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SEGMENT ONE - LAX TO AUCKLAND |
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January
6, 2005 - at sea |
Here I am
sending hugs your way! So far we're off to such a good
start! The party at the St. Regis was phenomenal. Ngaire was
so right....they really pull out the stops for that! All the
big brass from Regent was there. I finally met Mark Conroy.
It was nice seeing Christian again. The theme was "old
Hollywood" and they had a guy dressed up as Clark Gable
(when he was probably about 35) and a gal was a perfect
Marilyn Monroe, Laurel and Hardy waiters even, nice
Orchestra which played nice dinner music and lots of dancing
before and after dinner! VERY First class!! Yes, our room at
the St. Regis was gorgeous....28th floor and a wonderful
panoramic view from our "Lanai" (yes, that's what they
called it). The lanai had a table and 2 chairs so it was
nice to sit and relax 28 floors high. It was wonderful
meeting Paul, Betty and Al in the afternoon and Irving and
Maria at the cocktail party before dinner. Of course Paul
has been on for so many days with Colleen on the pre-cruise
that he has all the "scoop" on all the passengers. LOTS of
characters on board....this would be great for a book for
Donna to write!
Yesterday we arrived in San Pedro via a stretch limo with
dark tinted windows to insure that we weren't recognized...
LOL. Our luggage was all delivered just fine. I guess I got
carried away with the "shoes". I must have kept throwing in
more and more and my final count was 17!! Tom has 6 I think.
In the afternoon my sister, brother-in-law, Nephew and Jill
came on board for a couple of hours! Great way to send us
off...We all went to Paul's room and bless his heart if he
didn't have a stuffed kitty cat for me!! He thought it would
be nice if I could be a surrogate Mom and ease my separation
anxiety from my own furry kids! Now how nice was that!!!
Paul's cabin looks great....he still had his XMAS tree up,
he's been writing a journal, has great photos (he has his
computer and color printer in the cabin). He's done a
wonderful job!
OK...moving along. Got everything unpacked before dinner!!
We were way ahead of schedule and proud of ourselves! (Paul
brought 11 pieces of luggage and even has 41 long sleeved
shirts....guess we packed light in comparison to most!) Had
a nice dinner in Compass Rose then debated whether we wanted
to go in the disco for some dancing and Sambucca or go to
the Casino. Decided on the Disco. Bellied up to the bar and
started talking to new friends. I had met 2 gals the night
before so spent some time with them. It's so funny....some
of the "older" ladies are all hitting on Tom (in a nice
way!). He's danced with some and been "charming" and a good
sport! I just laugh and he gives me that "come and rescue
me" look. A wonderful lady named Abby (she's been on 50
cruises!) said that she wants to find an 81 year old
millionaire! I assured her that Tom is no where close to 81
and he certainly isn't a millionaire. She said "Oh, no...Tom
is just my playmate and we like to flirt with each other, he
belongs to you!!" I think she wants me to help her on this
mission she has! Anyway...lots of very nice, young at heart
folks. Some that are quite elderly (Jill doesn't think some
will make it to Ft. Lauderdale---spoken by a "true" 24 year
old) but for the most part, good healthy active passengers.
We've made friends with another couple in their 40's (this
in considered young here) from New York. NICE people and
also their first world cruise.
Colleen, thank you so much for your sweet note. No problem
getting the door name tags! Today I want to meet Sandy
(sandracruiser). I put her door tag up this morning. Also
this morning Tom and I went to the gym and worked out and
went to a "stretching" class. We are really going to try to
stay in shape so decided to start right on day 1. Later
today we'll go to Trivia and Bingo. I'm so happy we have
these sea days to relax and get to know fellow passengers.
As you can see, we sure are having a great time!! I just
love this life and thankful I have 108 more days of it!!
LIFE IS GOOD!!
Hugs to all....
(sorry this is so rambling... Hopefully, Paul will write
more! He's so good at this. I'm sure Betty will post too!
Good Morning
Guys! I'm up early and decided to check in before our
"stretching" class. Yesterday we even went to "Awesome Abs"
too!! Hopefully, by the end of April we'll be shipshape, NOT
shaped like a ship!
Marc, I wrote down your password etc. Thanks so much! I will
check on the wine question tonight for you! Also, about the
dress this segment....3 formal, 7 informal and 9 casual.
Last night was the first formal but we decided to go to
LaVeranda where it's always casual instead. We'll have lots
more formal nights!
I finally met Sandy (sandracruiser) and her husband Dennis.
I had lunch with them on Thursday in LaVeranda....nice
couple!
Night before last we had dinner with Paul and Irving &
Maria. I've talked about how great Paul is but hadn't
mentioned too much about Irving & Maria (he posts here as
Irving and hopefully he'll post more often than he has since
he's only posted on LCT a few times!). What a delightful,
fun couple...so cute! Maria is from Italy and has such a
charming accent. I told Irving that he reminds me so much of
Tom's brother (also very fun) and Irving said...."Oh is he
handsome too?" That's Irv...just adorable! As always, Paul
looked terrific too...always well dressed.
The past 2 days I've kept so busy going to arts and crafts
class (we decorated visors), needlepoint class (they supply
everything at these classes for no extra charge) where I'm
learning and started a little purse, one session of bridge
playing, the Blackjack tournament (didn't win), stretching
and awesome abs class, trivia twice yesterday, bingo (didn't
win at either of those either). Such fun! Denise, I met
Elba. She's the needlepoint instructor! Very nice and I sent
regards from you and Alan. She just lit up!!
It absolutely amazes me how many of these people go on the
World Cruise every year!! We really are the "virgins" around
here! They all know each other quite well from sailing
together. The enrichment speakers have been excellent. I
haven't seen them in person yet, but watched them on TV
while we're getting dressed etc. There was a really great
guy named Walter Russell Mead who spoke on American Foreign
Policy. I'm looking forward to Scott Carpenter (Astronaut &
author) within this week. We haven't made it to a show yet
(too busy in the casino me playing 3 card poker/Tom playing
craps... which BTW last night we had our casual clothes on
and no one said a word) Tonight we want to go as it's a
tribute to Broadway music.
This open bar is REALLY GREAT!! It makes such a huge
difference. Richard, I'm happy to report that no one (that
I've heard anyway) has complained about the vibration
anywhere on the ship. Maybe the "no vibration felt" goes
hand in hand with the open bar!! Also, we did have a bottle
of Sambucca in our cabin as well as a fully stocked fridge
so they seem to do both. I wasn't expecting any in-cabin bar
set up. So far, they have really gone over the top trying to
keep everyone happy...and I could be their walking poster
child!
We are somewhere east of Hawaii now...I was hoping to be
able to walk out on deck and wave to Masaki & Amanda and
"little fish"....guess they don't make binoculars strong
enough to pull that one off!
Off to "stretch"!!
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January
10, 2005 - at sea |
Last night
Betty had a heart attack. She was in La Veranda and felt
pains, excused herself and went to her cabin. Al went to
check on her and she was in pain. We heard the Code Blue
announced never realizing it was Betty!!
A medical team immediately responded to her in the cabin and
she was brought downstairs to the infirmary. They did an EKG
and this is what determined it was indeed a heart attack.
(she has never had anything like this although she does take
medication for high blood pressure). She never lost
consciousness through any of this. I just visited her and
she's not feeling well at all. The plan is for her to be
airlifted from Nuku Hiva (Marquesas Islands) on Wednesday to
a major city with a fully equipped hospital...likely Sydney
but maybe Tahiti. She's in as good of spirits as one could
hope for considering the circumstances but oh so
disappointed that their trip of a lifetime will be ending so
soon!
She and Al both couldn't stop raving about the expedient job
Ngaire has done with insurance information, paperwork etc.
Betty thanks you so much Ngaire!!!
I will visit Betty again tomorrow but just wanted all of you
to keep her in your thoughts and prayers
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January
11, 2005 - at sea |
I just came
from spending time with Betty and here is the latest. The
doctors feel that this heart attack was a big one. As the doctor
put it, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the worst (they do it
backwards from how we do it), Betty's was a 2. Unfortunately,
the chances of her being able to rejoin us elsewhere are
extremely remote. Betty and Al are being tendered at 7:00am
tomorrow morning and being met by a helicopter on the pier.
There will be a medical team from Papeete there to greet them on
the Nuku Hiva pier. From there they are being flown via
helicopter to the airport which is on the furthest side of the
island from the pier. From there they will board an airplane for
a 3 hour flight to a French hospital in Papeete. (I was
surprised to hear it was such a long flight...must be a slow
airplane?)
Al came in shortly before I was leaving the infirmary and said
he was going to go back to the cabin to get organized. I offered
to come help him pack everything up (remember Betty brought
about 40 pairs of shoes) and he said that this wasn't necessary
as the Stewards are going to do the packing. Radisson has been
TERRIFIC and Betty couldn't say enough good things about the
kindness and good care she's received the past 2 days. She's now
on about 10 different types of meds and hooked up to every
monitor you can imagine. The good news is that tonight for the
first time she has some appetite and ordered Dover Sole and rice
for dinner.
I also printed out all your get well messages (11 pages worth!)
and took them to her. I know it made her feel sooooooo good
receiving these and I'm sure she'll enjoy reading them!! (she's
no longer on morphine as she was yesterday)
I gave her a gentle hug and kiss good-bye as not to disconnect
anything. I told her that on our next cruise I hoped it lasted
more than 5 days...she's so cute and said "we should make it to
at least ONE port!" Al has promised to email me as he knows
things and I will share any news I receive. I'll let you know as
I know anymore.
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January
11. 2005 - at sea |
Yes...that's
us!! Betty, hurry and jump on!! This is so funny to be looking
at my own ship. It's early here (7:55am....love having a laptop
in the cabin). We have a busy day here in Papeete. Tonight we're
going on the PG. We may or may not eat dinner there, haven't
decided yet (we overnight here tonight before going to Moorea in
the early morning). I'm so happy that they're having this "open
house". Those on the the PG are invited to come see the Voyager
too. It reminds me of when we were on DDD and docked next to the
Navigator. We also have a Folkloric show featuring Polynesians
dancers called "O Tahiti E" here on the Voyager. The Gauguines
are also doing a show this evening.
Also, they announced that the PG will be sailing with RSSC
through the end of 2006.
Last night was great....Dover Sole and Gran Marinier
souffl...yum! We then went in the Voyager lounge and joined
Paul. BTW, Paul is really the "man about ship" here and knows so
many people. He introduced me to a fun couple (Rosanne and
Victor) who were suppose to get off in Los Angeles. Roseanne had
all the bags packed and they were in the hall when Victor
surprised her by booking another segment (some refer to each
segment as a bus stop). Victor surprised her and booked the next
segment to Auckland. Well, now he's done it again and booked to
Sydney (maybe they'll be in Betty's cabin??). As long as
something keeps opening up, he seems to grab it! About 11:00pm
last night they played some fun "oldies" music (songs like Hound
Dog, Mustang Sally, Old Time Rock and Roll Music).
Well, today I'm going off the wagon...no exercise class and I'm
going to go indulge myself in some eggs benedict!
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January
13, - Marquesas Islands |
Good
morning family! Hope all is well! We have a sea day today on our
way to Papeete.
Yesterday we were in Nuku Hiva. We had a complimentary excursion
to enjoy a local party including lots of food and music up on
top of a mountain. Afterwards, local Polynesian dancers came
onboard and performed poolside in ceremonial attire (men wore
warrior looking grass skirts etc., young women wore coconut
shells) They were very good! We also have "The Gaugines" onboard
with us until we reach Tahiti. These young ladies play the
guitar and sing wearing traditional clothing. They even
performed in Compass Rose last night. Obviously, the entire
theme through out the ship is very Polynesian these days. It was
very hot out on the pool deck yesterday and many are getting
some bad sunburns. I am enjoying all the activities on sea days
too...certainly keeps us busy!
Betty left the ship yesterday. I took a photo of her up in the
helicopter...still hard to imagine what she's going through.
Paul stopped by our cabin and helped me figure out how to
download our photos which I greatly appreciated!!
Tom who has a much more sophisticated wine pallate than me, says
the complimentary wine at dinners has been far superior than any
other cruise we've been on...he has not felt the need to order a
premium wine yet. Off to exercise class now...
Another wonderful day lies ahead I'm sure!!
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January 14 - Papeete,
Tahiti |
Well, Tom's
really done it this time! This is kind of one of those, "you had
to be there" stories but I'll give it a shot.... This morning
when we were getting off the ship we took one step off Deck 4
and were on the top step when a gust of wind blew my visor and
Tom's hat off. I never saw where mine went but Tom's hat landed
in the water next to the ship. We scurried down the steps and
saw the hat floating. The next thing I knew, very spontaneously,
my crazy husband jumps into a little dingy rowboat (the one that
the crew uses to repaint the bottom of the ship). There were all
sorts of supplies in there and he grabs a long pole (I think it
was one of those long extension paint brushes) and he's leaning
over trying to fish the hat out of the water. Well, by now
security rushes over to see what was happening! I don't think
they were pleased.....but Tom did rescue the hat. I would give
anything if I had thought to pull out my camera! I will never
forget that! I laughed so hard I ached!
Anyway, after this fiasco we went into Papeete shopping for a
couple of hours and bought a few small things. Upon returning to
the ship some new friends (the couple that continually keeps
staying on the ship that I told you about in a previous post)
informs us that they have a driver lined up and invite us to
join them for a trip around the island. We did enjoy
this....except for one thing. There is a major overpopulation
problem and so many stray dogs. When we stopped at the blow
hole, there was one dog that stole my heart. She was nursing
(never saw any puppies though) and so malnurished...skin and
bones, you could count her ribs. I felt SO SORRY for her that I
asked the driver to drive me to the nearest grocery store so I
could buy this dog some food. At this point I was ready to buy
the poor gal a hot dog or any food item I could find. The driver
took me to a small store but they did sell dog food. After
buying a bag of dry Friskies we went back and I got great
pleasure feeding this poor "Momma". She gobbled it up and it was
obvious that the poor dog had not eaten in a long time and was
so weak. Locals were milling around but apparently, they're so
use to seeing these strays everywhere that it doesn't phase them
as it did me. I could tell by the driver's reaction that he
thought I was nuts! I told him that it was worth it to give this
poor dog one decent meal....If I ever win the lotto I'm opening
a spay and neuter center here first thing!!
Before returning to the ship we stopped at the new Radisson
hotel. We walked around the entire property and they were nice
enough to show us 3 different rooms: a standard, a duplex style
and a suite. Every room has an ocean view and a large balcony.
The furnishings are contemporary and nice. I wouldn't waste my
$$ on anything nicer than the standard room. The suite and
duplex had a a strange floor plan. There is a large outdoor
restaurant, 3 bars, a floating pool and small sandy area near
the pool. The property sits directly on the ocean and EVERY ROOM
has an ocean view. There are no OTW bungalows though. Nice
property!!
The weather was great....but it is hot and humid! Luckily we've
had a nice continuous breeze. I can handle the heat but the
humidity is a killer!
Off to get ready to go to the PG later. They haven't docked yet
but will likely be docked right next to us. They're due in soon.
The excited to see the O Tahiti E" show at 9:45.
Bye guys!
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January 18th
- Raratonga - Cook Islands. |
Good Morning
family! Sorry I haven't had a chance to post for a few days....it's
been very busy! Since I last posted from Tahiti, we've traveled to
Moorea, Bora Bora and now we're in the Cook Islands. It's been a
whirlwind! We've had GREAT weather and this morning was the first
rain we've seen. It only lasted about 10 minutes and now it's all
cleared up. Tahiti was the most humid place we've been. Although
Moorea and Bora Bora seemed humid to us Californians, everyone raved
about how dry it was for this time of year. We've really lucked out
in the weather department!
We had a lot of fun on the Paul Gaugan in Papeete meeting people. I
can understand why everyone loves the PG...very intimate! They let
the open house between the 2 ships go into the very late hours since
everyone was having so much fun running back and forth between the
two ships. Most of us went to the "O Tahiti E" show so didn't go to
the PG until after that.
In Moorea we went on a GREAT excursion for an afternoon of
snorkeling and feeding the sting rays. It's amazing how you can be
so far off shore and still be able to touch the ocean bottom. The
water colors are so amazing, something you have to see for yourself!
On Sunday we were in Bora Bora where there was a Motu island day as
well as excursions offered. We loved the Lagoonarium and I'd highly
recommend this to anyone who enjoys snorkeling. The fish are
actually fenced into large pools and you can snorkel for hours
seeing such a variety of fish...including quite a number of sharks
and sting rays. It's an amazing feeling to have 6 and 7 feet sharks
swimming around you! We had a ball! We capped off the evening with a
quiet dinner at Signatures followed by a very profitable evening in
the casino. It was one of those evenings where I couldn't do
anything wrong and got amazing cards at 3 card poker. I went to bed
up $850. for one night, not bad huh?
I insisted that all the drinks were on me! LOL
Yesterday was a desperately needed sea day. I caught up on laundry
and we just lolled around until tea time (all flamb and beyond
magnificent) and trivia in the afternoon. BTW, we've yet to win
trivia. We've tied for first twice but lost the 2nd tie-breaking
question. There are some very bright players. I desperately miss
Anna Luisa and Peter's knowledge. Last night I actually won a token
at the bean bag toss. It was funny...done about 11:00pm outside of
the Voyager lounge; guess you can imagine how this played out!
A bit of gossip here at "Peyton Place Voyager" (PPV) with no names
mentioned to protect the "very guilty". There were 2 men who got
booted off (or "asked to leave" as Jamie puts it). This was a pretty
twisted, disruptive couple...a man in a wheelchair who apparently
had been in a train accident and came into big bucks. He was
accompanied by his caregiver (definitely more going on here than
just a caregiver relationship), Anyway they complained about
everything! Unbeknownst to Radisson they brought on their own large
bed. Radisson knew nothing about this and than they had the nerve to
complain that their cabin wasn't ready in a timely manner!
HELLO....it takes time to move the existing bed out. Then they
complained that there wasn't enough room to maneuver around the
cabin with the wheelchair and wanted to be moved to a larger suite!
Of course the ship is full so this was not possible. The stewards
removed the couch and re-arranged their furniture....then they
complained and wanted the couch moved back in. Well this kind of
thing went on for days and days! They complained about the food, the
service, the everything! Then they would drink waaaaaay too much and
according to the poor little stewardess get so wild! The next
morning she'd find liquor bottles thrown against the wall and just a
total disaster. Well, these 2 guys disembarked in Bora Bora and word
has it they were going to stay there a few days then fly on to
Paris. Good Riddens!! I'm sure Radisson is thrilled to have them
GONE!
Oh, I did post some photos on Ofoto. This only includes photos
through Sunday (Bora Bora). I tried to label them. There are 2
photos of Paul and also one that Paul took of me and a great guy,
Marc. You'll definitely figure out that photo when you check out the
jewels. Another quick story...Marc and Harry are such nice, fun,
intelligent guys! They add so much "color" here on PPV. They've been
together for 39 years and have over 5 million $$ worth of jewelry
onboard. They even brought their own safe onboard which is bolted
into their cabin. I tease Marc about coming to his cabin to borrow
some jewels...really puts Liberace to shame! Anyway, so many fun
people all with different stories and backgrounds! How can you not
just love all this everyday!!
The days are flying by way too fast!
Sorry for all the rambling....running late, no time to proofread,
off to eat breakfast then go check out Raratonga!
Here's the link for the photos:
Marcie's Ofoto Segment 1
username: cruise@yahoo.com
password: cc
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January 18th
- Raratonga - Cook Islands. |
I'm sure others
can add to this list but there are some things that we brought that
I'm SO glad we have:
the shoe bag Joanna gave me. Otherwise we'd never find our shoes in
the closet
a large world map (got the idea from Paul). We taped it over the
wall picture at the end of the bed and it's so fun to see where we
are each day. Tom is even highlighting it with dotted lines as we
go...(he told our cabin steward that Capt. Dag requested his help to
chart the course!)
photos of your family & pets
a calendar to x off the days, write down excursions
Supplies like scissors, scotch tape, highlight markers, rubber
bands, magic markers for writing on CDs as you burn them, paper
clips, glue stick. Amazingly we use these all the time!
Extra rechargeable batteries for your digital camera
A large laundry bag to throw dirty clothes in
Your own CDs to play music in the room (I'm listening to the Beetles
as I type this), also CDs to download photos on.
a Lint brush
flat tupperware type containers to use to store and separate
jewelry, hair clips, odds and ends
a journal to keep a daily diary
several manilla folders to save the "daily passages" etc. in so they
don't clutter up the cabin
extra hats so your spouse won't try to kill himself fishing one out
of the ocean should a gust of wind come!
a good memory to remember all the new people's names you'll meet
each day
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