Lahaina continued

As I said earlier, we had all decided to go ashore today, and I'm very glad that we did.
We got in the tender at about 9.30am after a very short wait in line.
The ride over to the pier was smooth and pleasant, unlike the choppy sea horror stories from the day before.
When we got to the pier and first saw Lahaina, it looked beautiful and very like Key West, in the Florida Keys.
The place was a lovely bustling small town with plenty of shops and restaurants etc, nothing like the posts I'd read on cruise critic and similar sites, which all said that there was nothing there.
One of the first things I saw was the Banyan Park, which has the largest Banyan tree in the USA.
The park is quite small but beautiful, with the Banyan tree's branches covering it, giving some much needed shade from the hot sun.
There are also a couple of museums in the town, which we didn't get to see as Maz, Sue and Sheila are not really into that kind of stuff.
We decided to head left along the beach road towards the outlet mall, so the girls could do a bit of shopping.
It was a really lovely walk with shops on the right hand side and for the most part a beautiful sea view on the left.
We arrived at the mall and did our shopping, actually picking up some bargains. Then we had a coffee in Starbucks which pleased Maz and Sue.
We also decided to stop at the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant for lunch on the way back, and had one of the best burgers I've ever had, along with the sea views from our table, it was an excellent meal.
After that we headed back to the tender and as luck would have it, walked straight on to a tender, and straight back to the ship, unlike the later passengers who ended up in a quarter mile queue, waiting to get on the tenders. So all in all it was a great day out in beautiful Lahaina.

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

Today we anchored off the small town of Lahaina, on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
It is a tender port, and so once again they give out tickets for the tenders.
I normally like to wait until the open tendering starts and then go ashore, thus missing the crowds. But due to high winds the tendering took ages, and by 12.30am they where still calling numbers, so I decided to give going ashore a miss.
Maz and Sue went ashore as they had booked a whale 🐳 watching trip on a catamaran.
Sue said that the tender ride was like white water rafting, because the bay was so choppy, but out at sea on the catamaran was lovely and they had a great day.
As we are anchored here for two days, we've all decided to go ashore tomorrow, even Sheila!
So once again watch this space.

Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Well all the panic about long lines for the immigration check proved to be as expected, with the line snaking up and back down the royal promenade.
We arrived very early and were right at the front of the queue. We had all our paperwork and our tour tickets to prove that we had an early pickup.
It turns out that they didn't even ask for our proof of pickup and we sailed through the immigration check, except for the officer who checked my passport minutely examining the stamps in it and asking why I had so many for the middle east. Paranoid or what?
Anyway as I said we sailed through it all, not like the poor buggers who stuck to their allotted times and ended up in the massive queue.
I love the USA  but their immigration are the worst and most paranoid on the planet.
We boarded our tour bus right on time and had a great day at the Pearl Harbour memorial site.
The only one down side of the trip, was that we didn't get to see the USS Arizona monument up close as the navy had suspended the ferry out to the ship, due to high winds or something. But the rest of the Pearl Harbour site was brilliant and very moving.
On the way back our guide, the very knowledgeable Keith Fujiyama, gave us a great tour of the city and its interesting sites.
I must admit that I can see why people fall in love with Hawaii and especially Honolulu.

Here we go again!

Today we dock in Honolulu, Hawaii. This is the first American port since leaving Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺 and everybody is expecting the usual USA 🇺🇸 immigration hold up.
The immigration procedure is expected to last for approximately 4 hours, and done by lifeboat station order, the first batch starting at 7.15am and the last batch starting at 11.30am.
With the passengers who had Royal Caribbean tours included in the first group, irrespective of their lifeboat station number.
No consideration was given to the passengers who had private tours booked, so we had to go asking if it was ok if we joined the first batch also. I was told by guest services that it  should be ok as long as I have proof of a private tour. I have proof, so we'll see.
It appears once again that all the ship's management has focused on is passing the US immigration inspection, and the passengers are as I said in an earlier post just a necessary inconvenience.
So watch this space!! Lol 😁

Am I expecting to much?

Am I expecting to much?
We have passed two landmarks for sailors on this trip, crossing the international dateline and crossing the equator.
Both are quite big deals to most people, and are definitely big deals to me, never having done either before.
But neither was celebrated on this ship, all we got was a quick mention in the captains noon report.
Considering, the amount of money most people have spent on this trip, and this is probably my most expensive and definitely my longest Royal Caribbean trip, the ship's management could have done something to make it special.
As it is all anyone seems interested in is getting the ship ready for the American immigration inspection when we get to Hawaii.
The level of officer visibility is nil.
And to be honest most of us get the feeling that we are just a necessary inconvenience on the repositioning.
This personally is made even more disappointing by the fact that my previous recent cruises on the wonderful Splendour ots totaling approximately five weeks, were among the best I've ever had.

Maybe I'm expecting to much, maybe the staff on the Splendor set the bar too high?
You tell me.

Groundhog day disappointment

Well yesterday was our 2nd, 2nd of May as we crossed the International dateline.
Which for most of us was a big first, but the ship didn’t do anything to mark it.
We've been told that on other ships they have a little ceremony and issue certificates. Which would have been nice.
Anyway quite a few people have complained about it, so we may get certificates at least.
On this trip we also cross the equator from South to North and I know we are getting a certificate for that.
Also in crossing the equator at sea you become a member of the order of the slimy Pollywog, truth!
It's an old British navy tradition dating back a couple of hundred years where sailors who crossed the equator for the first time where inducted in to the order, go and Google it. 😁

Once again the aggressive progressive quiz

We finally started the first round of the progressive quiz, and as usual it very quickly became the aggressive quiz.
One of the questions believe it or not was what English county is the town of Wigan in.
Well my correct answer of Greater Manchester, was met with anger from one American guy who was insisting that it was Lancashire, which it hasn't been for about 30 years.
Anyway this guy says to me that he knows that it's Lancashire as he's been to Liverpool and that's right by Wigan.
So when I told him that I was FROM Liverpool and that wasn't in Lancashire either, he just stormed off. Lol.
We'll just have to see how the rest of the quiz goes, so watch this space!

Monday, Monday !!

Today is the first of two consecutive Monday 2nd of May's, as later on tonight we cross the international dateline.
I've never done this before, as all my cruising has been done in the western hemisphere.
So this week goes Sunday 1st, Monday 2nd, Monday 2nd, Tuesday 3rd, etc, it's very strange and confusing a lot of people.

Someone call the police 🚨

Apparently three crew members where mugged last night; the stories vary from right by the ship, to in the town.
Some reports say one crew member was bitten, others say at knife point.
Problem is this put a lot of people off going on private trips or going for walks in and around the town.
My thinking is that this kind of thing can happen anywhere in the world, even in your own home town.
Again in my personal opinion, you are safe in most places that the cruise lines take you to, if you use common sense.
I'm probably tempting fate by saying this, but I've never had any problems when I've been walking around off the ship, but as I say I use common sense, and always try to look confident when walking.
Muggers etc only want an easy target, someone who looks nervous and has their valuables on show. They don't want anyone who looks like they may resist and put up some sort of a fight.
So when I go out I don't carry any valuables or much money, and I walk as if I know the place, I do what our Alan calls the Kirkby walk, and stride along confidently, even if I've got  no idea where I am.

Suva, Fiji 🇫🇯

Today we docked for an overnight stay in Suva, the capital of the beautiful island of Fiji .
As the others weren't to keen on exploring the place, I decided to head out on my own.
I took the main road out of town, in the general direction of the Fiji museum.
On the way I passed amongst other things; the Suva Olympic swimming pool, which was basically a lido that you would have found in places like New Brighton, on Wirral 30 odd years ago.
But I must admit that the place was well looked after and water looked very clean and definitely inviting considering that the temperature was about 80°c.
Next I came across the quite old but impressive high court building.
Just after the high court was Albert Park, I'm guessing named after Prince Albert. This is a rugby ground complete with grandstand, and can apparently hold two matches at the same time, such is the size of it, there was quite a lot of renovation going on and was fenced off by the builders doing the work, so I couldn't get a closer look at the place.
Next was Fiji Museum
Fiji Museum is a museum located in the capital city's botanical gardens, Thurston Gardens. The museum houses an extensive archaeological collection dating back 3,700 years and relics of Fiji's indigenous cultural history, which included some quite gruesome ritualized cannibalism, that is graphically described, along with some photos and drawings.
Also on display is the rudder of the HMS Bounty of the mutiny fame.
The museum is fairly small, but for the very reasonable $7AUD entrance fee well worth a visit.
After the museum I carried on walking up the hill and through what looked like a residential area, this is where I came across this rather quaint local police station, complete with a police officer in the traditional Fijian Sulu as part of his uniform.
The Sulu is a sort of sarong which is worn by both men and women.
Anyway this officer saw me and came out to see if I was lost, and we chatted for about 5 minutes which was really nice. I must say that all the people I spoke to, and there where quite a few, were very friendly and helpful.
As I carried on back towards town I came across a small Anglican church with a service going on, I wandered up to the open entrance to have look, and listen to the singing, when a bloke came out to invite me in, he was also dressed in a traditional Sulu.
I said I'll just stand in the entrance and listen.
After a few minutes, I carried on down the hill towards the town and  came across the Sacred Heart Cathedral, which to be honest didn't look much like a church.
Inside the main building was not very ornate, nothing like the churches or cathedrals in Europe, but still interesting.
I noticed that on the walls where pieces of stone and small carvings that were from various cathedrals around the world, one piece of carving was from Canterbury Cathedral which was interesting in itself.
As I was walking by the alter there where about 3 or 4 people who looked like they worked in the cathedral.
One of them asked me if I had a camera? I said yes but it's in my pocket; thinking she was going to say no photos. But she showed me a very small and winding set of stairs and said if I went up there I could get a good photo of the cathedral. As I said earlier, such nice friendly and helpful people.
Further on into the town I came across another park, this one is called Ratu Sukuna Park and there was a rehearsal going on for a concert later that night, the choir was backed by a sort of rock band, they were singing gospel type music and the main singer had a beautiful voice. To be honest they where all brilliant and the sound was fantastic, there where two dancers acting out the words of the song, who were also very good, in fact I stayed there for about 15 minutes filming them.
When I got back to the port, I had a walk around the massive fruit and veg market, which is fascinating with some of the strangest looking vegetables I've ever seen.
Upstairs in the market they sell Kava which is a type of root which is ground up to make a drink with hot water. Apparently the effects are similar to marijuana in that it relaxes you and gives you a high, but doesn't screw with your brain like marijuana does, so I'm told.
Not that I was brave enough to try any, lol 

That was a close call !!

We had only left Port Vila, Vanuatu a couple of hours, when they had an earthquake, 7.2 on the Richter scale.
It turns out that it was 22 miles underground, it's the tectonic plates moving that causes it, and they were worried about them having a tsunami.
As it was they had a very small one, and there was no damage or injuries, thank God.
It was only last year that the area and that island in particular was hit by the biggest cyclone ever recorded.
We have day at sea today then Suva in Fiji tomorrow, I'm looking forward to Fiji, another tick off the bucket list.

Port Villa, Vanuatu 🇻🇺

We all got off for a look around Port Villa, we took one of the minibus type taxis from the port to the town, and that in itself was quite an experience.
These must be amongst the worst drivers in the world, but at least we arrived in one piece, and at $5 Australian each was a reasonable price for the ride.
The town is quite rundown, but that seems to be the norm for the South Pacific. We went in a few duty free shops, but didn't buy anything.
To be honest Sheila, Sue and Maz didn’t like the place and wanted to get back to the ship.
I was going to have a mooch around on my own, but it started to rain so we jumped a taxi back to the ship.
The impression I have of the South Pacific Islands is that they are very like the Caribbean, in that once you've seen one you've seen them all.
Anyway today is a sea day then tomorrow is Suva on the island of Fiji, so hopefully that will be different, we have an overnight stay at Suva so maybe I'll get some exploring done on my own.

Mystery Island is still a mystery!

Well I was going to get off the ship today and have a look at Mystery Island.
I thought I'd do the sensible thing and wait till the hoards of excited beach people got off.
As on other ships they run a numbered ticket system, then when the crowds have all got off it's an open tender.
They started tendering at about 8am and by 12 they hadn't started open tendering.
The thing was that we had to be back on board by 16.15 so by the time I'd got over to the island and walked around for a while the hoards would be making their way back to the ship, and I didn't fancy getting caught up in all the pushing and shoving that usually goes on when people are tired and wanting to get back.
Anyway thanks to the mighty Google I've read up on the island and in a nutshell it's just a beach.
Tomorrow is Port Villa, Vanuatu, and I think we are all getting off as there is duty free in the town and we need some cigarettes to pay for our taxi from the airport when we get home.
For those of you wondering what that's all about, our taxi driver takes 200 cigarettes each way for an airport run, so we're happy and so is he.

Nouméa, New Caledonia

Not very impressed with the first port of call, which was Nouméa, New Caledonia.
It is a French colony and by all the things I'd been told and read, it was supposed to be like the south of France.
Well first off we docked in an industrial port, so the cranes and containers took the edge of the view of the bay, which itself was very pretty, and could definitely be called south of France like.
There was a free shuttle to the town which was a plus point.
But I'm afraid that the town itself was very run down. The buildings where of the style of the south of France and twenty or thirty years ago may have looked like it, but not now.
Anyway at least I've been to New Caledonia, next stop is Mystery Island which is uninhabited and supposed to be beautiful, watch this space... Lol.

Bloody hell I forgot Sydney 🇦🇺 !

I forgot to give my impression of Sydney.
Well I was pleasantly surprised by it.
I found it to be very English in many ways, which really shouldn't have surprised me as we colonised it.
But I had expected it to be more American.
The Aussies that I spoke to were all very friendly, which is what I had expected.
We did the open top, hop on hop off bus, on both the city tour and the Bondi tour.
But we only hopped on, didn’t get off till the end of both tours, just to make sure we saw as much as possible as we only had that one complete day there.
Bondi beach looked nice, with plenty of big waves for the surfers, the beach itself was smaller than I expected.
The two obvious main hi-lights were the harbour bridge and the opera house, and neither disappointed.
The best view of them was not from the bus, but from the ship, as we were docked right by them.
Port side was the opera house and starboard side was the bridge.
The sail away later that evening, as I said in an earlier post, was amazing with them both lit up.
It is one of those special memories that will stay with me forever, just like the  New York sail away, both are iconic.

Just a first impression

This ship is exactly like the independence, just a few names have been changed, the Pyramid Lounge, is the Star Lounge, and The Olive or Twist lounge is called Dizzies, after Dizzy Gillespie the jazz musician.
But the layout is exactly the same.
The atmosphere is nice and easy going, very like the Indy.
The main problem is since we've been on the Splendour of the Seas we've been spoilt, the way we were treated on there was brilliant and second to none, and any other ship has got a lot to live up to.
Having said that the Explorer is a much larger ship, and I've always found that you get more recognition and more personal treatment on the smaller ships.
Funny thing is, it's not so long ago that these smaller ships were considered huge; progress I suppose?

Old friends and new, once again.

Never ceases to amaze me how many people we know on these cruises.
We are God knows how many miles away from home in an area we have never been before, and on this ship I know nine people that I've cruised with before.
And I've already made numerous new friends in the concierge and diamond lounges.
As I've said many times before, that is the best thing about the lounges, oh yes the free booze helps as well, lol.

All aboard

The next morning I was up earlier than usual as my body was still on UK /Dubai time.
Anyway about 7am we all headed to Starbucks for a coffee and a bite to eat, before the coach picked us up to take us on the short run to the port.
Check in was quite smooth and quick, considering that when we got to the port there was a short delay to boarding.
The sail away was delayed by 2 hours though, but was beautiful with the opera house and the harbour bridge making it one of the most iconic sail aways I've done, and right up there with New York which to me is brilliant with the statue of liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
So just for that alone the long flight here is worth it.
So now it's 2 days sailing to our first South Pacific island, New Caledonia.

Well not as bad as I expected

Well the journey to Sydney was not as bad as I expected.
It was helped by a stop over in Dubai at Maz and Sue's apartment.
The second leg was a 14 hour flight, but was ok especially with the usual good Emirates service. When we landed in Sydney, the taxi I'd booked online was waiting for us.
Ours was the last flight in so our bags came quite quickly, and we where in the hotel by about 10pm.
We decided to go straight to bed as we were all very tired.
The hotel was ok not brilliant but I've been in a lot worse.
The next morning we had breakfast then headed off to pick up the open top bus tour that I'd also booked online.
We did both the city route and the Bondi beach route, so we got quite a good look at Sydney, which I may add, is quite a nice city.
After the bus tour we headed for some food and decided to try a pub type restaurant not for from the port area.
Sheila, Sue and I had fish and chips while Maz had burger and chips, along with two drinks each, and the bill came to just under 200 Australian dollars!!
So nice as Sydney is, it's bloody expensive.