Mar 9 - The Pacific

 Mar 9-13 The Pacific

Having left San Diego with a new set of passengers, we headed into the Pacific Ocean, with the destination of Hawaii which takes five seadays.  Many more around the world passengers joined us who will travel from San Diego, around the world, and end in Miami, a total of 550. 

The Pacific Ocean is massive, with an incomprehensible amount of water covering 1/3 of the Earth’s surface, including the Mariana Trench, which reaches depths of nearly 36,000 feet, which is deeper than Mount Everest is tall. More is known about the moon than the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific is broken down into three general zones.  Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia.  Hawaii is in the Polynesian zone, as is French Polynesia, our next stop after Hawaii.

Ocean liners were used for a long time before air travel was viable.  The very first World Cruise for pleasure was the Cunard liner Laconia, which departed New York in November 1922 and returned in March 1923, visiting 22 ports and traversing both the Panama and Suez Canals.

The local ship's speaker recanted the story of Japan, bombing Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the most famous attraction of Hawaii, and many of the passengers plan on making the pilgrimage to the memorial.  We had visited the site many years ago, and it is very moving.

Mar 13

We have traveled five long but enjoyable days across the Pacific in pursuit of the sunny paradise island of Oahu, Hawaii.  I mentioned earlier in this blog that the weather can affect our experience in any given port or country.  When we opened the curtains this morning, we saw rain and gusty winds, approaching typhoon conditions.  We have been to Hawaii in the past, and this seems like a completely different place.  But conditions do change, and to see the other side of Hawaii is part of this wonderful expedition.

  

We had not booked an excursion for today, as we felt we could do something on our own.  Our plan was to take another trip to Walmart to pick up supplies in this US state before heading to small foreign lands.  Merry wanted to say back at this ship while I battled the weather.  I took a cab from the terminal entrance.  The locals call this Liquid Sunshine.

I stopped at an art supply shop to pick up a couple of things, then walked the additional 15 minutes to Walmart while the rain had eased off.  The very high humidity was the thing that affected me the most.

I managed to buy several shirts and other supplies and took my time perusing the store before getting a taxi back to the ship, now that the weather was a howling wind and sideways rain.  A tugboat and our bow and stern thrusters are permanently holding our ship tight against the pier.

I cooled off, cleaned up, and we went to the buffet for a long, leisurely lunch.

Our next scheduled port of call is Kailua-Kona on the Big Island as an anchor port, but at 5.30 pm, the captain announced that because of the rough weather continuing through tomorrow, we will not be able to make that stop, so at 8 pm we set sail for French Polynesia, another five days at sea.  This makes 10 sea days out of eleven this leg.  No problem for us, but disappointing for those wanting to see the newly erupted Kilauea Volcano.

Breaking News.  To add to the complicated day, in the evening, we received a letter from corporate Oceania explaining they are watching carefully the war and conflicts in the Gulf States.  A final decision will be made by the end of this month, but it is most likely that our passage through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean route will be canceled, and we will take a new route around Africa.  This is a very big change in the itinerary, but good news to us, as we prefer the new African route.  Stand by for more updates.

Mar 14 seaday

The seas are now decidedly rougher, giving more motion to the ship.  I am not sure if it is from the recent storms or just the open waters of the Pacific.  Probably a bit of both, but from what I have seen, it is not causing too much discomfort to most passengers.  I am sure some are staying in their room, popping motion pills.

Check back next Sunday for the next episode.