Good Friday, 4/18/03 at sea, South of the Hawaiian Islands<br><br> We arose early. The sky was studded with gray clouds, the air was warm and a brisk trade wind was quartering us from the northeast. We had a leisurely breakfast on the balcony, watching the white caps of the blue sea swell and flow around the big ship’s wake. There was neither a bird to be seen, nor a ship nor another person. We were alone in the South Pacific. We read for a time ("Stone Monkey" Jeffrey Deaver) and relaxed, appreciating the slower pace aboard when the ship was at sea. <br><br> At 10:30 A.M., we stood in another line and presented our passports and properly completed immigration forms to Tahitian authorities in the deck 7 Vista lounge. In return, we got a crisp receipt for our passports, hoping we would see them again. We had brought our books with us and sat outside, on lounge chairs on the covered promenade deck. It was geriatrics row, god bless them for the gumption to be still traveling at an advanced age. We were seeing our future here and it made me feel older by the minute. We didn’t want to waste the lethargy so we repaired to our cabin for a delicious one-hour conversation with Mr. Ozzie Nelson (nap).<br><br> After our late morning siestas, we stopped by the deck 14 trough to ingest the appropriate caloric overload. Everything was both fresh and good quality. That is the problem. One simply cannot resist scarfing down major carb loads at these buffets,<br>From lunch, we made our way to the 3:00 P.M. wind tasting in the Florentine room. A humorous Hungarian waiter gave a knowledgeable and entertaining lesson on appreciating and purchasing Pinot Grigio, Fiume Blanc, Shiraz, a Mondavi coastal Merlot and Korbel champagne. We had fun and enjoyed the performance. I bought two bottles of the coastal Merlot for use at future dinners on the ship. One exercise was both interesting and tasty. We put salt on our hands to lick, then bit into a lemon and drank some Pinot Grigio. This light wine immediately took on a much fruitier and fuller taste to some chemical transfer or other. We had shared the experience with Lynn and her father Peter from London and two Torontonians, Judy and Paul.<br><br> The weather was still cloudy and warm as we ventured topside for a brief walk in the air. It prompted us to return to the cabin to read and talk yet again with Mr. Nelson. Tonight was the first "formal dinner" in the Florentine room and we wanted to be alert and enjoy the affair.<br><br> At 9 P.M. we walked down the grand promenade on deck 7 to the dining areas. Four photographers were busy taking pictures of passengers in their tuxedos and evening wear. We met up with a charming young couple, Jazz and Janice, from London. Mary had met them while waiting in line to book excursions the day before. We chatted a bit, enjoying their company. They had only married the year before and were celebrating their first year of marriage. We all posed for various pictures and decided to join each other for dinner in the Florentine room. It is these chance encounters with people from everywhere that make the cruise experience so enjoyable.<br><br> The waiters served up the usual five star extravaganzas as we sipped a nice bottle of Mondavi Merlot and got acquainted with this charming couple. Janice owned her own fashion design company in London and Jazz, is a computer programmer. We much enjoyed their company as we had a leisurely dinner worthy of royalty.<br><br> After dinner, we set off for the Princess Theater to watch an hour-long musical review. It was lively and entertaining and we forgot for a time how far away the real world was. One old battle-axe nearby was shushing everyone to beat the band. We found her comical and part of the evening’s performance.<br><br> It was raining cats and dogs topside. The air was humid and bath warm. Everyone walked like drunks after a spree, down the main passage way. The ship was motoring at top speed and she rocked side to side like a hog in a wallow. It had been a lovely day at sea and we were tiring. We put aside our glass slippers and magical robes and surrendered to the sand man, happy to be here and with each other, someplace at sea in the vast pacific.<br><br><br>Saturday, 4/19/03 At sea South of Hawaii, nearing the Gilbert Islands<br><br> We were up early. It was warm topside with a 35-mph trade wind crossing the deck. We breakfasted in the deck 14 Horizons Court and then sunned on the aft fantail of deck 12, enjoying the leisurely time to read, try a cooling dip in the small pool and generally laze about the deck. It is a life speed gear that I am not much familiar with, but would like to experience more of it.<br><br> The day was leisurely so we decided to have a formal lunch in the Florentine room. Proper dress was required, so we cleaned up some and venture in to this now familiar place of gustatory titillation. We had shrimp Louis and crab and enjoyed the pleasure of the food and our surroundings. Life can be very good when you let it.<br><br> We were now some 800 miles South of Hilo and still had another 400 miles before we reached that small speck in the Pacific labeled Christmas Island. Or Kirimatati as it is now called. Had I known then that the U.S. had carried out underground nuclear explosions on Christmas Island in 1962, I might have been more apprehensive about our coming visit. Ignorance, as they say however, is bliss. The Dawn Princess proceeded South at a brisk 19 knot pace and we could espy nothing around us except for sky, wind and wave.<br><br> An art auction was taking place in the wheel house lounge, so we sat through that for a time enjoying the banter of the auctioneer and the lively patter about artists "not yet dead." <br>Then, we watched the delightful comedy "Analyze That," with Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. It is every bit as funny as "Analyze this." The really is a wealth of things to do shipboard if you seek them out. After the movie, I sent some e-mails into cyber space enjoying the novelty of transmitting from the middle of the ocean via satellite, something that would have been near impossible only a few years before. <br><br> It was nearing 6:00 P.M. and we headed for the windjammer lounge on deck 14 to watch the sun slide into the deep pacific. The performance was blocked some by clouds, but we watched it eagerly enjoying the light play of sun on water and sky as the day turned into night at sea in its daily magical performance.<br><br> 8:00 found us entering the Florentine room. Fate had the waiter sit us next to Jazz and Janice. We smiled at the co-incidence and enjoyed another meal with these charming young people from London. It was "French Night." I had escargot, French Onion Soup, Orange roughie and an apple tart with ice cream for desert. It was acccompanied by a nice Fiume Blanc and good coffee. The dining experience was delicious and consistent with the other elegant repasts we had enjoyed aboard the Dawn Princess.<br><br> The temperature topside was 80 degrees at 11:00 P.M. It was steamy, warm and humid. The kids were in the mood to party. We are much older and realized we could not keep their pace. We wished them a good evening and returned to our cabin to read and finish yet another lazy and enjoyable day at sea.<br><br>Easter Sunday 4/20/03 Christmas Island- Republic of Kiribati<br><br> <br><br><br> <br> <br><br> <br><br> <br> <br><br><br><br> <br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br> <br> <br> <br><br><br><br>
