Day 16 Easter Island

Rapa Nui, to give it its proper name is an extremely remote place. The island lies approximately 2200 miles from Tahiti and equal distance to South America. The giant stone monoliths (Moai) have puzzled Westerners since the Dutch seaman Roggeven first made landfall on Easter Island on Easter Sunday, 1722. The mystery of the island’s first settlers remains just that – a mystery. Most anthropologists believe the island was settled as part of the great wave of Polynesian emigration. The oldest Moai is approximately 1300 years old. The society that produced these statues flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries, but population growth, deforestation and food shortages led to its collapse. Today, Easter Island has a population of approximately 3400. Strangely enough, we didn’t find any mini eggs! We had a long time on the Island with not enough sun protection on, so I’m keeping out of the sun today, Phil and I are both just a tad too red. Last night’s entertainment was the juggler again, this time Phil was in the front row. He was in quarantine the last time the juggler was on stage, so obviously wanted to have a pick me pick me moment. And he was! Alas, I didn’t have my camera with me. Another leisurely day at sea, then we sail by the Pitcairn Islands, but which way shall we go?

Day 15 Hole in One!

Today I qualified for the golf final which will be held on board in a couple of days time. I chose to be almost last so I could see how everyone else was playing the course, (tactics) and scored a hole in one! I then scored in shuffleboard but Phil knocked me out, he’s far too competitive. We arrive in Easter Island tomorrow morning where we tender in. We have a tour booked in the afternoon, so I’ll report back then with photos of the huge monoliths.

Day 13 At Sea: Ship’s Facts

This is from Robbie Burn's Night with home made flags, except the Union Jack.

Today is Australia Day for us on board and we’re celebrating today with loads of fun things, so g’day mates! Also happy Chinese New Year, the year of the Ox. Last night it was Robbie Burns night and our Scottish table mates decorated the table with hand made flags and Willie addressed the Haggis, only it was a bread roll! Today I have taken photos around the ship so you can see just how much space we have onboard. Not at all like the Aurora last year where you struggled to get a sun bed, although I have to admit, I haven’t sunbathed yet, so I need to start soon.

THIS IS THE LIBRARY

IVAN, OUR COCKTAIL WAITER & BARISTA

THE DESERTED PANORAMA BUFFET

Now for the ship’s facts …. length of Tahitian Princess is 592ft, 30,000 tons, 670 passengers when full, we’re about 100 short of maximum and about 360 crew. There are three restaurants on board. The main one with two sittings (I think they could have merged this or had an open sitting because it’s not full,) the Steakhouse Grill and Sabatini’s. These two restaurants alternate over three nights, one is open the other closes because their just aren’t enough passengers on board. There aren’t many bars; there’s the pool bar, Tahitian lounge, Cabaret lounge, Casino bar and Panorama Bar plus the restaurants. There’s a library, a few shops, spa and salon, shuffle board, ping pong and apparently a Wii somewhere, they haven’t got that out yet. We only have three formal nights from Fort Lauderdale to Sydney, the first leg) the rest are smart casual, so that’s much more relaxed than P & O. I walk the decks each day, today I walked two miles in 25 minutes, about 26 times around! Then I line dance, shuffle board, play golf, table tennis and do two quizzes. Now you can see why I don’t have time to sit in the sun. Phil and I are putting are names down to do a 5K walk which is about 40 times around the deck on 9 Feb in aid of Breast Cancer.

THIS IS A DAY AT SEA AND NO ONE IS ABOUT!

Day 12 at Sea

As you all know Phil is in quarantine until 6.00pm tonight on a very bland diet of white food. Just before dinner last night our table mates thought it would be hilarious to wind him up by singing Food Glorious Food outside our door. He was suitably impressed as you can imagine. Irene had googled the words and wrote them down for everyone to sing. It was very funny, especially so because they had to wait for the ‘spaceman’ to finish sanitising our room before they could start. We had a new entertainer on board, a comedy juggler from England he was funny. Phil’s missing all the good bits. Fortunately for him, the show will probably be repeated. It’s Robbie Burns’s night tonight and as we have three canny Scots on our table, all three are in the above photo, I’m sure something will be afoot! I’ll report tomorrow and also tell you a bit about the ship, which is like the Marie Celeste!

This is our 'spaceman' cleaner while we're in quarantine.

Day 11 Still in Callao until 1.00pm

Phil has been officially confined to cabin for 48 hours with the Norovirus bug! After we came back from our tour yesterday, he felt unwell, so we waited a few hours then thought it best to call the medical centre. A male nurse came to see him and quarantined him with a bland diet of yuk! Stop laughing Barry Bowles and John Mackrell!

I decided to go back to Lima shops this morning to try for a Paddington Bear and yey, I found one. Don’t worry Helen, he isn’t large, obviously it’s for Charlie who isn’t very well at the moment. We sailed just after 12.30 when everyone was back on board. I went line dancing, sunbathed, walked around the deck for half an hour and popped in to see the invalid every now and then. Now we’re at sea for four days until we get to Easter Island, so see you then. By the way, thanks to Steve, you can now leave me comments! They won't be instant!

I have to agree to accept them. So no nasties please!!

Day 10 Callao and Lima, Peru

I don't know why you can't leave comments. I've checked my settings and it looks like you can but obviously you can't by your emails!

After two very busy days at sea, there’s always something to do, we docked in the sea port of Callao (pronounced Caiyou). We walked out onto our balcony and were met by the stench of ammonia from the hundreds of Seagulls’ droppings, nice! (No I didn’t take a photo). We took a four hour tour into Lima which is almost an hour’s drive from Callao, not because it’s far away particularly but because of the traffic. There are no trains or underground metro in this city, although they are building an underground bus service. The city is old; it was founded by the Conquistadors (Spanish) in 1635. We visited a couple of Squares or Plaza’s with the usual cathedrals and palaces then went to Miraflores which is a seaside resort. The coach dropped us for almost an hour in a market place which sold a lot of c**p basically!

The Peruvian people are very friendly; everyone waves at the tourists on the bus. They are a very mixed race with a blend of Indian, Chinese and European so they all look different. We returned to the ship for a spot of lunch and a game or three of table tennis. We’re here until tomorrow lunchtime so might go on the shuttle tomorrow morning to try and find Paddington Bear’s birthplace. They have Tsunamis and earthquakes here, so the sooner the better really!

Day 7 Manta Ecuador

It’s very hot on the equator! 33 degrees Celsius and the sun is really strong. Phil didn’t come with me on the morning coach tour of Manta, but I was well looked after by our dinner mates, Alan and Gemma and Willy and Margot. I did have to move seats half way through our trip though, because yet again I had the recliners in front of me! The aim today was to buy a Panama hat which I did for a bargain $15US. Panama hats, incidentally, are not made in Panama but in Montecristi, Ecuador. They were originally made for the workers at the Panama Canal, hence the name. Ecuador doesn’t have its own currency because their economic state was so bad about twenty years ago that they decided to change to the US dollar. Some of the passengers have gone on plane rides either to Machu Picchu or the Galapagos Islands, we figured that if we wanted to do either of those, then we’ll do it independently one day, meanwhile we can enjoy the ship with even fewer passengers. I decided to do some laundry in the afternoon while Phil watched the US Presidential inauguration. Two days at sea now, so see you next after Lima, Peru.

Day 6 Crossing the Equator

Well obviously Phil had to volunteer for this ceremony because he wasn't picked last year when we crossed on the Aurora! Steve, travelling in Australia, you will remember this well!

As this ship is so small, there was no problem getting a place to stand or sit, in fact some were so blase about the crossing that they stayed in the bars.

Last night we ate in one of the two specialist restaurants. This time it was Italian and the food was plentiful and very good. Unfortunately there were only three tables taken, so not too much atmosphere. After dinner, Phil was desperate to see the show which was comedy magic. As some of you know, he's a 'pick me, pick me' kind of guy, so we had to sit down the front. Only I was picked on, damn! He was funny though, English and a cross between Lee Evans, Mr Bean, Joe Pasquale.

Day 5 Transit through the Panama Canal

As you can see, Queen Victoria is alongside us. She set sail from Southampton on January 2 and I should have been on check in, but didn't make it! We had champagne breakfast which we're still eating at lunchtime. There was enough to feed our neighbours.

The weather is warm again, not too sunny, so it was comfortable up on deck watching us go through the locks. This is our second full transit through, so know what to expect. Nevertheless, it's still very exciting.

Now a fact about the Panama Canal .... In 1534, Charles 1 of Spain ordered the first survey of a proposed canal route through the Isthmus of Panama. More than three centuries passed before the first construction was started. The French laboured 20 years, beginning in 1880, but diseases and financial and engineering problems defeated them. In 1903 Panama gained its independence from Colombia. Shortly thereafter, Panama and the United States signed a treaty in which the USA guaranteed Panama's Independence and paid her ten million dollars. On May 4 1904, the USA purchased the French Canal Company rights and properties for $40million and began construction. The huge project was completed in 1914 at a cost of approximately $387million.

Day 3 Grand Cayman Shopping Day!!

Awoke at 7am and it’s still overcast. The ship rocked last night and I don’t mean in the disco! It wasn’t enough to make me feel queasy though. The forecast is 80F with showers, not that we mind, we’re not heading for the glorious Seven mile beach; I’m dragging Phil to Diamonds International! Well, we are in our 30th year and yes I know that means pearls, but do you see me as a pearly queen, NO I don’t think so. Off to brekkie now, see you later and I’ll let you know how the shopping went, that's if the Captain lets us off, it's a bit windy in the bay.

Well after much negotiation between Phil and the General Manager, who was also on the phone with the owner, struck a good deal and I’ve got a gorgeous whopper! We chose the diamond which is Princess cut then chose the setting which has more Princess diamonds. At the moment I’m wearing it without my wedding ring, because there isn’t enough room! We had lunch at Breezers, our girls will recognise it as we’ve been before. We sat outside and I could feel my left arm burning, so obviously the weather picked up and was very warm, no rain! We set sail at 6pm heading now towards the Panama Canal.

At sea towards Grand Cayman

Day Two 15 Jan Had a good night’s sleep, very comfy bed and our mini-suite is large enough. We decided to have continental breakfast in our room; well that keeps Phil away from the bacon and eggs! Line dancing starts at 10am which is where I’m heading now. Tomorrow we'll be in Grand Cayman where I hope the weather will be hot and sunny, because it isn't at the moment!

Leaving Fort Lauderdale

Day One 14 Jan 2009 Our flight with British Airways was a very long and boring ten hours! The female purser was older than me and sickeningly oh so polite, very British!! I watched three movies on the tiniest screen ever and now need laser eye surgery. I have no idea what they were but I do remember The Duchess with Keira Knightley and I’m really struggling with the other two, so don’t be surprised if by day 42 I suddenly write them down. We got chatting to a Scottish couple who were sat behind us, bumped into them at breakfast then later on the coach to the ship, had lunch with them and then discovered we were sat with them for dinner. The sail away party sort of happened while we were unpacking and cramming all my clothes into a very small space.

The residents of Fort Lauderdale waved goodbye to us by switching their lights on and off and blasting air horns. Our table of eight consists of three Scots, one Italian and four English, so you could say we are International! Our waiter is Philippe, a very tall thin Frenchman who has no personality, as of yet, and Luis is our assistant waiter from the Philippines who is much nicer, he gave me a free Cappuccino. There are only 670 passengers on the ship so everywhere is easy to find.

All packed and ready to go!

I've checked in on line for our flight with British Airways, I had to wait for 13.30 precisely in order to do so. We're leaving from the notorious Terminal 5, but I'm sure all original problems have been sorted by now. We've just said goodbye to our little grandson Charlie and told Helen, our daughter, she must show him our photographs every day and she must send us weekly updates of his progress. He's only 9 months old and will change dramatically over the next 2 months. We're all packed and ready for our lift tomorrow at 09.30am. See you in Miami!