On the sea, on the sea…on the beautiful sea.

Posted on by

Merry Christmas!

It is day 6, Christmas Day, our final sea day before arriving in Honolulu and it is warm if a bit overcast. I enjoy sea days, not because they are filled with activity but because they are at sea and there is little else that confirms how truly small and helpless we are. Our 110 thousand ton ship sails her course at the whim of the ocean and the weather. The Pacific Ocean at its calmest flicks at us with waves that the ship is powerless to resist. We maintain our 21 knot pace toward Honolulu on faith that the ship’s navigator will bring the ship to its intended destination. There is nothing visible that is convincing proof we are going to Hawaii. 

The first two nights aboard the Star Princess takes us well off the coast of North America. The weather remained cool and partially overcast, those seeking suntans had to wait. The sea was relatively calm but the swells were sufficient to give us a gentle rolling motion which I always find rather pleasant.

The barista who served me our second morning wake-up coffee was a Jamaican lad who is living in Toronto when not on the ships. I was wearing a Blue Jays T-shirt so he made me apologize for their early departure from the baseball post season. He served me with a smile in spite of the baseball failure. When I returned to the room I found Gail happy because she seemed to get her first complete night’s sleep of the trip. 

Wednesday evening we enjoyed dancing for the first time since Gail injured her shoulder before we left home. She was still experiencing some discomfort but managed brilliantly while avoiding expressive arm motions. There are several very good dance couples on this cruise, particularly a younger couple from Calgary who have clearly been in competition. There are also several couples who use enthusiasm to make up for their technique. Everyone seems to share the floor happily. The ship’s orchestra played a set that was very danceable and there are two other groups that will provide enjoyable, danceable entertainment.

Sea days are good to meet people, read and enjoy the hot tub. Still too cool for the pool but the weather is improving as we move west. Gail was able to participate in the hula class without too much discomfort so that is good news. Late this afternoon I glanced out the cabin window to see more whitecap like splashes than should have been there. A closer look and there was a pod of dolphin. Over the next several minutes at least four more pods passed along the ships starboard side and off into the distance. Their appearance was over so quickly no photos were possible The evening was busy with the hula dancers (students) hijacking the Wheelhouse much to everyone’s delight. 

Saturday morning was the first true evidence of warm weather. Seas were almost flat and winds very light. The sun was bright with only a few scattered clouds. We have been wandering on deck off and on since finishing breakfast. There are a couple of speakers on board that add interest. One is an astronomer and the other a naturalist. Today we learned that we should wear expendable clothes while whale watching in Maui. Apparently clothes need to be burned after a whale sneezes on you. Christmassy things are all around including people with strange, illuminated elf like costumes. The spa pool was enjoyable this afternoon but we still followed it with some time in the hot tub. The hot tubs are great places to meet people. Because of the number of Californians on this cruise it is becoming a point of honour to check everyone’s home and to cheer when an entire group is from places other than California. 

Christmas Eve included carol singing, amusing costumes and a generally Christmas atmosphere, or as much as possible for those of us who normally associate the season with cold weather and snow, neither of which we have. Although there were artificial snowflakes falling on the carollers in the atrium. On Christmas morning the strongest evidence of the day was the arrival of Santa for the children at about 10 AM. There are apparently about 500 children aboard and their presence has been the source of numerous smiles. Tonight most of us will dress formally for dinner and the evening’s activities.

————————————— 30 —————————————

IMG 1343IMG 1345

Forget the airport, time to go cruisin’

Posted on by

Cruising is not everyone’s ideal vacation, but to do what we will do in the next two weeks without a cruise ship could require no fewer than six airport visits. Not only that, there is also the packing, unpacking, re-packing, boarding passes, bag checking and luggage hauling associated with each stop. The trade off is the length of stay at travel destinations. You rarely get to visit a port for more that eight to 12 hours. For us, cruising works, particularly to a warm location during a Canadian winter.

So, Tuesday we made our way to San Pedro and the awaiting Star Princess. At about 8 AM our luggage was picked up from our hotel room to be delivered to our stateroom.  Just after 11:45 we boarded a motor coach and by 12:40 we were in our stateroom. We had barely emptied our carry-on bags when our checked luggage was delivered. We grabbed a burger for lunch and Gail had her first chocolate ice cream cone of the trip. 

It is interesting to wander about the ship on embarkation day. You needn’t wait long to see the “deer in the headlights” look. There seems to be a conspiracy to confuse as many passengers as possible. Stateroom addresses use a letter to denote the deck and odd numbers for rooms on the starboard side with even numbers assigned to the port side. The elevators, or lifts if you prefer, denote floors by number. therefore, you first need to know that elevator floor 12 has room addresses beginning with “A” then 11 equals “B” and so on down. It seems easy but there will be some still working this problem on day 10. The antics when passengers leave the elevators is equally interesting. There are signs in every elevator vestibule indicating port and starboard sides and the correspondence with odd and even numbers, however there are three columns of elevators some of which face forward and others face aft. Passengers who have associated port with left find themselves quite lost for a moment when they leave an aft facing elevator. I leave it to you to work out why that might be so.

Dinner and the first evening passed quietly. the lounge musicians lill be quite enjoyable if the first experience is any indication. Having injured her left rotator cuff just prior to leaving home Gail is struggling to get it back in shape to dance. Before leaving home she paid three visits to the chiropractor and this morning, Wednesday, spent 30 minutes with one of the massage therapists on board. She managed to negotiate what we will just refer to as “a preferential rate” while we are in the port of Ensenada, Mexico.

We did not disembark at Ensenada but I did take a couple of photos of the dock area. There was only one lonely, perhaps, harbour seal on the rocks. We departed bound for Honolulu at 4:30 PM. There are more photos almost daily and the link is available on the photos page. You should find the link in the top menu. ———————30———————— 

IMG 1321IMG 1320

IMG 1319

Why isn’t traveling fun, like in the good old days?

Posted on by

Traveling was fun, once upon a time. There was anticipation and excitement, once upon a time. When did did air travel cease being fun and become what it is today. Not fun. One needs to be a logistics planner and that is just the beginning. 

There was a time when you could book a flight and wait for the departure day. So long as you arrived a few minutes before takeoff you were just fine. Today, a logistics nightmare. 

So the plane is to depart at 9:30 but you need to be there by 7:30 (they say) because you must check in and be screened by security and possibly an immigration agency. You will need to leave home by 6:30. Oh wait, what day will it be? Will I need extra time. And so it goes. When does the fun begin?

The day arrives and the plan got you to the airport. Now begins the game of snakes and ladders that could not have been anticipated because it has all changed since the last trip. The airport is filled with travelers lined up before kiosks. Most clutching documents such as passports , staring with puzzlement at the machines. There may be someone from the airline to assist, but makes very sure you understand s/he really shouldn’t because you’re actually in the wrong place. 

Finally, baggage is tagged for the correct destination and the electronic version you worked so hard to get is unacceptable in the “secure” areas. Really? Nevertheless, another ladder has been scaled. 

Now the checked luggage vanishes through one of the holes in a wall guarded by some folks making sure you really have a boarding pass. Next, you and anything you hope to carry onto the plane walk into the “secure area” to be screened. Here we are thankful we have our NEXUS privileges and are in a queue of 20 rather than hundreds and we are not required to disrobe. 

Now immigration. Where we formerly filled in a little card to certify we were not bringing contraband we now stand before another machine to answer the same questions. However, the machine takes our pictures and prints a card like the one we used to fill out but with a black and white facsimile of our faces printed beside our attestations.

Finally, the only real human turns out to be the immigration officer. We have found the ladders and avoided the snakes (I think it’s a different term these days, something bad about snakes I suppose). 

We have negotiated the game board and 

arrived at departure gate A14. It turns out that the entire departure lounge is a restaurant where every chair has its own 

IMG 1287

iPad to order food and be entertained, complete with a credit card transactor, yes, one per person. Fortunately, a young staff member from Moldova no less, was there to guide our first experience. The food turned out to be quite good although airport expensive.

Boarding was uneventful except of the bag than needed to be removed because its owner failed to board. How can that happen? After a shower from the de-icer, we were off to LA only 30 minutes behind schedule.

A Princess Cruises representative met us at the luggage carousel and escorted us to the location where we awaited the Marriott shuttle. It was very late, about 40 minutes late. The traffic at LAX was insane. This photo does not go it justice. You really had to be there.

IMG 1291

 We arrived at the Marriott LAX to discover a power failure had them manually registering guests. Rather than wait for a room we had the Bellman store our luggage while we went to the restaurant for lunch, Los Angeles time, almost dinner Toronto time. The day is now coming to a conclusion. The sun, yes the sun, is setting but when we were out walking it felt like the mid 20’s C. 

We have registered with our Princess Cruises representative and our luggage will be picked up at 8 AM from our rooms to appear in our stateroom on the Star Princess, possibly before we arrive. Our bus is to depart for the San Pedro cruise terminal about 11:45 AM Tuesday.

————————————————————30————————————————————————

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally traveling again

Posted on by

Well now, it has been 14 months since this journal was active while we did a road trip to Newfoundland and Labrador but we are about to venture out again. In a few days we will be off to Los Angeles where we will board the Star Princess for a cruise to Hawaii and back. Apparently it is none too soon as today we have snow falling.

Christmas day will occur while we are at sea before we arrive in Hawaii to make four stops. New Years eve will occur just after we depart our last island port. We shall see what we can find to post while away.

—————————-30——————————