Crystal cruises does alot of small things for their guests which is nice. Little things do count. One evening the dance group put together a "Fifties" theme with decorations in the Galaxy Room that made it look like a highschool gymnasium. As you entered, you received punch from a huge bowl handed out by servers dressed in high school gear. It was so neat. They had songs from Elvis, Connie Francis and other groups and a skit of the nerd trying to ask another girl nerd to dance. It was hilarious.
Then for the World Cruisers such as ourselves they did a "Birdwatchers Ball" with the entire deck around the pool decorated and tables set out and entertainment all evening with free drinks flowing again.
Today, the Crystal Plaza was decorated in an Valentine's Day theme with free champagne and bloody marys etc. There was dancing and singing and an hours entertainment again. It was wonderful to take part in. Doug even took me dancing a number of times which was good on him, I would say.
All these little things make this trip so enjoyable.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Noumea, New Caledonia
We are heading south east. This port was a maiden call for Crystal Cruises. You don't hear much about New Caledonia so we didn't know what to expect. We were awakened in the morning by some banging and hooting and hollering etc, so went to the balcony and there were some warriors all dressed up with spears and faces painted chanting and drumming and entertaining us on portside. People were hanging out on their balconies watching. I tried to take a photo but my camera immediately fogged up from the humidity. The captain gave his usual daily announcement saying that the temperature at 9 am was 28 C and the humidity was 80% to 90%. My camera sure felt it. As soon as I would rub off the lens they would fog up again so gave up.
Went up to Lido for breakfast and were eating outside when Jack Hanna's wife started talking to us. She sits next to me in art class. Her and Jack started chatting and he is coming to Edmonton in August to do some filming with an Alberta crew. He has been on David Letterman, Larry King Live, and has his own show on tv. His lectures have been great with great little films showing where he has been around the world. He always brings these interesting animals to all the TV shows.
We then gathered, to take our first tour of the day, "Noumea from Tree to Tree" There were only 12 of us and we were taken by bus way up to the rainforests of the Koghi Mountains. This is a hot, humid jungle with many tall tall trees. We were given sheets of paper telling us how to use our equipment. We would be swinging, sliding, traversing the treetops. We were told there would be rope bridges, ladders and zip lines from 6 ft to 60 ft off the ground. We put all the equipment on including helmets, gloves, and straps around our bodies with three different hooks that we were to use. Sounded complicated. I decided to go first. It was fun but taxing. You had to jump on a Tarzan rope from tree platform to tree platform. You had to walk on a wire with your two hooks attached to another wire above that. You had to climb ladders with a wire above that holding your safety hooks. It was hot and humid and we were just drenched in perspiration. There were two men below talking to us and helping us navigate the treetops. There were ferns and tropical trees everywhere. The easiest task was the zip line. You attached two safety hooks and then the pulley in and held one hand behind on the wire to catch the line, if you were zipping too fast. This was the easiest to do. If you completed the first set of tasks from treetop to treetop, you were allowed to go to a more difficult level and start that series of bridges, ladders and zip lines that were higher and more difficult. Some people couldn't complete the first level and dropped out. I completed the second level and decided I was too exhausted to go to the third level. The last task for the second level was to grab a long Tarzan rope, hook your two safely cords to the rope and then hang on with your hands and jump from one high tree top to a mesh net down below between two trees. This was a distance of 20 or more feet. I jumped and was swinging to the net that was upright and had to let go at the end and smashed into the net and the safety hooks held me. Then at the top of the net where I landed, around 15 ft from the bottom of the ground, I had to hook my safety hooks one at a time and climb slowly down the net ladder. I was pooped. Doug smashed into the net hard and felt it. Some guys really hit the net hard. I sat down with a stray kitty cat that came by and was nuzzling against me and watched the others smash into the net. Doug and two other fellows decided to move to the third level. The kid who worked for the company said I did very well because I wasn't scared and tried everything and did well. Doug said the third level was difficult but he thinks I could have done it. The best part of the third level was the long long zip line that you could go zipping down fast. He loved that. We both loved doing this tour and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was fun, exhilarating and different from other tours.
We all survived with egos intact and great stories to tell. We were dirty and exhausted and hot. We drove straight to the ship, changed our clothes and quickly grabbed a bite to eat and got ready for our second tour around Noumea.
We were pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness of the city and the surrounding area and how modern the city was. The city has many Flame trees, hibiscus and bougainvilleas along the streets along with palm trees. The city is modern and has many round abouts with the centres of the round abouts (traffic circles) full of trees or statues or flowers. The beaches are clean and beautiful. The country is French and has Polynesians, French and Indonesians and Vietnamese people. The bays and harbours are clean except for the huge huge Nickel factory that pours out smoke but gives the island a good income. They are third in the world for the production of nickel. Tourism is another industry they rely on. There are many ships that come into port because NZ and Australia are so close by. We went to two Catholic churches, one having had many miracles happen there. They were beautiful. Then we went to an aquarium. It was excellent. It showed all the fish that the islands have in the surrounding reef. New Caledonia is surrounded by the second largest coral reef in the world second to Australia's.The "Aquarium of the Lagoons" is natural, and holds 300 species of the surrounding coral reefs. We were very impressed how well done it was. Wouldn't want to go snorkelling here for there are alot of venomous snakes and fish in the ocean around here. The islands were very impressive for their beauty. It almost felt like you were in Cannes in France with the French restaurants and the beaches. No wonder many cruise ships are stopping by.
After a long day, we returned to our staterooms to change for the ship was honouring the World Cruisers with a special themed ball called the Bird Watchers Ball. We had free drinks and dancing in the Palm Court. Then we were escorted to our assigned tables to the centre of the ship around the swimming pool. The swimming pool was covered and the entire place was decorated with trees and birds and the stage had a huge display of trees and birds etc. I couldn't take photos, too dark for the tables had lighting and the rest was fairly dark. Then the stage was lite up and the hostess presented us the different acts of singing, dancing music all with a bird theme. The two Russian dancers in the group did Swan Lake ontop of the swimming pool and the acappalla group sang Black Bird etc. It was serious and hilarious when the cruise director came as a bird dressed in tights etc and started dancing. Anyways, the waiters were all dressed in black and served this wonderful meal and complementary wine. The atmosphere was wonderful. We laughed and drank and clapped and had a wonderful time. Meanwhile the people who are not on the entire world cruise, got free drinks back in the dining room. Jim and Sue said that instead of the older people having to be helped to their seats, they had too much to drink and had to be helped out of the dining room. He said there were alot of very happy people. Doug was wondering why there was hardly anyone on the deck this morning at 7 am walking. Now we know why. They are all nursing their hang overs.
Today, at noon is a Grand Buffet being set out. Doug had no breakfast so that he could par take in this grand feast. I am going to take photos.
We are cruising for two days on our way to New Zealand. Talk to you from New Zealand.
Went up to Lido for breakfast and were eating outside when Jack Hanna's wife started talking to us. She sits next to me in art class. Her and Jack started chatting and he is coming to Edmonton in August to do some filming with an Alberta crew. He has been on David Letterman, Larry King Live, and has his own show on tv. His lectures have been great with great little films showing where he has been around the world. He always brings these interesting animals to all the TV shows.
We then gathered, to take our first tour of the day, "Noumea from Tree to Tree" There were only 12 of us and we were taken by bus way up to the rainforests of the Koghi Mountains. This is a hot, humid jungle with many tall tall trees. We were given sheets of paper telling us how to use our equipment. We would be swinging, sliding, traversing the treetops. We were told there would be rope bridges, ladders and zip lines from 6 ft to 60 ft off the ground. We put all the equipment on including helmets, gloves, and straps around our bodies with three different hooks that we were to use. Sounded complicated. I decided to go first. It was fun but taxing. You had to jump on a Tarzan rope from tree platform to tree platform. You had to walk on a wire with your two hooks attached to another wire above that. You had to climb ladders with a wire above that holding your safety hooks. It was hot and humid and we were just drenched in perspiration. There were two men below talking to us and helping us navigate the treetops. There were ferns and tropical trees everywhere. The easiest task was the zip line. You attached two safety hooks and then the pulley in and held one hand behind on the wire to catch the line, if you were zipping too fast. This was the easiest to do. If you completed the first set of tasks from treetop to treetop, you were allowed to go to a more difficult level and start that series of bridges, ladders and zip lines that were higher and more difficult. Some people couldn't complete the first level and dropped out. I completed the second level and decided I was too exhausted to go to the third level. The last task for the second level was to grab a long Tarzan rope, hook your two safely cords to the rope and then hang on with your hands and jump from one high tree top to a mesh net down below between two trees. This was a distance of 20 or more feet. I jumped and was swinging to the net that was upright and had to let go at the end and smashed into the net and the safety hooks held me. Then at the top of the net where I landed, around 15 ft from the bottom of the ground, I had to hook my safety hooks one at a time and climb slowly down the net ladder. I was pooped. Doug smashed into the net hard and felt it. Some guys really hit the net hard. I sat down with a stray kitty cat that came by and was nuzzling against me and watched the others smash into the net. Doug and two other fellows decided to move to the third level. The kid who worked for the company said I did very well because I wasn't scared and tried everything and did well. Doug said the third level was difficult but he thinks I could have done it. The best part of the third level was the long long zip line that you could go zipping down fast. He loved that. We both loved doing this tour and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was fun, exhilarating and different from other tours.
We all survived with egos intact and great stories to tell. We were dirty and exhausted and hot. We drove straight to the ship, changed our clothes and quickly grabbed a bite to eat and got ready for our second tour around Noumea.
We were pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness of the city and the surrounding area and how modern the city was. The city has many Flame trees, hibiscus and bougainvilleas along the streets along with palm trees. The city is modern and has many round abouts with the centres of the round abouts (traffic circles) full of trees or statues or flowers. The beaches are clean and beautiful. The country is French and has Polynesians, French and Indonesians and Vietnamese people. The bays and harbours are clean except for the huge huge Nickel factory that pours out smoke but gives the island a good income. They are third in the world for the production of nickel. Tourism is another industry they rely on. There are many ships that come into port because NZ and Australia are so close by. We went to two Catholic churches, one having had many miracles happen there. They were beautiful. Then we went to an aquarium. It was excellent. It showed all the fish that the islands have in the surrounding reef. New Caledonia is surrounded by the second largest coral reef in the world second to Australia's.The "Aquarium of the Lagoons" is natural, and holds 300 species of the surrounding coral reefs. We were very impressed how well done it was. Wouldn't want to go snorkelling here for there are alot of venomous snakes and fish in the ocean around here. The islands were very impressive for their beauty. It almost felt like you were in Cannes in France with the French restaurants and the beaches. No wonder many cruise ships are stopping by.
After a long day, we returned to our staterooms to change for the ship was honouring the World Cruisers with a special themed ball called the Bird Watchers Ball. We had free drinks and dancing in the Palm Court. Then we were escorted to our assigned tables to the centre of the ship around the swimming pool. The swimming pool was covered and the entire place was decorated with trees and birds and the stage had a huge display of trees and birds etc. I couldn't take photos, too dark for the tables had lighting and the rest was fairly dark. Then the stage was lite up and the hostess presented us the different acts of singing, dancing music all with a bird theme. The two Russian dancers in the group did Swan Lake ontop of the swimming pool and the acappalla group sang Black Bird etc. It was serious and hilarious when the cruise director came as a bird dressed in tights etc and started dancing. Anyways, the waiters were all dressed in black and served this wonderful meal and complementary wine. The atmosphere was wonderful. We laughed and drank and clapped and had a wonderful time. Meanwhile the people who are not on the entire world cruise, got free drinks back in the dining room. Jim and Sue said that instead of the older people having to be helped to their seats, they had too much to drink and had to be helped out of the dining room. He said there were alot of very happy people. Doug was wondering why there was hardly anyone on the deck this morning at 7 am walking. Now we know why. They are all nursing their hang overs.
Today, at noon is a Grand Buffet being set out. Doug had no breakfast so that he could par take in this grand feast. I am going to take photos.
We are cruising for two days on our way to New Zealand. Talk to you from New Zealand.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Bora Bora Aqua Safari - Walking on Ocean Floor
This is back tracking but, we have just gotten the photos taken underwater of our adventure in Bora Bora. You will notice Doug in a white Tshirt and I am in a black bathing suit down 10 feet with the oxygen helmets. The black mesh contains the bread that we used to feed the fish. In one of the photos, I am pointing at a long, grey, fish which is the baracuda swimming right in front of me amongst the other colored fish. Hopefully the photos may give you an idea of what it was like to walk under water amongst all the fish - a wonderful experience which we would do again.
PS: There were many many photos but we picked just a few to send to the blog.
PS: There were many many photos but we picked just a few to send to the blog.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Suva, Fiji
We arrived in hot, humid, sunny Fiji on the populated side at the port and capital of Suva. There are 80,000 people in this city, the largest on this island. Fiji is comprised of 332 islands and many are not inhabited. We have been here twice before on tours so today decided to just walk into the city and look around. Tourism is the main industry and because of the economy, the people are suffering somewhat. Approximately 3 to 4 ships arrive per month. The other side of this island is where the tourists come to and it is called Nadi. Two weeks ago, a cyclone hit and devastated that side of the island to the tune of $70,000,000. This has hurt tourism here very much.
Suva is the commercial and political centre of Fiji and the largest urban area in the South Pacific outside of Australis and New Zealand. It is Fiji's main port city. Suva is on a peninsula, and is almost surrounded by sea. The nearest beach from here is 40 KM away. The nearby coast is lined by mangroves. Part of this city centre is built on reclaimed mangrove swamp.
Alot of the crew are not leaving the ship for the nice beaches are on the other side of the island, too far to go to and get back to.
The city centre had a modern air conditioned mall which was lovely. The other stores are quite small, hot and dirty. We saw many East Indian stores. The East Indian people were brought from India to work as cheap labor, as were the Chinese. They have stayed and integrated with the locals although there is some hatred of the East Indians who are good business people and are doing better than the locals who tend to sit around and make grass skirts, or fish etc.
The market place we went into had tables and tables of veggies but little fruit. A very small apple cost fifty cents. You see alot of poverty around and filth.
We enjoyed seeing the city part, but must admit we prefer to see the lovely beaches instead. Oh well, we are onto to New Caledonia next, a place we have not visited before so that will be exciting.
Suva is the commercial and political centre of Fiji and the largest urban area in the South Pacific outside of Australis and New Zealand. It is Fiji's main port city. Suva is on a peninsula, and is almost surrounded by sea. The nearest beach from here is 40 KM away. The nearby coast is lined by mangroves. Part of this city centre is built on reclaimed mangrove swamp.
Alot of the crew are not leaving the ship for the nice beaches are on the other side of the island, too far to go to and get back to.
The city centre had a modern air conditioned mall which was lovely. The other stores are quite small, hot and dirty. We saw many East Indian stores. The East Indian people were brought from India to work as cheap labor, as were the Chinese. They have stayed and integrated with the locals although there is some hatred of the East Indians who are good business people and are doing better than the locals who tend to sit around and make grass skirts, or fish etc.
The market place we went into had tables and tables of veggies but little fruit. A very small apple cost fifty cents. You see alot of poverty around and filth.
We enjoyed seeing the city part, but must admit we prefer to see the lovely beaches instead. Oh well, we are onto to New Caledonia next, a place we have not visited before so that will be exciting.
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