Rain, rain go away.

After we left the Marshall Islands we had two sea days before we reached Chuuk , Micronesia.  One of those nights we had the Black and Silver Ball.  The dining room was decked out with silk streamers and hanging silver crystal ball. It was very pretty.

We arrived in Chuuk and were happy to be seeing land again. Unfortunately, as we have been getting closer to the East we have been closing in on cyclones which have been causing flooding throughout South East Asia. Though warm, it was a complete downpour as we were released to leave the ship.  We trekked out anyway to see what we could see.  We had planned to take a taxi to the Blue Lagoon Resort and do some snorkeling, as these islands are known to be some of the best dive sites in the world. Because of the weather, the snorkeling would not have been clear so we decided to walk around the dock area.  Due in part because of the rains keeping craft stalls away and the flooding on the already bad roads, there was not much for us to see.  Disappointed and soaked, we headed back onto the ship about an hour later. 

After getting changed into dry clothes and settling in to watch a movie the fire alarm sounded.  An announcement was made that it was not a drill and smoke is coming from the evaporator room, great, at least we were docked.  We sat in our room for about a half hour waiting for further instruction.  Finally we were told that it was from a chemical leak, which could be fixed and all was fine.  I was grateful that this happened while we were docked and which Ty and I were together but was still a bit unnerving.

Leaving Chuuk, we again had a sea day with Mongolian BBQ pool party on deck. It continued to rain as we were getting sandwiched between two cyclones, on to the north and on to the south. The great thing about the MS Amsterdam is that the lido pool has a retractable roof so during times like this the roof is closed and pool parties carry on.  Seas picked up a bit with the storms, but honestly they were still not bad.

Last night we had a theme night.  It was “Flower Power 60’s”.  Ty dressed up and completely looked like he could have walked out of Woodstock.  He got many compliments for his costume. 

Today we arrived in Guam. It is still raining and areas of Guam show signs of flooding.  As we left the ship the rain let up and the weather was overcast and warm with occasional sprinkles.  Not bad. The ship provided a shuttle to the local mall. Guam reminded me of Hawaii; great infrastructure, some tall office buildings, beautiful ocean views, nice people.  Due to the government shutdown, many of the parks and museums here were closed, so we hit the mall and did some shopping.  We then walked down the street to the Chamorro village market to check out the local crafts and foods and then walked back to catch the shuttle to the ship.  Long day already…nap time.  We had a great day in Guam despite the weather and government closures. I do wish we would have been able to go to some of the National areas which we were not able to today to see some of the history and more beautiful area here, maybe next time.

 

 

From here we are arriving in Saipan, Northern Mariana Island tomorrow.  We have an eco-tour planned, including cave trekking, jungle hiking, beach BBQ and snorkeling.  I’m sure we will come back exhausted.

Towel animal fun...

We made it to the Marshall Islands...Where?

Hello from Majuro, Marshall Islands. After four sea days with little solid internet connection we have reached land.  This last section of sea thankfully was much calmer than getting to Hawaii. 

I have spent a good amount of time reading; I’ve already gone through three books and just checked out another from the large onboard library.  I also started playing in the onboard Texas hold-em’ tournaments.   They are fun.  My first time playing against humans and not just a computer. I guess I’m a quick learner as I’ve placed both 1^st and 2^nd in two of the four I have played in. The winnings give me some extra casino spending money (yay!).  I have also taken in several lectures on the South Pacific Islands’ geology, history and culture.

Ty has been spending time doing homework as well as hiding out in “The Loft” which is the ship’s teen area.  Since he is the only teen onboard he gets the entire teen lounge area equipped with two large screen TV’s, xbox, and club quality sound system.  He’s not lacking much.

Today we sailed into Majuro, Marshall Islands.  This island is an atoll basically a sunken volcano which coral grew on the outskirts as it sank.  It is now a ring of coral with a lagoon in the middle, total height above sea level is 10ft.  Many of the islands in the south pacific are atolls.  Though small width wise, some are quite large around.  We were able to dock here as there is a working shipping port.

The island is a territory of the United States, and located south east of probably the most famous of the Marshall Islands, Bikini atoll.  This is where the US used as an area to test nuclear weapons and was annihilated and uninhabitable still today.

This was the first time Holland America has visited Majuro.  The island is not used to getting many visitors and never a ship of this size. Many local people were at the dock to greet us.  As we pulled into port small children were running along the beach toward the pier waving and yelling.  Walking the street (there is only 1 street as the atoll is so narrow) to town children were yelling, waving and looking to get their pictures taken.  Very cute.

The island is run down. Many shanty style houses with a few concrete formed ones dotting around.  I thinks because there really isn’t much to do here and with the hot humid temperatures (pushing 90) many locals were just sitting on the side of the road outside houses and business people watching their visitors.

We were supplied a shuttle bus (school bus) to take us to the center of town where they had a band playing and local craft market table set up.

Though there wasn’t much here, the scenery is beautiful, and people very friendly.  It was a once in a lifetime place to visit.  We now have two more sea days before we reach Micronesia.

 

 

Oahu - what can I say, I just love this place...

Ever since out first trip here last year, Oahu has been one of my favorite places.  The weather is perfect, the people are wonderful, magnificint mountains, beaches, warm ocean, great food and shopping... I could go on and on.

Today we grabbed tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus just to get around the Honolulu-Waikiki area. We started our day with a ride up to Diamond head crater, then to Waikiki beach, some shopping, and finished up our afternoon in Chinatown for lunch.

We then went back to the ship to catch the Patriots/Falcons game.

Dinner tonight was a Luau BBQ on Lido deck and entertainment was a Hawaiin show.

Welcome to Hilo, Hawaii

Sorry in advance for the miss-matched look of today's blog.  i did it on the ipad vs the computer and the settings are much different.


Today we made it to Hilo, on the big island of Hawaii. I am happy to see land after 5 days at sea. Weather started out overcast and misty, but soon turned partly sunny and warm. We had a half day tour where we visited Rainbow falls.

   

We then went to the black sand beach which was formed from the 1990 lava flows.  

 

Pictures can not show how beautiful this beach really was.

After the beach we headed to Mckenzie State Park, where the lava flows met the ocean and made dramatic black cliffs.

 

 

 

Our last stop was to the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut factory. Yum! We left port and headed toward tomorrow's stop of Honolulu, by 6pm.  

The three day curse...

The three day curse... I have been on several cruises and it never fails that it takes me three days before my head and legs catch up with the movement of the sea.  This trip has been no different. Our first sea day, the seas were rough and I was not feeling so great.  Yesterday, our second full sea day was much better as I’m finally getting used to the movement of the ship.  Ty had better luck and has been fine.

Yesterday was the first time I got up and about from the cabin.  I went to a lecture on the formation of the Oceania Islands and how they were created from volcanos and the shifting tectonic plates.  It was very interesting.  

Last night was our first formal night, the Captain’s Reception, which was nice.  We received out first “pillow gifts”, gifts which are left on our pillows during formal nights.  Tonight’s gift was a shoulder bag which contained a small bag of travel essentials, band aids, liquid germ killer, Chap Stick, pepto, and aspirin.  The bag also included luggage tags, a Grand Voyage pin, maps and a leather bound journal. And our newest pet Hermit Crab.

 

 

Today is another sea day, the weather has been a consistent 73 degrees  and overcast.  Two more days until Hawaii.

Here is a picture leaving LA

Fresh flowers from around the ship



 

 

The smell of them everywhere is wonderful.  Two more sea days until Hawaii.  Can't wait!

So the journey begins...

Well the day has finally come.  It was a busy weekend for us.  We left Thursday night to take Tristan to Halloween Horror nights at Universal in Orlando. Our flight back home was early Sunday morning which meant catching our ride to the airport at 5:30 am.  Two days in a row of getting up in the 4 o'clock hours will be tough.  I am NOT a morning person... I was hopeful the adrenaline would carry me through.

After saying goodbyes to my family I tried to get a few hours sleep before we had to leave at 4am. After a quick wakeup and last minute packing we were off to the airport. 

We arrived at LAX a bit before 11 am west coast time. Everything went smoothly, our luggage (all 9 pieces, yes 9...as I shake my head in almost shame for willfully paying baggage fees for 3 extra pieces) arrived without any issues. We then headed for the shuttle to take us to the ship. We were on the ship my around 1pm.

We headed straight to our room to drop a few things then set out to explore the ship. I have been on many cruises, but never on Holland America.  My first impressions were overall very good.   While waiting in line to be checked in we were offered water, lemonade and cookies from servers walking through the line. Once on board I noticed (and smelled) fresh flower bouquets all around the ship. It is an older ship, very small compared to those I have been on but well kept. (I will post pictures once I have all my devices set up on the sat. internet). Our ocean view room (2713) is large and will work just fine.

We headed up to grab some lunch and explore the ship.  I was very happy to see a sushi station which served a different variety of sushi as well as chunk sashimi (love).  I know what I will be living on for lunch the next few months! When we returned to the cabin all of our luggage had been delivered and I started the huge task of unpacking as much as I could before  Muster drill. After muster we went up on deck to watch sail away for a bit for which they offered complimentary champagne and a signature fruity drink, nice touch.

We were both feeling the wear of traveling and being up very early and knew we would not make our 8pm dining time.  Instead we chose to grab diner up on lido deck where they were offering a poolside BBQ with beef kabobs, cedar plank salmon, chicken, cod, and all the BBQ salads, veggies and accompaniments you could want. We ate then headed back to the cabin.  It was now about 7:30 and we both were ready for bed so called it a day and passed out within 10 minutes.   The down side to that is I am now up and wide awake at 5:30 am (8:30 east coast time).  Enjoying a very good cup of coffee.  I don't think I've ever seen this hour willingly. 

We have several sea days until we reach Hawaii on Sat.  Seas are pretty rough this morning and the sky is overcast but starting to burn off.  Looks like it will be a nice day.