Into the South Pacific

January 6 to 11, 2013 en route to Nuku Hiva, Marqueses Islands, French Polynesia – On the Course of the Leaky Tiki

Departing Terminal Island and the Port of Los Angeles on the evening of 5 January, we set course south, down the San Clemente Channel.  Off San Diego, Silver Whisper came to a heading of ~225 Degrees (South West).  The ship would vary only slightly from this heading for the next 6 and one-half days.  For almost all of the passengers, including J and E, this would be their longest, continuous, at-sea period in all their years of cruising.

To accustom world cruise passengers to the next four months of over-indulgence, Capt. Corsaro and Hotel Director Norman Rafelson invited all to cocktails and dinner on the January 6.  Not that most of us required much training (or lacked either eating or drinking skills).  The dinner in La Terrazza was a tour de force for the ship’s Executive Chef, Anne Marie.  When it was over, most of us could barely waddle down to the Venetian Lounge (ship’s theater) for the evening’s performance.

The Invitation to Cocktails and Dinner

A free pass to overindulge.

The Dinner Menu

Note the authentic food stain in upper right.

Almost immediately after leaving the US’ west coast, the weather turned cloudy, and we were not to see much sunshine for the next six and one-half days.  This was not received well by the open deck-loving, sun-worshipping component of the passengers, which seemed to be almost all of the passengers except J & E.  Also, although not exceptionally rough weather, the ship rolled slightly most of the time from either northeast or southeast swells, which made some problems for passengers given to sea sickness.

On January 7, we participated in our first formal evening of the cruise, so J and E donned our regalia and sallied forth to the Captain’s Welcome Reception, complete with reception line.  We suspect that the only places where reception lines still exist are political and diplomatic functions, and on board cruise ships!  Again, the reception was followed by another opportunity to over indulge in food and drink.

During sea days, we attended lectures, played team trivia, cards and wrote on the blog.  The enrichment lectures were exceptionally good.  They were presented by three excellent speakers – Thomson Smillie (history of opera), Michael Buerk (BBC Reporter), Terry Waite (Hostage and Hostage Negotiator), and Jon Fleming (Geography and History of the ports we visit).  Smillie, Buerk, and Waite only lectured until New Zealand, but fortunately, Jon Fleming will be on board as our destination consultant for the entire world cruise. 

Team trivia is a raucous 45 minutes of 10 teams answering Trivial Pursuit questions in hopes of getting the most correct answers, thereby winning prize points (believe it or not, prizes are worthless).  With the exception of two team members, our trivia team has been together since the 2012 world cruise.  John, the team’s leader, had acquired Italian-green ball caps with I Pirate di Corsaro (Pirates of Corsaro) inscribed above the visor.  On January 9, we invited Capt. Corsaro to join our team, and John presented him with his “official” team hat.   After accepting, the Captain cited urgent business on the bridge and left us to play the game (very smart move on his part).

Capt. Corsaro with Trivia Team

Proudly wearing green ball caps.

January 9 was another reception and formal night.  This event was to honor Venetian Society Members on the cruise.  The Venetian Society is made up of cruisers who have cruised more than once with Silversea.  On a world cruise, this is almost everyone on board.  So, it was back in the evening gown and tux for another reception line and another attempt to cause havoc by spilling food on your finery.  J has discovered the purpose of a cummerbund.  It is to trap small particles of food and bread crumbs missed by the table napkin!  Small voice:  “Stop tucking that napkin in your shirt collar.  Who do you think you are, the Godfather?”

J and E Dressed to Spill

Friends remain anonymous due to poor image.

On the night of January 10, Silver Whisper crossed the Equator ~800 miles south, southeast of Hawaii.  Since J and E were shellbacks numerous times over, we did not participate in the ceremonies on deck on January 11.   However, King Neptune (suspected in alter ego to be Cruise Director Fernando) and his mermaid, aka Silversea entertainer Melissa, appeared; and a number of pollywogs were judged unfit for “shellbackdom” and went into the swimming pool.

Shellback Certificate

Suspect King Neptune's signature is a forgery.

By the sixth night, January 11, most passengers and crew were looking forward to Nuku Hiva and going ashore.  Six days at sea had proven enough for most and more-than-enough for some.  An overheard comment by one passenger, stating that this was the longest time that they had spent with their spouse in the same room since their honeymoon, summed up a number of passengers’ experience on the voyage from LA.