World Cruise

I write this sitting at anchor at the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. There is a steady rain and I am in about day three of a “standard” cold. With the cold and rain I don’t plan on setting foot on land here unless the sun breaks through in the next couple of hours–something I highly doubt will happen. So, that’s the post on Bay of Islands. I did take some photos from my cabin balcony and one attached shows what some editing can do.

[Read more…] about Fiji and Fire Walking

After a rock and roll night we woke today (Sat, 3 Feb) to a smooth approach to the island of American Samoa. At sunrise the weather was raining, hot and humid. I managed to get shots of a rainbow that formed astern and made a panorama (attached) but the shots were not all from the same point so you will find flaws in the matching areas of the multiple photos. Almost did not get the shots because as soon as I walked outside from the air conditioned ship the lens completely fogged up. One of the travel photographer’s banes: humidity making fog when the camera quickly moves from one type of weather to another. I’m glad now that I took lens cleaning fluid and pads along with me as taking any small dust off the UV filter on the lens helps to keep the moisture off as it has nothing to “cling” to.

[Read more…] about Pago Pago

Today (1 Feb 18) at 1:15am we officially crossed the Equator and entered the southern hemisphere. In the old pirate days there was a ceremony to see if those who had never done so were worthy to continue over the Equator and serve. Those who had not crossed the line before were Pollywogs and only after surviving the ceremony would they become Shellbacks, the name given to those who have crossed the Equator.

[Read more…] about Pollywogs and Shellbacks

As I write this we are eight days out.

[Read more…] about How Did I Do Packing?

Today the ocean turned into land. We arrived at Oahu (Honolulu) at 8:00am and will be leaving at 10:00pm tonight. We had to dock at a secondary location because another HUGH Princess ship was berthed where we might have been right by the Aloha Tower. Such is life; you have to bow to the bigger sometimes.

[Read more…] about Land!

Our last full day at sea before docking in Hawaii. There has been entertainment all the way but today’s was a bit more fun. Two of the kitchen staff brought a number of fruits and vegetables to the casino bar and gave a demonstration of food art. The two, in 35 minutes, created six different characters made from various bits of food. The only non-food item was the wood sticks they used to hold the characters together.

[Read more…] about Fun and Games With Food