We are the Champions of the World! NOT!!!

NEAR FIJI--Saturday, February 27, 2010

If someone wins a bitterly waged contest on a trip around the world, does that person become the champion of the world? We certainly think that the winner of the Pacific Princess' Build a Boat Contest should be. The contest was announced last Sunday to keep us busy while the ship spent seven days crossing the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Fiji. We, and Ed and Mary of Cruise Critic, were recruited by our table mates, Roger and Adele, at the Lazy Sunday Brunch on February 21. Their partners at another table were to recruit team members also. Our "team" had 12 people when we learned that the maximum number could be six. Being logical people, we just assumed that only one person from each couple would officially be on the team, and the rest of us would work behind the scenes.

When we showed up for our first team meeting at noon on Monday, some of us learned that we had "been voted off the island" (Survivor) and were asked to leave immediately. Sara went back to our room and called Roger to let him know what supplies she had collected, in case he wanted them. He told her that Ed and Mary went up to the Panorama Buffet for lunch so we should try to meet them there. The six of us convened and half-heartedly discussed building a boat. Then the "mouth" of our former team came to our table to inform us that they had it all sewn up and would "blow us out of the water." At that moment six people who had just met each other were united in one effort to beat that woman and her haughty team members!

The major criteria for the contest were originality, creativity and beauty. During the week, we decided that our boat would be the Pacific Pearl, from a name that a crew member informed us was the next big Princess ship; we would be the Tacky Tourists who had won a free round trip to Shangla-la for winning the Name the Perfect Ship Contest; and the cruise line would be RAMSKE for the first letters of our names: Roger, Adele, Mary, Sara, Ken and Ed. Roger built the base of our ship from wine bottles and two trays, and he guaranteed it would float.

The rest of us took our marching orders from Roger and created a banner of flags from the Princess Patter, paper dolls with blue plastic hula skirts and shirts, three-dimensional life boats, a smoke stack from a blue box with netting and raised areas from wine boxes. We crafted the largest boat in the contest, and even had members of the cooking staff carve vegetable people for us. Amelia, a friend from Cruise Critic, loaned us a surfing Barrack Obama dashboard doll so we could say that RAMSKE Cruise Lines spared no expense in getting the big names and had a Plan B, in case the Pacific Pearl did not float, a blow-up boat we bought in the ship's boutique shore that we named the Pacific Pearl II.

Now here's where we beg to differ with the judges. Everything on the sheets with the criteria we received emphasized creativity. On the day of the contest, we procured a dolly from our cabin stewardess and triumphantly took the elevator to the pool area on Deck 9. As Mary proclaimed, she had never had so many people who wanted to take her picture. We truly believed that we were the biggest and the best. At the start of the contest, the cruise director announced the judges, all from the engineering staff, and we thought that we were given the wrong criteria for judging. These engineers were analytical-analyticals. While the written criteria stated creativity, the judges had a totally different definition of creativity. Sara teaches her class that a word has both denotations, dictionary definitions, and many different connotations, based on feelings.

The judges' idea of creativity was a team that downloaded the exact specifications of our ship and constructed a exact model of it in miniature and then named it the Pacific Princess. We did not even place in the competition nor did our nemesis, who built a boat called the Roman Roamin' Princess and wore bed sheets as togas like the movie Animal House. Their boat wasn't that great but they should have scored points for their costumes. We were so disappointed but we believe if there had been a popular boat rather than a vote of the electoral college, we might have won. Oh, well, we had fun!

WELCOME TO FIJI (the Cannibal Islands)

SUVA, FIJI--Sunday, February 28, 2010

We are scheduled to arrive in Fiji on Sunday, which is a very religious day and most tourist attractions are not open. Oh, well! Fiji also is known as the Cannibal Islands because any unannounced visitors in the past were probably eaten. Famous early visitors were British Captains Jame Cook and William Bligh. The weather is hot, hot, hot, with lots of rainfall, and we are arriving in the rainy season. We are told that the head is very sacred, and we should not touch anyone's head. The clothes are the sarong for women and the sulu, a skirt with a pocket for men. Big hair is a status symbol for men. Fire walking is big on the Island of Bega for men who were not to touch women or coconuts for two weeks before the demonstration or they would get burnt, wearing a hat in a village is a no-no because only the chief can wear a hat, and eating the flesh of the conquered enemy was the ultimate revenge.

Unfortunately, for us and the people of Suva, the entire Pacific Rim is under a tsunami warning--ours is from the earthquake in Japan although today's earthquake in Chile is predicted to make quite a stir in the future. We are on tsunami watch until 10 a.m., and the government has had to chase quite a few people off the streets because this is the first-ever sighting of a tsunami in Fiji because the outer islands act as a barrier. We were to arrive at 8 a.m. but the ship could not enter the port until the warning was rescinded. It was about 10:10 a.m., when our ship was given clearance to dock at Fiji.

Because our original tour was canceled (snorkeling in Fiji), we booked a tour at the last minute to tour the city of Suva and visit the Fiji Museum. We were privileged to be in an air-conditioned bus with our tour guide Ryan, who attended a private school where he was encouraged to play rugby and who wore a sulu, a skirt similar to a Scottish kilt. He informed us that he is wearing something under it but he will not show us. We see the industrial area of the city, the company that brews Fiji Beer, Beera and Premium Gold under the Foster's label, the Suva Prison where once hanging was allowed but now prisoners can receive only a life sentence, the women's prison with a high fence to keep men out and the public cemetery where everyone is buried except the Indians who are cremated. We also pass the Mormon Church with its pure gold angel on top.

Fiji has a simple weather pattern--dry and wet. It takes about 15 hours to drive around the island that has a population of 160,000 people. The unemployment rate is 40 percent due to global economy, political unrest and the closing of many businesses. There are no unemployment benefits. The average family is from six to ten people, and the mortality rate is 70 percent. Most of the cars are second-hand Japanese vehicles, and owning a car is a status symbol. Rugby is the national sport because it beats football because there are no helmets, armor or wimps.

In Fiji, for the Fijians, girls are valued more than boys so they are educated while the boys are sent to the fields. For the Indians, boys have a higher value and are sent to school. Education is not compulsory but it is very expensive.

Most of the tourism in Fiji is from Australia and New Zealand but Japanese and Americans started coming to the islands in recent years. We saw the WWII American Air Force Base that is now home to the University of the South Pacific run by 12 countries, the Parliament House with no air conditioning and its high roof made of pine shingles, the Revenue and Customs building that is one of the newest structures in Suva where all the money goes to the tax man, and the guard at the White House who does not smile while he is on duty for two hours. We also are told that in Fiji, it is not what's for lunch but who's for lunch!

We pass Thurston Gardens, where at the end of the trail is the Fiji Museum. At the museum, we see outriggers with huge oars, remains of the keel of the HMS Bounty and bridal outfits made from Tapa cloth from the mulberry tree. Tattoos, face painting ad hair dressing were very important in the past because they reflect social status. Rev. Thomas Baker, a missionary on the island, was eaten by the Fijians, and we see the cannibal forks that the natives used to eat him because they would never use their hands. The remnants of his boot may have been the basis for the saying, "this meat is as tough as leather." We pass Albert Park, named for Queen Victoria's husband, where the Miss Hibiscus contest is held annually; the Grand Pacific Hotel, which is not so grand any more since it was occupied during WWII by the U.S. Air Force and is now looking for a buyer; and the McDonalds that is known in Fiji as the American Embassy.

At the end of tour, we are left off in the shopping district to spend money at Tappoo, Prouds and Jack's of Fiji, the three department stores that are open on Sunday for the tourists. Our souvenirs are the brain picking implements and Fijian shirts for Ken.

The natives are known as the happiest people in the world, and they all waved and greeted us. Bula!

The Day That Never Was

EQUATOR AND INTERNATIONAL DATELINE: Thursday, February 25, 2010

Today we did two things on the same day that many people never do in a lifetime. We crossed the International Dateline and the Equator within several hours. Heading west over the International Dateline means losing a day, February 24, 2010. So on February 23, we had no tomorrow. On February 24, we had no today, and on February 25, we had the day after the day after yesterday. On February 25, the movie channel on the ship featured Groundhog Day--a perfect film to show after a day that never was about a day that happened over and over and over. We would love to have any of you who are reading this blog to write us at sarameanc@aol.com or lightningVA00@aol.com to inform us about what you did on Wednesday, February 24, because we will never experience that day!

In the afternoon, our attendance was requested (required) at the Crossing the Equator ceremony. While we have crossed the equator a number of times in an airplane, we have never crossed it in a ship. Prominent players in the ceremony are King Neptune (who will determine if we can cross the Equator safely), Queen Nefertiti (the ship's assistant cruise director dressed in drag with a beautiful blond wig), Officer Fish and Chips, the Royal Barber, the Royal Medical Team (who had just completed their first head transplant unsuccessfully) and the Pacific Princess' Nymphs and Nymphettes. Representing the passengers and crew members, who have never crossed the equator before, were wrongdoers who would be duly judged and then duly sludged. They included a honeymoon couple who were accused of never leaving their room and keeping their neighbors awake day and night, a young man who was overeating at all the dining venues on the ship, a woman who had overspent at the ship's boutiques, and crew members who spent every night partying in the crew bar and had never paid their rent or electric bills on the ship. All were declared GUILTY!

So we don't spoil the fun for any of you who may cross the Equator, we will only say that the punishments involved ice cream, raw eggs being cracked on heads, whipped cream, spaghetti, lettuce and throwing the Captain's representative in the pool. Besides, the right pictures are worth more than a 1,000 words. We hope that you enjoy the photographs as much as we enjoyed the ceremony. ENJOY!

Honolulu and Pearl Harbor: Home of the Brave

HONOLULU--Saturday, February 20, 2010

Today we docked in Honolulu. A loud cheer went up from the passengers when we approached land after five days with rough seas. (Not really, because we got into port before most people were up but the thought was in their hearts!) We had the first tour scheduled--the Pearl Harbor VIP Military Base Tour--and boarded our van at 7:15 a.m. Our tour guide was Duke, the 23-year-old son of the owners of the Home of the Brave tours, which they started in 1991 at the request of the government to develop a tour for veterans returning to Pearl Harbor for the 50th anniversary. Duke's father is a surfer and named his son after Duke Kahanamoko, the famous Hawaiian surfer and Olympic gold medal winner, and The Duke, John Wayne, whom he met when he was filming a movie in Honolulu.

Duke reminded Sara of her college students, not the ones who complain about their grades but the majority of the students who take their assignments seriously and do very well. Duke majored in technical journalism at a college in Colorado and must have been an honor student in his history courses about World War II and the Hawaiian Islands. He now works full time for the family business and has convinced his parents that the company should expand into the Home of the Brave Brewing Company, which brews micro beers for the military.

A special hello to Kim Getz, Sara's beautician who worked as a beautician for the government in Honolulu for three years and told us to take the best tour we could of Pearl Harbor but to remember that no matter what time we got there, the Japanese tourists would already be there (it seems as if history repeats itself). We arrived at the Arizona Memorial Visitor's Center before 8 a.m., but after going to the ticket desk, Duke decided that we should end our tour there and got tickets for the 2 p.m. trip to the Arizona. The visitor's center is undergoing a $58 million renovation, which is scheduled to be completed on December 7, 2010. Some interesting facts that we learned from Duke were that the U.S. fired the first shot on December 7, 1941, at a Japanese midget submarine (the top brass discredited the first report because they assumed that what was really fired at was a whale) and that one man was responsible for 80 percent of the information that the Japanese knew about Pearl Harbor before the attack. This spy posed as a Japanese diplomat who came to Honolulu in March 1941 and sent coded cable messages through the Purple Code. After the war ended and the spy came out of hiding (his wife let him know that no one was looking for him, the Japanese gave the spy no credit because the country had lost the war, and this was part of their honor code. So in the 1970s, the spy arranged to be interviewed by Walter Cronkite so that he could tell his story.

We drove through the cemetery, named Punch Bowl National Memorial, because it looks like an overturned punch bowl. The Hawaiian name is Puowania, which means Hill of Sacrifice. Buried there are more that 35,000 Americans who gave their lives in service to their country in WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the most famous being Ernie Pyle, the war correspondent who was killed in action just before the war ended, and the first astronaut from Hawaii. At the edge of the cemetery are the WWII bunkers made from man-made rocks. All the plots are taken, and all the headstones are flat to the ground, with no crosses. A statue of Lady Columbia represents the mothers, wives and daughters the soldiers left behind. Since 1991, no tourists can walk through the cemetery because people had carved their names in the huge Banyon trees.

The next stop was the "United by Sacrifice" memorial by sculptor Lynn Liverton. The four figures are soldiers from WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War comforting a modern day soldier fighting the War on International Terrorism. The government plans to build an exact duplicate of the statue in Washington, D.C., for the soldiers from the East Coast who cannot travel to Hawaii. Then we walked through the Tropic Lightning Museums at Schofield Barracks, which honors the Army soldiers from the 25th Tropical Lightning Division in these four wars. Schofield Barracks and the 25th Tropical Lightning division were immortalized in the book and movie, From Here to Eternity.

After a tasty lunch at the Fort Shaftner Military Club, we toured Palm Circle in Centennial Plaza. Richardson Hall T100 (the T stands for temporary but it is still standing today) served as the Headquarters of the U.S. Army Pacific Command and was nicknamed the "Pineapple Pentagon." It was here that the trial to find someone to blame for the military not being prepared for the attack on Pearl Harbor started on December 17, 1941, and Richardson ended Marshall Law on Hawaii in 1944. The red, white and blue Army patch on the sidewalks and buildings has an arrow and 12 stars in three groups for the Big Dipper (seven), the Southern Cross (4) and the North Star (1). Yes the numbers 12-7-41 have a special meaning.

Duke drove us past Diamond Head, the state capitol, the mayor's house, Iolani Palace, once home to Hawaii's last monarchs, and a statue of King Kamehameha who united the country. Supposedly, he stood 7'2" tall, so he was a leader who was head and shoulders above the rest. We also toured the Home of the Brave Museum, and met Duke's mom and dad whom we praised for raising such a wonderful son. Ken also told Duke's mom that she looked too young to have a 23-year-old son, and Sara wishes that she had asked Duke's father if he were Duke's brother. Unlike many museums and stores run by the guide's brother or uncle, this museum was well worth the visit with its WWII uniforms, equipment, Jeep and 1942 Army issue Harley Davidson motorcycle used in the film Pearl Harbor. Ken's souvenir was a DVD titled Home of the Brave, Hawaii's Victory Tour. He also liked all the pictures in the restroom of WWII's pinup girls.

Then off we headed to the USS Arizona Memorial for our 2 p.m. meeting in Contemplation Circle to board a Navy launch to the all white, pristine, serene, almost ethereal memorial, which appears to float above the hull of the USS Arizona. Our guide asked us to think of one word that best describes the memorial. On the trip out, people were engaged in noisy chatter. On the trip back, there was total silence--the experience is that powerful. The words offered, almost in prayer, about the memorial were hallowed, remembrance, sacrifice, honorable (Ken) and surreal (Sara). We were standing above the bodies of 1,177 casualties of the attack who are entombed forever in the sunken ship, plus the ashes of many survivors who requested to be buried with their comrades, and we were so alive and in awe of their sacrifice. It is hard to believe that the youngest of these Army and Marine soldiers would be 87+ years of age had they lived. Listed among the names on the wall of honor were 12 Jones and 12 Smiths (the two most common American names), six Wilsons (Sara's mother's maiden name) and a L. Means (Sara's maiden name). Because all Meanses are related to the three Means brothers who came from Scotland in the 1720s, do any of her relatives know anything about this Army soldier? Uncle Roy, we thought about you, Sara's Uncles Fred, Walter, Lam and Allen, and Ken's father, Vernon and step-father, Bob, all who served in the Army, and Sara's father, Blake, who enlisted in the Navy during WWII. (Uncle Mike, we will remember you when we are in South Korea on March 30.) The entire trip to and from the USS Arizona lasted 45 minutes, and we both thought it was the perfect way to end our day of remembrance.

Oh, yes, we did shop at Hilo Hattie's, Honolulu's department store, on our way back from the tour but refrained from buying muu-muus or Hawaiian shirts. Passengers on the Pacific Princess who had already visited Honolulu took a bus to America's largest Walmart or went shopping at one of the malls or Chinatown. We didn't even stock up on wine and beer because our tour ran late but was worth every minute.

The quotation for the day is from a monument to the servicemen who died on submarines and are listed "On Eternal Patrol,"--"They did not live to see the war's end, but the final victory belongs to them."

Life at Sea: Part 2

SOMEWHERE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN--Friday, February 19, 2010

Ken sent Sara's draft of Life at Sea before she was finished so she is continuing now. We both attended the Opera Without Fear lecture on Tchaikovsky. Yes, Tchaikovsky was forced to commit suicide because former school mates learned he was a homosexual and threatened to tell government officials unless he did the honorable thing so he drank arsenic. Ken loved the presentation and wished that he had attended the first ones in the series. He even went to the last lecture in the series today to learn about Puccini, Fast Cars and Women. Tosca will be playing at the Sydney Opera House when we are in Sydney. Now the question is, will Ken want to attend the opera?

Next on the agenda was the image consultant's, Ann Graydon's, talk on Accessories for Every Style. Sara was one of the seven models, who wore all black, and modeled jewelry from the ship's one of two stores. She also was the only model who did not dress in evening wear because she thought the consultant wanted everyone to wear a black top and slacks (that is what the consultant thought, too). She wore a long black, pearl and silver-colored costume jewelry necklace and had a great time. Ken took photographs and a video of her modeling debut and swan song.

As for the night life, we have the late seating for dinner so we usually only go the show when it is at 6:45 p.m. and not 10:15 p.m. Ken is only required to attend the late shows that are production numbers by the Princess Singers and Dancers, who are from Australia. We have seen comedians, violinists, a pianist who trained under Liberace, a magician and a juggler. Except for the singers and dancers, the other entertainers come onboard or leave for another ship when we are in a major port. In addition to the shows in the Cabaret Lounge, which is the largest, the Pacific Lounge and the Casino Lounge also offer music and dancing. Then, there are the special theme nights at the pool deck or in one of the lounges. Yes, no one can ever be bored!

The photographs with this posting are from the Cruise Critic Luncheon and the Fashion Show of Accessories. We really appreciate all of you who are following us because you have a friend on board who is a member of Cruise Critic or will be joining us in Sydney or Singapore. MaryAnn (Wowzo) told us at the luncheon that the "official" blogger on their last cruise spent so much time working on the blog that he actually got sick. We don't plan to follow in his footsteps so we are signing off for now. Look for us again after we visit Honolulu and take the Pearl Harbor VIP Military Tour. After five days at sea, hooray for dry land!

Sea Legs? What Sea Legs?

Today is Thursday, Feb 18th and we've all been kicked out of the gym for safety reasons. The swells are 15-16 feet and wind around 30 knots out of the north. We paid for this (lol)? Looking forward to Honolulu and getting off the ship for a day. Even with ginger tablets (which work wonders) the slight nausea is always there. Oh well, tomorrow's another day as Scarlet O'Hara would say.

Looking forward to seeing the USS Arizona on Saturday. It should be the highlight of the trip for me.

Take care all. Big luncheon with our Cruise Critic friends today. Hope I can keep it down (LOL, again)
Ken

Life at Sea

SOMEWHERE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN--Monday to Friday, February 15-19, 2010

We are crossing the Pacific Ocean in two segments--five sea days to Honolulu and six sea days with the crossing of the Equator and the International Dateline to Fiji. The seas have not been friendly. The doors and outside stairways to the open decks (5, 10 and 11) are blocked off with yellow caution tape, and even the Captain has warned us to take care. He said that the conditions were originating near Hawaii so we probably will have a wild ride until we dock on Saturday. We are figuratively and literally bumping into new friends wherever we go out of our room. (Okay, we know anyone reading this has no sympathy for us with the record-breaking snowfalls and low temperatures, and in truth, we would much rather be here than where you are.)

The cruise director's staff plans a full-day of activities for the passengers, starting with the Breakfast WAKE Show with J.J. King, the cruise director, who reviews and comments on the daytime activities in the Princess Patter, the daily guide to life at sea, that we received the night before.

Ken usually gets up at 7 a.m., dresses and goes up to the deck off the Panorama Buffet for a cup of coffee. Then he works out. (Sara has only seen the remodeled gym on the first day onboard because her exercise routine to date has consisted of taking the stairs between decks rather than the elevator.) Sara prefers to rise at 8 a.m. or so, watch the WAKE Show, get ready leisurely and go to the Panorama Buffet for its version of an Egg McMuffin and orange juice. She meets Ken for the first activity of the day, which usually starts at 10 a.m.

Today the must-do activities are the Port Talk on Hawaii at 10 a.m. and the Cruise Critic Luncheon at noon. Sara also will attend the Teachers Get-Together at 11 a.m, the Opera Without Fear on Tchaikovsky with Dr. Jesse Weir at 2 p.m. (No, she is not an opera fan but his lectures are so funny!) and the talk by Ann Graydon, the image consultant, on Accessories for Every Style at 3:30 p.m. (Sara has served as the lecturer's model on coloring and style type because she has Summer and Classic stamped in every one of her cells, even though she sees herself as an Autumn or Winter with a very Dramatic style but who is she kidding? Today she serves as a model dressed totally in black whom the image consultant enhances with the right jewelry.) Sara also joined the Princess Book Club, which read The Time Traveler's Wife during the first segment of the trip and is reading The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency during segment 2. Yesterday afternoon she and Ken watched the movie made from the first book on the TV in their room.

Other possible activities for Ken are the Photography@Sea presentation at 11:30 a.m, the Animal Lovers Get-Together at 3 p.m. for those who miss their pets (We love you, Foxy!), the Maitre D's Wine Club (unfortunately at the same time), and the Twittering, Texting and FaceBook talk at 4 p.m. (Doesn't anyone just "talk" anymore?). If either gets bored, they can play ping pong, bingo, mahjong, scattergories, carpet bowls and trivia. We hear that the trivia games are cutthroat from Amelia, one of our Cruise Critic friends, who actually pulled the muscle in her calf on a previous cruise while racing up with her team's final answer and had to use a wheelchair for the remainder of the trip.

And then there are the evening's activities!

Los Angeles: Back in the USA (and gorgeous weather)

LOS ANGELES: Sunday, February 14, 2010

Today we arrived in San Pedro (the port for Los Angeles) and demonstrated that we knew how to put first things first. After we cleared customs on the ship (pick up your passports on one side of the lounge and turn them in on the other side with your customs declaration form), we hailed a cab with MaryAnn and John and told the driver to take us to the nearest grocery store. We became preferred customers at Vons, which seems to be connected with Safeway, and stocked up on toothpaste, hair styling gel, hand wash, dish detergent (for hand washables), Excedrin, other over-the-counter medications, wine and beer--all the things you need for a cruise. After taking a cab back to the ship with our precious purchases, we went to Ports O' Call for our whale watching trip.

Whale watching is a misnomer--it would be better to term it "whale glimpsing." Our captain on the Spirit spotted a gray whale, which our boat and four others chased. The gray whale has two nostrils, like a human, and was heading north for Alaska. He or she came up about about every seven minutes for air. All we could see was the spray, in the shape of a heart, and a small portion of its back. The best sighting was of the sea lions sunbathing on the buoy in the wonderful 80+-degree temperature. We also talked with a delightful couple who live in San Pedro, she a high school teacher in a ghetto school and he an independent business owner who restores '57 Chevys and learned how wonderful it was to live facing the San Pedro Bay. It was an absolutely picture-perfect day. A sail boat had a heart-shaped sail and a blimp sported a heart in honor of this day of love.

MaryAnn and John, romantics that they are, invited us and Lu and Mike, all of us from Cruise Critic, to Sabatini's, the Italian restaurant on board, to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. (MaryAnn is the wonderful Wowzo, Ken's pen pal on cruisecritic.com What fantastic company and incredible meal! All we had to order was any soup or salad and our entree. The waiters then surrounded us with all the other courses of absolutely outstanding food. The meal took three hours, and every bite was a gourmet's delight.

Today ends Segment 1 of our world cruise. Every day has been fantastic, and we look forward to Segment 2 in which we will visit Honolulu; Suva, Fiji; Vila, Vanuatu; Noumea, New Caledonia; Bay of Islands, Auckland and Picton, all in New Zealand; and Sydney. We have been warned that the sailing may be through quite rough waters, but we are sure that we will get no sympathy from any of you who live in the 49 states that have experienced record snowfalls and cold temperatures. We will be sailing the next five days to the one state that has not had snow (Hawaii) so you may not hear from us again until the day after we take the VIP tour of Pearl Harbor, February 21. However, Sara's friend Evelyn has requested that we tell you about the ship and what activities are scheduled for sea days. (Rooms are small but very functional, and the activities can keep passengers busy from early morning to late night.) So we may give you a picture tour of the Pacific Princess and describe what a typical sea day is like. We truly feel very lucky and blessed to be taking this trip of a lifetime!

The photograph of the group of people is from our Cruise Critic get-together on Monday, February 15. We have a meeting at the beginning of each segment and lunch once or twice during the segment.

Copper Canyon: Mexico's bigger, deeper and better(?) answer to the Grand Canyon

TOPOLOBAMPO (for the Copper Canyon): Thursday, February 11, 2010

When the alarm clock went off at 3:45 a.m. this morning, neither of us were sure why we had signed up for this tour. Even the tour book that Sara had checked out of the library on the ship stated that winter was not the best time to see the biggest, wildest area of peaks and gorges on the North American continent. However, the write-up did state that the views of the canyon covered by snow could be spectacular. SNOW??? We live in Florida and don't miss it!

We were told to prepare for 50-degree temperatures on the canyon's rim, which we did. The two-hour bus ride to the six-hour train ride was very bumpy with its fair share of curves. All the bumps were not natural--The Mexicans seems to like to build silent policemen (speed bumps) on stretches of roads near towns to slow the traffic. The train was touted as a first-class carrier, which we are sure it was when the tours started in 1964. Obviously, the Mexican engineers have never ridden in Western European first-class trains.

And, when the sun rose, there was the scenery. No superlative adjectives created by man could do this magnificent, awe-inspiring, breath-taking scenery justice. Our friends Sergio and Naomi (experienced world travelers with the best camera equipment we have seen) must have taken a thousand photographs, being willing to stand in between the train cars for the best shots. We are sure that Lauren and Craig, the attractive young (20-30ish) couple who are actually running their independent consulting business while on the cruise, have some unbelievable pictures. Ken took some magnificent shots himself.

At the start of the train ride, winter does not exist. The indigenous Indians are the Mayos (not to be confused with the Mayans). The organ pipe cacti provides edible fruit, the cows eat the leaves of the prickly pear trees, the farmers grow sesame sees for Burger King, the region boasts the 100 most-watched birds in the world, and the peyote tree provides a white, cotton-like substance that is used to stuff life jackets. The depressing part was the number of abandoned homes with graffiti all over the walls. Most of the former owners were unemployed so they were forced to move to another area to seek work.

The upper canyon mountains are 75 million years old. They were formed when the Continental Plate and the Pacific Plate pushed into each, causing uplifting. All the canyons have faults, and all the rock is volcanic rock. The Copper Canyons are named after the color of the rock and are the home of the Tarahumara Indians. The name means "light footers," and the Indians are good runners. They have been here for 10,000 years, and it is thought that the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico may be Tarahumara. While the Pueblos use drums, the Tarahumara play guitar/violin-type instruments. These Indians only look down because if they looked up, they think they would be competing with God. They are entirely self-sufficient, having winter homes at the bottom of the caverns where they grow crops and summer homes at the top of the canyons. From the corn, they make whiskey, the more time they leave it in the crocks, the stronger it is. They drink it straight down, not sip by sip, and it continues to ferment in their stomach so they can drink today and still be drunk tomorrow. Unfortunatelly, the Tarahumara have a problem with alcohol.

In the 1930s, the government took Tarahumara men to Mexico City to teach them how to be teachers. Three of these men returned and started teaching the children from Grades 1 through 6. The children would stay at a boarding school during the week and then go back to their homes on the weekend, sometimes a five-hour walk. Now the teachers are both men and women. Copper, zinc, gold and silver are mined from the mountains. However, the main export was the lumber from the pine trees so much of the land has been stripped of trees.

On our upward climb, we pass the Bridal Veil Falls three times with three different views. (Are most waterfalls named Bridal Veil Falls?) When we finally reach the top, we observe white stuff up close and personal on the ground, and it's not what is used to stuff life jackets. It snowed during the night, and this stuff was not melting! (What happened to the 50-degree highs for the day?) Our guide Guadelupe tells us that the weather this year has been extreme. (Would all of you in the Mid-Atlantic region and South agree?) However, this is a good thing because the moisture nourishes the apple trees.

We transfer to what seems to be old school buses, in which every seat is a rumble seat as the bus travels over winding dirt roads to the rim of the canyons. Guadeluepe tells us that the Tarahumara Indians are scattered all over the mountains because they like to be independent and not live in communities. However, they are all gathered at the restaurant where we enjoy an outstanding meal and watch a performance of dance (the music is made from the butterfly cocoons laced around the ankles of the dancers) and racing by the Indians, and climb to the rim of the Copper Canyons so that they can sell us their homemade baskets crafted from pine needles (thin) and sotol (wide), know as the "spoon of the desert." The colors of the baskets are green (fresh materials), brown (pine needles), black (charcoal) and red (an interesting mixture of red shoe polish boiled in water). The children who sell the baskets with their mothers are so cute that we buy three baskets.

The view from the rim is not as colorful as the Grand Canyon but every bit as breathtaking and much more vast. We notice construction on the left side of the canyons, which our guide informs us will be a cable car that will change the complexion of the Copper Canyon and force the Tamahumara Indians who sell their wares to adapt to the changes. Is progress always good? At 3 p.m., we start our long reverse journey back to the Pacific Princess.

The entire day--all 18 hours of it--was magical. However, some of our fellow travelers thought that the trip lacked the WOW factor. This is now Sara writing. When we toured the Southwest, I was not overly impressed with the Grand Canyon and thought that something was missing there but I could not put my finger on it nor could I express what was lacking. Now after visiting the Copper Canyon, I think I can, and the missing factor was not the incredible scenery but I, who have been privileged to enjoy a fair amount of traveling. If someone had stopped me at any point on the trip and asked where I thought I was, I may have replied the Allegheny Mountains in western Pennsylvania where I was raised, Boone, North Carolina, where my mother- and father-in-law, and now Melanie and Gideon, have a summer home, the Skyline Drive in Virginia, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona or the Grand Canyon. I had seen all the bits and pieces of the tour in different places at different times. What is the difference and what is the WOW factor of the Copper Canyon is that I saw them all in one place on one day. And that is an enormous WOW!