Western Samoa & beyond

Greetings & Happy Thanksgiving - 

We left Samoa about 5 days ago and have been enjoying our sea days-more about that later...

Western Samoa appeared to be a beautiful island however we arrived in their rainy season so it rained from the time we got there till just about when we left.... but like B says, "only 1 rainy port out of 24 ain't bad"...  We have had really nice weather so tolerating Samoan climate was tolerable.  We docked about 4 miles from the town but you could see it from the ship as it was like a peninsula. B & I grabbed a cab and went into the downtown area-shopping of course.  Things were pretty expensive as far as dry goods went - I did buy a dragon t-shirt and paid $12 for it which seemed high after my $3 Cambodian shirt...lol!  We were getting drenched so after touring the market, we grabbed a cab and headed back to the ship.  There was also a market set up at port so I checked out stuff there.  B gave me Samoan money and told me I had to spend it - geewhiz...let me see what I can do...lol!  Bought some little gifts for friends-maybe even one of my readers here...hehe

The weather the last 5 days has not been terribly sunny but I have heard it is better than half the US.  I have been trying to get a bit of sun so I look like I have been on a cruise...  B is winning a bit in the casino on the slots and I chopped a poker tourney the other day...  I have also been playing this crazy BlackJack Fun 21 game with these 2 crazy boys-we applaud loudly when we get bj and pairs and they do a "game genie" dance before every cut after the shuffle.  I think I am probably down money-wise, but we have so much fun I don't mind.  I will miss them when the trip is over...  My trivia team is doing well and we got a PERFECT 16-all the answers right yesterday!!!! Ii would like to do this one more time before we are done...

Tonight we are having Thanksgiving with a large group of friends-10 and we will enjoy, laugh, drink and eat lots of turkey.  I will try not to think about next Thursday and NOT being aboard ship anymore... <sniff>  And ALL the packing that has to be done before then...lol!  Before then, we arrive in Hawaii tomorrow and I am shopping (of course) while B is going zip tripping...  If I find an internet I will post some photos, so check back later...

Hope you all had a great turkey day - be seeing some of you  real soon...

Fiji

Bula Bula - that is hello and good-bye in Fiji...  Two days ago we were in New Caledonia which was a new island/country for us.  We rode the hop-on/hop-off bus, but we never hopped off...lol!  The island was pretty and the beaches looked ok but we just toured it then checked out the shops...  Oh, did I mention this was a French territory?  So although the people were nice enough the place was outrageously expensive!  They wanted over $40 for cotton mumus and almost $15 for a small round of brie cheese!  And butter was almost $7/lb.  The best "souvenir" was a loaf of french bread ($1.10) and we took it to dinner that night... lol!  Our trivia team has been doing a bit better lately and we actually won yesterday...  We got 14 out of 16 correct!  It was formal night last night - I had plans for wearing tropical tourquiose, but the weather was crummy so no sunning was possible...  We wore lime green instead:

I won a bit in the casino yesterday and so did B...  I was playing blackjack and got a pair of eights which I split.  I got another eight, split and then another eight!!  The dealer busted so I won all four hands!!!  $80!
Today we are in Fiji and we have been here before...  It is a busy city of Suva much like any city except the clerks wear floral prints and strange attire... 

  Fiji is much cheaper than the French island as the exchange rate is $1=1.75...  The people are friendly but a bit pushy in the markets - the won't let you look without following you around...  In the regular stores too but you can politely ask them to go away and they will...  Tommorow we cross the equator again so we have the same day twice...  We will get a change to do Saturday all over again - our own private Ground Hog Day...lol  So we will be in Somoa in two days...see you then

Sydney - No Worries...

G'Day again from Sydney.  We are thoroughly enjoying our stay down-under.  Went to the Star Casino and played a bit of poker.  Minimum buy-in was $80 and I played $1-$2 but I only won one hand...  This casino charges $5/person/hour to play poker and they deal the cards from a shoe...  All the players are called runners & if you win a pot you are not allowed to tip the dealer...  The most amazing thing was I sat down at the table and checked out the players and one guy looked really familiar.  Turns out he was on a poker cruise with me last year and lives in Sydney - talk about small world...
We ate dinner last night on shore at a German bier-garten and had a very enjoyable time.  One of our waiters looked a lot like Fargo from the sci-fi show Eureka...lol!  We were pretty tired after dinner so went back to the room, read some and off to beddy-bye land...
Woke up early (for me: 845am) and went to breakfast for only the second time on this cruise....lol!  After our meal we hooked up with some friends and told them about the great market we were heading to.  Brian ended up "leading" the tour with 3 other couples to Paddy Market...  I bought all kinds of goodies/xmas gifts and had a great time spending money....lol!  As this computer does not have a card reader you will have to wait for photos on our next stop.  Hope this finds you all well - oh and PTL! Jess finally wrote!  LOL!!!  hugs to all

Short: Brisbane

G'day Mates

Picking up where we left off, the ship had a great poolside BBQ the night we were in Cairns.  We ate grilled lambchops, ribs, drunk chickens and whole pig.  It was delicious...  We went to the night market and explored a bit.  It was fun but not a great market... 

The next day was a sea day and I was VERY lazy:  slept till 1130am, went to trivia; slept out by the pool went to 3pm trivia; played a bit of poker, walked a mile and napped before dinner...guess I was tired...  We are working so hard on our vacation...LOL!  Like Jess' sign says, "it's great to do nothing, then rest afterwards..."

Today we are in Brisbane strolling the shops promenade, using the internet with plans to take the ferry later for a bite to eat on the South Bank, then back to play at the Treasury Casino.  We have spent several days before in Brisbane and we like this city.  There is an animal sanctuary nearby where we held a koala and fed the roos on our last trip.  We leave late tonight and have a day at sea before arriving in Sydney...  Will touch base again there...

Cairns

Greetings blog followers:

We are in Cairns today having spent the last 2 days in the Great Barrier Reef seas.  Unfortunately the weather was VERY crummy and the viewing was terrible...  It was gray and rainy and late today is the first we have seen sunshine - but we decided not to fight the weather and canceled our snorkel trip in the Reef.  It is possible that it turned out ok but I was afraid of being on a catamaran for 7 hours and not being able to enjoy the sun...  We will just have to come back to this area as it is beautiful and we still need to see the GB Reef...  

In Darwin the ship picked up some new passengers that were just on for a test run.  They are Aussy travel agents and are a great group.  We hung out with them at several events and closed the bar with them last night in the Piano Lounge.  It was their last night on board so we joined them in the sing-along.  It was such great fun and they are a terrific bunch!  You know we were having a blast when Brian stays up past midnight still partying!!  LOL!  One of the agents was Jess' age and her name is Samantha - we suggested she consider Jess for a possible boyfriend...  So now you have your pick JD: a Russian, a Chinese or an Aussy girl...LOL!  She lives in Perth and may contact you on FB J...

Sam & Brian

Here are a few other pics from the sing-along last night:

Brian with the Aussys: Paul, (Ryan) Sam, Sue, KIM!, Jill, Shane and Julie

Shane leads us in Hey Jude while Striker plays the piano

So today instead of snorkeling we played tourists and rode the cable car over the rain forest up the the quaint town of Kuranda...  It was about an hour cable car ride and was very enjoyable.  The town is filled with shops and eateries and we enjoyed strolling down the esplanade...  We took a van back because the train ride was almost 2 hours long and we wanted some time in Cairns...  So we are using a local internet now - we plan to relax a bit and then head out to the night market to explore...  There is an Aussy BBQ poolside tonight on the ship so we will probably eat there..  We have at day a sea then we are in Brisbane...  see you then

Indonesia & Beyond

Today is Thursday and we are in Darwin, Australia.  We left Semarang, Indonesia two days ago.  It was an interesting port but we did not do much picture taking.  There was a shuttle from the ship to the downtown area.  We got off the bus and headed into a local mall.  On the third floor was a shop with Indonesian style fabrics (batiks) and clothes.  We asked if they had a shirt to fit B and the clerks just laughed...LOL!  We did buy a couple of gorgeous silk batiks and the price was amazingly cheap.
That evening was Halloween and we dressed up as Egyptian noveau-rich...  Lots of folks were eager to see our costumes so we debuted them in the casino...  We had our picture taken often by other passengers and had a grand time parading around.  After dinner there was a TERRIFIC Halloween party upstairs in the Crow's Nest.  We danced, did a conga line, entered the couples costume contest (which we lost-again...) and had a great time.  Over 200 people attended and the party went on past midnight - which is pretty astounding as most of these old folks go to bed by 10pm - the ship is "closed" usually by 11pm.  LOL!  On the dance floor one of the crew was dancing doing Yoga's tree pose - I started copying him and we danced for about 10 minutes and the folks cleared the dance floor rooting us on...  The party was a total blast!!!!!!!

The Sheik & his subjects: The Cruise Staff-Katie, Brook & Kristin

Yesterday was a sea day and our 33rd wedding anniversary.  We played sports, swam in the pool and drank a bottle of wine at dinner that the Casino sprang for.  It was a Riesling, so was pretty good...

Today in Darwin I had my legs waxed and got a haircut.  Brian has been to the grocery store and now we are here at the internet...  We have a couple of days at sea anchoring around the Great Barrier Reef before we make port in Cairns.  There we have our only other tour booked as we will snorkel the Reef - should be amazing even tho the water will be cold.... 
Hope this finds you all well - would be great to hear from some of you - especially JD!  blessings....