Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

December 14th, 2018

Friday – December 14, 2018   Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Our Cruise Director, Jorge, announced that the forward deck would be open as the ship cruised into Honolulu Harbor allowing passengers to see the sunrise over Diamond Head.  So we set our alarms for 5:30 and were out on the bow by 6:30.  Unfortunately, the Amsterdam had crept into the harbor in darkness and was tied up at the dock by the time we got there.  While we waited for the sun, we looked out at the midnight-blue sky and the city lights.

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We watched the stars gradually dim and the sky brightened:

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When we began this Pacific adventure in September, our first port of call was Honolulu.  We had walked around and explored the city and Waikiki Beach.  Now that we were back in Honolulu, we wanted to see more of the island of Oahu so we went on an excursion that took us out of the city and drove around the island.  The first stop was Byodo-in Temple:

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Visitors are invited to ring the Sacred Bell before entering the temple.  “The unique tones of the bell clears the mind of negativity, imparts deep peace and brings happiness, blessings and a long life.”  We took turns ringing the bell.

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Byodo-In Temple is a replica of a thousand year old Japanese temple.  This one was built in 1968 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. Byodo-In Temple houses the Amida statue – the Buddha of Western Paradise.

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After the temple, we drove to a shop to taste Kona coffee and macadamia nuts:

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On the way to lunch, we passed several beaches and gorgeous lookouts.  Kualoa Park:

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Sunset Beach: surfing finals are held here:

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We stopped for lunch at Tsue’s Farm in Haleiwa. They also rent kayaks and paddle boards by the hour.

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We had delicious fresh “garlic & butter shrimp with white rice.”  The shrimp were cooked to perfection BUT not peeled!  So it was a sticky messy hands-on operation!  But DELICIOUS!

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We ate outdoors at picnic tables and fortunately Tsue’s provided outdoor sinks to wash our hands after a messy lunch.  Then we had “Shave Ice” for lunch.  I love the Christmas decorations and snow flakes on the Shave Ice stand!!

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I missed having Shave Ice the last time we were in Hawaii, so this was a real treat!!  I had coconut, pineapple, & root beer flavors on shave ice.  Dee-lish!  Jeff had coconut, pineapple & lime.   I highly recommend Shave Ice.  Very refreshing on a hot day.

Our last stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation which is really a tourist shop than sells pineapple souvenirs and pineapple ice cream.  The major pineapple growers moved to Thailand several years ago because of cheaper labor costs.  There are very few pineapple fields left in Hawaii.

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Our driver/guide Keith drove us back to Honolulu some time in the afternoon.  We had a very pleasant time seeing the island of Oahu.  The Amsterdam was scheduled to stay in port until 11:00 tonight, so we had plenty of time to enjoy Honolulu.  We took a taxi to Waikiki Beach to watch the sunset and have dinner.

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People were still swimming in calm waters and one young man practiced surfing on small waves.

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We walked out to the end of a concrete jetty to look around.  Diamond Head is an extinct volcano and provides a good background for photos.

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We had dinner in a Tiki bar/restaurant which our taxi driver recommended, overlooking the beach.

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Later back on the ship, we saw a performance of Hawaiian singers and dancers.  Great Fun!!

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Five Days at Sea in the South Pacific

December 13th, 2018

Thursday – December 13, 2018

The M.S. Amsterdam sailed away from Pago Pago, American Samoa as the sun set over the mountains.  I watched as the assisting tugboat tooted a few farewell blasts on its horn and then returned to the safety of the harbor.  Our cruise ship continued out into the open waters of the South Pacific Ocean.  In five days we would reach our next port of Honolulu, Hawaii.  So we hunkered down and kept busy and relaxed and were entertained for five whole days and nights at sea.

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A team of Hawaiian cultural ambassadors were on board to teach us about Hawaiian traditions.  We had lessons on how to tie a pareo/sarong for men and women:

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They’re very popular and worn everywhere.  Also a pareo is quite practical.

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Captain Fred Eversen gave an interesting and informative talk about the ship and what makes it work safely and efficiently.  He’s been captain of the Amsterdam since 2008.

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There were lectures about the history of the South Pacific and where and how the people arrived on the islands.  We also heard about the English explorer Captain Cook and the other European voyagers who claimed the islands for their respective countries.

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We had a Hawaiian language class.  This is “Merry Christmas.”  Mele Kalikimaka!!

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And there’s the ever-present Pacific Ocean:

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King Neptune came on board when we crossed the Equator and presided over the ceremony of the first crossing of the “pollywogs.”  The “pollywogs” had to ‘kiss the fish’ and be “slimed” before being pushed into the “drink.”

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Later that day, King Neptune, aka Jorge Alvarez – Cruise Director, led our Trivia Game:

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We kept track of the days with the daily changing carpet in the elevators:

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One day the kitchen staff poured out bags of fresh coconuts.  Two strong young men chopped off the top of the coconuts with big machetes.  Another man put in a straw and we drank cool refreshing coconut milk.  What fun!

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There were different movies every day and many activities which we weren’t interested in (games, arts & crafts, etc) and good entertainment every night.

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I took this photo from our 6th floor balcony on a particularly rough day as the ship rolled onto a wave:

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There were also calm mornings to enjoy a leisurely breakfast:

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Two December 8ths/Crossing the International Date Line

December 8th, 2018

The First Saturday –  December 8, 2018 – Apia, Western Samoa

Apia, the capital of Samoa, is on the western side of the International Date Line so when we cross the imaginary line tonight, we’ll have another December 8th.  The Amsterdam was at the dock early in the morning and passengers were getting off by eight o’clock.  Jeff and I commented that we still felt the ship rolling although it was tied to the pier.

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Half an hour later, Captain Eversen’s voice came over the ship’s loudspeaker telling us that a strong wind was pushing the ship off the dock.  For safety reasons, he said the ship had to leave the pier immediately.  There were about fifty passengers still on land and tenders would pick them up and bring them to the ship.  We watched from the balcony as the ship’s thrusters were engaged and the ship slowly moved sideways.

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The Amsterdam crept away from the dock and motored into the bay and then we sat there all morning waiting for marooned passengers.  We learned later that two of the lines on the dock had snapped before we pulled away.

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As the ship waited in the harbor, I went on the top deck and took a few pictures of Apia.  I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t explore Apia, but relieved that we weren’t stranded on the island.

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After several hours, a tugboat appeared and guided the ship out through the narrow inlet.  It wasn’t a deep water port like Pago Pago and the reef was very close to the channel.  Captain Eversen said we would take a “scenic route” around the big Samoan island and arrive at Pago Pago, American Samoa early “tomorrow” – our second December 8th.

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The weather was hot and sticky and very windy; rain clouds gathered on the horizon all day.  Later there was a heavy tropical downpour.

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The Second Saturday – December 8, 2018  Pago Pago, American Samoa

By early morning the Amsterdam arrived in the capital city.  By the way, it’s pronounced “Pango Pango.”  The dock was lined with shipping containers and looked a lot like the last two ports.  Jeff went ashore in Pago Pago to do a little shopping.  He got back to the ship just in time to avoid a torrential downpour.

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Polynesian men wear wrap “skirts” of different fabrics and colorful patterns.  The ’skirt’ was part of the uniform on the security guard in the photo below.

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The dining rooms and Lido Buffet were decorated with red, white, and blue lights and streamers because American Samoa was the first American port we entered.  It looked like a Fourth of July celebration.

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We left Pago Pago harbor in the evening as the sun set and rain clouds swept over the hills.  The port of Pago Pago is a very well protected deep water harbor.

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Having two December eights was weird, but might be fun if it was your birthday and you could have two birthdays!  The ship cruised out into the vast South Pacific Ocean.  We had five sea days ahead of us to reach the Hawaiian Islands.  So we hunkered down and hoped for calm seas and lots of shipboard activities.

Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji

December 6th, 2018

Thursday – December 6, 2018

“Bula! Bula!” Means “Hello” in Fijian.  The full greeting is “Bula, Venaka!” Literally “Hello, Thank you” but serves as a warm welcome.

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Here’s the view of Suva, Fiji from our balcony. It looked like more like a commercial port, not the tropical paradise that the word “Fiji” conjured in my imagination.  Suva is the capital of the Republic of Fiji and biggest city on the island of Viti Levu.

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Jeff and I went ashore and I saw a No Smoking sign which included the local “Pidgin” language widely used all across the South Pacific Islands.  “E Tabu” means ‘it’s forbidden’ – taboo.  “Na” means no.  “Vaka” as in vapor/smoke.  “Tavako” is ‘tobacco’.  “Eke” means here.  Loose translation: “It’s taboo – No smoking tobacco – Here”

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We crossed the street and went toward a sprawling covered market.  Several people had mats spread out on the ground outside the building.  They were selling peanuts, eggplants, and a variety of root vegetables. The woman in the photo below had crabs tied together with a strip of a palm leaf.

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Inside the vast market building there were about a hundred vendors selling taro, pineapples, coconuts, potatoes, eggplants, different kinds of bananas, mangos, papayas, beans, other fruits and vegetables which we didn’t recognize.

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On the street outside the market there were more permanent stalls offering shoe and leather repair, cell phone services, and hot prepared foods.

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We had been warned about the “barrow men” who used wheelbarrows to deliver fruits and vegetables to the vendors.  They had a reputation for mowing down unsuspecting visitors in their haste to perform their jobs.  I saw two of the barrow men relaxing between deliveries and asked one of the men if I could take his picture.  He nodded gruffly.  When I showed him his photo, he beamed a wide smile and laughed heartily.  You never know what people are really like unless you communicate with them….

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Jeff and I saw a sign which read “Grog Upstairs” and we discovered the second floor of the market where kava roots, tobacco, and Indian spices were sold.  We were told that the islanders drink kava especially during celebrations and special events.  My dictionary states that kava is “a narcotic sedative drink made in Polynesia from the crushed roots of a plant of the pepper family.”

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When I took the picture of the kava roots above, the woman who ran the booth came forward to talk to me.  She explained how the roots were dried and finely ground, then water is added to the powder.  The plastic container to the left of the roots held ground kava.  The woman’s assistant offered me a drink of kava, but I declined graciously, thinking about drinking the local water as well as the unknown effect of the kava.

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Outside on the street there was a large banner celebrating the recent visit of Prince Harry and Megan Markle.  They visited New Zealand and Australia as well as several other Polynesian islands.

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Here is a photo of one of the main intersections in Suva.

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A few minutes later, there was a huge tropical downpour.  Fortunately, most of the sidewalks were covered and we ducked into the modern, air conditioned Tapoo department store to get out of the rain.  This sign directed us up to the 4th floor:

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We didn’t want to have Fijian New York pizza but we sat at a table in the food court and had refreshing cold Pepsi Colas.  Did I mention it was 84 degrees with 93% humidity outside before it started to rain?  Christmas decorations in Tapoo:

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The food court included a young brown-skinned Santa who gave me the Hawaiian/Polynesian double-handed greeting.

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Later, we found the post office and I dropped some postcards into a slot labeled “Over Seas” so I hope my family gets them.  When we got back to the Amsterdam, there was a U.S. Coast Guard ship in the harbor and the light was interesting as gray clouds increased.

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In the evening, the Amsterdam pushed away from the dock and we left the Port of Suva, Fiji.  More amazing cloud formations on the South Pacific Ocean:

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Port Denarau, Nadi, Fiji

December 5th, 2018

Wednesday – December 5, 2018

Bula! Bula!  That’s “Hello” in Fijian.

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The Amsterdam anchored off the village of Nadi on the island of Viti Levu, in the Republic of the Fiji Islands.  The ship’s tender took us to the dock of the marina at Port Denarau.  The Fijian Dollar was worth only half of our American Dollars, so shopping was a good buy for us.

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Denarau Island was a former mangrove swamp on the west side of Viti Levu, which is the largest island of 330 islands in the Fiji archipelago.  Denarau Island has become Fiji’s five-star tourism enclave with seven international resorts, residential villas, and a championship golf course.  A tourist haven.

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With 82 degree temperatures and 85% humidity, it sure didn’t feel like Christmas!  The “tree” in my photo below was made of plastic Fiji water bottles.  (Yes, some Fijian men wear wrap-around skirts.  Much cooler than pants!)

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Unfortunately, we didn’t go off the island because transportation was limited.  We did a little shopping at the famous Jack’s of Fiji and had lunch overlooking the bay.  We watched a couple of men fishing with nets from shore.

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Huge clouds were gathering on the mountain across the harbor. I could smell the rain.

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As the clouds moved across the bay, we decided to return to the ship.

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The cloud formations over the water were fascinating and I couldn’t stop myself from taking dramatic photos:

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We got back to the ship just in time to watch a huge downpour of tropical rain.