Life's Better at Sea...

9/18/11 – AT SEA

Today was new puzzle day.  Although it was sunny for the most part, Tommy was anxious to start our next puzzle, so I picked out a 2,000-piece puzzle of a castle in Germany.  I actually got into this puzzle, and the two of us spent our entire morning and a bit of the afternoon working away at fitting the many pieces together.  Who would have thought the two of us would be spending our days in the library working on puzzles…I think we are being influenced by the 65-average age on the ship!  Of course when I mention the word puzzle, I must also reference Kevin who is always to be found by Tommy’s side when he is working on his puzzles… 

I cannot fail to mention that during basketball round two, I got the ball stuck in the same way Tommy did the first time.  Through process of elimination, and by that I mean eliminating everyone above the age of 60 leaving just the two of us, I think they will have no trouble figuring out who is continuously getting the basketball stuck behind the hoop…I hope they do not ban us from the courts!  We enjoyed another great day at sea and delicious dinner for our second formal night. 

9/19/11 – AT SEA

The sunny, partly cloudy day at sea consisted mostly of finishing the key parts of our castle puzzle.  I was able to drag Tommy outside for a few hours of sun and pool time before being pulled back down to the library to continue working on our puzzle.  Tommy is a puzzle drill sergeant; I report for duty every morning and must finish a certain amount of hours putting the pieces together before I am released to go outside!

One of the many towel animals we come back to every night before bed... this one scared the BLEEP out of me.

9/20/11 – AT SEA

Today began with the continuation of working on our new puzzle.  Luckily this was short lived as today is Neptune Day, the celebration for crossing the equator.  Although we did not cross the equator until 7pm, a traditional ceremony/ritual was held at 10:30am very similar to the one held on Semester at Sea.  The difference was instead of having all of the passengers pay homage to the “king” (captain), kiss the fish and then proceed to be dumped with goop (pretend fish guts) all over our bodies, the crew acted out this process as we all watched on.  I much preferred participating in it on Semester at Sea, but it was fun to relive the tradition of asking King Neptune for his permission to cross the equator.  I kept puzzle solving down to an hour today by distracting Tommy with swimming and many games of UNO, Elmo and Rummy 500.  It was a fun, great day!

9/21/11 – AT SEA

Another hot, sunny day at sea.  Today is the Champagne Brunch for Mariner Society Members.  Because I have sailed on Holland America once before, on my very first cruise ever back in 2000, I am considered a Mariner Society Member.  Unfortunately Tommy is not a member, and therefore is not invited along to the brunch with me.  I am actually not going because after a great workout, I do not feel much like drinking champagne at 11am in the morning with a bunch of old geezers, especially because we have to dress up!  I think I’ll opt for laying out by the pool instead! 

We have become good friends with the Sydney couple we met in the Jacuzzi on the second day of the cruise, Jeffery and Leletta.  The two have given us an array of great suggestions of things we must do in Sydney and all over Australia.  I would not be surprised if they take us around for a day once in Sydney or even help us find an apartment! 

9/22/11 – AT SEA

We are definitely excited to be arriving to a new port tomorrow.  Although we love being at sea, we are ready to see a new place that we both have never been to before.  Today was HOT HOT HOT with the sun strong and high and the lack of a breeze off the water.  A stifling day on deck that resulted in the majority of our day spent in the pool!  The pool was reminiscent of a watering hole because no one could stand to bake in the sun for too long before needing a refreshing dip. 

We did something new today.  A cute older man from Sydney was helping us with our puzzle and looked at the time realizing it was happy hour.  Happy hour?  What the heck have we been missing!  Well he filled us in that during a certain time every late afternoon the Crows Nest has a happy hour with $1 beers.  Well we can afford $1 beers, so we decided to go check it out.  Of course you must know that Kevin was also “helping” with the puzzle, so he asked to tag along to the happy hour with us.  I am glad he did because he was sweet enough to buy us each two beers and we ended up sitting in the Crows Nest for two hours sharing stories with each other.  Our day was further enhanced at our third formal dinner.  Although you must be thinking we had some incredible meal, this is not the reason why we had such a great evening.  The couple that sits across from us is a lovely American couple that moved to Sydney 40 years ago.  We have chatted with them many times and formed a nice relationship, and tonight they gave us wonderful suggestions of things we must experience in Sydney, and let us know that they had been writing down a whole list for us so that we can have a guide to follow once in Sydney.  Too sweet.  A successful day at sea! 

ALOOOOOHA ADVENTURE-ERS

9/15/11 - Hilo, Hawaii

Memories were heightened as we docked in the same port and position as the MV Explorer did in our first port on Semester at Sea.  A grey day in Hilo…when the sun finally tried to pop through the dark clouds, other ominous clouds appeared, hiding the sun for the entire day.  We were met with continuous showers, and were smart to spend our day indoors Skyping with our families.  I remembered Hilo being an uneventful port, and it was even drearier in the rain.  Never miss an opportunity to go to Wal-Mart on a rainy day, a tip I picked up at Bucknell.  With a few necessities in hand, the remaining time in Hilo was spent on the ship.  Our final and hopeful attempt to walk into town had failed as we quickly turned into drowned rats in a downpour.  Tommy brightened the gloomy day by presenting me with the most beautiful plastic rainbow lei, which he cleverly obtained from the dining room display as he passed by on the way back to the room.  I think I've got a keeper!

9/16/11 – Honolulu, Hawaii

Clad in our matching Outrigger Canoe Club shirts, we watched the sunrise to start a gorgeous day.  One important lesson I learned from my dad is to always watch the sunrise and sunset.  As we sailed into Honolulu, the sun highlighted Waikiki beach, and I spotted the Royal Hawaiian (my mom and dad’s honeymoon destination) and the Outrigger Canoe Club.  

I used to LOVE snorkeling, and Tommy still does, but after a very traumatic experience, in which my dad was almost eaten by a 12-foot tiger shark off shore at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, I am cautious and honestly a bit terrified when it comes to snorkeling!  I have snorkeled following that distressing event a few years ago, but very tentatively.  So, I was thrilled to do some land snorkeling today instead of the real deal!  By land snorkeling, I mean we walked off the ship and made it two blocks before stopping to watch tons of sergeant major fish, huge puffer fish, enormous tangs, a cowfish, a trumpet fish, and a variety of other fish swimming over a reef right in the harbor!  Who needs to snorkel when we can watch the beautiful fish from the safety of land! 
Finally moving on from land snorkeling, we arrived at Waikiki Beach ready to get our surf on.  We spent our first hour on our rented surfboards riding in some great waves.  After a great day on Waikiki beach, we topped it off with a Mai Tai and local Long Board beer to toast our great surfing skills.  Hang loose!

9/17/11 – Kona, Hawaii

Today we anchored, therefore it was a tender day, yuck.  Although it is a beautiful view from the water looking in at Kona, it provides a bit of a hassle getting on and off the ship.  Our original plan was to spend our day at my favorite beach in the world at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, but it was just too far from where the tenders drop us off to be reasonable.  I was definitely bummed out, but we turned it into a good day of exploring Kona.  A taste of fresh ground Kona Coffee in a local outdoor market turned the day around immediately, so much so that we could not resist buying a pound of Kona coffee to bring with us to Australia.  The highlight of our day was visiting the Kona Brewing Co. Brewery and Brew Pub for a taste of some of our favorite beers, which were even better straight from the source.

After our sampling of some yummy beers I could not miss the opportunity to have a world famous Mai Tai at my parents favorite Mai Tai spot on the Big Island while watching the surfers roll in with the swells.  Our first visit to the Kona Brewing Co. was so great that we opted for one more visit before heading back to the ship so we hiked up the hill for round two.  This time we took a tour of the facilities and learned the entire process of how their beer is made with the perk of a free tasting of four of their beers following the tour.  What a great day at our last stop in Hawaii and the U.S.  Bon Voyage America! 

Sea Days and Sea Legs

Our luggage loaded in the car!

Tommy boarding the ship in LA

 Saying goodbye to my family before setting sail!

9/10/11 - Embarkation in Los Angeles
It must be good luck that we are leaving on 9-10-11!!!  It is also good luck because it is my cousin Cameron’s birthday today, and what better way to spend his birthday than out at sea with him swimming along the ship, my dolphin guardian angel.

After a very tearful goodbye, I am on the ship!  As excited as I am to start this journey, it was EXTREMELY hard to say goodbye to my family, but all the more reason for them to come visit me in Australia J!  Tommy and I signed up for the cruise for the best price available, meaning the lowest grade room, category NN.  A category NN room is on the lowest deck, an inside room, and at the VERY front of the ship where you can feel the most rocking and rolling on rough sea.  Just the thought of this room made me imagine I was Harry Potter going into my closet under the stairs.  To our great luck, a few days before the cruise, we were upgraded to an outside room with an ocean view window!  As Professor Gogniat would say “we are lucky little bunnies!”    

As we pulled off the freeway and the ship came into view for the first time, a feeling of excitement bubbled up inside me.  I turned around to see Tommy with an ear-to-ear grin lighting up his face.  Four suitcases, two duffel bags, two backpacks, and a purse, the car was unloaded, our belongings were sent to our stateroom, and the two of us checked in.  I think we both felt pretty grown up checking in on our own for our 23-day voyage: fear of the unknown and of the future, but also exhilaration of the unknown that the future holds for us. 

Both Tommy and I have cruised many times before and naturally had our preset expectations of the ship, but the Volendam turned out to be a little different than what we were expecting.  We decided to label it as “interesting.”  This is a very special and unique opportunity we have to cruise to Australia, but we did not miss the fact that this is a very old cruise ship.  The term I would use to describe the layout would be compartmentalized.  There are multiple sections with very little light, creating a very dark atmosphere.  Pair that with the gaudy purple and red carpets, couches and walls, and that is the Volendam.  After dropping off our backpacks in our room, we decided to go on a tour of the ship.  Although this tour started with our noses turned up slightly, it ended with us reprimanding ourselves for not being the true adventure-ers we are.  We can turn an old, kind of smelly, and a little bit dirty ship into something wonderful by taking advantage of what the ship does have to offer.  We popped open our bottle of Vueve from my Mommy and Daddy and made a decision to try all of the dance classes, attend every lecture, and all of the other onboard experiences offered!  (But of course only the free ones :) )… 

As we set sail towards Australia, Tommy and I confronted our first fear: Where are we going to live once we arrive in Sydney?  After weeks of exhaustive searches, we still were sailing into our future with nowhere to stay. It would not be an adventure if we did not hit some bumps along the way, and this will be our first challenge to overcome together.  But, our fears were quickly pushed aside because it was not the time to worry about Sydney, but instead the time to go make friends, and we did.  We had only been on the ship for an hour before receiving an invitation from a lovely Australian grandmother to stay at her house in Queensland.  Not too shabby!  We have but a little time to find accommodations for our arrival to Sydney, but at the rate we are going, I would not be surprised if we had many options of where to stay.  The two of us surely stick out like a sore thumb amongst the 65-year-old average age on board.  All the more reason for everyone to befriend us, maybe buy us a few drinks and possibly extend their homes to us in Australia!

9/11/11 - At Sea
Today was our first day at sea.  Last night we started rolling over the glassy swells that rocked us fast to sleep.  Pathetically, the two youngest people on the ship I believe were the first ones in bed passed out!  It was amazing waking up to our old neighbor again, the ocean; what Tommy called it on Semester at Sea.  It is hard to beat waking up to the sunlight streaming through our window and the sound of the waves crashing into the ship bouncing through the walls.  The sun disappeared for a while after it rose as the rain moved in, making it a bit of a lazy day.  Tommy and I stayed in bed watching a movie before finally making our way up to breakfast.  We were up at 6am because the clocks were set back an hour.  The Lido was really crowded by the time we emerged from our cubbyhole, and as we made our entrance, once again every eye was focused on the two of us.  We are both so used to going on cruises with our families and not being the only two people under the age of 60 on the ship, so we definitely were feeling very awkward and out of place.  There is also not much to do on this small old ship especially when it is rainy and cold outside, so we were feeling kind of bummed out about the anti climatic start of our journey.  We turned things around by finding a great spot for the two of us to sit on the back of the ship in lounge chairs, towels wrapped around our bodies to keep warm, and read our books.  We took a Jacuzzi later and met a couple from Sydney who gave us great suggestions of things we must do in Australia.  Although they did not offer us to stay in their house with them, they did suggest that we find an apartment in Coogee because it is their favorite beach and a great location for people our age.

We decided to go play some basketball, and after losing a close game of horse to Tommy, he got the ball stuck behind the hoop.  Well, his great idea was to throw the only other basketball up to hit it out, but instead succeeded in popping the second ball, while the other ball remained stuck behind the hoop.  That ended our game right away; luckily, I do not think anyone will be looking for a basketball, unless they plan to play using their walkers or in their wheelchairs! 

Tonight is our first formal dinner and Tommy and I are getting all dolled up.  Maybe we will actually stay up past the rest of these old geezers tonight!

9/12/11 - At Sea
Unlucky with another overcast day.  Although I do not mind bundling up in a towel and cuddling up with my book outside all day, my traveling companion tends to get a bit restless. Picking up on his signals of utter boredom, I decided to take him to the library to try and find him a good book.  What a wonderful decision because there are an abundance of games and puzzles to entertain Tommy.  A 748 piece difficult puzzle was Tommy’s new source of entertainment, along with his new friend Kevin, a very interesting character.  With Tommy and Kevin busy at work, I strategically snuck away to get in a little reading time!

9/13/11 - At Sea
Blah, another overcast day, which means more Tommy puzzle time, Kaitlin’s reading time, and a good time for us to make use of their fitness center.  Last night at dinner I decided to throw a challenge at our waiters.  Now you must bear in mind that the dining room staff is not what you might find on a typical cruise, but instead consists solely of Philippino or South Eastern Asian men who speak very poor English.  So, when I attempted to order one of my favorite desserts, Salisbury Noken, I was met with some very confused faces.  My small request resulted in the head chef coming out to our table for two to try and figure out what the heck we were trying to order.  As I have already stated a few times now, Tommy and I draw a lot of stares walking around the ship, but when the Chef appeared at our table, we truly had every eye in the dining room fixed on us.  The Chef did not know what this dessert was either, but said he would take it to the head pastry chef.  Thank gosh I had suggested a backup plan of chocolate chip soufflés because as it turned out no one on the ship knew how to make Salisbury Noken, but they sure could make a delicious chocolate chip soufflé.

The beginning of our day consisted of watching a movie; the movie of today was Australia (pretty fitting if I might say so).  While I spent my day working out and reading outside, Tommy spent his entire day working on his puzzle that I had given up on.  I was very impressed by his patience, because this puzzle is close to impossible!  His friend Kevin, who is completely hopeless when it comes to puzzles, was back again attempting to help Tommy, but instead making it that much harder.  Tommy sure knows how to make some special friends!

9/14/11 - At Sea
An excellent day!  We woke up to the sun streaming through our window.  Yes!  The sun was finally back out from hiding, making it our first official pool day!  After our routine breakfast in bed, Tommy and I decided to postpone our workout to the afternoon so we could get some good pool time, while surrounded by the gorgeous emerald blue ocean water.  Hawaii was just beyond reach.  Groups of flying fish racing across the water entertained us throughout the day.

After a delicious dinner tonight we stopped by to check on the progress of Tommy’s puzzle.  Turns out this older woman who had been watching Tommy continuously work on it decided to try and help him finish some of the difficult areas, filling in some parts that Tommy met with total frustration.  To say the least Tommy was thrilled that she had helped him with these parts of the puzzle.  She was a very nice woman who suggested that we go stop by the show before going to sleep because it was incredible tonight.  So Tommy and I took her advice and stopped by the show to see a Japanese woman classical pianist who truly was incredible.  I do find it interesting though that from the entertainment, to the front desk, pool staff, and just about everyone who works on this ship, not one of them speaks English well…if at all!

Tomorrow is land ho! We arrive in Hilo, Hawaii tomorrow morning, and after four days at sea, we are ready to transfer our sea legs in for some land legs.