Rarotonga

Rarotonga
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We arrived early in the morning, the tender life boat was lowered and the water conditions were tested. Then the captain made the decision that it was unsafe for passengers to be tendered to shore due to high waves, so we left and headed out to sea. Therefore we never went ashore, but instead headed for New Zealand which is 1,614 nautical miles away. When we finally reach Auckland, the total distance for this segment from Los Angeles will be 6,054 nautical miles.

When we were on the islands around Tahiti it was very hot and humid but now as we are sailing south it is getting cooler each day.

Since we cannot report about our experiences in Rarotonga, we will write about other things. This is the day that never was since last night we crossed the international dateline at longitude 180 degrees at the location that we crossed it. However, it is really a zigzag imaginary line depending on which islands or countries it passes through. Yesterday it was January 27 when we went to sleep and when we woke up today it was January 29. Therefore, if you had a birthday on January 28, it was a birthday that never was. There was a cute improvised program on the ship when a passenger whose birthday was on January 28 was denied a birthday cake since it was a day that never was.

Now here is a little history about the formation of the French Polynesian islands. They are all located on a subterranean plate that is supposedly moving several inches per year. Each of the islands is the result of a volcanic eruption; the youngest being the largest and the smallest the oldest since they are all slowly sinking into the ocean. They are all surrounded by a necklace of coral creating a spectacular view from above. When one of the islands completely sinks into the ocean it leaves behind an atoll – a formation of coral reefs. We have learned this from the daily enrichment lecture historians onboard. This cruise is a continuing learning experience due to all of the lectures on so many different subjects. Although we have already had about nine days at sea, we have been so busy doing things and meeting interesting people that we haven’t even had time to do any reading.

Here are some facts about our floating, moving, luxurious home at sea as we adventure around the world on Regent Seven Seas Voyager. The ship entered service in 2003 and was built in Genoa, Italy. It is about 700 feet long and has a 95 foot beam. All cabins are suites with a balcony. The ship has a passenger capacity of 700. It went into dry dock in the Bahamas in December, 2008, basically right before we boarded, for a $15 million renovation and mechanical preventative maintenance program. The electronics in the suites were improved with flat screen televisions, DVD, CD players, etc. There is a video onboard that shows everything that was done on the ship. All carpeting, upholstery, draperies, wall paper, bedding, etc were replaced. The four restaurants were completely remodeled and an espresso coffee shop was added. To us the ship appears to be basically brand new.

We learned from the Executive Chef that most of the food onboard is re-supplied at designated ports with food shipped from the USA by refrigerated containers. Occasionally they buy local fish and fruits.

There are four “gents” to dance with the single ladies or whoever would like to dance with them. There is also a cute young and beautiful social hostess for the men as well as beautiful young girls who are singers and dancers. Their other job is to wander around looking pretty. Alida has agreed to teach two of them Spanish.

Every day we meet more interesting people and have made many friends. However, most of them will be disembarking either in Auckland or Sydney. If you look at our itinerary you will notice that there are seven segments and passengers will be boarding and disembarking at the end of each one. The world cruisers each have a plaque on their door with their names. If they have done this before, they have a separate plaque for each time.