Cruise to Hawaii (and eventually Australia)

I have to admit, especially to myself, that I'm a hypocrite. For a guy that swore he'd never "cruise" again, I'm on my second (actually second and third) cruise this year. Laura and I left Vancouver on September 16th bound for Hawaii - a nice little eleven day affair over to and then in and around the Hawaiian Islands. Then, because we're greedy, all of us are on the same ship (Royal Caribbean Radiance) bound from Hawaii to Tahiti, then New Zealand, and finally to Sydney. I found out later you can stay on the boat for another month and circumnavigate Australia if you'd like as well. Unfortunately (or fortunately), David comes home from Korea at the end of October, and the extra cruise would double the costs - so we're hanging around in Sydney and Cairns for ten extra days and flying home on October 24th.

This cruise so far (I'm uploading this dispatch from Hawaii - the first chance to get reasonably priced (ie: free) WiFi) has been very nice. Laura's mom (Cathy) and husband (Frank) are on the boat all the way to Sydney with us, and so far nobody has thrown me overboard. It's a bit boring during the days at sea (there were five sea days enroute to Hawaii, with twelve more at sea to go), and you tend to eat too much, but it's easy and convenient to eat healthy and get in plenty of exercise.

As we booked so late, we couldn't get an assigned dinner time - so we're on "my time, where you just show up whenever you want and get put at a table. Ordinarily you'd think I'd balk at this - me too. But it's turned out to be the most enjoyable time of the day for me. We get to sit with and talk to new people every time.  A really interesting gay couple from Tampa are extending their trip to include an entire circumnavigation of Australia, with Tasmania and all of New Zealand included to boot. They'll be on board for 62 days.

Many we've sat with at meals have been from Vancouver (one couple even from Shaugnessy Square in Port Coquitlam - less than a mile from our house) - but many others are from all over the place. There are lots of Aussies and Germans on the boat, and every age (except schoolage kids) is well represented. I am certainly not the youngest or the oldest on this ship. I'm sure I'm close to the average age.

A striking part of this cruise for me has been the transition to semi-tropical weather and the deep blue (almost indigo) colour of the ocean. It's been quite calm during this passage, and the big, big ocean looks quite inviting to go sailing in (although I know it can be dangerously inhospitable too). I want to do this trip in a small sail boat! Much to the chagrin of friends who've done this cruise before, and talk about the vastness and the dark cloudy nights, it just seems to stir up even deeper conviction in me.

As of Wednesday, September 21 (today) we had a talk from the Captain who said that the low pressure systems that have helped "push" us to Hawaii have now become a hurricane in the North Pacific. Feel kinda bad for my mom and dad, who are cruising to Alaska this week - I suspect their weather would be the exact opposite of the stuff we've been having.

All four of us have been visiting the gym every day, which partially offsets the pre-dinner bar rendezvous and the post-dinner pre-bedtime calorie free dessert bar. Laura attempted the rock climbing wall today - and got about half way up until her legs gave out. I'm a bit afraid that my "looking up" and "balance" skills aren't where they need to be for me to attempt it - but I may try if it's not too crowded one day.

More to come during our next leg ... going to try and upload this in Kona.

Photos available here.