Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Day 23 – Feb 6 – Cooks Island
We visited Cooks Island today.
We had heard from others who had been here before that most of the time the ship is not able to let people off. There is no dock, so people have to be ferried in on tender boats. This is usually okay, but if the seas are rough, it can be difficult. In Easter Island we tendered in, and the sea was rough enough that the tender boat moved up and down about 2 feet relative to the ship as we stepped in, so it was slow and you had to be careful.
I saw the captain last night and ask him if he thought we’d be able to get in. He said he expected we would but he explained the problem. The docking area is located such that there is a strong current that moves upward in that area. This creates swells in the sea. Further, the sea floor drops off so quickly, the sea bottom is about 300 meters deep as close as the ship can get to shore. This means the ship cannot use its anchor. It must actively maneuver the entire time at port.
We were able to get to shore okay. The ship had to fight for the full 8 or 10 hours to stay relatively stationary. The tender was rocky but not as bad as Easter Island.
We took a four-wheel drive jeep tour of the island. Nice views, but a rough ride. The dirt road up the mountains had ruts about 18 inches deep by 18 inches wide. At one point we were on about a 30 degree vertical incline and the 4x4 had to stop. He “lost” a bolt and now it was only a 2-wheel drive vehicle! We got out and walked to the top then had to trek back down—quite an adventure.
Kathleen bought a nice black pearl. It is 14 mm in diameter, is very spherical, and has an interesting green and gold color. (I hadn’t planned on buying one—but it was beautiful!).
We had heard from others who had been here before that most of the time the ship is not able to let people off. There is no dock, so people have to be ferried in on tender boats. This is usually okay, but if the seas are rough, it can be difficult. In Easter Island we tendered in, and the sea was rough enough that the tender boat moved up and down about 2 feet relative to the ship as we stepped in, so it was slow and you had to be careful.
I saw the captain last night and ask him if he thought we’d be able to get in. He said he expected we would but he explained the problem. The docking area is located such that there is a strong current that moves upward in that area. This creates swells in the sea. Further, the sea floor drops off so quickly, the sea bottom is about 300 meters deep as close as the ship can get to shore. This means the ship cannot use its anchor. It must actively maneuver the entire time at port.
We were able to get to shore okay. The ship had to fight for the full 8 or 10 hours to stay relatively stationary. The tender was rocky but not as bad as Easter Island.
We took a four-wheel drive jeep tour of the island. Nice views, but a rough ride. The dirt road up the mountains had ruts about 18 inches deep by 18 inches wide. At one point we were on about a 30 degree vertical incline and the 4x4 had to stop. He “lost” a bolt and now it was only a 2-wheel drive vehicle! We got out and walked to the top then had to trek back down—quite an adventure.
Kathleen bought a nice black pearl. It is 14 mm in diameter, is very spherical, and has an interesting green and gold color. (I hadn’t planned on buying one—but it was beautiful!).
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Day 22 – Feb 4 – Tahiti
We did a tour of the inner island. There were lots of vegetation, tall and steep peaks, and long narrow water falls. We’ll post a few pictures above.
The interesting part of the day was pulling into the dock in the morning. There were about 30 dolphins than followed the ship as they jumped out of the water.
The other interesting part was that a 4-story building in downtown about one-quarter mile from the ship’s dock caught fire and was totally destroyed just before we left the harbor.
The interesting part of the day was pulling into the dock in the morning. There were about 30 dolphins than followed the ship as they jumped out of the water.
The other interesting part was that a 4-story building in downtown about one-quarter mile from the ship’s dock caught fire and was totally destroyed just before we left the harbor.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Luke on the Ship's Bridge
Luke visits the Ship's bridge as Captain Kathleen takes over control from the prior captain.
Aboard the Ship—Dining
I’ll add some items about the ship. This one is dining.
There is one main dining room on the 5th deck, and a buffet on the 9th deck. You can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner either place.
In the main dining room, dinner typically takes 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours. There is appetizer, salad, soup, main dish, desert, and coffee. It’s nice, but I do not want to spend this much time each evening.
We actually have 7 options for dinner. First is main dining room. Second is a sit-down meal in a section of the buffet room. This is a simpler menu and takes about half the time of the main dining room. Third is a pizza in another section of the buffet room. Fourth is a bistro for very light snack. Fifth is a specialty dining room that is a steak house. For this you pay a $15/person premium. It is like the upscale steak houses in most big cities.
Sixth option is a specialty Italian restaurant. This one is $20/person premium. We have not done this one yet, but will. Friends who have tried it said the meal took 3 hours. There was an antipasti, soup, salad, pizza course, then pasta, then entrée, then desert.
Finally, we can order room service off of the main dining room menu. This works well for our suite since we have a nice dining table in the room, and we also have a second eating table on our private deck. We’ve been doing this option about twice a week.
There is one main dining room on the 5th deck, and a buffet on the 9th deck. You can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner either place.
In the main dining room, dinner typically takes 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours. There is appetizer, salad, soup, main dish, desert, and coffee. It’s nice, but I do not want to spend this much time each evening.
We actually have 7 options for dinner. First is main dining room. Second is a sit-down meal in a section of the buffet room. This is a simpler menu and takes about half the time of the main dining room. Third is a pizza in another section of the buffet room. Fourth is a bistro for very light snack. Fifth is a specialty dining room that is a steak house. For this you pay a $15/person premium. It is like the upscale steak houses in most big cities.
Sixth option is a specialty Italian restaurant. This one is $20/person premium. We have not done this one yet, but will. Friends who have tried it said the meal took 3 hours. There was an antipasti, soup, salad, pizza course, then pasta, then entrée, then desert.
Finally, we can order room service off of the main dining room menu. This works well for our suite since we have a nice dining table in the room, and we also have a second eating table on our private deck. We’ve been doing this option about twice a week.
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