At Sea - Feb 29, 2020

Happy Sadie Hawkins Day to all. Once every four years we get a leap year and today is that day, enjoy the extra day - so we did lose a day a few days ago only to have this day back, so all is good. We had another very nice sea day as we head due south on our way to Auckland, New Zealand. We did most of the usual activities with the exception of dinner as it was another Gala night, Bowler and Bumbershoots - very fun as they gave pretty nice Bowler Hats to all the guests. The evening was capped off with a, back by popular demand, second show from Annie Frances. She was supposed the share the stage with a half show with another guest entertainer but the guests really wanted Annie to be able to perform a full show and I guess wth that pressure and the news of yesterday, the entertainment department thought perhaps this was a good idea. We, along with many others were very happy this came to be. Annie puts on a first class excellent show and really gives it her all, such an amazing voice from this little package. Wonderful Annie (if you are reading this), thank you.

Our news of yesterday… the Covid-19 virus (aka Corona Virus) is catching up to us as begin heading in the direction of the effected counties or I guess I should say we are catching up to it, considering our direction. As a direct result of this, we will not be visiting any Indonesian ports or our port of call to Singapore. Male is not accepting any cruise ships at this time, so this call is out as well. Finally, Mombasa, Kenya is also now out as a result of some recent violence there. A whopping eight port days in total are out, wow. HAL does error to caution as health and safety of all its passengers and crew are paramount. For those who where going to visit these areas for the first time, this virus situation is very, very unfortunate. We have been fortunate in that we have visited most these ports but still upset that we will be missing some great and fantastic ports. Our change in itinerary will now include a second port in Sri Lanka as well as two night stay in Mumbai and one additional night in Tanzania and one additional port in the Seychelles. Of course this is still a fluid situation, still a very much wait and see to see how this situation evolves. Meaning that these changes have been presented to us but could easily move to a Plan “C” change - of course we will keep you posted. We have a healthy ship and are avoiding any contaminated areas, so doing the best we can given this current environment. 

A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…

Quote of the day - “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool.” - Richard Feynman

At Sea - Feb 27, 2020

Slightly out of order from two problems, first is with the blogspot site and a close second with the onboard wifi. Perhaps resolved now or lets just say maybe for just now...  

See, no Feb 26th entry, we are now in your future, I am writing this at 11:00 pm on Feb 27th, it is 2 am for everyone on the west coast (PST), crazy. I will tell you that you will have a great day, lol, here it was warm and sunny and the ocean was like glass all day. I hope you have the same wherever you are. So yes, we have crossed the International Date Line. Tonga changed this not too long ago and for two reasons. First, they wanted to be place in the world that would be first at greeting the day - time starts here. Second, New Zealand is their biggest trading partner and it was becoming confusing with the huge time change, so to simplify it they changed the line to accommodate. 

We are looking forward to our day at Nuku’alofa , Tonga, no major plans, we will see what the day brings us. This will be our second time here, so no panic, we will see what the locals are offering as tours or simply visit the main market, the palace and a local restaurant for some drinks and wifi. Only a few pics of our entertainment tonight, The Alley Cats, with guest Joseph hamming it up - all good, hope you enjoy…

Quote of the day - “I don’t pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga - Feb 28, 2020

Unique to the South Pacific, Tonga is the only country in the region that was never colonized. The Kingdom of Tonga consists of 176 islands with a history dating back over 3,000 years - the monarchy has been in place for over 1,000 years. Captain James Cook arrived here in 1776 and gave Tonga the nickname “the Friendly Islands”. The actual translation of Nuku’alofa is “Abode of Love”. The people here are genuinely happy as they greet you with a hello and a smile.

This is our second visit here over a 10 year period, so a few changes but more or less the same as far as structures are concerned. The first time we visited we took a HAL tour to FaFa island, which was just spectacular but did take most of our day. So with that we took a late, relaxed start and headed into the town which was only a few steps away. Today was hot, hot, hot and humid, step outside and start dripping kind of day. We did visit the main market and a few sites but by about 11:30 it was time for a beer break at the beautiful, small, boutique hotel and restaurant, Sea Breeze Inn. Not great wifi but good cold beer at not a bad price. From here we attempted the beaches close by but for this particular beach you really need to have water shoes as it was rocky with lots of coral. With the heat sinking in once again it was time for some quick local retail therapy before heading back to the ship for a 2 pm lunch and a dip in the pool. If you are visiting here there are plenty of taxis just outside the terminal that could give you a good 2 to 4 hour tour. There are plenty of beaches outside the city with great opportunities for swimming and snorkeling as well as the famous blowholes at Hufangalupe Beach, some of the most dramatic in the South Pacific. Negotiate a price that you are good with but make sure that this does include all the sites that you would like to see. The local bus here is not recommended for a cruise stop as they are not on a fixed schedule, island time really exists here.

Tonight we had guest entertainer and singer Annie Frances at our table, so a wonderful night of chatting, catching up a bit more and a great meal of course. Annie will be performing again one more time tomorrow, we look forward to her as always, very entertaining show. A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…

 Quote of the day - “There is but one coward on earth, and he is the coward that dare not to know.” - W.E.B. Du Bois

BTW - We have received a letter tonight from the Captain regarding a major itinerary change as a result of the Covid-19 virus. More on that later…