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We got up early, met our table mates then we all scattered to find our fav
breakfast foods in the maze of food stands here,there and everywhere with
wall to wall people and then we gathered with our various platters. Later i
went to a talk by the cruise director Stu who answered audience questions
mostly re life onboard a cruiseship. It was quite interesting; i liked the guy
and i learned all kinds of random misc. including the facts of the Jones Act
which actually originated in Vancouver. Part of the Jones act involves the
reason of why Alaska cruises that originate in the U.S. always stop in
Canada and ditto a cruise starting in Canada usually or always ends in the
U.S. or at least visits a port there. Another part of the Jones Act is a law
which results in the people who miss the boat when they get off at a port
of call are fined $300 each. It's mainly because it's costly for the dock
agent who who is responsible to find out what happened to those who
didn't return to the ship in case an accident or criminal activity etc. has
occured. He knows the names and faces and has the picture of them and
knows what they were wearing when they left the ship and he usually begins
his search by first checking to see if any of the local tour buses are still out
and if not he then looks in the bars where i guess they could be passed out in a
corner and if not he calls the hospitals and jails and anything else he can think
of.When he finds them he helps with the arrangements to get them to the next
port to rejoin their ship and this is on their own dime. This of course applies
to only those who didn't book a tour with the cruiseline; those who did will have
up to 3 hours to return before the ship will leave without them. He told of a
family of 6 who left the ship in an Alaskan port and made their own tour
arrangements on the dock. They boarded a bus that held mostly passengers
from a different ship. That ship wasn't departing for several hours after theirs
and needless to say that family was very very late returning and their ship long
gone by the time they got back. Each one was stung for the fine inc. the
children then flown to the next port to rejoin their cruise. Stu answered
questions re the leftover food and i had often wondered about that because it's
astounding.He talked about staff accommodations, which i also found
particularily interesting and salaries, tipping etc. as well as personal stuff and
his life. He dropped a few names who had cruised the Spirit in the last year;
Kid Rock, Lyle Lovett, and other celebrities inc. members of the Grand Old Opry.
breakfast foods in the maze of food stands here,there and everywhere with
wall to wall people and then we gathered with our various platters. Later i
went to a talk by the cruise director Stu who answered audience questions
mostly re life onboard a cruiseship. It was quite interesting; i liked the guy
and i learned all kinds of random misc. including the facts of the Jones Act
which actually originated in Vancouver. Part of the Jones act involves the
reason of why Alaska cruises that originate in the U.S. always stop in
Canada and ditto a cruise starting in Canada usually or always ends in the
U.S. or at least visits a port there. Another part of the Jones Act is a law
which results in the people who miss the boat when they get off at a port
of call are fined $300 each. It's mainly because it's costly for the dock
agent who who is responsible to find out what happened to those who
didn't return to the ship in case an accident or criminal activity etc. has
occured. He knows the names and faces and has the picture of them and
knows what they were wearing when they left the ship and he usually begins
his search by first checking to see if any of the local tour buses are still out
and if not he then looks in the bars where i guess they could be passed out in a
corner and if not he calls the hospitals and jails and anything else he can think
of.When he finds them he helps with the arrangements to get them to the next
port to rejoin their ship and this is on their own dime. This of course applies
to only those who didn't book a tour with the cruiseline; those who did will have
up to 3 hours to return before the ship will leave without them. He told of a
family of 6 who left the ship in an Alaskan port and made their own tour
arrangements on the dock. They boarded a bus that held mostly passengers
from a different ship. That ship wasn't departing for several hours after theirs
and needless to say that family was very very late returning and their ship long
gone by the time they got back. Each one was stung for the fine inc. the
children then flown to the next port to rejoin their cruise. Stu answered
questions re the leftover food and i had often wondered about that because it's
astounding.He talked about staff accommodations, which i also found
particularily interesting and salaries, tipping etc. as well as personal stuff and
his life. He dropped a few names who had cruised the Spirit in the last year;
Kid Rock, Lyle Lovett, and other celebrities inc. members of the Grand Old Opry.
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As of today we have travelled over 2500 miles and i forget if that's
nautical or land miles or which is more or less and tomorrow we'll be
tendering to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, one of my fav islands.
Since
we've been several times in the past and have been to Volcano, the
botanical gardens and coffee and macadamia nut farms there's no need for
us
to spend money on such a tour; we've seen it all before self guided by
rental
car. So, this time we'll take a late tender and visit Kona town at our
leisure.
Tendering happens when the ship drops it's anchor offshore for some reason
such as the dock is too small or not deep enough or maybe so busy there's no
space so they stay out in the bay and use the lifeboats to shuttle people ashore
and back. While it is cool to see your ship from the shore it's usually a lengthy
time consuming process when you have to tender although those with tours made
such as the dock is too small or not deep enough or maybe so busy there's no
space so they stay out in the bay and use the lifeboats to shuttle people ashore
and back. While it is cool to see your ship from the shore it's usually a lengthy
time consuming process when you have to tender although those with tours made
through their cruiseline have priority getting on the earliest tenders.
An aside about The Big Island; i think they keep up with the use of the
Hawaiian
Warrior signs on the roadside better than the others and a full circle
drive of
the island is possible in one day with stops at all or most of the points
of interest
by watching for the signs of a pointing warrior. However two days would be
better
to be able to spend more time at these stops and three days for sure if
you're into
checking out the hotels and the fancy grounds and attractions at some of
them.
I'd recomend highly a visit to the Hilton Waikola and a swim with the dolphins.
Disney is also on the Big Island now too.Golfers will of course need a few weeks.
Disney is also on the Big Island now too.Golfers will of course need a few weeks.
Won at Bingo again;shared $750. With another person i and think some
people
are pissed, like as if once you win you shouldn't play anymore or maybe
you
can play to contribute to the pot but please don't win? I saw the looks and heard
the whispering but can't help it, paid the $20. for a random card just like everyone
else. I will be playing for the Snowball every night, it's now at $4800. and growing
by $400. until it's won. If i get lucky, no it's not fixed , i've never won a ship bingo
before this cruise.
the whispering but can't help it, paid the $20. for a random card just like everyone
else. I will be playing for the Snowball every night, it's now at $4800. and growing
by $400. until it's won. If i get lucky, no it's not fixed , i've never won a ship bingo
before this cruise.
occasion when they loosen up (I am convinced it's done by manipulating the
electricity affecting all the machines on any given panel of their
choice) i've
observed this phenomena at casinos everywhere; when one machine is winning
the others nearby will often loosen up too, but of course that section might be
off the grid just before or after yours. My tip is to play as fast as you can when
you hear a machine winning nearby because it might last for just mere seconds
before they cut the power back to normal.
off the grid just before or after yours. My tip is to play as fast as you can when
you hear a machine winning nearby because it might last for just mere seconds
before they cut the power back to normal.
like the old newly wed game from tv land. It was fun and they were
funny,
married for 55 years. They played a couple who were married for 25
years and
another couple married just 6 days. They were all good sports and each won a bottle
another couple married just 6 days. They were all good sports and each won a bottle
of champagne. A really good comedian had us all in stitches juggling, knife
throwing,
strait jacket escape artist, lots of quick wit and funny one liners, he had
a super fast
wit and was very funny.
Dinner tonight was mushroom soup, fruit plates, pasta dishes and more. I
had
oysters Rockerfeller(wish I didn't) and my main course was roast
turkey
while Bob was content with shrimp and fries. Chocolate extravaganza was
going
on later, but because of crowds and long lineups, we went to the show
instead hence no fabulous chocolate cakes,cookies,bars, pies etc. to show.
Hot chocolate and leftover chocolatey deserts at midnight pretty much
finished me off.
Clocks go ahead again today, weather is really starting to look and feel
like Hawaii, yayy!
Looking forward to seeing Kona once again.
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