January 16, 2023

I tried to publish yesterday but had some challenges.

Barbara and Nace, some of our new friends at the naughty table, were celebrating the anniversary of their engagement about 9 years ago. Our friend Tushar, the Pastry Chef, presented them with a special dessert. We shared! Tushar is famous for the German Chocolate Cake story.

We are sailing towards Bora Bora but will be at sea for 5 days.

January 16, 2023

Sailing away from Honolulu.

January 16, 2023

After 6 days at sea, we docked in Hawaii. That was yesterday January 15th. We took an excursion to Pearl Harbor as did almost everyone on the ship. Actually, there was a much larger Carnival ship in port at the same time. Pearl Harbor was jammed with people. And it has changed dramatically from the first time we were there together. The National Park Service runs it. The US Navy used to have some control. I suppose it got too big for them. Now it is very much commercial. Progress. Not!

Still the respect is for the sailors who lost their lives especially on the Arizona.

Back on the ship we went for a late lunch. We shared a hotdog and onion rings. A hotdog at Pearl Harbor was $8. It was free on the ship.

In the evening we returned to the naughty table as usual and were joined by some friends. Mike and Michelle are from Canada (Mike is French Canadian). When I first met Mike, he switched to French, and I responded correctly in French. Amazing! And Barbara and Nace from California. Nace was a judge. Barbara is into music.

At Sea again

We had a couple busy days. Then we had some stormy days. California has had some horrible weather and our ship has dropped a stop at Santa Barbara. Instead, we sailed sort of southwest. Strange way to get to Hawaii. Better than getting stuck in a storm.

On January 8, 2023 we had the naming ceremony for our new Viking ship, Neptune. It was hosted by the Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen from Norway.

After the formal speeches the ship’s Godmother, American Astronaut Nicole Stott, chopped the ribbon holding the bottle of Aquavit to hopefully smash against the bow of the ship.

But it didn’t quite work.

It did crash hard but didn’t break.

The sunset was beautiful.

One fun part of the ceremony was the ladies dressed in the fancy Norwegian clothes used as a decoration on our deck.

The next morning, I watched the crew redress the manikins.

January 5, 2023

Somehow, I couldn’t publish yesterday. Probably poor internet connection.

We tendered into Cabo. We saw seals and pelicans while entering the dock area.

Our excursion took us to the Mission Church in the neighboring town. No big deal!

But the area is noted for a natural rock formation.

And somehow they build resorts fast enough. They are huge and everywhere.

I tried to publish yesterday but couldn’t.

Another day at sea.

Late yesterday we went to a lecture about the whales, dolphins and birds of the Pacific. Since the ship has been followed by many birds that was the most interesting. There are several varieties of Booby Birds. They are most interesting because they feed on Flying fish. I tried to take photos of the birds but failed to get a strong focus in the clouds. I didn’t even try to photo the flying fish. They are very random when the fly, they are small and fast. But we saw many!

I found both photos on the web. But they are real!!

The best part of lunch was the pistachio tarte.

The naughty table is growing and getting strong.

Roger, Joyce, Larry and Sue. Kathy is sitting next to them.

At Sea

Not much happened today. We did end last night with a realy good piano concert

Yesterday the crew worked so hard that they deserved a low-key day. Some of the decorations remained from New Years. Like the watermelon.

I did have lobster pasta for lunch.

And a BBQ’d beef rib and mac n cheese for dinner.

Then another great sunset.

There may be more wild moments today, but mothing will top breakfast.

As soon as Kathy and I went to our table (the naughty table) the Pastry Chef found us. This time we were at the correct table. He complained yesterday that we weren’t at the right table.

He hand delivered 2 plates of German Chocolate cake. With a big smile I might add!

This was a very special brunch day on the ship in the Cafe. The dessert table for the brunch was the highlight.

There were also special drinks.

A couple days ago Rika, our young lady server, talked with us about cooking. So, I told her about my cookbook. She was impressed. So today I gave her a jump drive with copies of the entire cookbook. I did tell her not to print the entire book since it is over 800 pages.

There are other interesting events planned for the day since we are at sea all day. But breakfast was very special.

December 31, 2022, in Costa Rica

Last night we had a dramatic sunset. I had to include this just for fun!

Being a holiday the beaches near where the ship docked were crowded with families.

After a 2 hour bus ride we had a walk through the jungle. Fortunately, we wore our hiking boots. The path was rocky, muddy, and very hilly. But it was full of interest. Many of my photos just didn’t focus very well. Most did. So, what did we see while walking through the jungle?

Birds

Flowers

Including orchids. Most weren’t in bloom, but some were.

We were told this is a spider orchid.

Supposedly there are many animals in the jungle but we saw very few.

A lizard with good camouflage. We saw some butterflies. My photos were terrible. The background on the photos show dense foulage. Looking up showed the “umbrella” over the jungle. The canopy!