Dawn Princess World Cruise 2010 - Tuesday August 31

Day 101 Auckland New Zealand
We woke this morning to 10 degrees Celsius, but, you guessed it: the Dawn Princess had chased the rain away. We did the ship tour to Underwater World today. This is truly amazing. It was built in the old Auckland sewers and was the brain child of Kelly Tarlton. Here, we saw a replica of Scott’s hut in Antarctica. I never realized that they carted such things as the old Singer sewing machine, a piano and a record player across the ice to use in their hut. We had a ride in a snow cat where we saw the Emperor penguins. They have 80 penguins living in the artificial snow section. They play with Frisbees and balls and spend much of their time out of the water, preening themselves. This is done to put oil into their feathers to stop them feeling the cold. We were able to see the penguins swimming under water using the same wing motion as birds use to fly. There were the usual sharks, stingrays, brightly coloured tropical fish and also sea horses, which were rather cute. We were taken to a memorial to Michael Joseph Savage who was a Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand. He died in 1940 and did much during his time as Prime Minister to help the Maori people. He was much loved and the beautiful memorial to him bears witness to this. Later, we went to Skytower, which is 328 metres high. We were able to see many Auckland sights from here, including the dormant volcanoes, Mt. Eden and Mt Rainatonga. After the tour, we went shopping for cartons to post our excess luggage home, and then walked back to the ship. Auckland is a most attractive city and with only 1 million people it is not too busy. Tonight we set sail for Sydney. (Barbara) Back on board we saw a Maori dance exhibition which was excellent. Perhaps a little too much patter. (Bill)

Dawn Princess World Cruise 2010 - Monday August 30

Day 100 Into rough seas
Captain Todd McBain gave us warning of what was to come – a 4 metre swell directly into the path of the ship as we approached New Zealand. This caused the ship to pitch significantly and the bow wave splashed continuously across our window on deck 6. The choir gathered in the vista lounge for their one and only performance of international songs. The stage was not still. As we launched into “Give me a home among the gum trees . . . and an old rocking chair”, the ship lurched violently to the side taking the choir with it. Everyone just managed to keep their feet and their note. The timing was impeccable. Apparently, on an earlier cruise during an Easter church service, as the Gospel reader recited “And Jesus was nailed to the Cross . .” , the PA came on with request “Ship’s carpenters required for maintenance on deck 9!” We sang to a packed house who seemed to enjoy listening as much as the choir enjoyed singing. The Captain attended the performance and spent over an hour afterwards chatting to the choir members and the rest of the audience. This evening during dinner, we did a short reprise for the waiters from the Philippines with one of their well known songs which had been included in the recital. There was a parade of the chefs tonight during dinner in recognition of all their hard work during our cruise. We were served with another delicious Bomb Alaska. We also had a short party tonight for the dance participants and received a certificate recognizing the dances we have been taught (but not necessarily learned) during the cruise. (Bill)

Dawn Princess World Cruise 2010 - Sunday August 29

Day 99 Latitude Brisbane approaching Auckland
The captain told us to expect 4 metre waves today, but we have been blessed with the absolute best in weather for the whole trip, so we woke this morning to a sea that looked like a mill pond. It was great weather to lie on deck with a book and soak in the 25 degree sunshine. We have heard from people in Auckland who are following this blog that the weather there is most foul. If the weather we have been experiencing continues, the Dawn Princess will bring great weather to Auckland. We were told the monsoon season had started in India but we had no rain while we were there. We were told to expect rain in New York, but there was only a small shower hat lasted for a short time. I did not even notice it as I was in the theatre when it rained. We were told it was going to rain in Tahiti and again in Moorea and also in Samoa, but sunshine prevailed in all of these places. We hope the pattern continues in New Zealand. We had a big dance day today. At our normal classes we did a review of the dances we had learnt and then we went to the first Afternoon Tea Dance of the cruise. Waiters in tuxedos and wearing white gloves served afternoon tea in the Vista Lounge. The afternoon tea was presented for our selection on large platters, which were brought to our small tables for two. While this was happening, the orchestra played and we danced. This was Alana’s brain child and she said that if it was a success we would do it again. Judging by the numbers who attended and the people who actually danced, I would say that it was a huge success. The band said that they enjoyed playing when so many people danced. Tonight, we had the Captain’s farewell cocktail party. All of us who did the world cruise received a commemorative plaque. We had a formal farewell dinner with so many courses but I could barely manage three because of the afternoon tea. Again lobster was a choice as was caviar. Bill had the caviar and said it was the best entrée he had eaten all trip. He had the symphony of mousses for dessert. This came on a plate that was decorated in chocolate with the treble clef and the lines of music. The staff had gone to more trouble than usual to make this night special, and that is saying something. The ten people at our table took photos of each other and exchanged addresses. We had the most wonderful dinner companions for the whole trip. Some tables did not seem to gel and the people did not turn up, so some tables for ten only had two or four people at them. As our American friends from the South who joined our table when they boarded in L.A. told us, “We were told by some people at the table next to us that they had lucked out when they were assigned to our table.” There is always great talk, but maybe we get a bit loud. Earlier we had a single lady at our table but she asked to be put on a table with some single men. After she was moved, she used to come back to our table because she said she enjoyed the conversation with us. She was disappointed when the Americans were put on the table in L.A. and she could no longer come back. As we entered the dining room tonight, we were each given a menu, tied with ribbon like a diploma, to take home. We will have to buy some boxes in N.Z. to post home about 40 kilograms of goods as we will be too overweight for the plane. The main problem is our Turkish Carpet. We joined with our other four trivia partners tonight for the Spooky Entertainment Quiz, but we bombed out on the section on books as none of us was into reading horror novels. Also, tonight, we enjoyed going to the Beatles Tribute Showtime. They did the same show that they did earlier in the cruise, but we enjoyed it just the same. People were up singing along with them and dancing in the aisles. (Barbara)

Dawn Princess World Cruise 2010 - Friday August 27

Day 98 Passing Tonga on the way to New Zealand
There is a feeling that the cruise is coming to an end with 300 of the New Zealanders getting off in Auckland. Today, we gave a presentation to Alana at dancing class. She is just the best dancing teacher and also such a lovely, lovely person who gives more than is expected. Today, she taught us the tango. I really like this dance. We had a photo taken of all on board who had been on for the whole world cruise (about 1000 people). The Beatles group boarded the ship again in Pago Pago. We met aka Paul when we were going to breakfast this morning. Because we cross the international date line today he said that yesterday he rang his family in England where it was tomorrow for them, but that tomorrow he will ring them when it will be yesterday for them. That is one way to look at the fact that we lose a day. What a pity if you have a birthday or anniversary on the 28th August. (Paul Healy!) Tonight we put our clocks one whole day forward and one hour back. What this means is that we are now 2 hours ahead of Melbourne. (Barbara) A little note went on our pillow with information about the time and day change tonight. Our choir had a group photo today and only one more rehearsal remains before our performance. The Captain has been invited and he has accepted. We will be doing one song from each of the many different countries we have visited. Our chocolate count for the cruise is 104 × 2 = 208 chocolates left on our pillows. See photo. Joke for the day: Three sailors go into a bar and order a glass of beer each. There is a fly in each beer. The recreational sailor demands a new beer from the bartender. The new navy recruit picks the fly out of the beer. The old salt picks up the fly by the wings, squeezes it and shouts: “ Spit it out! Spit it out!” Is this funny when it is written down? (Bill)

Dawn Princess World Cruise 2010 - Thursday August 26

Day 97 Pago Pago American Samoa
We spent today in Pago Pago in American Samoa. This is about an eight-hour ferry ride from Western Samoa. Pago Pago is on the island of Tutuila, which is of volcanic origin. Tutuila’s jungle clad mountains rise abruptly from the sea and fjord like bays cut deeply into narrow valleys. This morning we did a ship-organized tour of the island. We were forewarned that the buses were not up to the standard of buses we had used in other ports but that they were the best on the island. Our bus was brightly painted and decorated with fresh flowers, but it lacked a starter motor in working order. This meant that after each stop, two very large Samoans had to push the bus and the thirty passengers until the engine kicked over. I must say after many days of enjoying the Princess Dawn food, most passengers were not of the lighter weight variety. We were taken to see the Flower Pot, which is two rocks with plants growing out of the top. Legend has it that the front one of these rocks is the female and the back one is the male. Our two guides were college students who both wanted to be teachers when they finished their schooling. One of them tested his teacher skills on the passengers of our bus by deciding to teach us about two hundred Samoan words in the space of a few hours. He would say a word in Samoan and then say now repeat it after me. It was quite hilarious. Maybe I might have remembered one or two words, but not the number our guide tried to get us to remember. The other guide who looked male to me was referred to as “she” all the time by the number one guide. He or she was born in Tahiti. The third son in Tahiti is brought up as a girl. It is just part of their culture. I have never seen so many churches as there were in Samoa. There were two or three of every religion that I have ever heard of and then some that I have never heard of as well. There was also a great proliferation of places to have sewing done. Evidently, you can choose material and have it made up in a day into whatever you want. We were taken to the area where the first missionaries landed on the island. Around this area we saw evidence of the tsunami that affected this island last year. The Samoans have large families - one of our guides was one of nine children and the other was one of seven children. They live together in an extended family group with several of these groups living in a small village. A chief is elected as the leader of the group and a large central house or “fare” is set in the centre as the place to entertain visitors or for large gatherings on festive occasions. These “fares” are large but have no walls, just a roof and poles to hold the roof up. The more basic housing in the smaller villages were also without walls. You could see people inside watching T.V., resting, washing and cooking. However, in the larger villages and towns, the houses were much more sophisticated. Around the beautifully manicured golf course, the homes were most elegant. There are no public cemeteries for the Samoans as they bury their loved ones alongside their houses and decorate them with flowers. I saw one child playing around the grave beside her home. We also went to a Samoan village where we were shown how the Samoans use the native plants to make many of the necessities of life. The leaves from the pandanus trees are used to weave floor mats, baskets, fans and hats. The seeds are strung together to make a necklace, which is worn by the chiefs. They grow the coco plant and make a very rich chocolate cocoa from the seeds, which they cook and then crush. The United States, looking for a coaling port, took over the islands in 1900. The Americans were stationed on the island during World War II but left soon after the war ended. Today it is an unincorporated territory of the United States. The inhabitants are U.S. nationals but not citizens, which means they cannot vote for the U.S. president. The governor is elected every four years and the judiciary is run along American traditions. Land on the island can only be owned by fully-fledged Samoans. When we returned from the tour, Bill and I went for a walk up a very steep hill where we saw many of the children just returning from school They were very friendly and all wanted to say “hello.” We were also greeted by many barking dogs who all wanted to defend their territory. Tonight, we had dinner in our room and watched the 3.5 hour epic, “Gone With The Wind” (Barbara) I continued the film festival with “The Apartment” starring a very young Jack Lemmon and a pixie starlet called Shirley MacLaine. I have been running short on Internet time but have been saved by friends who have not used their free internet time so now I have lots to play with. The blog can continue! (Bill)