Saturday 14/2/2015 Apia, on the island of Upolu, Samoa, South Pacific – crossed the International Date line and missed a day!

At 2 a.m. the clocks went forward 24 hours +1 which is fine – nobody really knows what day it is anyway! So not to break my daily habit might I ask “What day is it again?” J What it actually means is that it will still be the middle of the night in the UK for another few weeks when we are awake, only now we are ahead not behind.  Funny I had never even contemplated an International Date Line until this cruise.  Come to think about it, I had never really thought about the two sides of Samoan islands being separated by it either. So much to learn still.

Anyway, the day started beautifully with my d.h. giving me the red rose he’d painted in our last art class. And it really is beautiful.  I will make sure he borrows it back again for the second sector art exhibition, and if someone wants to buy his original I’ll be more than happy with a print J. And a rose courtesy of P&O was on my pillow later this morning too.

We woke up later than we expected (all that clock-wizardry I guess) had a very quick breakfast and then went off on our island tour along the coastal villages and tropical gardens. We were “wait-listed” so had to hang around in the sun (a little bit grumpy L ) until everyone else arrived, but luckily there were 2 spaces and we got on and soon felt good again.  No rough buses today for the tourists – cool air blowing delightfully at our fickle UK skin.   Several stops along the way – Plum Pudding Rock, waterfalls, village life, sad tales of the 2009 Tsunami and 2013 floods, and then a cultural show, more shinning of coconut trees (this time with an ankle band for support), demonstration and sampling of cooked bread-fruit in coconut cream in the tropical gardens. This was followed by a lot of eating and healthy drinking (fresh coconut water, fresh oranges and freshly squeezed orange juice, papaya, lychees, mountain apple, little bananas). More unforgettable moments today.

There was a lot of focus from our excellent tour guide, Mira on community and family structure (a patriarchy) how communities work together, the culture of service,  large nuclear families and the importance of extended family get togethers.  How that notably manifested itself as far as we could see was that we saw no people living dangerously poor lives on the streets (and this was notable because we have seen so much of this in many other ports, even in San Francisco.) We did hear about the Samoan open houses, looking very like bandstands with no windows or doors, just pillars holding up a roof.  Inside was all the evidence of a real home, e.g. beds, seats and of course a telly.  Clearly no fear of predators or burglars here.  In fact our guide said there’s no dangerous wild life of this island, and only snakes on one of the others but nothing deadly.

Religion is huge, and dates back to the times when the islands were invaded and missionaries came (six Christian denominations were mentioned, not the other big world religions and we saw loads of Christian churches in each village). 

Now we are cooled off, been in the pool and spa and are ready for our evening meal. So will sign off for now. Enjoy Valentine’s Day if it's your thing. xx

Thursday 12/2/2015 Pago Pago – South Pacific

It’s been a really enjoyable day today in Pago Pago, American Samoa.  With clocks going back another hour in the night we were ready for breakfast at 6:30, ready for a spot of exercise straight after breakfast, and yoga practice in the studio as soon as it opened at 8.  We are now 11 hours behind UK time.  Tomorrow is going to be a very unique experience – we cross the international date line and lose 13^th February, coming out the other side 13 hours ahead of UK time! By the time we get home we will have gradually returned to normal, I imagine it will feel very much the same as now, no dramatic jet lag, just a very sleepy ship lag, an hour every few days giving us plenty of adjustment time.

Our trip “Village Life” started at 9.45. First we experienced the rickety old bus with open sides for A/C ;), just as promised, lovely drive along the coastline with a few photo stops, and myths like the one about about a couple and their baby escaping cannibalism and being turned to stone,  then heavy hot rain fell, next a very warm welcome in the village hosting us, cooking demonstration over a fire, the cultural show, weaving, sewing, basket making,  the eating of the local food just prepared for us (spinach and coconut cream, chicken, bread fruit (very interesting texture), baked banana and then papaya/melon dessert).  A young man showed us the Samoan Party Piece – shinning up a coconut palm and picking a coconut, climbing down again very fast.  In a few minutes we were drinking fresh coconut water. Finally came the children, dancing traditional Samoan styles, then the village princess, the choreographer who danced and encouraged very amusing audience participation.  Temperature reached 33C today, thank fully we were under the trees for the demo and show, and since we haven’t pushed ourselves. 

Once back on the ship it proved necessary to bob around in the pool and hot tub, finishing off in the sauna.  Now we are resting just before dinner. We have just left Pago Pago for an overnight sail to the next island and the port Apia.  We have booked a tour, and also believe it is a better developed island so we may be able to post pictures.  If not tomorrow then the next stop after Samoa day 2 will be Fiji. Bye for now. x

Wednesday 11/2/2015 Day 37 Lobsters on board!

Oh dear, some passengers have overdone it on the decks and in the pools. In spite of warnings about the deceptive feeling of coolness the breeze can give, there are some frazzled bodies moving gingerly and looking lobster-like today.  I hope they all feel comfortable again soon and can enjoy the next couple of port days.  I have not suited sunbathing for many years so I have escaped a good baking, and am still on SPF 30 when we go walking, taking coffee or hot-tubbing.  Even so there’s a healthy change of skin tone coming.  This area on the ship has now been renamed "Lobby Bay" by our dining mate Jim

Certificates of Equator Crossing were on our beds last night, and the fun and games when Neptune boarded yesterday got everyone together in a good way.  By midday today we had travelled 14,025 miles.  Today’s air temp is 30C and surprisingly the water temperature is 31C.  You might not be surprised to hear that this makes the energetic activities less likely to come about ;) Five laps early, no dancing, but we are just getting ready for art, which is in an air conditioned ballroom.  We will wait until sunset to finish the walking today.

The excitement to be getting to Samoa tomorrow is building again.  Our first Samoan port is Pago Pago, Tutuila and the second island is the following day Apia on Upolu.  Trips booked on each island to get us a bit closer to family life on the islands. Very good feeling about these although the days will be hot ones, no air conditioning, wooden seats in the buses, bumpy rides on bumpy roads – sounds real and fab and we can’t wait.

Instead of dancing Khachik went to a lecture today in the Palladium, given by the Captain about how the ship works.  He learned that the ship is driven by 2 propeller pods which can rotate through 360 degrees, no rudders required. Sideways movement is through a large diameter turbine which sucks sea water from one side, and pushes it out of the other.  Very interesting. However I didn’t go to this one, but sat out of dance taking a few notes about the Ballroom Tango (for when it cools down later!)

Next two days are port days, but probably no wi-fi, let’s see. There are clearly too many passengers to fit in the one MacDonalds!!!!  If there is we will share our recent photos. If not we will do this in Suva, Fiji in a couple more days.  Back tomorrow.  xx

Tuesday 10/2/2015 Day 36 A visit by the great sea god Neptune ;)

Well, today we cross the Equator on our way down under on sea day 4 from Hawaii.  That Neptune gets around a bit – he came onto our Hurtigruten ship when we crossed the Arctic Circle in 2011, to be part of an ice baptism ritual and he was there again at the Equator when we cruised on the Costa Pacifica to Rio last year, and rather sportingly became part of a slapstick event involving flour and blue dye. And today we will be partying with the great sea god at 2 p.m. He must be a laugh a minute to spend time with in the sea!

My word it’s hot out there this morning. We had our morning coffee out on the deck and almost melted.  Glad to come inside for a Rumba lesson, lunch and then art (a beautiful quite calm seascape, with frothy waves breaking on the shore). 

I had an extra art lesson at breakfast, as Easa joined us – all about the eyes. I am so happy. Today I learned about highlighting eyelids to create the impression of roundness and softness.  I have had a go at this in pencil for now, and will ask Khachik to sit for me later.

There’s one more sea day after today before we reach Samoa and set about learning some more about Polynesian Village life, and a trip to parts of the islands which are believed to be the inspiration behind one of the most famous characters from South Pacific the old much loved movie from my childhood, Bloody Mary.  Remember “HappyTalk”, and “Balihai” (spelling?).  I can too.

Anyway for now bye. Much love to you all. x

Monday 9/2/2015 Day 35 - We are both well.

We are fine! This is just to reassure you, if you are worried, that although the national press seem to have published reports about the whole ship Arcadia being sick, the great majority of us have only had mild URTI’s, coughs and colds, or nothing at all.  Khachik had one that lasted a week on the first sector. I have only had really mild symptoms.  Sadly a few people became very ill on the first leg and as I mentioned before some very frail people cruise and for these the URTI has meant that after they were in the medical centre here, they were too ill to stay on board and have had to leave the ship, some have gone to hospital and one has died.

"January 31, 2015 - P&O Arcadia - Beryl Robinson, 84, from the United Kingdom, became ill on a 24-night cruise from Southampton, UK to San Francisco, California to celebrate her 62nd wedding anniversary. The family was medically disembarked by the cruise line while in Mexico. Then, while traveling home, Mrs. Robinson passed away."

This is very sad. I know it happens at home and off the ship, and it is always the very old and very young who suffer most in the winter but imagine building yourself up to this huge adventure and it coming to this kind of  end. I feel very sorry for everyone affected, and especially the family of the person who died in Mexico.

The sea is so smooth now, I love the way it changes in an instant, how the colours vary and melt into each other, how shadows and reflections manifest themselves in the water. Loving the sunrises and sunsets, clear night skies and star gazing opportunities.

Pictures from around the ship will be the next uploads as I realise we haven’t let you have inside pictures of restaurants, leisure activities and our infamous dance and art sessions.  So prepare for this, if we can get wi-fi in Samoa in 3 days time (2 more sea days ahead).

We have been advised to have “realistic expectations” about development in Samoa.

Our on board activities today have included hearty eating at every opportunity, 9 walking laps (3 miles) so far, maybe 3 more laps after dinner, a revision of 5 dances: foxtrot, jive, waltz, cha cha cha and quickstep, and then a longer art class, where we were given a black and white portrait and asked by Easa to paint it with skin tones and colour.  Khachik has painted a young Elizabeth Taylor. I need to learn how to paint realistic eyes.

 Finished off the activities in the hot tub stretching in every direction.

It’s nearly dinner time so I will finish there and get back tomorrow. Bye for now x

Sunday 8/2/2015 Day 34 Pacific Bliss and Captain’s Coffee Morning for the World Cruisers!

I haven’t mentioned the cruise speakers recently, so this second of 5 sea days might be a good opportunity.  Nick Owen came on for about a week and spoke about his years presenting a.m. telly with Ann Diamond.  He also did an interview on the P and O chat show. We both enjoyed listening and found him more interesting than we had imagined, very open about the warts an’ all, and quite humble.

“Marlene” from Only Fools and Green Green Grass, spoke twice too once with her bio and a lot of clips from the various series she has performed in, and once just about Only Fools. We didn’t realise how much she’d achieved in her career, apart from Marlene.  There are other speakers we haven’t listened to because the promotional info sounded a bit tedious – e.g. one of the Queen’s former butlers talking about Royal food and life, someone else was more than “mentioning the war” actually detailing it every day for a week,  and Ken Joy was talking about entertainment in the last century.

As for passenger participation there’s a talent contest in the making, also a Strictly-style competition, and a brand new passenger choir. None of the above for us, for now at least ;)

You want to hear about yesterday’s art? Erm, so much laughter ++ it hurt. The monkey picture this sector is going to be like last sector’s koala bear for micky taking.  Strange faces and hair, sad looks, arrogant looks, interpretations quite unique and absolutely hilarious!!!!! Easa our art teacher said he’d go to his GP at the end of the cruise for a referral for counselling – he was only joking, at least I think he was. Next up a Pelican.

And dancing the Quickstep?  Not as bad as first time.  It’s all about the repetition. Maybe by sector 5 we’ll be able to do it without support, or maybe not.  We’ll enjoy watching P and O Strictly in any case on 18^th of this month.

Now for the Captain’s Coffee morning…. The 500+ world cruisers got another chance to meet the Captain and senior officers over coffee and cookies.  We were also on something like a “blind date” – there’s a story if you would bear with us.  Last December we were on the Costa Pacifica to Rio and two of our then dinner mates, Pam and Domenic, also became good cruise mates. When we mentioned we were going on a world cruise next Pam said so were her sister and partner. We knew their names but nothing else, so we wrote them a letter, passed it to reception and waited for a reply. This morning there was a voicemail from them on our cabin phone – describing their clothes and distinguishing marks!  Success. I found the couple no problem at the coffee morning and made contact.  Still finding there are hundreds of faces I don’t feel I’ve seen before, and we’re already into the 5^th week, and have cruised 11,600 miles. 

With love until tomorrow from the Pacific, heading south west to Pago Pago, in American Samoa X