Some time has passed since the last post. We have sailed south into the tropics into the Society Islands of French Polynesia and these are the only Pacific Islands we will visit before our stops in New Zealand. This post is quite lengthy and you will likely need to click on the email to see the full post on the website.
Our stop in Honolulu was a welcome change from the previous couple of days. In truth, there was little good to be said for the weather after departing San Francisco. On Sunday, February 11, we are making 21 knots heading almost due south (170 degrees on the compass) in 26°C seas and 26°C air with very light seas. This is much nicer. Each day since Honolulu has been warm and sunny. The wind has intensified a little as we crossed the doldrums. Sailing ships would not find themselves becalmed in the 25 knot east wind we have this Tuesday.
The dance floor remained almost totally horizontal Saturday evening and we enjoyed dancing until we moved to the theatre to see if the magician actually had any magic. This fellow was very entertaining. The actual illusions would never have fooled Penn and Teller but they were done with great style. He involved the first couple of rows of spectators which is one of the reasons we sit back and mostly out of reach. He kept one woman on edge after taking her ring and repeatedly failing to retrieve it from illusions that seemed to give her hope. It eventually reappeared seemingly in a ring box within the centre of an apple. Clearly, there are people who enjoy being victimized by stage performers.
On Sunday we listened to another new arrival. Gary played his violin, marched around the stage and the first several rows of the theatre. His musical skill is undeniable but his style and choice of material was less to my liking. Never-the-less, good quality. Monday evening’s guest entertainers presented one of the more interesting shows to date. This trio of vocalists, two men, one baritone and one tenor with one woman, began with a series of popular oldies, nice but nothing really special. When they performed a lengthy medley, a cappella, they became really interesting. At times each of the three was carrying a different melody, perfectly pitched, creating a complex blended harmony.
The Queens Court Orchestra gave us a very nice Dixieland set to keep Sunday evening going. As always there were pianists in some venues and other entertainers in various rooms whose only other commonality is the serving of alcoholic beverages. The photos in the Queen Elizabeth photo album may give you some idea of the public rooms around the ship. While I have not captioned many of the photos yet there will often be a sequence of photos one of which showing the name of the room. Interestingly, the casino on this ship is, apparently, equipped with slot machines purchased directly from Noah and delivered straight from the Ark, that is the opinion I have heard and I cannot speak from personal experience. It is certainly not as heavily used as on some other ships.
Saturday afternoon we found the pools. It was not that we really didn’t know their location it was just too unpleasant to bother with them. Besides, they were closed much of the time. It was a bit of fun to watch the ship’s motion create tsunamis. Fortunately, no passengers were lost in the surf. The pools and hot tubs we tried out were lovely and warm. We shall test them again on Sunday…and Monday…. We are seeing air and sea temperatures rising daily as we sail south toward French Polynesia. At our current speed I estimate we’ll reach the equator Tuesday morning. We anticipate some hi-jinx around the mid-ships pool as polliwogs are converted to shellbacks as they cross the equator for the first time. I’ll try to add some pictures to the photo site when I have good WiFi.
On Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 0640h the ship crossed the equator, and so did we, again. King Neptune is scheduled to appear at 1400h to pass judgement on willing polliwogs. And so he did. It was a well done crossing show. King Neptune arrived with his entourage, escorted by musicians, and took his throne. Next, the polliwogs paraded and kissed the fish. Group by group polliwogs were judged guilty of such unforgivable crimes as reserving too many seats in the theatre. After the court has passed judgment they are “grunged” with sauces and pasta then plunged into the pool to complete their conversion to shellbacks. To end the show even the Captain and Entertainment Director would find themselves in the pool, The deck crew had the mess cleaned up and the pool re-opened before morning.
On Sunday while we were in the pool we began chatting to a chap named Harry. As it turned out, he had just come aboard as an enrichment speaker who will talk about our oceans. There are a couple of other guest speakers whose subject matter we will try to ignore; the Royal Family and British Government being slightly less distasteful than the US President and Washington DC. Harry Strong wins our vote for the next few days. We shall see if the other two turn to subjects of more interest to us.
Harry’s second presentation was on the subject of sea turtles and once again both entertaining and informative. His third presentation on Tuesday described the mechanisms of ocean movement from surface waves to tsunamis. He has a very pleasant style and is easy to listen to. He will not present again until we have finished with our French Polynesia stops.
Sunday was the second formal evening, the Hawaii Ball. There were a few, women in particular, who wore colourful Hawaiian-like attire and one couple who went the “whole-nine-yards”. They must have a lot of suitcases. I think there may be one dedicated to his top hats. There are three more formals and, possibly, three more top hats. Dressing for the theme nights is quite voluntary. Dinner dress code is not, whether formal or informal, jackets are required for men and the jacket police is active.
We have a professional dance couple on the ship and their daily dance classes are quite popular, in fact the Queens Room floor is quite full. We have not been participating. To please the crowd they seem to try to teach more difficult figures for which few have adequate background technique. The couple themselves dance very well. They have presented three shows; a viennese waltz on the first formal night; a samba on the second formal night; and a jive on Monday evening which was not a formal. Dan and Alyona partner quite well, however, Dan may actually over dance her a little.
Since Sunday we have been getting decent coverage of the Winter Olympics which we have been watching from time to time and particularly at bed time. It is great to see the cold from our tropical location. We have also been kept up to date on Canadian news headlines, by way of a four page news brief called “The Canadian” delivered every day with our Daily Programme. I have also seen a Britain Today so I suspect there is a similar update for most countries represented on board.
Tuesday evening there was an opportunity to dance on on an empty dance floor. The seems to occur when there is a recorded music set after a sequence dance set. At these times we can really enjoy the big floor. As we began to leave the floor a full tempo viennese waltz began. Not being comfortable with viennese waltz Gail suggests I dance with Cecelia, a lady from Ottawa with whom I have danced a couple of times before. I can add her to the list of partners with whom I have done a five minute VW. Wednesday evening as the Valentine’s Ball so empty floor space may be at a premium, but we were able to see rumba show dance from Dan and Alyona. Once again, they were spectacular. After their show we were able to enjoy the floor for a while.
Thursday we are at anchor in Bora Bora. The ship’s tenders have begun taking passengers to the shore to connect with early tours. We have no scheduled tours but decided not to sweat our way to shore in the tenders
Friday brings us alongside in Papeete. Once again it is tropical as expected. Before landing I had thought we had previously visited her but once on shore nothing seemed familiar. The harbour here shows much more commercial activity than in Bora Bora.
We sailed out of Papeete Friday evening at 11 PM and dropped anchor in Moorea at 7 AM Saturday, The two points are about 20 miles apart, line of sight, However, we may have sailed over 150 miles before arriving.
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