June 26, 27, 28, 28 and 29, 2023

Yes, the dates are correct. We are in a 5 day Pacific crossing from Japan to Alaska. And we had an extra Wednesday, June 28 because we crossed the International Date Line. This wouldn’t be so strange before we had all of these electronic devices that just don’t coordinate with an extra day, let alone losing an hour 6 times and 2 hours one time. We will arrive in Dutch Harbor Alaska tomorrow, June 30 and after that we will just lose one more hour before heading down the coast to San Francisco.

So, what do we do to stay busy on so many sea days in a row? I won the blackjack tournament twice, I am doing some art projects (photos later when they are complete), I watched a movie, attended a cooking demonstration, listened to lectures, ate at an Around the World Brunch, attended a cabaret show starring Paul and Carolyn – our around the world ambassadors, attended a show by Abby – one of our entertainment team, attended an auction of 3 sets of the ship’s charts (there were three and one brought in $1500) and bid on the opportunity to be cruise director for the day and the opportunity to bid on dinners with the crew members of your choice. The auction raised over $8000 and it is all for the crew welfare fund which provides shore excursions, prizes for crew games and activities and whatever else is part of the appreciation we have for this amazing crew. I also did some reading and generally relaxed. No time to get bored. It is only 45 degrees F and somewhat overcast and rainy. The seas have been pretty calm the whole way. We are so far north that it stays light until almost midnight!

One of our bar servers, Derrick, had a birthday on June 28 and Carolyn serenaded him at the show. Then he had a birthday again the next day.

Oceania does an amazing job with all of the food, but the brunch is really kind of an art gallery too.

We also had a delightful dinner with the friends who were on our Botswana safari with us. Kari’s daughter, Tiana, was on the safari and part of a segment of the cruise too but she had to return to her job so wasn’t on the rest of the trip with us.

So, as we are coming to the end of the trip in only 2 weeks, we are looking forward to the ports in Alaska. We were here 15 years ago and enjoyed it a lot. After Alaska, our final ports are Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Astoria, Oregon and then a day in San Francisco before we disembark on July 13. Where did 6 months go??