22 April 2024 Getting settled back home

 We slept in late, enjoying our own bed! David got the truck batteries connected back up and it started on the first try! Then we worked on unpacking, doing laundry, making a grocery run, etc. We were so happy to be home doing normal things again!

21 April 2024 Los Angeles, CA to Houston, TX

 Surprisingly, we did not have to work our way through a picket line to checkout in the morning. Apparently, they were sleeping in. But when we got in the line for the shuttle to the airport we were surrounded by a large Japanese tour group. Somehow, we managed to squeeze all that group of Japanese tourists (another group came out as we were loading) and a few more of us. We had to stand, and there was some pushing and shoving, but at least we were on our way. Our flight was leaving out of the international terminal according to the AA app on our phones. Unfortunately, due to construction, the shuttle could not drop us off at Terminal B, so we got off at terminal 3 and dragged/pushed our bags to terminal B. Once there, we looked at the assignment board and realized that we had to go to terminal 4 to check in for our flight! So we dragged/pushed our bags another ½ mile to terminal 4 to check in. We were amazed when we did not have to pay any overweight charges (one of our bags weighed in at 62lbs, the rest at or below 50lbs)! Then we had to walk all the way back to Terminal B to board our flight. David hates flying from LAX!! Once on board we settled in for our first class ride to DFW. We had a short connection in Fort Worth, but made it with time to spare. Back in Houston, Cynthia and Felix met us at the airport and picked us up. We stopped on the way back to the Wanderer for some much needed Mexican food! Then they took us home! Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home! Cynthia and Felix had visited the Wanderer earlier in the day and left us some much needed supplies (coffee, wine, bread, cheese, lunch meat, bacon, eggs, flowers, etc) to get us through the first few hours home. Thank-you Cynthia and Felix!! David got the air conditioners started and connected the water back up and we were in business! Sleeping in our bed felt soooo goooddd!!

Home Sweet Home!

20 April 2024 Port of Los Angeles, CA

 We were up early so we could vacate our cabin on time. We were in disembarkation group Green 2 since we did not have to go to the airport to make flights. We went down to the main dining room and got some breakfast while we waited for our group to be called. The shipped docked on time at the cruise ship terminal in the port of Los Angeles at 8am. Since we had gone through Immigration Control at the first port in Hawaii, we did not have to do that again. When our group was called about 08:30, we checked out of the ship one last time with our cruise cards and headed into the terminal. We were guided to where our luggage had been placed and found everything in order. We were surprised to find out we did not have to go through customs at all. No declaration forms, no lines, no inquisition, just grab our bags and head for the taxi line. (Sidebar: While waiting for our taxi, we watched as people we got acquainted with during our trip found their ways out of the terminal as well. One couple, probably in their late 70s, we liked to watch on our trip loved to dance.  She was tiny and petite, with a short, sassy hair cut, while her husband was nice looking with white hair and trimmed mustache.  Every day they would go to the Horizons Lounge for Happy Hour and whirl on the dance floor to the sounds of the ship’s band. She was always dressed to the nines, wearing beautiful short batwing dresses or sheaths with matching shoes, jewelry and purses. They were a very smart looking couple.  They pulled up behind us in line to wait for transportation. It should have been no surprise they had an attendant pushing a huge baggage truck loaded with 15 bags!!! Of course they had a ton of luggage, it only made sense! We couldn’t imagine where they even stored those bags during the cruise. Hilarious!) We took a taxi ($60) to the Sheraton Four Points by LAX airport. As we rolled into the lobby, we were met by a loud group of people walking in a picket line yelling in Spanish in front of the checkout counters. David looked it over and pushed his way up to the counter and checked us in (to heck with the strikers). Surprisingly, they had a room ready for use given it was only 10am. David noticed the hotel restaurant seemed to be closed and asked what the status was. They were unsure, but it seemed the restaurant was closed due to the strike. Then we pushed our way through the chanters to the elevators. It seems they were part of the house keeping staff and were picketing for better benefits. We got to our room and were surprised by the layout. There was a lot of unused space, the furniture was old and the bathroom was worn. Definitely not Marriott’s best property. With the restaurant closed in the hotel, we had to walk 4 blocks to the restaurants in the adjacent Marriott property. There were a few homeless and drug users wandering around and sleeping (passed out?) on the sidewalks we had to keep an eye out for. Definitely not somewhere we will ever stay again. Otherwise, we are anxious to get home.

Ships Navigation Map

Goodbye Regatta

14-19 April 2024 At Sea from Lihue, Kaua’i, Hawaii, to Los Angeles, CA

 We pulled out of Port in the morning with rain and fog. Once out of the harbor the waves picked up. We had 12-15 foot waves, 45-55MPH winds, rain and fog all day the 14^th and 15^th. The spray from the ship breaking the waves was soaking our veranda. The sun broke out for a few hours and the winds and waves were reduced on the 16^th before clouds and rain moved back in during the evening. We finished the shell necklace Monday in the native crafts class and have our final class on native weaving today. Leslie did great at the weaving but David’s looks a little rough. The remainder of the sea voyage (17^th – 19^th) were cloudy with occasional glimpses of sun but the temperatures were in the sixties, so the pool crowd thinned considerably. The seas were calmer with wave heights of only 3-5 feet. We spent the days reading in the cabin, or in the library, going to social events with some of the folks we had met on board and looking forward to disembarking. We did manage to spend more time on our veranda than we had been since the temperatures, winds, and waves were more comfortable. Leslie ran loads of laundry since she did not want us putting stinky clothes in our suit cases. On the 19^th we packed our bags, except for what we would need for the next morning. David was surprised that everything squeezed into our four bags, but they were bursting at the seams. Later that night we put our bags out in the hall to be taken below decks for off loading in the morning. We made it a point to provide extra tips to the crew that had been so kind and helpful during our stay (they all get an automatic tip that we had to pay in advance). We said good bye to friends we had made during the voyage, disappointed that they did not seem interested in exchanging information to stay in touch. On one hand we were looking forward to getting off the boat after 42 days, on the other we were sad to say good bye to so many crew and guests we had become attached too. 

Heavy Seas the 14th and 15th

13 April 2024 Lihue, Kaua’i, Hawaii, USA

 The ship got into port late. The night before, there had been heavy rains in the area and there were several logs and debris in the harbor. Our captain decided to come on in and maneuvered around the logs and stumps to get us onto the dock. Another, larger, cruise ship decided not to try it and canceled their port call. We spent the day on the ship. Later in the afternoon, heavy rain and high winds moved in and lasted all night. 

Lihue Harbor on Kaua'i

11-12 April 2024 Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawaii, USA

 We were originally supposed to stop at Lahaina, but after the devastating fires last year, they canceled that port of call and doubled the number of days in Honolulu. We pulled into pier 11 in Honolulu in the early morning. On our honeymoon, we had stayed in Honolulu for several days and taken the Pearl Harbor Tour but had missed seeing the Pacific Aviation Museum. So, we picked up a taxi at the port entrance to take us to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Our driver Eric was fun to talk to and we made arrangements with him to pick us up later. We had to put Leslie’s purse into secure storage since only clear bags are allowed into the facility. After getting our tickets we took the shuttle bus to the museum on Ford Island. They had several aircraft, both American and Japanese, for the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. We watched the museum film and toured the aircraft displays. David was surprised to learn there was a couple of things about the attack he did not know before. There was a civilian aircraft flying over the harbor when the first wave attacked. Also, a Japanese plane that was damaged by anti-aircraft fire landed at one of the other Hawaiian Islands where the pilot attacked a native that was helping him resulting in both dying. We then went over to Hanger 57 where they do the restoration work to see the ongoing projects. There are still holes in the windows of the hanger doors from the day of the attack. As we made our way back along the flight line display of modern-day aircraft, it began to rain. So, we headed back to the main building to visit the gift shop before taking the shuttle bus back to the visitor center and called Eric to come pick us up. Turns out he was already out front waiting for us!. We asked Eric to take us to the Punch Bowl, the national cemetery where most of the fatalities of the attack were buried. As we approached the Cemetery, Eric asked if we were there to see a particular grave and we said no. He then explained that he was not allowed to stop in the Cemetery and we were not allowed to walk around the graves unless we were there to see a family members greave and got a pass at the front entrance. Eric drove us around the parameter of the cemetery slowly so we could shoot pictures before heading back to pier 11. After Eric dropped us off, we walked around the pier area, got drinks at an open air bar and then got dinner at “the Old Spaghetti Warehouse”. We enjoyed the dinner since it was actually seasoned well. The ship food is good, but generally bland since they are serving so many different pallets. The second day, after looking at maps on our phones, we decided to walk into town since there was supposed to be a string of restaurants and bars only a half mile away. We were disappointed to find that the walk to this restaurant row was much further and lined with construction projects. We wandered around and eventually found a bar featuring locally brewed beers. It was a bit different since you had a card you used to turn on a tap, then served yourself. By this point, we had walked over four miles. So some refreshments were in order! Leslie spied a shop across the aisle from the bar and found a wonderful outfit to buy. Thus refreshed, we headed out to find a drug store. The maps led us to several wrong locations before we finally found a drugstore in a mall where we stocked up on some things we needed. Since it was almost dinner time, we found a nearby Dim Sum restaurant to try. It also turned out to be good but we ordered more than we could eat in our quest to try several new dishes. We looked at how far the walk was going to be to get back to the pier and decided to go across the street to a hotel and have them call us a cab. In the end, we walked about 6 miles. During the night we pulled out of Honolulu. 

Aloha Tower Honolulu

Bullet Holes in the Hanger Door Windows from Dec 7, 1941 attack.

Pinch Bowl National Cemetery

10 April 2024 Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii, USA

 The ship docked a little before 9am in Hilo. Our tour was not until 1:25 in the afternoon. David took the opportunity to walk to a small grocery store just outside the port entrance to pick up some essentials and goodies. We had toured much of the big island on our honeymoon but had not spent any time in Hilo. Our panoramic tour of Hilo was interesting. Hilo had been hit by three different Tsunami’s in the past 70 years. The water front, which had been warehouses which were damaged or destroyed by the Tsunami’s, has been turned into beautiful parks, including one paid for by Japan. We stopped to walk around the parks for a few minutes, then went to the statue of King Kamehameha. Finally, we went up to Rainbow Falls. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we did not get to see the rainbow at the base of the falls. But the fall is very pretty. Then back to the ship. It wasn’t much of a tour. We pulled out of harbor later that evening.

The Japanese Garden Entrance

Bridge in the Japanese Garden of Hilo

King Kamehameha Statue

Rainbow Falls

5 - 9 April 2024 Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands to Hilo, Hawaii, USA

 Our first full day at sea we did what cruisers do, ate too much, drank too much, worked on our tans and did nothing! Between the 6^th and 7^th, around 1:06Am, we crossed into the northern hemisphere. For sailors, your first crossing of the equator is a big deal. Before you cross the equator, you are called a polywog. The more seasoned sailors will hold a Neptune ceremony where the polywogs are inducted into the ranks of the Shellbacks. Typically, this involves some humiliating hazing rituals. We did not get to see the crew go through this ritual. But they held a version for the guests up on the pool deck. King Neptune and his Queen presided over the ritual for guests crazy enough to volunteer (about 25 of them). They had to get on their knees (tough for old folks) and asked King Neptune to accept them as Shellbacks. Then they had to kiss a dead fish before being drenched in cold ice water. I’m sure it was pretty mild compared to what they put the crew through, but it made for fun entertainment. The decks are heaving about 10 feet in the swells and they are predicting it will be worse in the morning. During the day, we collected a piece of card board and some printer paper from the reception desk and made a Pin Hole projector. The Captain announced over the PA that we would be able to see a partial eclipse from our position south of Hawaii shortly after sunrise. The morning of the 8^th, we got up just after sunrise and went up to the pool deck. The upper decks (10 and 11) were closed off due to the wind and swells. We stacked out a seat on the pool deck and used our pin hole projector to observe the solar eclipse. There was a bank of clouds at just the right height to obscure the sun most of the time but in the breaks we could see the eclipse. The wind was blowing hard, so David had to use both his hands to hold the carboard steady, and Leslie used both of her hands to hold the screen steady. Result was we could not take a picture of the screen. There were a few other guests and crew trying to watch the eclipse. Some tried sunglasses combined with the tinting of the windows in Horizons, but that was not enough filtering for safe viewing. Others tried to use their phone cameras but we knew that would not work due to the intensity of the sun. There were other folks staking out their pool deck chairs for the day already! Who knew the ship was so busy at dawn? The 9^th we worked on our tans some more and read our books. We started a native crafts class during the at sea period. We made necklaces from nuts and shells and started on another shell necklace. 

King Neptune and his Queen

Polliwogs kissing the dead fish

Materials for our necklaces

5 April 2024 Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

 We arrived in the harbor of the island of NuKu Hiva in the morning. The day was bright and sunny with a few clouds. From the bay, there are tall volcanic mountains that go all the way to cliffs at the sea shore. Nuku Hiva is the second largest island in French Polynesia (Tahiti being the largest) but only has a population of 5,000. There is a small village at the head of the bay. We knew there was not a lot to see in the village, but we figured this would be our last chance to walk on dry land for 5 days, so we took the tender to the pier. We arrived as they were cleaning the fish catch of the day. Occasionally they would toss a fish head into the bay and it would be grabbed by a pretty good size shark lurking just off the pier. We wandered toward the town and walked up to a view point above the pier where there were several impressive sculptures. They were put up in 1998 using steel and concrete, so not exactly ancient, but still impressive. We then wandered down into the town. It was very hot and muggy, so we were sweating profusely! There was not much to see in town, so we wandered back to the open air market near the pier and explored the stands. There were many beautiful native crafts, but just not enough room in our luggage to take it home! We made our way back to the pier to catch the stifling tender back to the ship. By the time we got on board, there was not a dry stitch of clothing on either of us! We spent the rest of the day trying to cool off with cold showers and standing under the air conditioner! Later that evening as we headed out to sea, there was a spectacular sunset. It was interesting because the tops of thunderhead were poking up from the horizon, but you could not see the base of the clouds since they were over the horizon. 

4 April 2024 At sea from Rangiroa to NuKu Hiva, French Polynesia

 Another relaxing day at sea. We worked on our tans and enjoyed the ship.

3 April 2024 Rangiroa, Society Islands, French Polynesia

 Last night we went to the Captain’s Cocktail Hour. As we walked into the Regatta Lounge, there were three officers with multiple stripes on their jacket arms standing in a line to greet everyone coming in. David asked them “Which of you is the Navigational Officer”? The second in line said “that would be the captain” and which point the first in line said “that would be me”. David then asked the captain if he had plotted out where the ship would be relative to the solar eclipse on the morning of 8 April. The look on the Captains face was priceless. He obviously had not even considered it. Captain said “I can’t believe I did not think about that. I will have to look into it and get back to you”. David had stumped the Captain! We did not hear back until the day before the eclipse, by public announcement, that we would indeed be able to observe, weather permitting, at least a partial eclipse between 6:17AM and 7:55 AM. We would not be in position for the full eclipse. We arrived in the bay near Rangiroa in the morning. We did not have a tour planned for this island since they all required you bring your own snorkeling gear. About the middle of the morning rain and thunderstorms moved in. They ended up canceling the rest of the tours for the day, ended the existing tours early and shut down the tender service due to the lightning and heavy rain. So we relaxed and read our books on the ship. 

1-2 April 2024 Back to Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia

 This is our second time here in Bora Bora for two days. We decided that we wanted to go around the island and stop at Bloody Mary’s and planned to rent a scooter since it is only 23 miles around the island. We had booked the “Le Truck” tour in advance. The “Le Truck” was a Mercedes truck chassis with a homemade cabin bolted on the back. These were originally used for public transportation around the island but have been turned into tourist transport as modern buses have replaced them for the public transport system. We loaded up around 40 people in this ting and as soon as we started out, it was creaking and groaning, giving us pause that it might just fall off! The tour took us all the way around the island with stops along the way for views of the lagoon, the fancy hotels (with over water tiki huts) and remnants of WWII fortifications. Bora Bora was a major US Navy base during the war due to its central location and large deep harbor. The most important stop was when we stopped at Bloody Mary’s! They were only opening the gift shop for tours from the ships, otherwise are closed. They are rebuilding the hotel section of Bloody Mary’s which had been damaged by a 2007 hurricane. The restaurant and bar were closed for renovations as well to bring them up to new codes. We of course purchased tee shirts and Leslie get a famous bloody Mary and David a locally brewed IPA. As we boarded the “Le Truck” to go back to the pier, it started to rain. During the tour, they explained that most of the local stores were closed today since the Monday after Easter Sunday is a holiday. After our tour was over, we walked from where we were dropped off at the pier (in the rain) to a nearby open (Chinese owned) grocery store to pick up a couple of items. There we learned that we could not buy certain things due to the holiday. They did not have the other things we were looking for, so back out into the rain to walk a couple of more blocks to the Pharmacy. There we found what we needed and walked out to sunshine (rain was over) for our trek back to the pier. They had a local crafts bazar open next to the pier so we wandered through that admiring the craftmanship of the local artisans before getting on the tender back to the boat. Back on board, we went up to the pool deck to work on our tans! Since the “Le Truck” tour had covered everything we wanted to do, we just stayed on the ship the second day and enjoyed having nothing to do!

Le Truck

Marlin Brando's Tiki Hut

Marita Beach

Names of Famous people who have visited Bloody Mary's