Day 11 - At Sea

Today is May 1st again. We crossed the international date line last night so we repeat today. Bit of a mend bend! Instead of us being ahead of home time wise by about 19 hours we're now behind by 5Læs mere
Today is May 1st again. We crossed the international date line last night so we repeat today. Bit of a mend bend! Instead of us being ahead of home time wise by about 19 hours we're now behind by 5 hours. Crazy!
Anyway, I've gotten used to sleeping in I suppose because I had a great sleep again. I was up in time to see the matinee movie at 12:30 with Mom though ;) We then had lunch up at the Wind Jammer before splitting up again. She went to an enrichment lecture while I went to the pool! I met up with Pods, Adrian, and Sara there and we had fun just hanging out.
I watched the sunset and took some awesome photos! Unfortunately my spare phone has crapped out and I lost them all...... Just my luck! I am cursed. Oh well, it's in my memory anyway...
I watched the movie that runs outside by the pool every evening at 6:00 & 9:00 pm (this was the 6:00 pm show) while mom went to the show. I was more interested in seeing a movie about a plane crash, Sully, it was great! Mom and I met up afterwards for dinner at the Wind Jammer. It was Indian night and the food was lovely. We decided against the dining room just because I had agreed to meet Pods at the Crown and Kettle at 8:30 pm. Adrian and Sara were on a date! From there we went up to Dizzy's and had a great amount of fun. Talking, dancing, that sort of thing :)Læs mere
Today I slept in shamelessly until about 11 am! Of course Mom was long gone from the room by that time so I took my time getting out of bed and went up to eat on my own. Afterwards, I wandered around the ship for a while climbing the stairs from bottom to top about 3 times just for the exercise because I still hate gyms. I had intended on swimming but the weather is crappy today. So instead I stopped to talk to a few people on my way and was just being a social butterfly apparently. Because it took me about 2 hours to do what should have only taken 30 minutes lol. I ran into Adrian and Pods, Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah. They all asked about where I was last night I guess they had a big night at Dizzy's. Sad to have missed out on that! I'll go tonight and see if I can catch them. I would like to see Matt and Mel as well :)
When I got back to my room I discovered a note from Mom telling me that she'd gone to the afternoon matinee, so I went to have myself a bloody mary until she was done. When we met up we went up to Windjammers for a salad and then went to catch an enrichment lecture about exo planets.. I thought I'd be really interested but definitely wasn't and left early to catch up on writing. The plus side of the lecture was that I discovered which bar has clamato! And I had myself a red beer ;)
After writing for a bit I met up with Mom again and we went to watch the show. It wasn't all that great so we left early... And went for dinner in the dining room instead. Which was delicious as per usual! After dinner Mom went to bed and I went up to Dizzy's to meet the crew. We hung out there until they closed and then went to play some basketball and mini golf! There were enough of us that we could actually do more than shooting around :)Læs mere
Today I woke up feeling great after a decent night's sleep and Mom and I took off for Uprising Beach Resort. I still managed to sleep the entire bus ride there and home despite a good nights sleep... Guess Asia has just made me used to it! I think I slept on every single travel vehicle we were on haha.
Anyway, the bus ride was about an hour to the resort and we spent about 4 hours there. Compared to Mystery Island, the beach was underwhelming. The water was a murky colour and there was hardly any sea life to see below the water! It was a good place for swimming though I do have to say. And I stayed out in the water for about an hour straight just putsing around. I met up with Mary and Elizabeth while in the water and the three of us tried to discover marine life. We did see two fish between the three of us lol. But hey, now we can say that we've swam at a beach in Fiji! That's really all that we wanted to accomplish with the day. Especially because Suva itself isn't really a city that any of us wanted to spend any time in... It was nice to get away from there. I suppose we spent the night just so that the ship could restock as we now have 7 or 8 straight days of sailing ahead of us. Anyway, we had lunch at the resort and I sat by the pool afterwards reading my book and enjoying a local beer. I will say one thing about Fiji, the people are insanely kind and some of the nicest people I've met! They definitely go out of your way to remember your name and be kind to you. Something to be said about that :)
We hopped back on the bus back to the cruise ship and made it back just in time for last call before they were set to sail away. I hopped in the shower before going up to the pool deck to see the sun set and there I ran into Joel. We had a couple drinks before I set off to find Mom. Mom and I had dinner in the dining room again. We had the same table again and the waiters are getting to know us pretty well haha. I don't even have to ask for my after dinner espresso anymore, he just brings it to me ;)
After dinner Mom and I decided to go see the Accountant, playing in the theatre. Joel met up with us for that as well. It was a pretty great movie! All about a man with Aspergers who did the books for a a few criminal organizations and got into some trouble. An action movie, well researched, well done. I enjoyed it!
After the movie Mom wanted to go to bed so Joel and I went to the bar next to the theatre and grabbed a drink. We then went to head up to the night club, Dizzy's, but got distracted at the Casino Bar chatting to Paul, an older gentleman that I've met on a number of previous occasions; he sure loves to drink haha. So we missed Dizzy's after losing track of time. We were going to head up to play another game of basketball but instead stood out on the balcony watching the water go by for a bit. It was a nice and relaxing way to end the evening instead of getting my adrenaline completely going by jumping around and what not. A very nice, low key evening, and I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight because I wasn't at the nightclub drinking to excess! Loving this trip.Læs mere
Today we arrived in Fiji! I was so tired despite a full 8 hour sleep that getting out of bed was a big struggle. But somehow I managed and Mom and I went out to go explore. We ended up at the Kila Eco Adventure Park to take a walk through the rain forest or jungle or whatever it is ;) It was pretty! Muddy, but very pretty. The park was about 30 minutes away from the shipyard and the walk itself took about an hour. Through the trees, past multiple different fruit trees, waterfalls, and clean clean water that Fiji is famous for. There were about 30 people in the group and maybe 4 guides walking at different paces talking to us. It was pretty nice and relaxing! Although I think that a few people found the climb a little bit intense. Especially because it was so slippery as the path was dirt and it had rained the other day. It's also getting hot and humid, 30 degrees. I'm used to it still but Mom in particular is not enjoying that haha. At least when we're on the boat there's a nice breeze while we're moving! She'll have 8 days pretty quick to enjoy that ;)
After the walk the locals performed a Kava ceremony for us. Kava is a peppery drink that they make from crushed pepper and mix with water. It's mixed in a big bowl with a long, braided rope tail that is extended straight out towards the chief. When the chief is ready to drink they coil the rope up and serve him and then the others in the party drink. I decided to try some because one of the guides brought me a little bowl of it and pretty well insisted. I think he was just looking for an excuse to talk to me. But, it was good! A very mild taste, but afterwards your tongue went a bit numb. It's non alcoholic but apparently if you drink more than one or two you start to feel as though you're drunk? That or they were messing with us, but I wouldn't know because I only had one little drink. After that little ceremony the locals played some music and one woman was dancing. Was good fun.
We decided not to explore Suva after the tour ended because it looked a little bit rough and Mom was quite exhausted. I do hope to get out and explore the city a bit, because it looks like the kind of place I would actually quite enjoy. Rough around the edges and not a super rich place. Kind of like Kathmandu or Hoi An but with a very different style architecturally. But apparently it's a very dangerous place to be alone so I won't be venturing out alone... Hopefully I can find someone to adventure out there with me later! We're stopped here overnight so it's possible that it could happen. In fact I'm talking to some of the staff right now who are planning to go out after their shifts end, maybe I'll have to tag along.. Will let you know what happens ;) Of course the staff at my favourite bar!
Anyway, after returning to the ship we had a late lunch and Mom went for a nap. I'm fighting sleep so that I don't wake up feeling too too groggy but in hindsight maybe I should have napped. Was hoping to catch one of the friends I made the other night, can't do that while sitting in the room.
Update: my friend, Joel, did come by and find me! And we connected on Facebook so now getting in touch should be no problem :) We chatted at the bar for a bit until Mom came by and her and I went for dinner. This is the same friend that joined us for dinner the other night, but instead of joining us today he was intent on going out to see the city in the evening. After a delicious dinner, where Mom and I had a private table (they're getting to know our preferences ;) ) I met up with Joel because Mom wanted to go to bed. There was a Rock Band playing at the ice rink converted to dance floor that we went to check out. There we ran into Mary and Sarah and a few others and chatted for a while. It was so loud though, and because neither of us really felt like dancing, we left to go to a quieter bar where you could actually hold a conversation. I suppose because we're docked in port overnight that the bars close early so at midnight we were unable to get drinks. Instead we went for another round of basketball. I really miss playing! And with good company. Seems like we've got a bit of a routine starting here, and being on the court together feels very natural. Seem to be able to read his mind the way I read my teammates minds back in the day... Funny how that works. It was easier to play tonight too because of the lack of wind but it was so humid! When we tired of that we went back to the helicopter landing pad and just watched the city for a while. It was a very different experience from last night, no wind, not many stars, activity and noise in the city below. But it was nice to just cool down after the intensity of the game! Tomorrow is an early start again so I called it an early night, and Joel being a gentleman walked me home. Suppose there wasn't really anything else to do at that time of night anyway ;)Læs mere
gary hardanNow if I understand correctly, on many of these tropical paradise islands, clothing is optional when at the beach. particularly the top portion of bathing suits. So, how about it? true, in-true? We're waiting for some photo evidence.........................................
Kirsti MathiasenHaha if it's true I haven't witnessed any of it! Modesty seems to be more prevalent here than at home. And... Considering 6he majority of travellers are Australian with a few Americans and Canadians mixed in. I've taken plenty of photos of beaches but no nudity :(
Today was another sea day and I didn't do a whole heck of a lot. Woke up, had breakfast, had a nap, went to the pool. Had a few drinks in the sun with the gang, and then got dressed for dinner. We went to the show today and wow was the performer amazing! She was playing an electric guitar and had a band supporting her, and they did all instrumental rock music. Fantastic. Queen, ACDC, Led Zeppelin, etc etc. I really loved it! So much so in fact that after Mom and I had dinner and I ran into Pods and Adrian, that I went with them to watch part of it again. Mom wanted to go to bed early so I accompanied them on their evening adventures. We ended up watching karaoke for a bit again before heading up to Dizzy's.. There we ran into Matt and Mel and had another good evening of chatting and socializing! I ghosted on them though at about 11:30 pm, I was so tired!Læs mere
Another day in port! And wow, the bluest water I have EVER seen. Mystery Island is just beautiful!! I don't even think that I'll be able to describe how great it is here. The sand is soft, the water is a crystal clear turquoise and there is marine life everywhere. The locals were also very friendly and wow, what an amazing place. We took a tender boat to shore again and immediately I went for a swim. We then met up with a group to do some stand up paddle boarding. We took a boat from Mystery Island to the main island and got set up with some boards. There was a lot of reef and weeds here so it wasn't as blue, but the island itself with the palm trees everywhere was pretty cool. We paddle boarded for about an hour and then went back to Mystery Island. I don't think Mom particularly enjoyed the paddle boarding, she found it difficult to get up, but she had fun just putting around. I liked just watching the water changing and observing the landscape as we went around. The wind started to pick up as we were going and getting back to our starting spot became a bit of a challenge. But, the boards were easy enough to balance on compared to what we have at the cabin and I had fun!
When we got back to Mystery Island we went swimming again and spent a good solid hour or so in the water. The island is pretty small, it took us maybe 15 or 20 minutes to walk to from end to end. With a whole cruise of people the island started to feel pretty packed.. But out in the water it wasn't so bad and we had a great time! Mom brought goggles so I swam around just looking at everything. So many fish, I absolutely love these places we've been! Fantastic!
When we decided it was time to return to the ship we went and ate some lunch and then I ran into Pods and Adrian at the pool. I swam again, and we wandered around for a bit as well. Shot some hoops and just relaxed! Then I went back to my bar to write and actually had some peace and quiet this time around because I hid in a corner. And because the two main culprits for distracting me thankfully didn't make an appearance ;)
Then it was off to dinner with Mom and a new friend and was supposed to be an early bed time but ended up out late again... This time because of playing mini golf, some basketball, ping pong, and then a night cap!Læs mere
Today was another day in port, and was so fantastic. We did some snorkeling and it was definitely the best that I've ever done. This port was right at the land so we hopped on a bus to our meeting spot, only about 5 minutes. And then hopped onto a boat to go out to a Marine reserve. We snorkeled from the back of the boat for about an hour and just had a blast. The water was so clear, so blue, and so warm that an hour flew by. We saw turtles, reef sharks, and octopus! Not to mention hundreds of fish including rainbow coloured ones and some that looked similar to sharks. There were also sea snakes and sea slugs, pretty cool! I was itching for more than snorkeling so I dove down to the bottom a few times to look around, probably about 8 or 9 metres? I really want to get back out scuba diving!! I absolutely love being under the water. Anyway, I can't say enough about how great this excursion was. Sharks and turtles and octopus and snakes and giant rainbow fish?! Fantastic.
After our snorkeling adventure we returned to the ship for some lunch and then I went back to the room to clean up my stuff and properly unpack all of my clothing. And take a glorious nap. I was tired!! I went back to my pub and visited with my bar tender friends for a while as well as a few others I've met previously throughout the cruise. There are so many people who talk to me that I don't recall meeting but obviously I have... I'm just so bad with names and faces! I kind of wish I didn't look so approachable sometimes because sometimes I just want my peace and quiet haha.
Mom and I went to catch the 7 pm show again which was some guy who was "praised" by Queen as being a great artist. We were thoroughly unimpressed though and left early to go get dinner instead. We asked for a private table this time around because we were both sick of the small talk. I swear I've told the same stories about 10 times already... And will probably have to do it each night for the remainder of the cruise. Lovely. I think I'm going to start making up wild stories and see what happens haha. We've decided that we need the boys to join us for dinner one night to make things entertaining.
On our walk back from dinner we ran into the boys and stopped to chat for a while. Eventually I walked Mom home and then returned to have another drink with them. We watched Karaoke again for a while and saw the same people from the previous night returning to the stage. There's this one fellow named Mark who really loves to sing ;) He's not half bad either! From the Karaoke bar we went to the Ice Rink which had been turned into a stage for a country themed music night.... Needless to say we didn't participate in the dancing but observed from the bar area. When that finally wound down we went up to Dizzy's to end the evening. We ran into our other young friends, and had a blast just chatting. The bartenders there are also great and remember us as well, I love it :) When we finally called it a night and I got to bed it was about 3 am... Oops.Læs mere
Today was our first day in port! We stopped at New Caledonia, a French Colony. Mom and I had picked some excursions prior to departure, so we woke up early to go to a beach resort for lunch and a hang out. Apparently, James Cook discovered this island and named it Isle of Pines without ever actually visiting the land. And it's pretty evident why the name stuck, there are pine trees popping up through the vegetation everywhere, it's quite distinct! To get to the island we took a smaller boat from the cruise ship, a tender boat, which took about 15 minutes to get ashore. From shore we took a bus for about 30 minutes to the resort. The resort was lovely! I could see myself staying there for an extended period. It was expensive though... About $20 for a drink! Ridiculous. So of course I didn't drink aside from the free beer than came with lunch. We tried to go snorkeling while there but because it was low tide it was hard to get out deep enough so we decided to pass. Instead we sat by the pool, swam, and had a good time just relaxing. Mom even went for a massage! She says it was great. I didn't feel the desire and spent some time writing instead. We had lunch there, did some more swimming, and then went back to the ship.
I went back to my usual afternoon spot, the Crown and Kettle Tavern, where I'm becoming quite familiar with the staff. There's one bartender in particular remembers how I like my Bloody Mary's and makes them perfectly every time. Today he gave me a little heart in my straw wrapper ;) They really do go out of their way here to make sure that you're having a good time! I go to this spot with the intention of getting my blog posts done for the day but didn't have much success this time around. People kept coming by and asking what I was doing, being social and all of that jazz when I just wanted to do my writing in peace. But, I will take the compliments when they ask if I'm a professional photographer ;) Obviously I'm not, but I guess some of my photos have turned out all right! Even on the crappy camera that comes with the S3.
After trying to write, Mom and I decided to go and catch a show at 7 pm, the Circus Firemen they called themselves. Basically two brothers dressed as firemen preforming circus acts. They were quite funny! The comedy was almost better than the circus act to be honest. But, in any case it was well worth the time :) We had dinner afterwards and I went out for a drink following dinner but called it an early night and was in bed by 11.Læs mere
Today was another Sea Day! Which meant sleeping in and relaxing by the pool. I found my buddies and we hung out for the morning and afternoon. I had lunch with Mom at the buffet and then the day drinking began.... Pods, Adrian, and I also did some exploring as well. We went and found the helicopter landing pad at the front of the ship and took a few photos there. It was insanely windy up there and I nearly lost my hat! In the process of trying to save it, my drink managed to tip over far enough for the wind to catch it and spray it all over myself and a poor woman sitting nearby... Oops! Anyway, the pool was nice and refreshing, it's salt water, and the ship was moving so much that it was a natural wave pool! So much fun, and the water crashing over the edges of the pool when a particularly big wave came by was fun to watch. The waves would also steal people's shoes if they were left on the ground.
Mom and I went to go see a show at 7 pm but decided to bail while waiting for it to start as we were hungry. I don't even remember what the show was supposed to be about, but I do know that neither one of us was really into it and weren't upset over missing it at all. After the show I went out for a drink following dinner and met up with Pods and Adrian and the karaoke bar. We listened to a few golden oldies and were intending to go to the late night adult comedy but that didn't happen. We were having too much fun listening to songs being butchered haha. We didn't stay out too too late and were in bed by midnight or so I believe. Something around then anyway ;)Læs mere
Today was a full day of cruising, and a definite lazy day, much needed. We woke up at about 10am and had a leisurely breakfast before going off to explore the ship. We walked all the levels and tried to find everything, figure out where all the fun places to be are. There are 15 levels, all but the 1st open to passengers. There's a rock climbing wall, flow rider, mini golf, basketball court, ice rink, pools, outdoor theatre, captain viewing area, art gallery, casino, spa, outdoor running track, arcade, gym, a number of bars, and a shopping area. It really is a city on it's own! The ship is the Explorer of the Seas by Royal Carribean.
At the end of our little walking tour we ran into my friends from last night. Mom said she was ready for a nap so I hung out with them for a bit. We had some lunch and wandered around for a while before splitting up, they were in need of a nap, not feeling so hot after last night haha. I decided to head to the nearby Irish Bar, called the Crown and Kettle, to grab a drink and do some writing. I think that will be a new favourite spot for me :) It's relaxed, laid back, and they have Bloody Mary's that are covered within my drinks package, every where else they're considered premium and cost extra. One of the bartenders told me he'd even be able to make me a Caesar if they have Clamato in the back. I'll be asking him for that for sure!
After blogging I went up to the pool deck to watch the sun set! It was pretty beautiful. Because my good phone isn't working properly I don't get the best photos anymore but I sure tried to capture it as best as I can! I went back to the room and got ready for dinner, tonight is formal night and Mom and I are going to head to the dining room for dinner. Thankfully she brought me a nice dress. I think we looked pretty great! Will have to get a photo next time haha. Dinner was superb, we were seated with another couple and they ordered a few appetizers each so of course we followed suit and ended up with way too much delicious food. Mmmmmmm cruise food is delicious!!
After dinner we went to a show at the theatre, there were a number of different performers and they did a few different dance acts. It was pretty cool I suppose but I definitely started to fall asleep... Oops! Following the show Mom went to bed and I went out searching for my friends. Didn't find them but did make some new friends :) We had a great time together and I'm sure that I'll be seeing them again as well. These friends are two couples, not traveling together, that are very laid back and fun to be around. Looking to be a good cruise!Læs mere