First off, I wanted to mention how different this South Pacific cruise is compared to our Alaskan cruises. For us, it's more like a vacation and we feel like guests. The reason is that our shows are so spread out since we only have six shows and it's a 26 day cruise. We'll perform and then have four to five days off. I've been filling the time reading, catching up on good movies, both rented from the crew office and at the onboard movie theater (since now the movies are different every day rather than repeating every week) and attending the cooking demos and guest speaker lectures.
The food is also better from our perspective because it's different every day, rather than the same menu repeating each week, and there's more of an international selection. One night they had a German buffet with homemade spatzle, brotwurst, knockwurst, seafood chowder in puff pastry and German desserts. If I'm not careful, I'll be the cover model for Weight Watchers soon - the before picture. The cruise passengers are also more diverse with a lot of Dutch, Germans, Asians, Aussies, Kiwis (New Zealanders), English, Indians and Arabs. However, the majority of passengers are still Americans. Another difference is that the pools are constantly filled with swimmers, rather than being a mere decoration in Alaska, and the outdoor decks are over-populated with sun worshippers on lounge chairs. Also, the general disposition of everyone on board is a little more laid back, cruising on "Island Time."
And now for Fiji. Jeremy and I recently met another young married couple, Chris the "tech-spert" (On-board computer geek for the guests), and his wife Candice. They're from Seattle and we immediately hit it off. They invited us to join them at a waterfall park so we hopped in a taxi together and started our adventure. The Forest Reserve Waterfall park was called Colo-I-Suva and it was, for lack of a better word, AMAZING. We were out in the middle of this rainforest with rock carved steps, rural but walkable trails and about 8 different waterfalls and natural pools. I felt like I was in Adventureland in Disneyland because it was so pristine and perfectly manicured - but this was the real deal! It was a surreal experience. Honestly, I'm fumbling for the words to describe this place but we took a lot of pictures and as soon as I can upload them you'll see what I mean. After hiking downhill, passing the "Upper Pool" and myriad waterfalls, we reached the main attraction where we spent most of the day: the lower waterfall run-off naturally enclosed pool. A large tree branch extended out over the middle of the deep pond and attached to it was a rope swing! We played "Tarzan" swinging from the rope into the water! Chris has a sophisticated camera so we took a lot of fast shutter motion shots that I can't wait to upload. The best and most surprising part of our day was that we were the only four people in the entire park! We had this secret hideaway paradise to ourselves. I still can't believe it. On the hike back, Jeremy of the jungle was joking about starting conversations with, "When I was rope-swinging across waterfalls in the Fijian rainforest..." Haha!
We hiked to the main road and caught a local bus back to town. Right next to the ship was an enormous, two-story warehouse farmer's market. We walked around a bit, bought fresh pineapple spears that literally tasted like candy, and then walked upstairs to the spice market. To all our foodie family members-you would've been elated at this vast array of spices! Chris and Candice bought a huge bag of curry but we opted out because Jeremy reminded me that we can get pretty much anything at ethnic markets in Los Angeles. With our last minutes before having to board the ship, we tried some Fijian food from stands outside the market. I couldn't tell you the names of what we ate because we just pointed at different dumpling-like foods through the glass cases. We got what tasted like fried potatoes, tarot root, spinach balls and doughnut type balls. We surmised that meat must be a delicacy for the impoverished people because everything we tried was basically fried dough and vegetables.
I know I've said this a lot and am losing all credibility with this statement, but in terms of a truly once in a lifetime day in a place as remote and romanticized as Fiji, this port experience takes the cake. That is until we get to New Zealand. I need to stop quantifying our experiences don't I? They've all been special and memorable in their own right and it's of no importance which is the best. But, even with my bad long term memory, I can say with confidence that I will never forget our day in Fiji.
Much love,
J & J
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Two Samoa's in Two Days
I had no idea what to expect in the Samoan countries. Prior to this cruise, the only thing I knew about Samoa was that it typically produced, shall we say, rotund people. The only Samoans I had ever met were the fire blowers in Hong Kong Disneyland's stage production of "The Lion King." Other than that, I was completely ignorant of all things Samoan. So, I attended one of the ship's lectures on the history of the Samoan islands and found it extremely fascinating. In case you were wanting a brief history lesson, let me save you the trouble of Wikipedia-ing and give you a summary: Samoa wasn't discovered until 1722 and then again in the late 1700's. Like a lot of South Pacific cultures, the Samoans believed in "trade" as the unspoken rule of giving what one had and taking what one needed. So, when a french explorer (I can't remember his name) arrived at the Islands in the late 1700's, the Samoans gave him and his men food and shelter and in turn took tools and nails from the ship. Well, the captain thought the natives were stealing his goods and hung the son of a Samoan chief from the mast of the ship. This of course caused an outrage and the Samoans killed the captain and most of the sailors. When word got back to France, Samoa was deemed inhospitable and not visited again until the mid 1800's. At that time England, Germany, the US and France all wanted a part of Samoa. The four countries tried to share control for about 10 years but it was a disaster. England and France pulled their interest and, after splitting the country in two, Germany took over Western Samoa and the United States adopted Eastern Samoa, now American Samoa. After World War I, Western Samoa was given to New Zealand and remained under their jurisdiction until it became the first South Pacific nation to gain independence in the late 1960's, dropping the "Western" from the name. One disturbing story I remember from the speaker took place during the great flu epidemic of 1919. A flu-infested ship sailing from England wanted to dock in American Samoa but was turned away. It never should've been cleared in Western Samoa either, but because the wife of the New Zealand governor had china and other fineries on board, they allowed the ship in port. The flu killed over 30% of the Samoan population because doctors were only allowed to treat the non-natives.
American Samoa was turned into a naval base for the US and 90% of the population left behind their rural plantation lifestyle and moved near the harbor in Pago Pago to take advantage of jobs in this rapidly growing city. The naval base provided almost the entire economy of the Island and Samoans were, and still are, very proud to serve in our military. However, with the wars over and no need for another South Pacific naval base, we closed the base in the 1950's and left American Samoa with a dramatic population increase but no jobs to sustain the economy. Even now, 35% of the population is dependent on US welfare. The speaker pointed out that with financial help from the US and better public education and health standards, American Samoa is much more affluent than Samoa. However, Samoa has maintained more of their traditional way of life and takes pride in their Samoan culture. Having briefly experienced both American Samoa and Samoa, I didn't notice a big difference and the deeply religious people in both countries astounded me with their generosity and sincere Christian kindness.
Ok, enough of the history lesson. Now onto our days in the Samoa's:
Friday, September 23: Pago-Pago, American Samoa
I volunteered to help out the Shore Excursions office and as a thank you, they offered to put Jeremy and me on tours together, at no charge. In ship life, it's important to get in with the right people! So, we signed up for the "Taste of Samoan Village Life." We took a tour of the Island's best sightseeing attractions on a small open air bus with the final destination being a re-creation of a traditional Samoan village. This beautiful village constructed within towering coconut trees and the unsurpassed landscaping of tropical rainforest had five different huts/stations showcasing Samoan life. First, we watched in astonishment as a large Samoan man shimmeed up a palm tree in six seconds to grab a coconut. Then, they demonstrated how they harvest coconut milk by shucking the outer layer on a sharply carved log, extracting the coconut meat, mashing it with the coconut milk and then draining it through a cheesecloth-like substance fom the banana tree. The second station offered a taste of a roasted Cocoa bean drink that Jeremy I both agreed we would switch to every day instead of coffee or tea. Next we witnessed women weaving banana leaves amd palms into baskets, trays, plates, etc. The fourth hut gave samples of fresh mango, papaya, pineapple, sugar cane and bread fruit. At the fifth station we witnessed what I was most looking forward to - Samoan men cooking their delicacies for us in a traditional outdoor underground oven called an Umu. On individual banana leaf plates were placed samples of chicken, lamb, roasted spinach in coconut milk, tuna in coconut milk, fried bread fruit and fried banana. Lastly, they entertained us with traditional Samoan dancing. It was such an educational tour! We were grateful for the chance to experience so many different facets of Samoa in such a short amount of time. We returned from the excursion around 1:30pm but still had until 10:30pm in Pago Pago. We spent the afternoon at a grassy cove/beach, laying out and swimming in the crystal clear warm ocean. The weather was gorgeous but like all tropical islands it rained lightly on and off. For dinner we walked to a nearby resort hotel, Sadies By The Sea and unexpectedly ran into a bunch of other cast and crew members. We joined them for dinner, drinks, food, dancing, pool partying, crazy underwater camera picture-taking and nighttime ocean swimming.
Saturday, September 24: Apia, Samoa
Unlike our long port day in Pago Pago, we only had about five hours in Apia due to a raft drill and an early all aboard time. Jeremy ventured on a tour of the Robert Louis Stevenson museum, the great author's homestead where he spent the last five years of his life. He saw letters, original drafts of "Treasure Island" and even Stevenson's grave site! I walked around the town of Apia and went into a few of the local markets. I bought a whole coconut and drank it's milk with a straw - a highlight of my day. We didn't get to see as much of Apia as we did of Pago Pago, but we still enjoyed it. Seeing the Robert Louis Stevenson museum was a major highlight of Jeremy's cruise contract.
During the five sea days from Hawaii to Samoa we crossed the Equator and the day after Apia we crossed the International Dateline. We went from Saturday, September 24th to Monday, September 26th. It's really interesting seeing the Southern Hemisphere sky. A few nights ago, Jeremy, Kurt, Kassie and I were on the bow studying the foreign constellations with an astronomy app on Kurt's iPhone. It uses GPS to identify stars and planets in the sky. What did we ever do before the iPhone? Ah, that reminds me of a funny story: Kassie's 15 year old niece was talking about her astronomy lessons at school and said, "Why do I even need to learn about astronomy? I totally have an app for that." :) Our future leaders...
Next up - a day in Fiji! We love you,
J & J Bernard
American Samoa was turned into a naval base for the US and 90% of the population left behind their rural plantation lifestyle and moved near the harbor in Pago Pago to take advantage of jobs in this rapidly growing city. The naval base provided almost the entire economy of the Island and Samoans were, and still are, very proud to serve in our military. However, with the wars over and no need for another South Pacific naval base, we closed the base in the 1950's and left American Samoa with a dramatic population increase but no jobs to sustain the economy. Even now, 35% of the population is dependent on US welfare. The speaker pointed out that with financial help from the US and better public education and health standards, American Samoa is much more affluent than Samoa. However, Samoa has maintained more of their traditional way of life and takes pride in their Samoan culture. Having briefly experienced both American Samoa and Samoa, I didn't notice a big difference and the deeply religious people in both countries astounded me with their generosity and sincere Christian kindness.
Ok, enough of the history lesson. Now onto our days in the Samoa's:
Friday, September 23: Pago-Pago, American Samoa
I volunteered to help out the Shore Excursions office and as a thank you, they offered to put Jeremy and me on tours together, at no charge. In ship life, it's important to get in with the right people! So, we signed up for the "Taste of Samoan Village Life." We took a tour of the Island's best sightseeing attractions on a small open air bus with the final destination being a re-creation of a traditional Samoan village. This beautiful village constructed within towering coconut trees and the unsurpassed landscaping of tropical rainforest had five different huts/stations showcasing Samoan life. First, we watched in astonishment as a large Samoan man shimmeed up a palm tree in six seconds to grab a coconut. Then, they demonstrated how they harvest coconut milk by shucking the outer layer on a sharply carved log, extracting the coconut meat, mashing it with the coconut milk and then draining it through a cheesecloth-like substance fom the banana tree. The second station offered a taste of a roasted Cocoa bean drink that Jeremy I both agreed we would switch to every day instead of coffee or tea. Next we witnessed women weaving banana leaves amd palms into baskets, trays, plates, etc. The fourth hut gave samples of fresh mango, papaya, pineapple, sugar cane and bread fruit. At the fifth station we witnessed what I was most looking forward to - Samoan men cooking their delicacies for us in a traditional outdoor underground oven called an Umu. On individual banana leaf plates were placed samples of chicken, lamb, roasted spinach in coconut milk, tuna in coconut milk, fried bread fruit and fried banana. Lastly, they entertained us with traditional Samoan dancing. It was such an educational tour! We were grateful for the chance to experience so many different facets of Samoa in such a short amount of time. We returned from the excursion around 1:30pm but still had until 10:30pm in Pago Pago. We spent the afternoon at a grassy cove/beach, laying out and swimming in the crystal clear warm ocean. The weather was gorgeous but like all tropical islands it rained lightly on and off. For dinner we walked to a nearby resort hotel, Sadies By The Sea and unexpectedly ran into a bunch of other cast and crew members. We joined them for dinner, drinks, food, dancing, pool partying, crazy underwater camera picture-taking and nighttime ocean swimming.
Saturday, September 24: Apia, Samoa
Unlike our long port day in Pago Pago, we only had about five hours in Apia due to a raft drill and an early all aboard time. Jeremy ventured on a tour of the Robert Louis Stevenson museum, the great author's homestead where he spent the last five years of his life. He saw letters, original drafts of "Treasure Island" and even Stevenson's grave site! I walked around the town of Apia and went into a few of the local markets. I bought a whole coconut and drank it's milk with a straw - a highlight of my day. We didn't get to see as much of Apia as we did of Pago Pago, but we still enjoyed it. Seeing the Robert Louis Stevenson museum was a major highlight of Jeremy's cruise contract.
During the five sea days from Hawaii to Samoa we crossed the Equator and the day after Apia we crossed the International Dateline. We went from Saturday, September 24th to Monday, September 26th. It's really interesting seeing the Southern Hemisphere sky. A few nights ago, Jeremy, Kurt, Kassie and I were on the bow studying the foreign constellations with an astronomy app on Kurt's iPhone. It uses GPS to identify stars and planets in the sky. What did we ever do before the iPhone? Ah, that reminds me of a funny story: Kassie's 15 year old niece was talking about her astronomy lessons at school and said, "Why do I even need to learn about astronomy? I totally have an app for that." :) Our future leaders...
Next up - a day in Fiji! We love you,
J & J Bernard
Hello Hawaii
Hawaii = American Paradise
After almost four months in Alaska, the eagerly awaited final cruise came the first week in September. On September 7th, we set sail from Vancouver for the last time. Both Jeremy and I certainly appreciated Alaska but after four months of living the monotonous weekly schedule, especially when we sacrificed a sunny summer, we were ecstatic to head for the tropics. On September 10th, we spent a much anticipated six hours in Long Beach. Thanks to mom and dad Bernard, Eric and Miriam Bernard and our dearest family friend Sonja, Jeremy and I escaped our life on the cruise and briefly lived a semblance of normalcy again - just the refresher we needed for the last leg of our contract. We ate a delicious breakfast, walked around the shoreside village, played in a hat shop and culminated the ideal day with some good ole Mexican food on the bay. Oh how I've missed Mexican food! Funny the things I've missed living on a ship - authentic mexican food and real southern BBQ. Anyway, it was wonderful to spend a day close to home!
The four sea days leading up to Hawaii were utterly painless: calm waters, sunny skies, and rapidly passing minutes. I think we were all so happy to experience warmth and sunshine again that being at sea was not a bother but instead a very welcome change. A few of our bosses from Stiletto Entertainment, the casting agency for Holland America, came onboard September 7th. Since we are the original cast of "Back to Broadway," and therefore the model for all future casts, Stiletto wanted to perfect our blocking and the technical aspects of the show. Although we had all been dreading rehearsals, I'm actually thankful because the daily schedule helped pass the time.
On Thursday, September 15th, we arrived in sunny and warm Hilo, HI...or so we thought. Prepared for the tropical heat, Jeremy and I ran outside in our Island best only to discover, to our great chagrin, that Alaska had followed us here. It was overcast and rainy the entire day in Hilo! However, we didn't let it put a damper on our first day in paradise. Jeremy and I joined our cast friends Kurt, Kassie and Justin and the five of us took a taxi out to the beautiful Akaka Falls state park. It's a lush rainforest park with a trail leading to the 400 foot cascading waterfall. After the park we had the taxi take us into downtown Hilo for some traditional Hawaiian food at a local dive food stand. We walked around downtown Hilo for awhile, embracing and enjoying the cooling light mist when suddenly the sprinkling rainfall became torrential downpour. We had been planning to walk to a nearby black sand beach so thinking the rain would subside, we headed for the beach. The rain just kept coming but honestly it added to the experience of swimming in the volcanic heated ocean. Already soaked, we then walked the 30 minutes back to the ship and it seemed like with every minute the rain came down harder and harder. By the time we got to the ship, we were laughably dripping but with huge smiles and a wonderful memory.
The next day we woke up in Honolulu where the sun was shining without a single rain cloud in the sky. Justin invited us to spend the day with him and his friend who lives in Honolulu. Her name is Dayna and we are now indebted to her for the unbelievable tour of Honolulu she gave us. The plan was to drive to the north shore of Oahu and spend the day at Dayna's friend's beach house. So, Dayna picked us up and first drove us to a mini-mart to stock up on some goodies for our beach day. We got the necessaries- a 6 pack of Blue Moon, Kona coffee glazed macadamia nuts, Pringles and Doritos. Dayna bought pineapple vodka to make us her famous tropical cocktail and she also bought all of us a favorite Hawaiian snack: Spam Musubi. It's a piece of teriyaki glazed spam on rice and wrapped in seaweed, basically like spam sushi. It was delicious! That's right mom, I ate the spam and I loved it! Next, we drove to a local fruit stand for some fresh pineapple, coconut, mango, dragon fruit and fried bananas. Then it was on to the beach house and on the way we passed coffee farms, the Dole Pineapple Plantation and even Pearl Harbor off in the distance. I wish I had a picture of our priceless faces when we drove up to Dayna's friend, Daniella's, beach house. It actually belongs to Daniella's future father in law who used to be the president of Mattel. This was not your average beach house. I can't wait to post pictures of this multi-million dollar home on it's own private North Shore white sandy beach. We set up a picnic on their picturesque outdoor porch, drank our pineapple cocktails and walked the mere 20 feet to the sand. I didn't think the day could possibly get any better and then Daniella walked out of the house with snorkeling gear, fins and body boards. We had this pristine beach to ourselves and lived it up all afternoon. Unfortunately, we had to be back on the ship by 5:00 but on the way to the ship Dayna surprised us with another treat. I had read that Oahu's North Shore boasts some of the best shrimp in the world and all along the road we saw shrimp shacks, stands and trucks. Dayna took us to her favorite shrimp truck, which was a total ghetto dive truck, and generously ordered their famous garlic shrimp for all of us. We ate it in the car on the way back to the Volendam and I'm sure that car still reaks of garlic! I know I did for a few days but man was it worth it! So far, Honolulu rivals Pattaya, Thailand as my favorite day in port.
On Saturday, September 17th, we had about six hours in Kona and of course the number one thing on our minds was Kona coffee. After scouring the nearby streets for the best coffee, I went back to the pier for a snorkeling excursion. Unfortunately Jeremy couldn't go and I know I would've enjoyed it all the more had we been able to go together, but at least we snorkeled in Honolulu and planned on snorkeling in the other upcoming ports. The tour was billed as Captain Zodiac's raft and snorkel expedition, so part of the fun was the high powered maneuverable raft we went out in. Had the excursion just been snorkeling, I would've liked it but it wouldn't have been that memorable. However, the raft guides gave me and the seven guests the gift of a lifetime. Let me preface this gift by reminding you of my ridiculous excitement in seeing all those dolphins from the ship in Alaska. I have always had an affinity for dolphins and seeing so many, albeit from far away, was exhilarating. Well, as our raft driver was speeding us to the snorkeling cove, we passed a large school of dolphins. We were out in the open ocean and our guide said, "Who wants to jump in and swim with these dolphins?" Can you believe it?!!! People pay hundreds of dollars to swim with dolphins in a pool and we put on snorkels, slid out of the raft, and swam with about 20 dolphins in the middle of the Pacific! And we swam not once but twice when we came upon another large dolphin pod. What a dream come true.
We now have five more sea days until Samoa. I finished reading "Gone With the Wind" and watched the movie...twice...but the second time with commentary. Now I'm reading "The Thorn Birds." I absolutely love having the time to read. I must say I feel a little guilty writing these blogs because I'm writing all the best parts of our cruise lives. But believe me, there are plenty of sacrifices and although we don't take for granted our good fortune in this opportunity, we are definitely ready to be home and live our normal lives again. After a break I'm sure we'll be ready to go out again. To Europe :)
We love and miss you,
J & J Bernard
After almost four months in Alaska, the eagerly awaited final cruise came the first week in September. On September 7th, we set sail from Vancouver for the last time. Both Jeremy and I certainly appreciated Alaska but after four months of living the monotonous weekly schedule, especially when we sacrificed a sunny summer, we were ecstatic to head for the tropics. On September 10th, we spent a much anticipated six hours in Long Beach. Thanks to mom and dad Bernard, Eric and Miriam Bernard and our dearest family friend Sonja, Jeremy and I escaped our life on the cruise and briefly lived a semblance of normalcy again - just the refresher we needed for the last leg of our contract. We ate a delicious breakfast, walked around the shoreside village, played in a hat shop and culminated the ideal day with some good ole Mexican food on the bay. Oh how I've missed Mexican food! Funny the things I've missed living on a ship - authentic mexican food and real southern BBQ. Anyway, it was wonderful to spend a day close to home!
The four sea days leading up to Hawaii were utterly painless: calm waters, sunny skies, and rapidly passing minutes. I think we were all so happy to experience warmth and sunshine again that being at sea was not a bother but instead a very welcome change. A few of our bosses from Stiletto Entertainment, the casting agency for Holland America, came onboard September 7th. Since we are the original cast of "Back to Broadway," and therefore the model for all future casts, Stiletto wanted to perfect our blocking and the technical aspects of the show. Although we had all been dreading rehearsals, I'm actually thankful because the daily schedule helped pass the time.
On Thursday, September 15th, we arrived in sunny and warm Hilo, HI...or so we thought. Prepared for the tropical heat, Jeremy and I ran outside in our Island best only to discover, to our great chagrin, that Alaska had followed us here. It was overcast and rainy the entire day in Hilo! However, we didn't let it put a damper on our first day in paradise. Jeremy and I joined our cast friends Kurt, Kassie and Justin and the five of us took a taxi out to the beautiful Akaka Falls state park. It's a lush rainforest park with a trail leading to the 400 foot cascading waterfall. After the park we had the taxi take us into downtown Hilo for some traditional Hawaiian food at a local dive food stand. We walked around downtown Hilo for awhile, embracing and enjoying the cooling light mist when suddenly the sprinkling rainfall became torrential downpour. We had been planning to walk to a nearby black sand beach so thinking the rain would subside, we headed for the beach. The rain just kept coming but honestly it added to the experience of swimming in the volcanic heated ocean. Already soaked, we then walked the 30 minutes back to the ship and it seemed like with every minute the rain came down harder and harder. By the time we got to the ship, we were laughably dripping but with huge smiles and a wonderful memory.
The next day we woke up in Honolulu where the sun was shining without a single rain cloud in the sky. Justin invited us to spend the day with him and his friend who lives in Honolulu. Her name is Dayna and we are now indebted to her for the unbelievable tour of Honolulu she gave us. The plan was to drive to the north shore of Oahu and spend the day at Dayna's friend's beach house. So, Dayna picked us up and first drove us to a mini-mart to stock up on some goodies for our beach day. We got the necessaries- a 6 pack of Blue Moon, Kona coffee glazed macadamia nuts, Pringles and Doritos. Dayna bought pineapple vodka to make us her famous tropical cocktail and she also bought all of us a favorite Hawaiian snack: Spam Musubi. It's a piece of teriyaki glazed spam on rice and wrapped in seaweed, basically like spam sushi. It was delicious! That's right mom, I ate the spam and I loved it! Next, we drove to a local fruit stand for some fresh pineapple, coconut, mango, dragon fruit and fried bananas. Then it was on to the beach house and on the way we passed coffee farms, the Dole Pineapple Plantation and even Pearl Harbor off in the distance. I wish I had a picture of our priceless faces when we drove up to Dayna's friend, Daniella's, beach house. It actually belongs to Daniella's future father in law who used to be the president of Mattel. This was not your average beach house. I can't wait to post pictures of this multi-million dollar home on it's own private North Shore white sandy beach. We set up a picnic on their picturesque outdoor porch, drank our pineapple cocktails and walked the mere 20 feet to the sand. I didn't think the day could possibly get any better and then Daniella walked out of the house with snorkeling gear, fins and body boards. We had this pristine beach to ourselves and lived it up all afternoon. Unfortunately, we had to be back on the ship by 5:00 but on the way to the ship Dayna surprised us with another treat. I had read that Oahu's North Shore boasts some of the best shrimp in the world and all along the road we saw shrimp shacks, stands and trucks. Dayna took us to her favorite shrimp truck, which was a total ghetto dive truck, and generously ordered their famous garlic shrimp for all of us. We ate it in the car on the way back to the Volendam and I'm sure that car still reaks of garlic! I know I did for a few days but man was it worth it! So far, Honolulu rivals Pattaya, Thailand as my favorite day in port.
On Saturday, September 17th, we had about six hours in Kona and of course the number one thing on our minds was Kona coffee. After scouring the nearby streets for the best coffee, I went back to the pier for a snorkeling excursion. Unfortunately Jeremy couldn't go and I know I would've enjoyed it all the more had we been able to go together, but at least we snorkeled in Honolulu and planned on snorkeling in the other upcoming ports. The tour was billed as Captain Zodiac's raft and snorkel expedition, so part of the fun was the high powered maneuverable raft we went out in. Had the excursion just been snorkeling, I would've liked it but it wouldn't have been that memorable. However, the raft guides gave me and the seven guests the gift of a lifetime. Let me preface this gift by reminding you of my ridiculous excitement in seeing all those dolphins from the ship in Alaska. I have always had an affinity for dolphins and seeing so many, albeit from far away, was exhilarating. Well, as our raft driver was speeding us to the snorkeling cove, we passed a large school of dolphins. We were out in the open ocean and our guide said, "Who wants to jump in and swim with these dolphins?" Can you believe it?!!! People pay hundreds of dollars to swim with dolphins in a pool and we put on snorkels, slid out of the raft, and swam with about 20 dolphins in the middle of the Pacific! And we swam not once but twice when we came upon another large dolphin pod. What a dream come true.
We now have five more sea days until Samoa. I finished reading "Gone With the Wind" and watched the movie...twice...but the second time with commentary. Now I'm reading "The Thorn Birds." I absolutely love having the time to read. I must say I feel a little guilty writing these blogs because I'm writing all the best parts of our cruise lives. But believe me, there are plenty of sacrifices and although we don't take for granted our good fortune in this opportunity, we are definitely ready to be home and live our normal lives again. After a break I'm sure we'll be ready to go out again. To Europe :)
We love and miss you,
J & J Bernard
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