Honolulu, Oahu - January 31

submarine, partly submerged, leaving us

Overcast, 28 degrees


We are still in Honolulu today – we overnighted in port which is quite unusual.
This meant that people had the opportunity to stay out late in

over 100 feet depth

port, going out for dinner etc. We didn’t do that, it was a bit quiet onboard last night for dinner…nice.

Aloha!

 Our tour this morning wasn’t until 10, so we had a relaxing morning of room service and deck time.


Once we did get on with the tour it was on a submarine! The idea of this was super cool and it was cool. We got to a depth of 100 feet which apparently is something only 1% of the population can say they’ve reached. After a short shuttle ride to

turtle...can you see it??

the Hilton, we boarded a short boat ride to the dive site, where we boarded the submarine. The submarine held about 30 people, each of us having a port hole to ourselves to checkout the marine life passing by. We saw some human made reefs – a sunken plane, a ship some Japanese seaweed growing contraption (although not used to

plane, now a reef

grow seaweed here) and another thing I can’t quite remember. All of these reefs were intentionally sunk. The coolest thing we saw were huge turtles – they wedged themselves into the wrecks so that the current/tide wouldn’t move them. We saw a shark and a ton of fish. These submarines are battery powered pulled to and from the dive site in Honolulu harbor each day. We’ve seen these being pulled each morning.

We could have returned directly back to the ship but decided to walk down Waikiki beach. We walked through the sand and surf until we couldn’t really walk further and hit Cheeseburgers in Paradise for

ship, now a reef

lunch. While we were here a group of about 20 Asian tourists came in…they ordered cheeseburgers without cheese! This reminded us of talking to a tour guide in China who said when she brought Chinese groups to North America they would mostly eat in Chinese restaurants because of the lack of dairy…they don’t tolerate it well.

sort of shows the  size of the port hole

Then a long walk (5km) which we needed

bubbles on rising

back to the ship.


Another interesting thing about being docked in the Honolulu harbor was the fighter planes that flew over. We

could hear these before we saw them, usual in 3s or 4s.

surf and surfers

Honolulu is definitely the Hawaii that is our speed. We’ve been to Maui before and thought that was very, very sleepy. This is more like a big city in a tropical beach setting. I could see us coming back here for a week or so. Many of the hotels along Waikiki have a very Vegas vibe…big and sprawling.

Honolulu, Oahu - January 30

Hawaii state flag

Clear, 26 degrees

Sailing into Honolulu was glorious. We were on a tour this morning, so were up before 7. It was the perfect morning to have breakfast on our

memorials to ships

deck, about 21 degrees and a very slight breeze when I poked my head out.

“No bags allowed” read the sign at Pearl Harbor and Arizona Memorial. We knew this ahead, so were able to plan, but I never like not having my bag. This isn’t the first time I’ve cried about the lack of pockets in women’s clothing, and the pockets that do

USS Arizona Memorial

exist aren’t exactly roomy. So today I wore the clothes with the biggest pockets and all I brought was my phone, ship key card and sunglasses. I let Chris deal with the money for once :) We knew there would be lockers available to store bags etc. in but didn’t want to bother with that. Things can typically be left on the buses we travel on, but not today…high security – or so we are

USS Arizona

told. In the end we could have left bags on the bus, so I was choked that the ship told us otherwise.

Visiting Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial was something else. I have to admit to not knowing a whole lot about the Pearl Harbor attack, so this was a huge learning experience for me. Onboard our ship we have lectures each sea day about the areas we are visiting, things we will see, and the culture we will experience. These lectures

Navy launch

are recorded and play on a loop on our TV, so we watch them in our room rather than actually going to them.

The Pearl Harbor lectures gave me some background before we arrived. Most of the visit occurs outside or at least in open air exhibits. The highlight of the visit was a 20 minute film and visit to the Arizona

names

Memorial. The film was very well done. After the film we directly boarded a Navy launch for the short ride to the actual Memorial which straddles, but doesn’t touch the ship. There are still men entombed in The Arizona – wow.

Although the whole visit was very moving, especially the personal stories of people affected – civilians and military, adults and children, I expected a bit more. While there

was what they call park rangers on the Memorial, he only explained things when people asked questions. I would have liked to have heard a bit more from him.

King Kamehameha

By now it was about 11:30 and we wouldn’t be getting back until after 2, so we thought it best to have a couple of 6.00USD hot dogs!

One thing we saw that was just crazy was a suicide torpedo…there was a place for a guy to sit INSIDE of this bomb!

Our tour continued to the Punchbowl Crater where the Punchbowl National

Cemetery is. This was a slow drive through on the bus without getting off. I expected a lot more from this cemetery. Compared to other military cemeteries we’ve visited, this was a bit underwhelming. All of the graves we saw were ground plaques.

Next we drove through Honolulu, seeing some highlights - Aloha Stadium, the downtown district, Chinatown, City Hall, and Iolani Palace, the former residence of Hawaii’s last two monarchs and the only palace on American soil.

The pier our ship was docked at was within

always hiding from the sun

walking distance to many some shopping and places to eat/drink. We stopped for a drink and some calamari at a pub and then just couldn’t walk by Hooters without stopping. It was completely as expected until the guy sitting at the table behind us started berating the waitress, and

palace

then the manager. This guy claimed to be a Hooters aficionado and was in a rage about his burger and would not let it go. Finally, Chris and I both said something to the guy, and after more raging he stormed off. The last thing we are is confrontational, but wow…this guy was a piece of work. We chatted with the waitress and manager a bit after and they bought us 2 more beers. Super sweet, but we were finished, certainly didn’t need any more beer and were ready to leave but had to be polite! BTW…the beers here were 11.00USD!!!!

I’m pretty sure I had a pre-dinner nap…3 giant beers and telling off a lunatic made me sleepy :)

Cruising The Pacific Ocean en route to Honolulu, Hawaii - January 29

pool beer...finally

Partly cloudy, 21 degrees


Day 5 of 5, and we’re almost at Hawaii. I can tell we’re close because the weather has turned from warmish to full fledged warm. By

another pool beer

the time we arrive tomorrow morning it should be about 28 degrees. I’m revelling in these days of not-so-hot, as I know soon enough (I’m predicting Bali, on March 14 will be the start of my official melting.) I’ve never been to Bali before, but I’ve been to other parts of Indonesia and melted. When I was on the top of that HOHO bus in San Francisco, just a few days ago, trying to stave off hypothermia, I told myself to remember that feeling when I’m

self serve coffee and snacks

in a lather in the very near future.


With 4 days at sea behind us, nausea hadn’t hit either of us. I know that doesn’t mean we are immune to sea-sickness, but I think it does mean we can take a lot of motion to the ocean – maybe it’s the ginger we have in our juices in the morning. Speaking of juice…I chatted with the guy who makes ours. When we chatted a couple of weeks ago after a particularly rough day and night,

ukulele lesson

he mentioned how he had spent the whole previous day in his cabin barfing. I asked him if he takes anything for the nausea and he said, “then I’d never get used to it.” I guess that’s true…for him I hope so…the sea is his office! Speaking of taking something for the nausea…the ship gives out some kind of pill for seasickness. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this.

We were determined to get in some pool time this morning. Eventually the clouds rolled in and it got a bit cool, but we had enough good weather for a couple of beers.


Today the ocean isn’t as deep as yesterday or the day before…4000 metres or 13000 feet! Still deep.

warm enough for beer #2

The activity for this afternoon was ukulele lesson #2 – not as bad as #1, but I understand my limitations. Heather…you were too kind with you blog comment yesterday!

Cruising The Pacific Ocean en route to Honolulu, Hawaii - January 28

more BINGO

Clear and then partly cloudy, 21 degrees, humidity is rising


The theme of these 5 days to Hawaii is ‘Groundhog Day’. Groundhog Day was actually a trivia question a few days ago…”What Sonny and Cher song plays at the beginning of the movie?” I didn’t actually go to trivia…Chris and our 4 friends go, but trivia has always been smack dab in the middle of my nap time, so I’ve never gone – would love to (I like trivia), but like naps better.


The only thing that really changes is the evening show. Sadly, I continue to lose at BINGO. What is changing is the weather…today it was warm enough to sit by the pool for a bit. We could have easily sat in the sun but were comfortable in the shade.

cabin bathroom

I decided to go to a ukulele lesson rather than take a nap this afternoon. I really love the sound of ukulele music and tried to learn once before. It was fun, but I’m as hopeless as I was before.



After dinner we went to ‘the show’. It was Mark Preston, a guy who used to be in The Lettermen – I had never heard of them. Before my time, I know, but I’ve heard of things before my time. I know a bunch of their songs, just not the name of the group. This was his second show…it wasn’t as good as his first. He mostly sung slow songs and told shmoopy stories…at 9:30, after a big dinner with wine…we old people need something to keep us awake!


I thought today was as good a day as any to include some shots of our room. There’s great storage in the bathroom…in fact more than we need.

Cruising The Pacific Ocean en route to Honolulu, Hawaii - January 27

where we are as shown on our TV

Clear, 19 degrees


Well, I’m not entirely sure what to say about today other than it was very similar to yesterday and I suspect to tomorrow and the next day, until we reach Hawaii. Today is day 3 of the crossing to Hawaii. Today, as we make our way to

Block party

Hawaii slowly-slowly, the temperature rose to 19. I’m convinced that tomorrow will be warm enough to have some outside time. Today was warm enough to walk outside, but with the wind wasn’t warm enough to sit and have lunch or a drink.


I continue to be astounded at the depth of the ocean. Today we are at a depth of 5000 metres or 16500

can't have enough cheese

feet, 5 km or 3 miles…it’s just getting deeper and deeper!


Today our BINGO team grew to 6, and we had 2 winners. Neither Chris nor I, but at least our team won 2 of the 4 games. The games’ pots are all around $100 with the last game, the blackout game, being won at $150.

Cruising The Pacific Ocean en route to Honolulu, Hawaii - January 26

Clear, 16 degrees

Day 2 of the crossing to Hawaii and stir craziness hasn’t set in. The internet continues to be just fine, and we gained yet another hour last night. It was a good day!

The gained hour helped us be up ‘early’, the gym was busy, so we took our exercising to the to deck. It was cool and windy, but sunny and lovely. The ship continued to sway and tilt (not official sailor terms!) so the walking was interesting. Sometimes it felt as though we were walking up hill, then it felt as if we were walking down.

We were losers again today at BINGO, but again it was fun and meditative. Next was lunch, nap, blogging – see a pattern??

After dinner we hit the casino for a bit of 3-card poker…this was only my second visit to the casino and this time I actually won a bit – winning is so much better than losing!

The day ended with a bit of Name That Tune actually it was called Name That Song, presumably because of some kind of trademark. This was fun…the ship’s resident lounge pianist plays a bit of each song rather than recordings of the songs. In the end, everyone who won got ‘Regent Rewards’. These are points you collect for participating in ship’s activities. I got an extra point for because the pianist liked my dress! I guess that makes up for wearing that EXACT SAME DRESS to a wedding a month ago! It is a very nice dress, but who wants to show up in the same dress as someone else??

The day was so uneventful, that I didn’t take one photo!!

Cruising The Pacific Ocean en route to Honolulu, Hawaii - January 25

overcast, 15 degrees, 

I'm someplace in the middle of the 'north' Pacific - apparently that's what where I am is called - to me it seems like you could go a whole lot more north in the Pacific, but when the ship’s captain describes our position, he calls it the north Pacific…I will not argue.

Each day the captain gives a noon announcement. In his announcement he talks about sea conditions, sun rise and sun set, distance from the last port etc. He also describes the sea depth…I don’t usually pay much attention until he talks about 1000s of feet…today was over 4000 metres, 13000 feet, or 4 KILOMETRES!!! I don’t know much about sea depths, but I’ve been hearing about them for the last 3 weeks and 4000 metres comparatively speaking is DEEP!

The captain also told us about the swells we were experiencing – we were told they were 3-4 metres. Since Miami, we’ve experienced swells this large, but not for as long. We talked to a few people who said they didn’t have a great night and were a bit barfy. So far, so good for both of us. I don’t necessarily think this means we are in the clear and won’t ever experience sea sickness, but…

One day down and 4 to go, on our crossing to Hawaii. Many people we talk to expect to feel a bit stir crazy or dying to touch land once we get to Hawaii…The longest I’ve ever been at sea was 4.5 days and I handled that just fine. As I’ve written about before, I can fill my days with the gym, sleeping in, blogging, reading etc, etc. Now I can add BINGO to my day’s activities.


BINGO onboard a ship is as I expect it is on land…you buy cards (can use ship board credit), someone calls numbers and you hope to get more than everyone else…basically. I don’t think I’ve ever actually played BINGO for money. I’ve played at school and worked a BINGO or 100 for band back in high school, but never actually played. I didn’t actually win, but it was fun. Part of the fun was the quiet meditative aspect of it – not much talking and a whole lot of listening. I can see doing this again. Also, no dobbers were used here…the cards have tiny holes you punch out. As we were playing Kingo Bingo came up in the minimal conversation we were having…now thats a blast from the past! Of course as we were talking about Kingo Bingo, Stampede Wrestling came up too…ah…nostalgia!

After BINGO it was time for lunch, a nap, some blogging and the ship’s block party. Again, as with the beginning of the last leg of this journey, at a specified time, everyone on the ship spilled into the hall just outside their cabins with an empty wine glass to meet neighbors. Cabin stewards wander the halls with wine and canapés while the ship’s officers make their way down each hall until they have ‘fist-bumped’ everyone…That’s right…fist bumped. They staff here try to limit hand shaking for hygienic reasons and I’m just fine with that.

Cruise Mapper is a web site we use to see where we are and what other ships are around us. This is pretty interesting, more for who is around is and less for where we are. It also gives plenty of information about the ships. We are the Seven Seas Mariner.
https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9210139

San Francisco, California - January 24

Partly cloudy, 13 degrees, only a bit humid


For many guests we’ve sailed with for the last 18 days since Miami, today is disembarkation day – not for us…and for many others today is embarkation day – again not us!

Lombard Street - the top is the crookedest

Toque and gloves in hand, we were on our own for touring today and hopped on San Francisco’s Hop-On, Hop-Off bus. Although it warmed up to 13 degrees, when we set off it was only 6, so the toque was warranted. The upper deck is the place to be on HOHO buses, however…this is where the wind is amplified – and was it ever amplified today! 6 degrees + little sun + top-deck wind chill and

the Bay Bridge lit up 

we were frozen. I still can't believe how cold I was. I have no problem walking to work in -25 degrees but sitting in one position on that bus was something

on top of the HOHO

else! A glass of wine, a pizza and a hike up a few San Francisco hills still didn't do it...I took a super hot shower and that finally thawed me!


We were able to catch this bus right in the cruise ship terminal – super easy. Round trip is journey takes about 2.5 hours. The running commentary we hear through headphones is great – gives info we wouldn’t normally know, also why I love touring with a guide. The

financial district

financial district, Little Italy, China Town, over and back on the Golden Gate Bridge, Haight Ashbury were some of the highlights.


We decided to venture back to Little Italy

birthplace of the 1960s hippies

(actually called North Beach) for lunch. We found a cool spot on a busy street where the sun was finally shining, and the heat lamps where pumping. A shared pizza and a glass of wine later and we feeling back to normal.

A short, but hilly walk later and we were

Little Italy lunch

back on the ship. Today 4 friends of ours (2 couples) are joining us today on the cruise. We have been really looking forward to this. This is a ton of fun - we are very unused to having people we know on vacation with us.

random store front in Haight-Ashbury

While the ship ‘encourages’ those of us continuing from the last cruise to participate in the safety drill, we choose not to. The safety drill isn’t too terrible, but if I can miss it I will. I suspect we’ll have to redo eventually, but until then…I’ll pass.


As we sailed away from San Francisco, we retraced the steps we took getting here, this meant once again sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was dark and very foggy at 6PM when we set sail, but it was still very cool. Not good for pics, but cool as the ship’s horn is blowing.

what goes up...our ship in the distance

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that on our bus tour yesterday we the guide talked about and played some San Francisco songs. Of course I know Tony Bennett’s I Left My Heart in San Francisco, but didn’t know Otis

Joe DiMaggio married here - not to Marilyn

Redding’s Dock of the Bay and Journey’s Lights were about San Francisco. It was very cool to hear these songs as we travelled through the streets of San Francisco.

San Francisco, California - January 23

early morning Alcatraz

Partly cloudy to cloudy, 14 degrees


The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz welcomed us to San Francisco. We sailed under the bridge and past the island just before sunrise this morning. We will be in San Francisco for the next 2 days, one of a handful of overnights on this cruise. Usually we sail at

Golden Gate Bridge

night, but San Francisco happens to be the end of one leg of this cruise and the beginning of the next. We are extremely thankful not to be leaving and having to pack tonight. It is a wonderful feeling to just proceed as usual night for dinner and tomorrow for breakfast and a tour – not to a hotel or the airport.


Our first site seeing activity for the day took us to Sausalito – a small bayside town across from San Francisco via the Golden Gate

Golden Gate Bridge

Bridge. We arrived in Sausalito at

about 10am. We had a bit of breakfast and wandered around. There are quite a few charming shops and a handful of fish restaurants, most of which weren’t open – too bar really…it would have been a great spot to sit for lunch.



The highlight of the day was a visit to Alcatraz Island. A few years back Chris and I were in San Francisco and tried to visit Alcatraz then. We didn’t know any better to book ahead

Alcatraz cell

and it was sold out for the entire time we were there. This time it is low season and the cruise booked for us. Getting there involves a 12 minute ferry ride across San Francisco Bay. The visit is self-guided using an audio guide. This is very well done…there is no punching in numbers as many other audio guides operate. Basically you push go and unless you press stop, there

3 floors of cells

information and instructions for the next hour. The abandoned penitentiary is exactly as I expected it would be, just as it is portrayed in the movies. Notorious inmates

Golden Gate Bridge

included Al Capone, “Machine Gun” Kelly, and the Birdman of Alcatraz. I didn’t expect an uplifting experience, but my visit to Alcatraz was

Bay Bridge and our ship in the distance

depressing.

One thing I found particularly interesting, was that guards lived with their families lived on Alcatraz.

Before we headed back to the ship we wandered a bit around

Fisherman's Wharf sea lions

Fisherman’s Wharf and had a snack. I've added a video of the sea lions...not sure if it'll play...experimenting.