The Big Meander

This was the week we got on The Love Boat (Grand Princess), to begin our final leg toward the States.

Auckland was good to us ~ we had a chance to cook in our own kitchen, do some laundry, watch the boats in the harbor, take a winery tour and a hike, have really good coffee, and generally enjoy our brief stay in New Zealand before boarding the ship.

The Big Meander has been all about learning new things and seeing new places. This week on the meander we have been learning what there is to do and see on the cruise. We’ve learned that Princess is the more mellow, middle of the road cruise line. We’ve learned that watching movies at night under the stars on the big screen is pretty cool. We’ve learned that you can’t gamble while within 12 miles of the harbor….something about taxes or gambling laws or international waters. We’ve learned that some people will sit in a bubbling hot tub in the full sun and never look like they are slightly warm. Marla has learned that her new pedicure color is a deep sea blue. We’ve learned that our drinks package is actually much more than we needed. We’ve learned that as many activities as the Cruise Director organizes, sometimes you still have to play cards & nap for entertainment.

Some science-y things we’ve been discussing lately; 1) a nautical mile is the same as one knot, one knot is 1.15 miles per hour, so 24 hours of sailing at an average of 20 knots per hour means the boat can travel approximately 552 miles in a day. 2) We crossed the equator on our way to Australia and we will cross back again on this cruise. 3) We are moving east, which means the times on our clocks get further away from our home time zone before finally starting to move closer once we cross the international date line. 4) We have been sailing over some of the deepest ocean in the world (4,920 meters last we checked) and 5) There is a possibility we sail on the southern edge of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch between Hawaii and San Francisco.

Tomorrow/Today we cross the International Date Line, which means we get two Thursday April 11ths. Amusingly, they are playing the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day and the activities booked for the 1st day are repeated the 2nd day. Later tonight there is a New Years Eve-type countdown party as we turn the clock back to today.

Next week we have five sea days and two days in French Polynesia. Ironically we have booked a sailboat experience for Moor ‘rea just so we can have some more time on the water!