MONDAY, FEB 1ST--AT SEA

It's a sunny morning and very smooth sailing last night and this morning. That's a pleasant change! I will try to add some pictures today of our tour to an orchid farm on Fiji yesterday. It was a sunny day there but VERY hot so air conditioned bus felt good. There are 322 islands that comprise Fiji. Only 106 of them are inhabited. 40% of the people are Fijians, 40 % are from India, and the rest are from other countries. The Indians were brought to Fiji to work on the sugar cane plantations because they were cheap laborers, but they never left. The area we drove through on our tour was very poor and reminded me of an "upgraded" Haiti. The people are only paid 3 Fijian dollars an hour ($2.25 US dollars). They are a family oriented and happy people though. Last night we had dinner with Don & Caroline Babcock, who are in the suite next to ours. Interestingly, Caroline was in the very first American Airlines flight attendant class in the "stewardess college" just south of the DFW airport, now called the Learning Center. We enjoyed her flying stories especially the one on how she was fired. The neatest part of this cruise is meeting, talking, and getting to know our fellow passengers. We got to the show late but did not like it so left early. It was guy playing violin and his wife playing cello and they also sang. Ok, for today!! Rebecca is enjoying some coffee from room service as I do this post. I want to go up on deck and walk a mile or two next. At 10am we will go to enrichment lecture on Australian and New Zealand army. At 11am Andy Heath, the financial lecturer will talk on "Navigating the Retirement Savings Obstacle Course". Haven't decided about the afternoon yet. Hope you are having a nice Sunday. It's Monday already here!

BLOG DAY AND TIME NOW BOTH WRONG

I will have to ask someone how to make the day and time correct on my blog. Last post was Sunday and not Saturday as it says. As I said we lost a whole day when we crossed the International Date Line last night.

Port of Lautoka on Fiji

Sure enough we lost a whole day so today is Sunday for us. We were up early as had church service at 8:45. Our cruise director, Jamie, led the service. One of our fellow passengers played piano for our two hymns and Charlie Duke gave a personal testimony that was very inspiring. The financial lecturer and his wife sang, “How Great Thou Art”. We will miss the Dukes and Heaths as they are both leaving the ship here in Lautoka, Fiji. Lecturers and entertainers are leaving today and new ones are coming aboard. As I mentioned yesterday, we went to a dinner & cabaret show last night. I was not impressed with Marilyn Maye’s show. After that we went to the main show room for the Platters show. They were great once again and talked with them after the show. They are very nice folks. They are normally playing in Branson, MO, so if you have the chance I highly recommend going to their show. Ok, back to today! After church we went to gym and worked out. After this post we will go have a bite of lunch before leaving the ship for an excursion this afternoon. We are doing the 4 hour tour called, “South Sea Orchids & Fijian Artifacts”. Ship is sailing at 6pm for Vanuatu. Tomorrow will be another day at sea. We will set our clocks back another hour tonight. That means we will have to be online at 5am tomorrow for the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church service on the internet. It will be Monday for us and Sunday for most of you. Tonight we are having dinner with our next door neighbors, Don & Caroline, who are from Nashville, TN. Beautiful day here in Fiji. Sunny and will be in high 80’s.

TODAY FRIDAY--TOMORROW SUNDAY!!!!

We are still at sea today but will be arriving in Fiji tomorrow morning. Still have swells that is causing the ship to move about some. Temperature is same day and night because the temp of the ocean controls air temp so is 84F all the time. Last night’s show was very good. Roger Behr was a headline entertainer in Vegas and Atlantic City back in early ‘80s. He is still a good comedian and singer. He will be leaving the ship tomorrow in Fiji as will our friends now, Charlie & Dotty Duke (astronaut). New entertainers and lecturers will come aboard. This morning we went to lecture on “Life and Discoveries of Captain Cook”.
It was followed by question & answer hour with General Duke. I wish everyone could hear his story of his Apollo 16 trip to and walk on the moon. How time flies as that took place 40 years ago. We will really miss Charlie and Dotty but plan on visiting them later this fall in New Braunfels. Tonight we are going to a special dinner and cabaret show. Marliyn Maye, an Australian singer, will be performing for us. She has appeared on “The Tonight Show” some 80 times. Unfortunately, The Platters will also have a 9:30pm show in the showroom. We are hoping we will be able to see both. Ok, today is Friday! Tomorrow will be Sunday! No typo error, because we will be crossing the International Date Line. We will lose a whole day.
So now we will be a day ahead of you. This is still blowing my mind. Tomorrow morning (since it is Sunday for us) we will go to an interdenominational church service which will be lead tomorrow by General Duke before he leaves the ship.

WE SURVIVED

Yes, we survived the “great storm”! Today is much better but ship still moving about some. Sun is trying to break through clouds but looks like we could have showers again this afternoon. Shows last night were cancelled obviously. We thought about just ordering room service for dinner but decided to brave it had head down to dining room. Luckily we had both showered yesterday morning because there was no way we could have stayed upright in shower during afternoon or evening hours. So we headed down to Voyager Lounge as it is mid ship and on lower deck (same as dining room). This is best location during rough seas. Had a glass of wine before heading to dining room. I was shocked as it was almost full. These cruisers are veterans so have their sea legs I guess. We both had sautéed calf’s liver and onions for our entrée. It was excellent. After dinner we went back to the Voyager Lounge as two of the young ship’s singers had cabaret show at 9:30. We slept pretty well despite the rough seas last night. This morning I received an email from our Cape Town travel agent with attached e-tickets and documents for our safari. I went down to the computer room and printed copies of them. Going to lecture at 11:00 entitled, “The Glories of Imperial Persia-Iran before the Ayatollah”. We both need to go to gym after lunch as could not yesterday. Our suite stewardess just came in to clean and said she was very sea sick yesterday afternoon. We left our “privacy” sign out on door when we went to dinner last night as did not think she had any business trying to work. She cleans our suite every morning and evening. Show tonight is the Las Vegas entertainer who’s show was cancelled last night.

STORM UPDATE

It is now 4pm and still rocking and rolling like crazy. Our suite is probably about 60 feet above the water line. About 15 minutes ago a wave came up over our balcony. Ship’s engines are at max output but we can only make about 12 kts speed in these huge waves. For that reason the Captain just made an announcement that we will not make the port of Apia, Samoa, tomorrow so we are now proceeding directly to our next scheduled port of Fiji. So now we will be at sea until Sunday but I think we will arrive early due to missing Samoa. Hey, I forecast that we would not make it to Samoa. You cannot imagine how nasty the sea looks and how we are being bucked around out here. Still not sick though so that is good. Hopefully, weather will be better tomorrow. It is going to be an interesting dining experience tonight.

STORM AT SEA

Not an enjoyable day on the not-so-peaceful Pacific Ocean! Too scary to look out our balcony doors. Ship is being tossed around like a leaf in the wind this afternoon. No one is allowed out on decks. Wind is between 50 and 60 mph and waves 30 to 40 feet. It is almost impossible to walk. We were up in La Veranda buffet at noon and the food was flying off buffet. My chair almost tipped over backwards with me in it so had to hold on the table with one hand while eating. We have never been in seas this rough in all of our 63 other cruises. Captain made PA saying he did not think it would get any worse and would be improving as we proceeded westerly. Ship is at reduced speed by about 5 knots so will be late arriving in Samoa tomorrow. If weather does not improve quickly, I suspect we will bypass Samoa as would arrive too late for tours anyway. They have not said this but just my prognosis. There is no way they can serve dinner tonight in the dining room unless weather improves. I suspect there a lot of sick passengers anyway. We are ok so far as are “practicing safe cruising”. We both have acupuncture wrist bands on and I have a scopolamine patch behind both ears. Enough of the weather. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, last night we dined at Chief Engineer’s table in dining room. There were two other couples there and they were both from Houston, although they did not know each other. One gentleman was mid 80’s and the other was 90 years old. Both were fascinating as was Bjorn, our host. We talked so much that we did not have time for the dessert course before time to head to the show room. The Platters Show was great and everyone was having great time listening to the music of the 1960’s. They got a long standing ovation at end of show that was well deserved. Rest of today is up in the air. No workout as it would be impossible to stay on treadmill or stationary bike. This morning we were able to go to General Duke’s lecture about his walk on the moon. Tonight’s show is suppose to be by Roger Behr, a Las Vegas entertainer. No way he could stay on stage in this weather so hope it improves. The show room is in bow (front) of ship and the waves are slamming into the bulkhead and sounds like a GIANT sledge hammer is banging on it. Our suite is in very back of ship and we can hear that sound all the way back here. Going to be an interesting afternoon and evening. We are now 5 hours earlier than Dallas time. So it’s 1:30pm here and 6:30pm in Dallas. Time on bottom of each blog post is still wrong.

TUESDAY--SEA DAY

Sleeping on the ship is so nice. Our bed is very comfortable very soft sheets and wonderful feather pillows although Rebecca used foam pillows. Ship rocks you to sleep. I usually wake up several times during the night when home but not on ship. We did not wake up until 8am then just laid there until 9. Finally got up and ordered coffee from room service. Showers on and off outside today as we head towards Samoa. Fairly good ride today so far. Did not go to the 10am enrichment lecture but they are taping it so can watch it on tv later. Lecture is entitled, “Pacific Landmarks and Lifestyles”. There are three lecturers on this segment: financial, history of Pacific, and astronaut. They will leave in Sydney and different lecturers will come on for next segment. At 11:15 will go to a Tahitian cooking demonstration by the executive chef and his Tahitian wife. There are several activities scheduled every day but more on sea days. Morning activities are usually exercise classes and enrichment lectures. Here are some of the afternoon activities for today: dance lesson, duplicate bridge, mah-jongg, social bridge, blackjack tournament, health & fitness presentation, games, art seminar, tea time, bingo, yoga, and Catholic mass. The TV is interactive so has a lot of free movies you can select or in ship’s library there is hundreds of DVD’s you can check out. We are usually too busy to watch movies though. We go to the gym about every day to workout. There are 4 treadmills (1 out of order), 4 elliptical trainers, 4 stationary bikes (1 out of order), exercise machines, and free weights. Place is pretty busy on sea days so go around 4pm. There are also both men’s and women’s steam rooms and saunas. The spa and beauty salon is operated by Canyon Ranch. You can get several types of massages or have you hair, nails, or toes done for a fee. Pretty expensive but they run specials on port days. The name of the main dining room is Compass Rose and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For example dinner hours are from 6:30 to 9:00pm. Unlike other cruise ships there are no assigned dining times or tables. You go whenever you want and join others or have a table for two just like restaurants at home. The dining room is beautiful and set with china, silver, and stem glasses. There are 3 glasses: water, white wine, & red wine. I will try to remember to take photo of the place setting. The dinner menu changes every night and includes choice of: 3 or 4 appetizers, 3 soups (two hot and one cold), 2 salads, 2 pastas, 8 entrees, 3 desserts plus several kinds of ice creams. If you want something special, like our veal parmesan dinner, all you have to do is ask for it. Last night I did not care for the appetizers so they brought me a shrimp cocktail (huge shrimp).
If you want to dine less formally, you can go up to the La Veranda restaurant on top deck where we normally have our lunch. There is a salad buffet and you can order from a few entrees that also change daily. OR, if you are lazy, you can dine in your suite. Can order same food they are serving in dining room if during the hours it is open. There is a basic room service menu available 24 hours a day. There are also two specialty restaurants that you can make reservations for. One is called Signatures and is French menu and the other is called Prime 7 which is a steakhouse. We don’t care for Signatures but love Prime 7. We normally go to lounge for a cocktail before dinner. Drinks are included on Regent so all bars are free. There is bar at pool plus 3 lounges: Observation Lounge on top of ship with great view, Horizon Lounge on back of ship the has view out the aft of ship, and Voyager Lounge which is near dining room and more like a night club. OR again room service will bring drinks to your suite. Also during pre-dinner cocktail hours they serve hors doeuvers with drinks. Just what you need, MORE FOOD. At 9:30 every evening there is some form of entertainment in the show room. Regent flies the entertainers to different ports so they come and go and we enjoy a variety of entertainment. Tonight, for example, The Platters will do show. I will be downloading their picture later. Platters were big in 1960’s with Motown sound. We have seen their show on another cruise ship so know it is great!! Next week we will be going to a special dinner and cabaret show starring Marilyn Maye, Australian singing star. There is also a library and computer room. There are probably 20 computers with printers for use. They charge about 40 cents per minute when on internet or searching web. Since we had cruised on Regent 21 days prior to this cruise we get free, unlimited internet use. The whole ship has wireless internet so can get the signal any where on ship even our suite. I have been using about $100 per day but not charged for it. As full world cruise passengers we are also getting free laundry service however it is taking 4 or 5 days to get it back. Our stewardess just said Regent is adding more laundry personnel when we arrive in Sydney. There is also a laundry room on each passenger deck with two washers and dryers in them for free use. Rebecca did a load yesterday. They get very busy during sea days especially. If not enough, there is a little refrigerator in each suite stocked with sodas, beer, & bottled water (also free). Stewardesses restock it daily. Several months before the cruise we asked Regent to have bottles of Lipton Diet Citrus Green Tea to be in our suite for the entire 4 months. It’s here! Well, when I say about everything is free onboard, it’s really not as was included in price of the cruise. Ok, tonight is a “formal optional” dress code. This means men should wear tuxedos or suit with tie and women dress nicely also. There are only 8 formal optional nights on whole cruise. Other nights after 6pm in evenings men have to wear slacks with collared shirt. NO shorts or jeans! On this world cruise I would estimate the 1/3 of the men are wearing sports coats every night although not required. We have been invited to dine with the Chief Engineer tonight. Although Norwegian born he now resides in Frisco, Texas, which is northern suburb of Dallas. It’s always nice to dine with one of the ship’s officers. Well, hope that helps you know our daily “grind” here on ship.

                                                                             Alan & John

                                                                        Cynthia & Carolyn

                                                                            Jamie, Cruise Director

MONDAY IN BORA BORA

Messed up titles of the blogs as left out Moorea which was where we were all day yesterday and talked about it in earlier blog today. It is now noon and we are back from our glass bottomed boat excursion. Our guide was very good moved to Bora Bora from South Dakota in 1967. The boat captain dived in and fed the fish under our boat so we saw lots of fish, coral, and other underwater creatures. Tour was only 1 1/2 hours long so was back on ship for lunch. As I mentioned earlier, we were to take 4 hour Le Truck tour around Bora Bora at 12:45. Well, we talked to a couple that just finished that tour and they said it was torture. Just too hot and truck was not comfortable. Said we would not see anything different than we saw on Moorea. So we will not go. I will take tender ashore to take a few pictures and walk around some. Now 84F and no wind with 84% humidity. There are 115 islands and atolls that comprise French Polynesia. All were formed by volcanoes over a million years ago. They became a French protectorate in 1842. French is primary language and schools are run by the French government. Novelist James Michener described Bora Bora (where we are today) as "the most beautiful island in the world", and he used it as the model for his fictitious Bali Hai. Only about 9000 people live on Bora Bora and tourism is the only source of livelyhood. The view out our suite siding glass doors and balcony is awesome. I have taken a picture but don't think it will truly show the island's beauty. The airport here was built in 1942 during WWII as strategic fueling station for allied forces in the Pacific theatre. There are a few veterans of that war on this cruise with us. They proudly wear caps with their unit's name on it, just as I will when we get to Viet Nam later in the cruise. I have just added several photos that I took in Tahiti and Moorea. Will try to add Bora Bora pictures after we sail at 4pm for Apia, Somoa. Will have two more sea days and will arrive there on Thursday. Good, I can rest up from last three days of touring. You think this is easy, but it's not!! Will talk about ship life maybe tomorrow.

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BORA BORA TODAY

It is now 7am and the ship is entering the bay at Bora Bora. Finally we have a beautiful sunny morning and is 81F. Sorry I am getting behind on unloading photos on the blog but just too busy with tours when in the ports. Will have two sea days after leaving today so should get caught up. Anyway, yesterday in Moorea I took an "off road safari" tour in the morning. It was a 4 wheel drive vehicle seating 6 people in the back and we toured inland on roads that the normal tour buses could not go. Saw how the polynesians on the island lived and our driver told us all about the flowers and different fruit trees. Moorea was a VERY beautiful island and one I would definitely return to. They have pineapple plantations, avacados, pappaya, bread fruit, bananas, coffee, and several other edible fruits that I was not familiar with. This was a 4 hour tour so returned to the ship for lunch and then at 1:00pm Rebecca joined me this time and we went on a bus tour around the island. It was only about 50 miles to drive around the island but we went to some of the same places I had toured in the morning. It was cloudy in the morning but rained all afternoon. Wish we had this sunny weather yesterday. This morning we are going on glass-bottomed boat tour and this afternoon we are doing island tour by Le Truck so assume is will be like my morning tour yesterday. No dock so sitting just off shore and we have an incredible view this morning on our balcony of a hotel with rooms on stilts out in the water. Be back later. Need my coffee and will be time to go ashore.

OUR DAY IN TAHITI

It is just after 6am Sunday and we are making the 12 mile voyage over to Moorea now. Thought I would tell you about our day yesterday in Tahiti. I was kind of disappointed with the island. It will not be on my list of places I want to return to for sure. As all islands in the South Pacific, Tahiti was formed thousands of years ago from volcanic eruptions below the ocean. The terrain is fairly flat now from the sea shore for about a mile or two inland then mountains rise almost vertically up a couple thousand feet so the people almost all live along the coast. Lush vegetation covers the island with lots of very beautiful flowers and flowering shrubs & trees. This is about all I found worth seeing. The beaches are black lava sand and not very big. In the morning we made short walk into Papeete and found the “market place”. As you can see in the photos it was a colorful and interesting place with all kinds of hand made products, produce, and fresh fish. Along the way there were several jewelry stores and black pearls are the main item for sale on Tahiti. After lunch back onboard the ship we boarded a tour bus for a four hour excursion and visited the Museum of Tahiti (interesting place), an very old temple ground called Marae Arahuahu (very interesting), then on to the Paul Gauguin Museum (waste of time in my opinion as none of his original paintings are in it). We were back to the ship by 6pm. By the way it was overcast and rained most of the day. It had stopped by evening so the ship went ahead with the dinner under the stars (still overcast though). I went up and took pictures and it was a beautiful presentation with ice sculptures that were unbelievable. We enjoyed dinner in the dining room however. After dinner local performers put on an incredible show in the ship’s lovely showroom. Sounds and dancing of French Polynesia. I hope my pictures came out ok and will show you what our day was like. Ok, it is about 7am now so 11am in Dallas. We will be attempting to listen to our church service back in Dallas via the internet again as we did last Sunday morning. Will be back later today with what happened today in Moorea. As we listen to Elizabeth’s sermon now, we are about to anchor just off shore at Moorea. Now THIS is heaven on earth! So beautiful!!

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Papeete, Tahiti in French Polynesia

It is 9am and have just tied up at dock in Papeete, Tahiti. As we approached the island I was up on deck taking some pictures that I will add this evening. It is not at all as I expected to see. I thought I would be seeing palm trees and sandy beaches. Instead it looks just like Honolulu, a big port city. I guess our tour of the island this afternoon will be more of what we expected to see. We arrived here 4 hours early as apparently there are some passengers who need medical attention. Not us so far!! My knees are holding up fine so far. Our veal parmesan dinner was really good last night. We changed our minds and did go to the show featuring a guitarist. He injected a lot of humor in his performance. Certainly will go to the show tonight as will be a Tahitian dance group. This evening they are planning a big dinner up on the deck under the stars. I will go and take some pictures but will dine down in the Compass Rose dining room. Just to humid outside. Currently it is 84F with 92% humidity and looking like there will be showers later today. We have docked right down town so are getting off ship to do some shopping. Our tour does not depart until 1:45pm. The ship will sail at 5am tomorrow morning for the 12 mile trip to neighboring island of Moorea where we will be all day tomorrow. Will try to get back later today with more info about our day in Papeete.

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AT SEA AGAIN

Another beautiful morning at sea today. Sunny and 82F with good ride in ocean today. As I mentioned yesterday we were planning on dining in Prime 7 last night. What I did not know was who we would end up dining with! When we walked in Prime 7 Charlie Duke and his wife were standing there waiting to be seated also. I ask if they would mind sharing a table with us so we did. General Duke piloted Apollo 16 to the moon in April 1972 and is one of only 12 men to have walked on the moon. His wife’s name is Dorothy but he calls her Dotty. We had a WONDERFUL time chatting with them during dinner and shared our flying experiences. They are both down to earth people (no pun intended) and now live near San Antonio, Texas. Charlie’s son is a copilot at Delta Airlines now so they were talking about their pass riding experiences on Delta. Last night will certainly be a highlight of this cruise. After dinner we caught the tail end of Liar’s Club. It was quite a hoot. Ok, this morning we are going to two lectures: first is at 10am and is entitled “The Music and Dance of the Pacific”; second is at 11am and by General Duke entitled, “To the Moon on Apollo”. Then at noon there will be a meeting of passengers who are writing blogs. We’re called “bloggers”. Tonight I have arranged a special menu in the Compass Rose restaurant for us and the Bergs (Allen & Carolyn from Dallas). The chef will prepare veal parmesan, spaghetti, and garlic bread for the four of us. We love Italian food!! Show tonight is with classical guitarist. Well, tomorrow we will be in Papeete, Tahiti, our second port. Will not post any new pictures today.

NUKU HIVA IN MARQUESAS ISLANDS

Boy, was it hot on island. We arrived ashore a little after 9am. The show site was about a mile from the from where we got off the tender. There are no buses on this small island with only 2600 residents so we were transported by cars and SUV’s of the locals. The name of the port town is Taiohae. The island is part of French Polynesia. Besides their language they all speak English and French. They put on a traditional show with dancing, singing (more chanting than singing), with drums as accompaniment. You may notice in the photos that tattoos are quite common with women as well as men here. We did not partake of the feast, although the flies seemed to like it though. We were back aboard by noon enjoying the air conditioning again. I downloaded photos into blog and then we had some lunch. Last night we enjoyed dining in Prime 7, the steakhouse. We shared a shrimp cocktail and crab cake as appetizers. Rebecca had a filet, and I, a 12 oz NY strip. All meats in Prime 7 are USDA prime. Melts in your mouth!! Did not go to show which was the concert pianist. Somehow we got another reservation in Prime 7 for tonight at 8pm. This evening at 6pm we will go to an hour romantic musical comedy featuring two of the ship’s singers. Then at 9:30 Liar’s Club will entertain us. Cruisers know what this is. Some of the ship’s officers will tell a story and you have to decide if they are lying or telling the truth. Lots of fun! Ship sails at 4pm today for next port, Papeete, Tahiti. Tomorrow will be sea day again. Heading to the gym now.

"LAND HO"

After 6 days of only water we are circling around the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. Beautiful does not adequately describe the view from our balcony this morning. We will be anchoring off the coast (no dock here) and taking one of the ship’s tenders (life boats) ashore around 9am. It is 8am now and is 82F with lots of sun and very high humidity. We will be treated to a cultural show and lunch time feast by the local natives. Will be back later with another blog post about that experience. By the way, the time appearing on bottom of these blog posts is not correct.

SEA DAY 6

This morning at a hilarious special ceremony on the pool deck we came before King Neptune and his court. It was the equator crossing ceremony a time-honored seafarer’s tradition. A person is called a “Pollywog” if they have never crossed the equator by sea and is called a “Shellback” after crossing. I have flown across the equator hundreds of times but never by sea before last night. I will be adding pictures of the ceremony later. Earlier this morning I attended an enrichment lecture entitled, “Between Polar Extremes: A Scramble for Artic Resources”. When we looked at last night’s dinner menu neither of us was very impressed but it turned out to be one of the best so far. Rebecca had beef tenderloin south Pacific style and I had a trilogy of veal. The show last night was with “The Unexpected Boys” again with a tribute to Broadway music. I preferred their Frankie Valli show last week. Another rough night at sea and ship is still moving today. Kind of noisy with creaky walls when ship is moving. At 12:30pm there was a meeting of CruiseCritic members that was very interesting. Guess there were approx 14 of us. We had read each other’s posts on the internet but had never met. We don’t even know the names as we make up a name to be used on CruiseCritic.com. For example, my name online is “sevenseassailor”. For every lunch there are basically 4 options: room service, pool side, La Veranda, or Compass Rose. Today at pool grill they were grilling burgers, chicken, salmon all for sandwiches. We both enjoyed a hamburger. We will go to gym later on after food digests some. I was in gym yesterday evening and was talking with General Duke (astronaut) and his wife when they announced on FOX NEWS that Scott Brown had won MA senate seat. Later that night at bar and dining room we heard quite a few people celebrating it. We are going to try to get in Prime 7 (steakhouse) tonight even though we do not have reservations. Show tonight is the concert pianist so have no interest in it. Well, tomorrow we will have completed the 3000 mile trip from San Diego to our first port, Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. Good luck if you try to find it on an atlas. Will be there from 8am to 4pm. Presently it is about 2:30pm and is sunny and 81F. Our position is 4 degrees 19 minutes S latitude and 137 degrees 32 minutes W longitude.

SEA DAY 5

Early this morning it was cloudy with a few light showers but now is mostly sunny and 80F. At 1:30pm (now 5pm in Dallas) our position is 2 ½ degrees N and 134 degrees W. Captain said we will cross over equator a little after 10pm tonight. Ocean water temperature is same as air temp. Moved our clocks back 30 minutes again last night. Ship is rocking some again today. This morning Rebecca worked out in gym and I went to a financial lecture entitled, “Don’t Let Your IRA Become an IOU to the IRS”. Basically he was saying 2010 is good year to transfer IRA into Routh IRA. Grill out on pool deck was featuring pastas and pizza. In an hour they are having a “Country Fair” out on pool deck with game booths from all ship’s departments. Will take pictures and put on blog later. Yesterday evening’s “block party” was lots of fun when they rang bell up on bridge and everyone came out of their suites and met their neighbors. We had never seen that done on a cruise ship but is excellent idea and lots of fun. Last night we dined up in La Veranda restaurant which is less formal. We were joined by Larry & Karen from Chicago and really enjoyed the conversation. Then off to the production show featuring ship’s talented singers and dancers. Name of show was “Dance to the Music” and featured songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Later this afternoon I will go to gym after skipping yesterday’s workout. As for this evening, there is another concert piano recital at 6:15 which we will skip again. After dinner in Compass Rose we are looking forward to another show by “The Unexpected Boys”. This morning I stopped by the Concierge Desk and said, “Is this the place for complaints?” She said, “Yes, are you having a problem?” I said, “Yes, I would like to complain that I do not have anything to complain about.” Got a chuckle out of her.

SEA DAY 4

Internet is very iffy today due to satellite coverage out here. Not sure if I can make this post today so putting this on Word and will cut and paste it to blog. That way I will not lose it if it does not post. Anyway, cloudy and 80F this afternoon and ship is moving about again. Position at 2:30pm is 8 degrees 30 minutes N Latitude and 130 degrees 52 minutes W Longitude for all those who can plot position on a map. Had a great dinner for two last night in Compass Rose dining room. Showed up at 7:30p and had to wait 30 minutes to be seated. No problem as there as a bar near by. Rebecca had fish and I enjoyed turkey with all the trimmings. Did not go to the show but retired early. This morning I went to two enrichment lectures: First was on “Iran and the Legacy of Ayatollah Khomeini” and second was given by Retired General Charlie Duke, ex astronaut, on “The early space program, Sputnik to Apollo”. I will be posting a picture that Rebecca took of me and Gen Duke after the lecture. As you might expect I really enjoyed his presentation. Then at noon I went to a meeting of fellow Masonic brethren. Poolside lunch today was a barbeque. Again we sat with Allen and Carolyn from Dallas. I am taking a day off from exercising to rest my knees. They are doing ok so far. Rebecca went to gym this morning and is there again as I write this. She is determined not to gain any weight. Tonight they are having a “block party” from 5:45 to 6:30pm. I have never heard of this. It is where everyone comes out in hallway in front of your suite and you meet your neighbors around you. Stewardess’s will serve wine and Captain and Cruise Director will run through hallways saying hi to everyone. Sounds like fun. Then we will have dinner tonight with a couple from Chicago that I met online on CruiseCritic.com. Larry is retired Air Force and Boeing. Show tonight will be production show called “Listen to the Music” with ship’s singers and dancers. Won’t miss that! Well, our Cowboys embarrassed us yesterday. Good thing we could not watch the game. I am wearing my Cowboys T-shirt today anyway.

SEA DAY 3

Up at 8am this morning (now 3 hour time difference from Dallas) so went to my laptop and tuned in WRR radio in Dallas to listen to Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church (our church home) service. We enjoyed Blair's, our pastor, message as always. So here we are half way from San Diego to Tahiti in the middle of the south Pacific ocean and can still be with our church family back in Dallas. Blair must have an "in" with the Lord as after his service I switched to NFL.com to listen to the Cowboys game and satellite reception was not able to get it. Just as well as game just ended and looked like Vikings mopped the stadium with them. There's always next year!
Last night Allen & Carolyn, the other Dallas couple onboard, joined us for dinner in Signatures restaurant (French restaurant). We all agree that French food is not for us so will not do it again. After dinner we all went to the show. I was wrong in yesterday's post as the four singers were professional entertainers calling themselves, The Unexpected Boys. They sang all the old "Frankie Valli and Four Seasons" tunes. They were not as good as cast of Jersey Boys show we went to in Las Vegas but still VERY good. They will do another show later in the cruise so can't wait. Well weather at noon here is partly sunny and 76F. Fairly smooth ride today. Tonight's entertainer is concert pianoist so probably will not go to show. This afternoon the ship will be getting transmission of the Chargers/Jets game so guess we will watch it. We will also go to gym after lunch. Speaking of lunch, it's about time to eat, AGAIN.

SEA DAY 2

Show last night's was excellent and featured ship's singers and dancers plus a couple who are international ballroom dancing champions. Most men were wearing tuxes as was formal night. I was in gym by 8am and went to lectures at 10 & 11. First was on "world affairs as related to Pacific region" and second was on "History of South Pacific". Mexican food buffet by pool for our lunch. Tonight we have dinner reservations in the French speciality restaurant. We are looking forward to tonight's show as 4 of the ship's male singers will be doing Frankie Valli and Four Seasons music. Captain is opening the bridge from 1 to 3pm today for visits. Was hoping to be able to watch NFL playoffs today but so far no luck.

Sea Day 1

Ship rocked and rolled all last night and today. Haven't noticed anyone being seasick as these are experienced cruisers. Dinner last night in Prime 7, the speciality steak restaurant, was good but still think Chops on RCL is better. Called reception desk again last night to ask them turn down music in Horizon Lounge just below us. They did! We both slept well despite ship's moving around. After room service small breakfast we both headed to gym. Then after showering we headed to program by cruise director talking about what to expect on the WC. After a nice lunch in dining room we took a dance lesson-rumba. Looks like I need lots of practice! It's now 3pm and will go back to gym around 4pm for a little more exercise. Tonight is cocktail party hosted by the Captain. We hear that he gives an interesting speech so will probably go. Tonight is formal attire so will be in my tux imitating James Bond. Ship's singers and dancers will be tonight's entertainment at 9:30 show. Captain is doing something different and have never heard of it being done this way but clock will move ahead 30 minutes tonight. He does the 30 minute clock moves instead of normal one hour moves. We will be transiting several time zones as we head southwesternly. Hope every one has a wonderful Friday night, WE WILL.

Gala Dinner & Show

Regent sent a limo to the Hilton yesterday at 12:30 to bring us to the ship. Went through security check then right on the ship where we were greeted with champaign and then checked in. After getting suite keys we went to the Compass Rose restaurant (dining room) for lunch. We were allowed in our suites at 2pm and some of our luggage was already there. The rest showed up within an hour except for one bag. Of course it was the one with my tuxes, but more inmportantly, my underwear! I called reception desk and they began as search to try and find it. At 6pm they found it. I had put 761 on tag instead of 671. My mistake! Just happy to see it. We got dressed and left suite at 6:30 for the Gala Dinner in the Compass Rose. I took picture of the menu. We both had to tenderloin which was absolutely delicious. Washed it down with some chardonay and cabernet. Then on to the show room for Jay Leno and the Beach Boys. Leno started at 9pm and did a 45 minute dialogue that was soooooooo funny. I have to admit I am not a fan of his but his show was excellent. Laughing so hard we had tears. Right after he finished the Beach Boys began singing and did an hour show. Great music! Did all their old hits and there are alot of them. People were up dancing in front of the stage including yours truly! The place was going wild. Needless to say the entire evening was a special one and great way to kick off our world cruise. Unfortunately, right below our suite is the Horizon Lounge and they had band playing until about 1am. I called 3 times about it last night and talked with cruise director this morning. He assured me that would not happen again. Our suite is in very back of ship and we feel a vibration from enginges or something. I was expecting it as people on CruiseCritic.com had talked about it. As it is now, it should not bother us. Will get use to it. We have run into several crewmembers that were on the Regent Mariner (our Alaska cruise this summer) so is nice seeing old friends. Paolo is maitre d here and remembers us so have an "in" if we need reservations at steakhouse or French restaurant onboard. In fact, at breakfast he made Prime 7, the steakhouse, reservations for tonight. Ship departure has been delayed 2 hours due to loading more food. Speaking of food, time for lunch!

FINALLY!!!! We are now in San Diego. Our limo showed up 25 minutes early this morning, but of course, Rebecca was not ready yet. (See Pictures) Marjorie, Bobbie, & Jim, our neighbors, braved the cold morning to take some pictures and see us off. We left house a few minutes before 8am so was at DFW by 8:30. No lines at either AA check-in counter or security check. Flight left on time and arrived in San Diego 20 minutes early. We were very happy to see that our 4 checked bags also arrived with us. Since we flew first class our bags were first off the airplane and first to arrive in baggage claim. Grabbed a taxi to go to our over night hotel, the Hilton Bay Front. Our 4 checked and 2 carry on bags barely fit in the taxi. Hilton upgraded our room since I am a "diamond" member of Hilton and we have a lovely corner room with view of bay and ocean. People in elevator made comment that we had a lot of luggage and I said, "Ya, and this is only half of it". TSA had opened and inspected one of Rebecca's checked bags and it was a mess. She was NOT a happy camper. We are both very tired as I woke up at 12:30am and Rebecca at 3am. We were just too excited to sleep. Now we have 4 months to catch up on rest. Going out for some good seafood tonight.

270 lbs of luggage heading to San Diego

Excitement level is getting high now as only a week from tomorrow (Jan 12th) we fly to San Diego. This morning LuggageFree picked up 270 lbs of our "stuff" (see photos) and is shipping it to San Diego. Next time we see it, hopefully, it will be in our suite on the ship. This service was included in cost of the cruise. Since we have first class tickets to SAN we can each check two more 50 lb bags at no charge. I figure the rest of our "stuff" should weigh less than 200 lbs. Question is: Where are we going to put it in our suite??