but Tina did not realize who Donna was then. They called for the first 2 excursions about 10 of 9am and apparently lots of people did not show up for their helicopter flightseeing and sail & swim by catamaran, so they came and called again. Then they gave up and sent that tender off and called for the second set which included ours. The tender ride was pretty rough and Debbie was very worried about riding the waverunners now.

We weren't wearing watches because of the watery nature of the excursion we booked, but got on shore a little after 9am. From the tender pier, we were boated (instead of Le Trucked, to make up time) to a beach where we picked up the waverunners. There were only 2 other couples on the morning tour so it turned out to be quite pleasant from that point of view. Clay's ankle did cause a few problems including dunking Debbie in the drink at the first stop. She took it rather well. There were some words between another couple when one was trying to wet the other person, but Debbie took getting dunked well. The other couple had a good laugh at this. The woman said she nearly wet her pants and the man said it was the funniest thing he ever saw. Debbie questioned them because she could not figure out what happened. She got on first since she was driving instead of injured Clay. Also he thought it added some stability to the jetski for him to climb on last. She straddled the thing, put the deadman's switch on her wrist and turned and offered Clay a hand-hoist up. He told her no, he did not want any help, so she turned back forward and gripped both handles. Next thing she knew, there was no waverunner between her legs and she was lying on the bottom of the Pacific thinking "What the heck?". The couple who saw it said that Clay just reached up on the thing and pulled, that they saw Debbie lean the opposite way to try to compensate and then the waverunner just flipped over back in Clay's direction. When it flipped back up on the other side, Debbie was gone. They said, Debbie came up sputtering about 2 feet away from where the jetski was and said, "What the heck?" They were already laughing when she came up! Including Clay! She sputtered again, "You know I hate getting my face wet!" (And she really does! Just ask her Mom.) She caught the deadman's switch up before it drifted away on the current and shook it at Clay. The guide appeared at that moment and wondered what was going on. Debbie did too. The last time he looked Debbie was dry and astride the waverunner, now she was standing in water up to her waist, not touching the waverunner at all, except for the deadman's switch in her hand, and she was dripping and sputtering! He missed the whole thing. He was helping another woman get up on the back of her jetski. He just shook his head when the other couple explained it to him. It must have looked really funny. Their description made the other 3 people who missed it crack up, too. This was especially ironic to us, because earlier this morning when Tina heard we were doing the Waverunners, she was telling us that they had watched "Hitch" the night before on DVD and the jetski scene made them laugh so hard and she hoped we would not have any experiences like that. We found a new way to mess up on a jetski!

The waverunner ride itself was really fun and a beautiful way to see the entire island and lagoon. Debbie was the driver and Clay along for the ride. (Debbie was the only woman driver and the only first-timer. This gave the guide lots of opportunities for little jokes during the safety/training orientation session! Again, Debbie was a very good sport about it, but then again it is so easy to push her buttons that people can't help themselves.) The water was rough in some places (eg - going over a tender's wake) and this made for some thrills. In other places, it was calm and shallow and allowed you to look around without holding on for dear life. The guide stopped in very calm water in front of Bloody Mary's for a photo opportunity and he took each couple's camera and took a picture of them in front of the sign at the end of the dock. The water changed colors from absolutely clear to all shades of blue and green. You looped around the island so you could see it from all sides. We made two stops. The first one was on a little island where our guide climbed a coconut tree by just scampering up it. He picked some green coconuts for us to have at our second stop. We looped past a big brown stingray swimming, but Clay did not see it. He was too busy holding on for dear life! At the second stop, we visited the guide's private family motu. He cut some leaves and wove some "Tahitian paper plates." Then he showed us how to husk coconut (young, mature and old), some were easy and some were not so easy. He also had some of the little Tahitian bananas that he sliced, and something he joked was a lemon which was a big green thing. Turned out it was a grapefruit, but it was big and green, and sweeter than the ones we see in the States. When we got back to the starting point, we loaded the same boat to be taken back to the tender pier. On the way, one of the passengers asked if they knew where the ship was doing the BBQ lunch. They did not. The couple asked the rest of us and Debbie told them it was Motu Tapu; the guys knew it. So, the couple asked, could they take us there instead of the tender dock. Some money changed hands and everyone onboard said that was OK, so they took us to Motu Tapu. There we tried to have lunch. We got hamburgers tartar unfortunately, and Clay ate his, but Debbie did not. So, after about 20-30 minutes there, we took an outrigger canoe back to the ship. We had originally planned to see some of Vaitape's dock area with our small plastic bag of personal possessions, that we had taken to fit in the waverunner's compartment, then tender back to the ship and pick up bug repellent, our regular camera, etc. before heading out for the rest of the afternoon on the motu. Debbie got bitten right away since we had not applied anything other than sunscreen for the morning and the bugs were pretty bad on the motu. Anyway, by then it just seemed like too much trouble to outrigger canoe back to the ship, tender back to the shore, tender back to the ship, outrigger back to the motu, and back to the ship again... So we just got serenaded back to the ship by a big Tahaitian with a tiny guitar with 8 strings and the hole in the back. Back onboard Voyager, Clay rested his ankle and Debbie fought the laundry crowd for the 2 hours until we were sailed away. Then we sat on our balcony enjoying the last of our LA-apology-champagne and eating pretzels that Debbie got from room service (her lunch).

We took many pictures with a 'waterproof' camera, including shots of Bob on the waverunner. BUT (and this is Clay's second do-over moment for the day), the camera ended up with no pictures on it for some reason. The most likely one is Clay's operator failure, but the 'waterproof to 10 feet' camera did get wet from a simple dunking. So, we have no wave runner pictures to upload. %#@!%$$%. So, you will just have to take our word about how beautiful and scenic and fun it was and that we were ever there. Speaking of "waterproof" failures, Debbie has some words for ExOfficio. Bob was riding in a tethered, clip-on, waterproof wallet that Debbie had gotten with a pair of ExOfficio shorts. NOT WATERPROOF!! ExOfficio had puched a hole in the plastic past the zipperlock closure for their logoed ribbon to attach to the clip, which of course, we should have noticed would keep the thing from being waterproof! Bob accompanied Debbie for her little unintended repose on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and got saturated with sea water. Debbie had to WRING HIM OUT! Then, at the snack stop a kitten named Wilson knocked Bob off his bench and into the dirt adding insult to injury. Later, Debbie had to wash him in the sink and WRING HIM OUT again and then hang him up to dry. (Mom you knew that door-hanging electric clothes dryer would come in handy, you just could never have imagined how it would be handy! Bob thanks you Margie!) Debbie has been a pretty good sport about all this, but Bob is holding a serious grudge.

It was Informal night. Clay wore one wingtip shoe with sock and one sock and Birkenstock sandal. We ate in the Compass Rose mainly because this was the night that they were serving Moon fish, something that Clay has never eaten before. They served the white flaky meat from the moon fish (evidently this huge fish also has dark meat on it). Clay liked it very much. Debbie ordered her usual fall-back option of filet mignon, well-done. It arrived medium. She did not eat the rarer parts. Clay ate some of the rarer parts. But, Debbie earned herself a double grilling from Horst and a lecture on returning dishes not done to your liking. She gets it, but is still not in the habit of returning a dish and is unlikely to start now. No desserts sounded good, so Clay got pistachio ice cream and Debbie got cinnamon. Debbie intended to go to the 9:15pm popcorn movie in the conference room, but when it was time, she said she was too exhausted and we went to bed early. We will treat the next two days as our weekend and if that works, we'll get to do it again next week too.

Since we did not go shopping in Vaitape, we had 4,500 paper Polynesian Francs left over. On the way to dinner, we stopped at the Reception Desk and asked if they were converting. They were, paper only. The rate was 98.582000 with no commission and Clay got $45.65USD back.

Bora Bora photos

Day 25 - Saturday Jan 21 Raiatea, French Polynesia

Raiatea photos

position at 8:00 am: S17:29:37 latitude W149:42:23 longitude
(Raiatea, French Polynesia)
temperature: 80F and 95% humidity
distance since FLL: 9081 miles

Here are the exchange rates and fees our bank has charged us for ATM transactions so far:
$101.58 + $2.03 to get 10000CFP
$81.13 + $1.62 TO GET 8000CFP

Clay was up early to upload journal entries that have been waiting for upload. He then went up to deck 12 for his morning walk. About a mile into the walk, a torrential downpour emptied the top deck of the 3 people who were up around 5:45am walking. Clay finished his walk on a treadmill on deck 6.
Debbie got up after six. Clay had closed the curtains in the middle of the room in the middle of the night and there was no sun coming around the balcony curtains to wake her. She got up to look for sunrise anyway and was facing the wrong way, but had a view of Raiatea in the distance with a big rainbow. Tried to take pictures. Showered, sunscreened for the big day ahead and off to 7am breakfast at LaVeranda. Much anticipation for Chocolate Croissants! Usually on weekends, we try to have a large, late, leisurely breakfast in Compass Rose, but our 2 big adventurous ship's excursions are this weekend. Debbie grabbed a plate at the buffet and scooted around the corner to the pastry tray. Back with 2 chocolate croissants on her plate for Clay to point out a big tray of strawberries and a bowl of powdered sugar. Double Hooray! Also, the special today was Eggs Benedict, so she ordered one of those too. In LaVeranda, you get one egg on one muffin half, which is perfect. In Compass Rose, you get 2 eggs and both muffin halves, a bit heavy.

We got seats outside on the back deck of LaVeranda for the finish of the sail-in and docking. It was great. The channel is so narrow, we were looking just about straight down on island and in people's back doors as the ship's horn sounded. We couldn't tell if they liked that or were annoyed. It had to be something for them though! At dock here were 2 big yachts of Bora Bora Cruises. They look very nice.

We have a ship tour to take today, leaving early around 8:20 am after docking at 8:00 am. Below is the ship's description of the tour.
====================
Radisson's Tour Description
Faaroa River and Island Exploration

Duration: 3½ Hours.
Walking.


Raiatea, known as Sacred Hava'i, was the Polynesian center of royalty, religion, culture and history. It is also a lush tropical garden with verdant mountains, waterfalls and rivers. This tour features a 4x4 safari vehicle that takes you to the interior of the island to view tropical vegetation that includes bamboo forests, chestnut, mango trees and countless varieties of ginger flowers. The island relies on cottage industries, and you will have the chance to see family gardens with a variety of crops. The final stop is a visit to the Marae Taputapuatea, the sacred site from where the ancient Polynesians departed, to discover Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island - the other islands which now form the famous "Polynesian Triangle". Fresh fruit and juice will be served before embarking motorized outrigger canoes for the second part of this adventure.
Once onboard the canoe, you'll glide over Raiatea's deep blue lagoon waters towards the mouth of the Faaroa River, the only navigable river in Polynesia. Along the way, you'll view wild hibiscus purau trees, bamboo groves, chestnut trees and more. Your guide will relate Polynesian history and folklore that explores famous voyages that started from this river to all islands in the Triangle.
Please note: This tour will commence via 4x4 vehicle or canoe. Guests who depart in the canoes will leave 30 minutes later. If traveling with friends on this tour, please book at the same time. The canoes are not covered and sun protection is essential. There is no swimming or snorkeling on this tour. It involves some rough off-road driving, and is therefore not recommended for pregnant women or those with back and neck problems.
Price: $72 pp
=============================

We really enjoyed the tour. We were 6 to a jeep with padded benches down each side of the back. We started out with a canvas cover on top. It was the most pleasant day we have had weatherwise. There was a constant cooling breeze. Our guide, Tutu, told us the name of this wind and that it is the usual and good wind for them. If it comes from the other way, it has a different name and brings cyclones; bad wind.

They divided the group at the pier's terminal building into 2 groups; one to start in jeeps and one to start in canoe. We were in the first group and were escorted to the jeeps, where we were divided again. Donna & Alan (southernlady from LCT) was in our group in the other jeep. Before we started Tutu got out a map and showed us where we would be going today and how we would get there and what we would do there. The river is basically a long bay with a wide creek running into it on the map. Tutu pointed out were we would get in the canoe and that we would return to the ship by canoe. This was about 3/4 of the length of the island, almost one end to the other from the canoe boarding point to the ship, inside the reef or in the lagoon. Debbie stopped him and said, wait a minute we're going the length of the island in a canoe! Tutu cracked up and said yes, but we did not have to paddle. Debbie is nervous. Debbie does not like boats.

We had a nice drive and then went inland to drive around Faaroa Bay to the inside of the old volcano's crater. It was a rough dirt track but it was very scenic. About half way up we stopped and got out and they put down the canvas tops. We got better views, but also got hotter in the sun. Tutu made lots of stops and went out and picked up flowers, fruits, bark, nuts, etc. to tell us about. He introduced his mascot Sam to Bob. Bob had a bit of a fright! Tutu was a lot of fun. He was informative and attentive, an excellent driver and funny too. We left the jeeps for a potty break back down near the shore and visited the Taputapuatea Marae. Tutu walked us across the street and had us stand in the shade in the middle of the 4 different altar areas. The big one to the god of creation, a small one to the god of war, a large one at the shoreline for welcoming ceremonies and another large one that we did not walk to and don't remember what it was for. Debbie asked what made all the holes in the ground under the trees where we were standing. Land crabs. OK, time to go get a snack and then board the motorized outrigger canoe!

The motorized outrigger canoe was great! Debbie wishes we could do all ship's tendering in big outrigger canoes. It was nothing like the bobbing ride of the tenders, which makes her sick. This was smooth and gentle motion. We went for about 20 minutes, then we turned into Faaroa Bay and on up to the river. On the way, they handed out yellow slickers and told us to put them on because it was going to rain. It did. We were wet from sea spray anyway, but it did rain pretty good for about 10 minutes, then it was over. No rainbow. The river was very shallow, you could see the bottom in lots of places. It is hard to imagine that the people who populated all the Polynesian Islands from here, to Hawaii, to New Zealand departed from the mouth of this river and left from the opening in the lagoon in front of the Taputapuatea Marae. Everything is so small for such an enormous undertaking! We made about a 10-point turn in the river and headed back out. The flat top of the extinct volcano, Mount Temehani, was covered by a cloud hanging down its sides which reminded us of the tablecloth on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Beautiful. About 30 minutes later we were back at Voyager.

We walked around the small downtown area of Utoroa and bought a bottle of 12-hour waterproof SPF45 sunscreen for extra protection tomorrow on the waverunners and motu day at Bora Bora. Shopped around but did not buy anything else. We saw Mike, the Executive Chef out buying a bunch of taro root. Lunch menu at Compass Rose is a repeat of one we had on the first segment. (Chicken ala King for Olivia, Chilled Granny Smith Apple soup for Ngaire, Cajun chicken sandwiches for Clay & Debbie.) We just wanted something quick and casual, so up to LaVeranda and the buffet. Nothing memorable.

Our balcony door has been fixed!! We never even complained but we wondered how some people were even able to use the balcony because the door was so dang hard to open! Maybe Mishiel complained to someone, we also wondered how she was getting out there to move the cushions around. After lunch, Clay went to tug on it and it just glides quietly and gently along. Excellent. Also, there was a tray on our table. It has note that 4 chocolate croissants are to be delivered at 8:30am! Another great surprise. Thanks Anna! Debbie will have snacks for all day and night! Wonder if they refrigerate well in case there is another dry spell?

Today the Daily Passages had a surprise for us. We were originally scheduled to sail out of here at 6pm. It says we will not sail until 6am tomorrow! All the restaurants except Compass Rose are closed tonight. They are closing the pool deck at 3pm. Weather permitting we are supposed to have a BBQ and Polynesian Party with Les Gauguines from 6:30 to 9pm. We certainly hope that weather permits. There have been 3 or 4 good hard rains since we arrived this morning. Dress is Polynesian casual. Tropical shirts for men and pareos for ladies. Clay bought a shirt in the Marquesas, but Debbie has not bought anything Polynesian to wear except a t-shirt and a temporary tatoo! We'll see.

Some catching up. Debbie's sunburn from the equator crossing/country fair finally blistered and started to peel in Papeete. It is still peeling. Not attractive. Also, in Papeete, Debbie observed that the Tahatians sure were kissy people for it being such a hot and humid climate. They sure are, we have observed this double kissing behavior on all the islands so far. And Debbie is right, we are so sweaty everytime we see it that all we can think is that we would say - Get OFF - if someone were to greet us like that here. A woman that we had dinner with at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in LA broke a tooth and went to the dentist in Papeete. Then, she went and got a big tatoo across the small of her back. Not sure if the 2 things are related. She said the tooth did not hurt at all, but the tatoo really hurt! (Hence, the temporary tatoos!) As we were anchoring in Nuku Hiva, after 6 long sea days, Debbie gazed at the small, lonely island and said "This must have been where Betty had the worst day of her life." Here's to Betty (GrayWolf from LCT). We wished you good health and happiness from the sight of your medical evacuation on Nuku Hiva almost a year ago. We could not imagine how awful it must have been for you and Al after being here ourselves. Also, in Nuku Hiva, apparently the people on the ship got a marine life show and we missed it! We heard about 2 8-foot across Manta Rays that swam around the ship a few times over a period of time that allowed just about everyone who was aboard Voyager to see it. We watch for 6 days at sea without ever seeing any sign of life. Finally, we get on land and so we miss the sea life. Go figure.

About 4:30pm, Debbie took the tray with the chocolate croissants out on the patio to Clay. We had most of them with the 1/2 bottle of Roederer that has been in the fridge since LA. We watched the little port shopping area shut down and les roulottes set up as we toasted the end of the day. Salut! Then we got rained out. Hope the deck party upstairs doesn't get washed out tonight. Clay needs a shower and Debbie has to go find her black Nuku Hiva T-shirt and see if she can get away with wearing it with a skirt tonight with her tatoo.

Back from the Polynesian BBQ Party Under the Stars. It was a near disaster. It was raining seriously and all the tables in the center got soaked and the waitstaff ran around pulling up cushions and placemats. The food was under cover up by the entrance to LaVeranda, so it was ok. But, there was no covered seating. At some point, LaVeranda got opened up and people were taking plates of food in there and also back to their rooms. We got there before meal time at about 6:20pm and got 2 of last few seats available, sitting with 2 women who did not speak English. It was interesting. They served roast piglets, grilled chicken, ribs, steak, cold seafood, a Mexican taco table, a sushi table, an appetizers table, and a dessert table. We had to walk out in the rain to get our food under cover and then walk back to the table in the rain. We were dry where we were sitting, but it was crowded and there were no cushions on the folding wooden chairs. Meanwhile more and more people were coming on deck as the rain slowed, looking for a spot. So, as soon as we finished eating we vacated our spots so someone else could sit to eat and listen to the live music.

Checked les roulottes from the balcony, but there were still only the 2 trucks we saw setting originally. Not enough to tempt us back out for the evening. So, early to bed tonight in anticipation of our big adventure tomorrow before another long sail from French Polynesia across the International Date Line and to New Zealand.

Raiatea photos

Day 24 - Friday Jan 20 Moorea, French Polynesia

Moorea photos

position at 8:00 am: S17:29:37 latitude W149:42:23 longitude
(Papeete, Tahiti)
temperature: 83F and 84% humidity
distance since FLL: 9081 miles

Debbie slept in until after 6am this morning. No sunrise for her today. Instead she senses motion. We were sail to at 6:30am, but she is awakened before 6am by it. At 6:03am when she finally gets up to look outside, we are about 12 feet away from the dock and moving forward. There is one van with one woman to see us off at the dock. We guess everyone was listed as onboard and there was no reason to wait to sail.

Debbie gets showered and dressed by the time Clay returns from his morning deck walk. We go up to LaVeranda. You can probably sense what happens next. The anxiety is building... There are NO CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS, NO STRAWBERRIES. Debbie hears a man behind her at the buffet, bellow "BRING ME SOME RASPBERRIES!" Oh, ok. We have NEVER seen raspberries on the buffet, Debbie has always gotten hers in Compass Rose. She puts a few slices of bacon on a plate and goes to sit down and order the special French Toast. When Clay comes to the table, she tells him. Now I know what to do. Clay asks what, bellow your wish?! We have a good laugh. But, Debbie does not think much of Voyager's French Toast. It is just not special or even that good. All the breads we have eaten aboard have been fantastic. The French toast is just too thick, it is just plain gummy white bread with golden raisins. It is not good bread, or cinnamon bread, it is sliced too thickly and is just gooey in the middle. Still something wrong with the cappucino. On the way out, Debbie catches Anna and asks her what is going on with the chocolate croissants. Anna looks confused. Debbie tells her they have not served chocolate croissants for 4 days now and she wonders what is going on. What is the problem? When will it be remedied. Anna tells her they usually serve chocolate croissants every 2 days. Debbie puts up her trembling hands and tells Anna, "NO, it has been FOUR days. I have been counting, waiting, watching, checking every restaurant. NO CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS! FOUR DAYS!" Anna, to her credit, cracks up and laughs in Debbie face. Anna said, "I can see there is a problem. I'm gonna look into this for you. Four days is TOO LONG to go with NO CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS." Then she asks for our suite number. We'll see.

Last night with all the other excitement, we got a door letter. It said that if we wanted a certificate that said we had crossed the equator, we should go to reception today and provide and names and cabin numbers and the certificates would be delivered in a few days. What is up with that? What does it cost them to print a certificate and deliver it to people who don't care either way, or won't keep one if they did get it? Anyway, we went to reception after discussing the NO CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS crisis with Anna.

Debbie is still steamed about breakfast and can't figure out what exactly we will do today. The circle island guide is not as detailed as the one from yesterday. Moorea has white sand beaches and she might actually want to go to a beach today. But, after sweltering yesterday in suits under clothes, she is trying to determine if she should wear the suit or just carry it, etc. Clay just wants to go get on the tender. We docked on our port side yesterday and we are tendering from port side today. Clay has seen several tenders go out full of passengers and come back empty. There is no announcement made that tendering has begun. We are expecting the rental car to be delivered at 9am and Debbie sees no reason to sit out in the sun and wait by arriving out there early. We are met at the 4th floor atrium by Jamie, the cruise director. He asks if we are going ashore independently. What are we doing? Debbie tells him that we have a rental car being delivered. He says, OK we can go on the next tender. We get to the next set of stairs down to the tendering area and are met by Dionne, the social hostess. Same quiz. Same answer. We will be allowed on the next tender which is leaving in a few minutes. There are several crew and 3 passengers besides us onboard at about quarter of 9am. We have seen tenders running for at least the last half-hour. We don't intend to be special, but if there are never announcements made about when tender is available or when you can leave the ship then every passenger aboard that is not on an RSSC excursion has to act like some kind of special jerk and just show up uninvited or else never leave the ship at all. We just don't understand and we did not see this problem on Diamond when we did not take any ship's excursions at all. It is just a problem we have never seen before and we don't understand why it exists on Voyager.

Walked a little through the dockside vendors and Debbie was interested but Clay raced ahead and found Europcar. We got a newer version of the same car we had yesterday and it has a working reverse. The car we had yesterday had a completely different stick shift configuration, R was labeled as being in a different place. So, we still don't know what was up with the car from yesterday. Today, though we have reverse. The pressure should be off with this and the shorter distance, fewer roads and fewer cars and people on Moorea. Wrong. Clay is racing ahead again. Now including his ability to back up. We zip around Cook's Bay and back half way to turn up a dirt track. Now it does have a sign to the Belvedere, but the 2 circle island guides Debbie has printed out and the 2 maps do not say to go this way. Clay is a man on a mission. We drive for 30 minutes on an ever narrowing, winding dirt track. We see farmers and chickens. The scenery is amazing but Debbie still has to pitch a fit to get Clay to stop to take any pictures. Yesterday, we had fun doing this. It was so great to be driving and in a car again. (Even one without reverse!) Today, we are just completely at odds. Clay does not know where he will get lunch. Debbie can't answer this, so apparently the idea is to get the drive around the island over and get back to the ship. We tendered, so Debbie has no intention of returning before she must. We finally connect with the paved road up. It is about 12 feet wide and has a faded white stripe painted in the middle. There cannot be six feet of pavement on either side of the line. There are no shoulders. The curves are mostly 90 degrees and the grade is almost straight up and down. Clay grouses that now that we are on pavement, we are really in trouble. There are loads of Taxi vans and big buses! You have to move over for the buses. Fortunately, we have no AC so we have the windows open and can hear the oncoming cars before there is a problem. We have a tougher time today avoiding the bus groups, but there is really not much to see here like on Tahiti. Signage is better on Moorea, but there are so few roads and so few attractions that it really doesn't matter much.
It is very hot, humid and we caught one big rain in the morning. We were at the Belvedere first thing, back down and blew by Opunoho Bay with no pictures. No Pictures of Cook's Bay either except right at Voyager. We stopped at Tiki Village Theater. It was rather sad. We had a nice talk with the people selling black pearls there. They were curious to know where all the ship's tour buses were. We were no help. Debbie fed Clay some Nabs and a bottle of water and persuaded him to continue on around the island and when we returned to civilization after the empty south coast that we would find a lunch place. It was after 1:30pm before we returned to civilization. Clay did rally some to the beauty after the crackers though and the drive was not unpleasant. We wound up having lunch about 5 minutes drive from the tender dock at Carameline Crepery. Debbie had crepes and a coke. Clay had Poisson Cru with coconut milk and a Tabu beer. (We saw on Voyager Today before leaving the ship that Capt. Dag and Chef Mike learned Dag's favorite Chinese poisson cru recipe from a friend of his who lives in Papeete and is Dag's son's Godmother. Mike said it will be served in Compass Rose tomorrow. So, Clay figured he should eat the other version here. He thought it was better than ceviche and then he had a pistachio milkshake.

We pulled out of Cook's Bay right at 5:30pm. We then went up to the next bay (Opunobu Bay) and sailed into that bay as well. The captain took us into the bay, and then did a 180 in place to turn us around to cruise out of the bay. It was impressive. A smaller cruise ship (Pangaea) was in the bay, and had a great view of our moves. We had dinner in the Compass Rose so Clay could try the Poisson Cru on ship. It was a little more spicy than the version he had on shore, but was good. Of course, the shore portions were about 10 times the ship's portion.

Moorea photos