Crossing the Pacific Ocean

After leaving Japan, we were going to cross the Pacific Ocean and the International Date Line. This was our 10+ cruise, but this was our first time crossing an ocean. Our biggest challenges were the storm and the time change.

Right after we left Japan, I went to the spa. I was ok and I told the spa attendant that I would come back again at night. The captain also told us through broadcasting that there would be a storm and our cruise would go slower to avoid going into the storm. However, as we were following the storm, the ride would be more bumpy and the ship would be unstable.

At dinner, while we were waiting for our table, Symeon played with me; poking me and bugging me while the cruise ship was not steady. I then had motion sickness at the dinner table. The waiters in the dinning room were so nice. They knew that I didn’t feel well, and they kept giving me apple, crackers and lemon tea. I felt better at the dinning table and finished my meal. However, I was not able to go to the spa and have to lie down on the bed after dinner. I kept eating ginger candy (I brought some from home and I bought a big bag at the Hong Kong airport). I didn’t have any stomach problem after eating a great amount of ginger candy, but I could still feel the wave at sea and it became more and more severe. The only way I could deal with it was to sleep through it. Paul and Symeon still did their normal activities that night, but Paul told me the pools were like wave pool that night (but that was not the worst night yet!)

Our first of the five sea day, I skipped lunch while the boys went for lunch as usual. They got me some hot lemon tea after they came back for lunch. Paul and I ate the cake and the fruit we bought in Japan in the room while Symeon still went out and play.

Paul fell asleep before we finished the fruit. I took a nap after eating and the ship was wobbling hard.

After I woke up, Paul told me that he didn’t feel well and Symeon was sleeping on the couch. Paul was determined to skip dinner, so Symeon and I went to dinning room to eat.

At the dinning room, the hostess suggested us a table by the window. The dinning room was not busy at all; it was half emptied, as many people got seasick that night. The hostess told me that we would be able to see the sea at the window table but it will be a little bumpy. I took the table and started ordering. We ate our first course and Symeon began to have motion sickness. He then closed his eyes and lie down on the table. I asked him to go back to the cabin but he said “No.” I gave him a plastic bag “just in case”. After 5 minutes, he puked, not inside the plastic bag but on the plastic bag. It meant he puked all over our table. He had to go back to the cabin, shower and change.

Our server was so good. He brought the food that Symeon didn’t eat with 2 apples to our cabin. I stayed in the dinning, but everyone sat in our area left. The area was very rocky and I was the only one sat at that area.

After dinner, I went back to our cabin and I got a phone call from the medical centre. The nurse told me that the dinning room told them that my son was having motion sickness and she wanted to give him some medicine. I then went to the medical centre to pick up medicine for both Symeon and Paul. Their service was awesome!

After taking medicine, we all went to bed early. The wind and the wave were so strong that the furniture in the balcony kept moving and making banging sound all night long. This is the only night that I skipped going to the spa. Later, we found out from the other passenger that the captain changed his strategy and decided to drive through the storm instead of following it; we were too dizzy to hear the announcement.

Symeon felt better the other day after we woke up at noon. He was so hungry and he went to Lido market for buffet himself. Paul was so sick that he couldn’t get up for bed. I wanted to lie down and I wanted to stay in bed too. The boat was rocking too much, although I didn’t have seasick at the moment, I didn’t feel like it too. I closed my eyes and lied on the bed and I could feel our boat was coming across a high wave, then many items, bottles, charging station, etc, fell off the desk. I quickly went to the desk to make sure nothing was broken. Symeon’s charging station fell off to the ground too. Later, we couldn’t find Symeon’s AirPods and it probably went into the garbage can when the charging station drops.

Paul had been sleeping for 30 hours and he only got up for apples and washroom. I told him that he had to get up for dinner that night. Our stewards had to clean up the room and it was not healthy to stuck in our small cabin for too long. Paul agreed. Then he took a shower and I changed into a dress because I think we were going to eat at the main dining room as it is located in a lower floor. It should be less rocky downstairs. However, after shower Paul told me he would like buffet instead. As we were going upstairs and it was a wavy night, I put on a legging under my dress.

Upstairs at the Lido market was busy tonight. We shared a table with our friends, Petra and Skyler who we met onboard. Petra told us that the wave last night was 6 meters high and if the captain chose to go from the other side, the wave will be 20 meters high. Skyler also said the whole minibar from his room fell and one of the bottle of water broke. I felt smart that I asked my steward to take away the fragile item from the minibar on the first time we came onboard. When we were still having dinner, Petra and Skyler went down for a music show. Paul looked ok and his appetite came back.

While Paul sat alone at the table, I went to get dessert. I picked 2 kinds of dessert and both of my hands were occupied. Suddenly, a big wave came and I heard many items fell off. Some seniors were losing balance too. I saw a big tray of used dishes was going to fall and I am nearby it. I tried to use my feet to hold it from falling, but a serve moved towards me quickly and stopped the tray from falling. After I went back to my table, all the drink at our table disappeared as they all fell down to the ground. Our steward also told us that his other guest had dinner at a specialty restaurant had all the food, wine and drink fell all over on him and he had to go back to the cabin and change. We also heard that 300 plates were broken through this storm.

Besides the storm, time change was also a pain for us. In this cruise, we need to put the clock forward for 8 hours. In the 5 consecutive sea days, we had to adjust the clock forward for 7 times included one time had to move the clock back for 23 hours (- a day and + an hour, so we had two May 3 on this cruise) when we cross the International Date Line. We were like moving an hour or 2 forward each day for 6 days in a row. The first couple days were ok, but later, as more time forward, it really affected our sleep cycle!Read more