Pago Pago, American Samoa

Posted on February 10, 2017 by patmathews

February 10, 2017

First, I promised to show the purchases we made in Bora Bora.


The necklace is made of Tahitian pearls and the carved pieces of the oyster shell.  You can pull the necklace to make it shorter or longer, and the hanging pieces can be worn in front or hanging on the back. Very beautiful and unique.  The photo does not do it justice!

The other piece is a painting on a palm tree husk.  Again, quite hard to see in the picture but intricate and very beautiful. We have it hanging on our wall.

We had a Polynesian buffet dinner last night, and there was a whole suckling pig.  The food on this ship is as good or better than anywhere we have ever eaten.


Today we are in Pago Pago, American Samoa.  It is pronounced Pango Pango and is located 2600 miles southwest of Hawaii. It has one of the most remote national parks in the United States.  Yes, it is a US  territory, next to another group of islands- Samoa. Samoa means “sacred earth”. They have been populated for 3000 years but known to the western world for only 2 centuries. 

The time zones are interesting.  Here in American Samoa, we are one hour earlier than Hawaii ( 6 hours earlier than PA) and in nearby Samoa, it is one full day earlier!. We don’t have a February 11 on the ship, as we will be crossing the international dateline and we go right from today, February 10, to February 12.  Very confusing to say the least. Our son Mark  said he would let us know what we miss on Feb 11!. Always the sense of humor….

It is definitely rainy season here, showers all day and the ground is saturated. The landscape is lush and beautiful.


We had a chance, even with the intermittent rain (but no Tsunami) to go to the markets and to also visit the Jean P Haydon museum which has nice exhibits of Samoan history.

These colorful buses take you all around the island for 50 cents to $1. There is only one road.

Love these fresh woven baskets


The museum is a converted US Navy commisary and showcases Samoan culture, including the canoes and traditional artifacts.  During the Apollo moon missions, most of  the astronauts traveled through the islands after splashdown and the museum features three small moon rocks.

This is a try pot, used to remove and render oil from blubber obtained from whales

This carved tree is still alive and blooming!

These traditional necklaces are made of boar’s tusks


Say ouch, men.  These “instruments” are used for circumcision.

Of all the Polynesian people, Samoans have continuously maintained the practice and art of tattooing. Males are tattooed from waist to knees and sometimes on the hands and wrists but never on the face. The female tattoo is termed malu and starts at the thighs and extends down to below the knees.  All tattoos are executed by male artists.  Women are not allowed to practice the art.  The operation usually takes place when the youth are about 16.  This is a big deal and parents debate for a long time before deciding to subject their sons to the tattooing ceremonies which can take days.  Look at the instruments they use!


Norm found a Samoan barber and had a haircut!


We also had a coffee at McDonalds which many tour guides refer to as “the American Embassy”, totally confusing non-Americans.  We didn’t actually want the coffee but were in search of fast Wi-Fi, but alas, it was slower than on the ship.  Many crew members were there for the same reason and left disappointed!


We then walked to the Sadie Thompson Inn where William Somerset Maugham wrote his short story, Rain.  I guess Sadie was quite the character!

 

We purchased a piece of Samoan Tapa cloth, made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree (u’a) and decorated with native dyes.  No two tapa paintings are exactly alike. They were originally used to divide living spaces and for ground covering during special ceremonies.

 

So as I  mentioned,we skip February 11, Saturday, and have a sea day on the 12th.  Then we go to two places in Figi for Monday, the 13th  (happy birthday, Deb) and Tuesday the 14th.  We have excursions booked for both days.  

Posted in February, World Cruise 2 | 5 Comments

Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia 

Posted on February 8, 2017 by patmathews

February 7, 2017

Before leaving Papeete, we had a wonderful Polynesian show on board.  The drummers, singers and dancers were exceptional and our friends saved seats in the front row so my pictures are much better than the last show.  I assume these men and women train since birth to move their hips the way they do.  Amazing.  And there were many costume changes.  One of them was to outfits made entirely of the flowers and greenery of the islands.  Just beautiful.

The flower costumes


Bora Bora is one of the loveliest places you could ever see.  We were at anchor so brought to the pier by tender ( which if I haven’t already explained, it is the lifeboats). This is what rental cars look like here! It is a major international tourist destination and is famous for the accomodations  that are over the water on stilts. We are told that some of them are $3000/ night. The name in the Tahitian language was originally Pora Pora meaning first born.  The early discoverers thought the inhabitants said Bora Bora, even though there is no B in the Tahitian language and the name stuck.

There is no public transportation on the island so rental cars, bikes and scooters are the modes of transport

The economy is almost entirely based on tourism here. We did some shopping in the markets and the stores, then we were taken by boat to a private island (known as a motu) for a special Around the World event.

The 12 person boat they took us in to the island. Insignia in the background

Who wouldn’t love to stay here!

Our greeting committee on the island


Once on the island, we had lots of drinks, a buffet lunch which we are at picnic tables in the absolutely clear water.  Even saw some rays.


We were again entertained by fabulous dancers and drummers.  I admired the fresh flower crown one of the servers had on and she took it off and put it on my head for me to keep! We meet such warm and wonderful people.


Here are a few more pictures of the event.  Wonderful way to spend the day and after a morning rain, the rest of the day was just spectacular.

These men in their loin cloths….mmmmm

Tricia and Norm


This twin peaked mountain ( Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu) is remnant of an extinct volcano and is symbolic of Bora Bora.


We did make two purchases and I will post pictures of them tomorrow when we are at sea.

This morning at sea ( I am writing this on February 8) we had a special Around the World breakfast with a huge assortment of bagel sandwiches.  Leslie nd Victor answered questions and mentioned that there will be a breakfast like this every month.  Here is the most unusual bagel.  The chefs outdid themselves.  There was even one with turkey and guacamole!

Posted in Excursions, February, World Cruise 2 | 5 Comments

Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

Posted on February 6, 2017 by patmathews

February 6, 2017

We arrived early this morning to a thunderstorm.  We had a snorkeling excursion planned just after 8 and when we went to the meeting spot, we found that the snorkeling tour operator cancelled due to the weather.  There was a possibility for a 1 PM departure, but that one was cancelled too, so no snorkeling today.  Is it possible that this is just to give my cough time to be gone?? Luckily we have several other snorkeling expeditions planned.

Anyway, we explored the town and got to the market, lots of Pearl shops (still like mine better than any I saw!) And stopped to have coffee and do some faster Wi-Fi backups than you can do on the ship.

She gave us each a flower as we came off the ship

Our welcome to Tahiti

Just someone’s tiny little yacht next to our ship!

View from the harbor. Note the grey day and the clouds!


The markets have lots of colorful cloth and of course the usual fruits, vegetables and fish.  We also loved the bottles of nuts!

Considered the outfit, but….nooooo!


While I was at the information center Norm went out in search of a barber.  A whole group of performers celebrating Chinese New Year arrived.  They moved pretty fast and set off firecrackers, but here are just a couple of shots:


French Polynesia includes about 120 islands all together covering over 1.7 million square miles.  As I have mentioned, the islands vary in composition.  Bora Bora, where we will go tomorrow, and Tahiti are probably the most well known and visited.  We were lucky to be on Nuku Hiva and Rangiora, which are smaller and less traveled.

The town of Papeete is quite a bit different from the “off the beaten path” islands we have seen so far.  It is much more populated with considerable traffic, ambulances passing by, etc.  But no Starbucks.  Of course, there is a McDonald’s!  And here is the cathedral in downtown Papeete.

Well, the barber was too busy and I could not find a place for a pedicure, believe  it or not. So back to the ship for a local Polynesian show before we sail this evening.

Tomorrow we will be in Bora Bora where there is a special World Cruise Event planned.  Hope the weather stays clear as is predicted.

And, as for the super bowl.It was a great party on board….many more Atlanta supporters it seemed, so of course  they are disappointed.  But I have to say it was a game for the ages.  What a finish.

Last night the show was Liars Club, where three crew (Victor the General Manager, Rohanca the Destinations manager,  Chantelle the Oceania Ambassador, and the ventriloquist, Mark,  each had to describe the word that was projected on the screen.  There were five rounds with five different words. Only one was telling the truth, and we needed to vote on who we thought that was. They were funny…and very good liars it turns out. Fun evening!

On to Bora Bora!

Posted in February, World Cruise 2 | 2 Comments

Rangiroa, Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia

Posted on February 5, 2017 by patmathews

February 5, 2017

This place is quite unique.  It is a string of coral encircling a turquoise and jade lagoon.  It is quite different from Nuku Hiva which is volcanic.  Here the beaches are white coral beaches.  This is known as one of the worlds  greatest dive destinations. It is the biggest atoll of French Polynesia and the second biggest one in the world.  It could contain the entire island of Tahiti in its center. It is a real natural aquarium with so many fish species. I still have a cough so we decided to wait until tomorrow to do any snorkeling.  

Here is the view when we arrived into the harbor.  It is also a tender port.  On the dock we were greated by dancers. 


We went to Gauguin Pearl farm, the biggest one here.  It employs 50 local workers and has a strong impact on the economy.  There is a school dedicated to the pearl farming techniques and also a research center located here.  Black pearls – the marine cultured pearls produced from the black lip pearl oyster shell – Pinctada margaritifera – are abundant here.  These pearls have a wide range of natural colors from white to dark to gray and are the only cultured pearls in the world with so many different natural colors.

It was fascinating to hear the history and the process of cultivating the pearls.  We saw how long it takes for the oysters to mature.  It takes almost 4 years to even be able to use them for cultivation and then about 2 years to get a pearl.  And not all of the pearls are even useable.  They can seed the same oyster 3 times but after the first time the quality is not the same.

The inside of the shell. There is an appendage of the oyster which covers the implanted “nucleus”

doing an implant

What they look like on the outside

Voila! A pearl!


Rangiroa produces 6 million pearls a year.  Of 100 seeded oysters, the yield is 40 usable pearls. They do 400 seedings a day. The whole process was really fascinating – I have heard about it but it was nice to see it first hand.
And here are the purchases:

After the pearl farm we walked to one of the coral beaches and enjoyed finding some beautiful shells and coral to bring home. We also saw some of the crew who were so thankful to be on land!

Marius, our favorite Maitre d

Some adorable local children

With our butler, Vishant

This beach is known for bottlenose dolphins

Photos cannot describe how beautiful it is


After a great morning, we returned to the ship for the super bowl party.   No commercials are shown here but the game is on the 3 big screens in the theater. One side of the entrance is decorated with New England colors and the other side with Atlanta colors.  We apparently will see Lady Gaga and the halftime show. 

The betting pool boards are also up in the front between the screens. Almost 200 spots were sold so we will see if we win anything.  They have popcorn, hot dogs, hamburgers, guacamole, salsa and chips and much more.  A large variety of drinks accompanies the football food.  As you can tell, I am writing this while watching the game.  It is almost the end of the first quarter.


So, in the middle of paradise, we are watching football!  We leave here about 4 PM today on our way to Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, where we will have a snorkeling excursion.  Looking forward to that and to trying out my new GoPro camera underwater.

Posted in Excursions, February, World Cruise 2 | 3 Comments

At sea on the way to Rangiroa

Posted on February 5, 2017 by patmathews

February 4, 2017

Today we had a surprise from the Insignia. There  was an informal talk with Victor the General Manager, who addressed any and all questions about the missed ports, etc.  There are a lot of people complaining about it and he was really great with the explanations.  And he announced that there will be a goodwill celebration from 5 – 7 tonight with free drinks in all of the bars and venues.  The port cancellations are of course, nothing they can control, but as Victor said to us, if we are all not happy, they are out of a job.  The slogan fits – “Your world – Your Way”.

ATW hostess, Tricia, the celebration. Note the ankle bracelet that she made


Here is an unfinished version of what will be the Phillipines flag – another quilt square that Norm is doing!. 


Another win for me at the blackjack tournament – this time it was a last minute win against two of the regular men..  very exciting.

There was a session of the bracelet making, this time for all passengers, not just the around the world guests.  I made an ankle bracelet and because I helped June, the instructor, get the kits to everyone, she gave me an extra 3 kits!  

June, our Hawaiian artist.


More about this area of the world – which we have never visited before.  Tahiti and her islands make up the largest marine territory in the world, covering an area of 5.5 million square kilometers.  Each island has its own unique landscape from the green volcanic islands to the turquoise blue coral atolls.  We are looking forward to our snorkeling expeditions in a couple of days. The coral reefs and the range of fish are supposed to be quite spectacular.

Tomorrow is super bowl Sunday and things are gearing up here on the ship.  The 100 squares for the pool are all sold and a second hundred also almost sold it.  We will see if we win anything!

Before the game we will go out to a pearl farm and then to explore the island.  For those who are wondering, the weather has been wonderful, even though we had quite a loud thunderstorm this afternoon. The water is so beautiful and we are looking forward to the rest of the adventures.

Posted in At Sea, February, World Cruise 2 | 1 Comment

Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

Posted on February 5, 2017 by patmathews

February 3, 2017

After 5 days at sea, everyone was happy to see land here.  We arrived late in the day as expected and it was a tender port, so that means that they lower usually 3 of the lifeboats and take us in groups to the shore.  It was pretty choppy but we made it in to see the port.

This is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.  We had a very weird 30 minute time change – ahead, before this port.  Some people got very confused!

There wasn’t much going on, but we walked to the small and charming church and also saw the black volcanic beach.  It started to get dark before we left to go back to the ship.  Here are some pictures of this beautiful volcanic island.  Lots of mountains, and most of the places here are only accessible by boat.

the tender port as we were getting ready to go back to the ship

Beautiful carvings in the church courtyard

View of the harbor

After we got back to the ship, there was a wonderful presentation by local dancers and drummers.  We were so lucky to see this, it was because we came late and stayed late. Normally this show is only available to those who are in port overnight.  They were really terrific.  It was hard to get shots without people in the front of the stage so you don’t really get the effect but it gives you an idea. One of the pictures shows me up there dancing, they picked several of us out of the audience!  I couldn’t make the picture any lighter. There are friends on board who apparently have video to share with me.  I doubt I can upload it though, maybe when we are on land!

My dancing debut!

Tomorrow is a sea day before the next French Polynesian port, Rangiroa.

Posted in Excursions, February, World Cruise 2 | Leave a comment

At sea, crossing the equator

Posted on February 2, 2017 by patmathews

February 2, 2017

We are still in choppy seas, primarily because of the strong winds.  Nevertheless, the Crossing the Equator Ceremony must go on! Those who read my blog posts from the last world cruise know that we crossed the equator twice and that was not even the first for us.  But there are many “polywogs” on board.  They are known as the soft, gushy creatures who have never crossed the equator.

From the beginning of time, seafarers have participated in ancient ceremonial initiations for crossing specific navigational parallels on the globe.  Such practices are so vintage in origin that their derivation has been lost, but it is believed that initiation in such secret societies began in the middle ages and it it possible that it began with the Vikings.

On the Insignia it is a pretty big deal! First Leslie, the cruise director, builds up the expectations that King Neptune is on his way.  Then the members of the orchestra march out playing instruments and go all around the top deck.  Then crew members representing King Neptune and various other seafaring people appear.  The Captain meets with King Neptune to apologize for the polywogs, and then they must all be initiated into the secret society of the Shellbacks, the hard, tough creatures that have crossed the equator before.

This consists of having to kneel down before King Neptune and kiss a fish, then have ice water dumped on your head.  Here are some photos of the “social event of the sea-son”.


The crew really hams it up and has a lot of fun!  And so do the passengers.  One crew member was a polywog, and instead of the ice water, Neptune threw her into the pool, clothes and all.

There is a Hawaiian artist on board, June Teruya.  She is the one who did the class on how to making the orchid leis. Today she did a class for the world cruise passengers. She taught us to make Polynesian bracelets and a woven ribbon lei.  Here are the results of my handiwork.


Jane, you would have been proud of me.

Well at his noon announcement, the captain gave us more bad news.  Due to the winds and heavy seas, he has not been able to maintain the speed needed to reach our port on time tomorrow. so instead of arriving at 9 AM, we will get there at about 4 PM and stay till 11 PM.  So at least we will get there!  I said I hope there are bars there for the hard working crew. Sea days are fine for us but they are working extra hard without much of a break. We didn’t have a tour planned so will go ashore (by tender), walk to the town and along the black volcanic beach, perhaps take a swim.  We did hear that last time the ship was here, they were surrounded by huge manta rays, so hope we see them tomorrow.  Fingers crossed that nothing changes and we do get to see Nuku Hiva.

Norm has really become known as the stitcher in the quilting group!  He is now on his 4th quilt square and is doing lots of embroidery.  Here is the one on Cartagena, Colombia. He is now doing Phillipines, will post when that one is done! And I have only done one!  But when we each Komodo Island, I plan to do a square with the Komodo Dragon on it.  The squares are shaping up so nicely. What a lot of creativity in the group.


I did learn a lot at the pearl presentation.  They are doing a raffle later, maybe I will win!   In the meantime, still looking.  

Posted in At Sea, February, World Cruise 2 | 2 Comments

The meaning behind Aloha

Posted on February 1, 2017 by patmathews

We have, of course, left Hawaiian waters and are now on our way to the Marquesas Islands, specifically Nuku Hiva.  It is the typical sea day with all of the activities I have described before.  I will probably go to a presentation on pearls today as we will visit a pearl farm and I want to know questions to ask.  Will we buy?  Undecided so far, but will get some information today.

Everyone in Hawaii greets you and says goodbye with the word “Aloha”.  I meant to publish this earlier, but here it is – the meaning behind Aloha as told to us in Hawaii.

A – (Akahaki): Kindness, expressed with tenderness

L- (Lokahi): Unity, expressed with harmony

O – (‘Olu’olu): Agreeable, expressed with pleasantness

H – (Ha’aha’a): Humility, expressed with modesty)

A -(Ahonui): Patience expressed with perseverence

Maybe the world needs more “aloha”.  What do you think?

Posted in At Sea, February, World Cruise 2 | 8 Comments

At sea on the way to Nuka Hiva

Posted on January 31, 2017 by patmathews

January 31,2017

It’s the third of 5 sea days and the seas have been rough. Today is a bit calmer but it is really amazing to watch the waiters balancing trays with many plates as they move from side to side. Everyone is doing the “motion of the ocean” dance!

Last night we had a really funny ventriloquist, Mark Merchant.  He will do another show in a few days and everyone is looking forward to it – he had everyone laughing out loud! At the end of his act, he had the dummy singing a some while he drank wine.  Don’t know for a second how he can do that!

Here’s a shot of the sunset as we left Honolulu on Saturday. The sunrises and sunsets are always beautiful, too beautiful to really capture in a photo, but we try anyway.


Again, the sea days are full of things to do, I had one first place and one third place in the blackjack tournaments, still working on the needlepoint and doing the lectures and cooking demos and trying to decide on another square for the quilt. It might be a Komodo dragon when we reach that port. In the meantime, Norm is working on his third square!. He has a reputation for being a good stitcher now!. The latest one is Cartagena, Columbia.  Will post a pic when he is done.

I have developed a nasty cough and did see the doctor yesterday.  On meds and sound much worse than I actually feel.  Many people are coughing and because we really have to use the handrails with the motion of the ship, it is impossible to wash hands frequently enough.

We had dinner with Anna and David Smith last evening. Anna is the quilt coordinator and David is the photography lecturer. They are from British Columbia and we met them on the last cruise. Anna had gone to the lei making class (while I was at the blackjack tournament) and she presented me with this lei as we went into the dining room!


And here’s Norm in another color shirt.. Sandy said he is wearing too much beige and khaki! He takes this feedback seriously!


In one of the cooking demos, Jorg, the executive chef, introduced the sous chefs.  In all these are 60 chefs in the kitchens here. They all  have very specific duties.  Today’s cooking demo featured Jorg  and Helena who is the pastry chef. They made a black forest cake, crepe Suzette and lemon meringue tarts. As I have mentioned many times, the food is absolutely wonderful.

 
They are going to show the super bowl on the ship and will have a betting pool and some traditional tailgating foods. The game will start here at 1:22 PM.

So now we are down to two more sea days until we arrive in Nuka Hiva  in the Marquesas.  I am sure we will have the equatorc rossing ceremony on Thursday, which of course we have done many times before.  Always fun though.

Posted in At Sea, January, World Cruise 2 | 5 Comments

Almost Nawiliwili, Kauai

Posted on January 29, 2017 by patmathews

January 29, 2017

As I probably mentioned before, we booked a private tour with fellow passengers on Cruise Critic several months ago.  It was a photography tour, not that you had to be a photographer, but the plan was to spend 5 and a half hours going to the most scenic places at the best times for spectacular photos.  We were meeting the other 6 passengers at Baristas on deck 5- the coffee bar.  At breakfast, the ship was definitely tilting one way, and we could see the shore, so we assumed that the stabilizers were off in preparation for docking at the port. As we prepared to meet our group, Norm said “we have turned away from the port”.  We were scheduled to dock at 8 and it was already just past 8. Sure enough within a few minutes, the captain came on the speaker and announced that the pilot had come on board, but due to wind of 40 knots, the port was closed and we were back at sea on our way to Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia, now 5 days at sea away.

So, a revised schedule of activities was prepared and we are enjoying a day at sea.  Seas are not too rough and the sun is beautiful.  Disappointing but not much you can control. We hadn’t been to this island before.

So a bit about what we were going to do.

Kauai is called the Garden Island and is a tropical paradise with rainforests, waterfalls and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, they say…my comments will need to wait till next time! It is the oldest and northernmost island in the Hawaiian chain. We were particularly looking forward to seeing Waimea Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Many movies were filmed here including Blue Hawaii, Diamond Head and Jurassic Park.  Parts of the island are only accessible by boat or helicopter.

So, since we didn’t go, I will add a few things about our excursion yesterday and what we learned from our excellent guide:

Torpedoes… Norm included for scale. These babies are huge.

The clock tower at the port of Honolulu

  

  • Many Japanese Americans in Hawaii were fiercely loyal to the US and enlisted in the armed forces.  Because it was feared that they would be mistaken for the enemy, they were sent to fight in Europe and their regiment became one of the most decorated in the war.
  • There is a fairly large Chinatown here and our guide said not to to ever go here at night.  After about 3 PM stores close and the area is overrun with crime and as she put it “sidewalk stewardesses” – a term for prostitutes that I have never heard before.
  • Real estate is expensive on this island.  A modest apartment sells for an average of $719,000 while the average income is $54,000.  Real estate is much less expensive on the other islands but there is little work there. Good for retired people, she says.
  • In the Cemetery of the Pacific, the Punch bowl, there are small religious symbols on the stones.  There are 64 different religions represented.  The stones are laid flat to make it easy to maintain the beauty of the place.  The stones that are together are brothers. 38 sets of brothers were at Pearl Harbor and 23 sets of them died.  One of the brothers of the remaining pairs died as well and only one full set survived.
  • Honolulu has the largest outdoor shopping center in America- 300 stores.  We didn’t go there! On purpose.
  • 953,000 people live here and it has the 3rd worst traffic in America.  We were glad it was Saturday.  It can take 2 1/2 hours to travel 20 miles.

These cranes were made by a 12 year old girl to commemorate peace after the atomic bomb.  They became a worldwide symbol of peace.

Tonight we are having dinner in the Italian restaurant, Toscana, and will have Jade Milian and Samuel E at the show performing the music of Whitney Houston.  We heard them on our previous cruise and really enjoyed the show. Lots of things to do on sea days and we have several dinner plans with friends.  Meeting new people who boarded yesterday as well.

So again, stay tuned!

    Posted in At Sea, January, World Cruise 2 | 5 Comments