Cruising the South Pacific, no show tunes allowed

[craven morehead]

It was pretty close to last tender time by the time we walked down to the dock

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a good half hour after last tender time a bus pulled up above the dock and a large group of people trailed down to the tender. What on earth could have caused a ship's tour to be so late on an island so small?

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beautiful Raro, see you soon

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another new beer for us. I think this one is from the Caribbean

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last tender finally ready to be winched up

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bye

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a sign of things to come?

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we both really enjoyed dinner in Windows. We sat right against the windows and the ship was vibrating quite a bit as the Captain increased our speed to get us to American Samoa the day after tomorrow

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from our seat in Magnum's

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I have drunk this beer poured from the tap in the US and Canada, and they insist on serving it with a slice of Orange. I said, do I look a fruit bat

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style wheat ale with a 5.4% ABV, brewed with orange peel and coriander for a bright, citrusy flavor​

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Molson Coors under the Blue Moon Brewing Company label. It was first introduced in 1995 in Golden, Colorado, and was originally called Bellyslide Belgian White. The beer is now brewed in multiple locations, including Colorado and Montreal, Canada,

 

[craven morehead]

It was pretty close to last tender time by the time we walked down to the dock

View attachment 514201View attachment 514202View attachment 514203

a good half hour after last tender time a bus pulled up above the dock and a large group of people trailed down to the tender. What on earth could have caused a ship's tour to be so late on an island so small?

View attachment 514204

beautiful Raro, see you soon

View attachment 514205

another new beer for us. I think this one is from the Caribbean

View attachment 514206

last tender finally ready to be winched up

View attachment 514207

bye

View attachment 514208

a sign of things to come?

View attachment 514209

we both really enjoyed dinner in Windows. We sat right against the windows and the ship was vibrating quite a bit as the Captain increased our speed to get us to American Samoa the day after tomorrow

View attachment 514210View attachment 514211View attachment 514212

View attachment 514213

from our seat in Magnum's

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Enjoying the TR and excellent photos

 

[bPeteb]

I have drunk this beer poured from the tap in the US and Canada, and they insist on serving it with a slice of Orange. I said, do I look a fruit bat

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style wheat ale with a 5.4% ABV, brewed with orange peel and coriander for a bright, citrusy flavor​

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Molson Coors under the Blue Moon Brewing Company label. It was first introduced in 1995 in Golden, Colorado, and was originally called Bellyslide Belgian White. The beer is now brewed in multiple locations, including Colorado and Montreal, Canada,

Colorado/Caribbean - same same but different

 

[SYD]

I have drunk this beer poured from the tap in the US and Canada, and they insist on serving it with a slice of Orange. I said, do I look a fruit bat

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style wheat ale with a 5.4% ABV, brewed with orange peel and coriander for a bright, citrusy flavor​

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Molson Coors under the Blue Moon Brewing Company label. It was first introduced in 1995 in Golden, Colorado, and was originally called Bellyslide Belgian White. The beer is now brewed in multiple locations, including Colorado and Montreal, Canada,

Quite common across the US these days. On tap, take it with a with a slice of orange.

 

[ellen10]

Just catching up on your wonderful trip report.
I have only dipped my toe in once to a big ship cruise once, but your trip looks great. I will have to investigate more.
Great photos and information.

 

[bPeteb]

June 17 Samoa

We'd gone to sleep on June 15 and woken up the next morning on June 17. This was causing many people great concern. "How have we a lost a day?" Oh dear.

It was also something that the NCL app couldn't cope with. When we'd booked the specialty restaurants I'd booked the Italian restaurant Onda for June 16. Early on in the cruise we'd had a call letting us know that the booking had been cancelled as the day didn't actually exist. We rebooked for our final night.

The weather forecast hadn't looked too good for either of the Samoas but it ended up being a glorious day with just some light rain as we crossed through the centre of the island.

Arriving into Apia

I'd booked a day tour with Adventour Samoa. Communication was all through Facebook messenger. I'd seen a cruise ship tour on GetYourGuide but contacted them directly to make sure they got the full cost without a cut to GYG. USD150 each for a full day tour icnluding luncha nd all admission charges.

I'd been sent constant messages from Steve the proprietor. When I'd originally enquired I asked if we could spend longer at Robert Louis Stevenson's house and skip the cathedral visit. Steve said they'd modify the tour to whatever we wanted. He'd sent a message on arrival morning letting us know where the van would be and what number it was. I could see it from our balcony. Steve and his vans



anotehr beautiful welcome from a local cultural group. The boys of American Samoa looked more like sumo wrestlers. Taus laughed and said us Samoans like our starch too much. These Samoans looked more like rugby players

I wasn't sure if we would be on our own or others had booked the same tour. It was the latter. A group of four USAians joined us - mum, dad and two late teenage kids. Steve introduced us to our driver as Ranger Tagaloa. I asked him if Ranger was actually his name and he said no, it was Aitasi.

The family happily sat in the back of the van and chatted amongst themselves. First stop was to exchange some cash into local currency for any incidentals, then on to Robert Louis Stevenson's house. When we go back to Samoa. and we definitely will, we'll spend a lot longer here and walk to the top of the hill where RLS is buried. Just not enough time. It is a guided tour through the house and bAlt and I found it super interesting, the family not so much.

There are very few original items in the house. Pretty much everything was sold off after RLS died.

 

[bPeteb]

Then we drove up behind Apia and headed across the island. It was very foggy and drizzling as we arrived at the Baha'i temple. Chrches of any description just aren't our thing and I'm not sure it was that interesting to the family from Salt Lake City ;-)





next stop was Papapaptai Falls



then it was a decent drive to Togitogiga Waterfall where the family was keen to go for a swim. One foot in the chilly water was enough to dismiss that idea

while we were there I talked to Aitasi. It turns out he is quite the rugby player, good enough to be one three Samoan residents to be selected to play in the rugby world cup next year! Then he talked about his other interest - Pasifika contemporary dance. Aitasi lived in Guam for three years dancing in an international troupe there. He's travelled all over the world with his dancing. What a cool young guy.



Time for lunch. This was at Miti Mininoa Ocean Club. We could choose anything and I of course chose the raw fish, this time in more of a cold soup, and served with taro chips. It was delicious.

a new beer!

 

[craven morehead]

Then we drove up behind Apia and headed across the island. It was very foggy and drizzling as we arrived at the Baha'i temple. Chrches of any description just aren't our thing and I'm not sure it was that interesting to the family from Salt Lake City ;-)

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next stop was Papapaptai Falls

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then it was a decent drive to Togitogiga Waterfall where the family was keen to go for a swim. One foot in the chilly water was enough to dismiss that idea

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while we were there I talked to Aitasi. It turns out he is quite the rugby player, good enough to be one three Samoan residents to be selected to play in the rugby world cup next year! Then he talked about his other interest - Pasifika contemporary dance. Aitasi lived in Guam for three years dancing in an international troupe there. He's travelled all over the world with his dancing. What a cool young guy.

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Time for lunch. This was at Miti Mininoa Ocean Club. We could choose anything and I of course chose the raw fish, this time in more of a cold soup, and served with taro chips. It was delicious.

a new beer!

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Another "New" Beer