Days 15 /19 – Jan 19 – 23 – Sea Days
We begin the second leg of our World Cruise with five sea days! Will we get bored? Not a chance with:
Lectures and Classes:
We enjoy lectures every day with our onboard naturalist, Nigel Marven. The title of some of his lectures include “Animal Vampires”, “The Whales Journey”, “Ugly Animals”, “It shouldn’t Happen to a Wildlife Presenter”, and my personal favorite “The Life and Journey of the Hummingbird”. There were also lectures by others on the destinations of Easter Island and Pitcairn.
There were classes in dancing, bridge, art and photography. We did attend one session of an i-phone photography class, but avoided art and bridge. We decided that if we were going to expend the effort to develop a complicated skill, we would rather learn a second language!
Entertainment:
Every evening, there was a cabaret show – with the entertainment including opera singers, broadway style production shows, amazing vocalists/instrumentalists, and comedians. The only exception to this was “white night” when the entertainment happened on the pool deck after the “gourmet” buffet was served.
Food:
One of the most common questions that we had prior to this 166 day cruise was: Won’t you get tired of eating the same food? I can definitively say “not a chance”! For our regular food options, we have dinner options in three restaurants, and if we don’t feel like changing for dinner, there is a casual buffet option every night with a different food culture theme. Of course, if we want to eat dinner in our pj’s, there is an extensive room service menu.
In addition to these daily options, there are other special meals per segment that offer even more food choices. On these sea days, we had a special jazz brunch, and Indian Rice Table, and were honored to be invited to have dinner with Captain Carl. Of course, you can generally find us every afternoon in our favorite place on the ship – the Sunset Deck!
Day 20 / 21 – Jan 24 – 25 Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
We feel so lucky to have been able to visit the island on two days, as many ships deem the waters too rough to tender ashore. Captain Carl ensured that we all had a chance to go ashore to see the Moai Statues.
There is only one statue on the island that has the eyes “colored in”. This statue is located on the shore closest to where we tendered in – you can see our ship in the background.
The pictures below are mostly images of statues that have been restored to what is believed to be original state. The exception is the picture on the far left – you can see some of these statues still in the ground before restoration.
Day 22 / 23 – Jan 26 – 27 At Sea
Two more sea days! The highlight of these two days was a special dinner for the World Cruisers, organized by our World Cruise Host, Lee. This was the first time a dinner had been set up on the Promenade Deck, and it was a great success!
Day 24 – Jan 28 Pitcairn Island
Another trip highlight! This is the island of the “Mutiny of the Bounty”, and is still populated by descendents of Fletcher Christian. We saw the anchor of the “Bounty”, as well as logs from the ship. There are currently only 50 residents living on the island, and typically the only cruise ships that are able to visit are expedition ships that have zodiaks on board. However, Captain Carl ensured that any brave soul that wanted to accept the challenge of boarding a bobbing tender would have the chance to go ashore. Of course, we did!
Day 25 / 26 – January 29 – 30 – Sea Days
wo more sea days! We keep busy, but no pictures to speak of on these two sea days.
Day 27 – Jan 31 – Fakarava
Today is a special day – my 68th birthday! We began the day enjoying the “Azamazing Day Celebration”- watching cultural dances, and seeing demonstrations of batik painting and straw weaving. Melanie particpated in several cultural games of throwing spears and coconuts.
After the cultural celebration – we continued the day by doing my favorite thing – swimming in the ocean. We tried to swim with the shark, but he never came close to us. (However, he was very friendly – looking for a meal from the nearby fishing boat!) We also saw a unique church in the village that had coral decorations.
