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Oct 15, 2007 Monday (Rev. A3)
Hi Dear Friends, re: Cruise to Hawaii
See http://www.celebritycruisedestinations.com/summit.html . The Summit is a huge cruise ship, with 12 decks, and is almost 1,000 feet in length. See http://www.celebritycruises.com/plancruise/ships/ship.do?shipCode=SM . The cruise speed was about 23 knots (25 mph). The cruise required four days each way, to travel the approx. 2,150 miles between San Diego and Hawaii. See http://www.patmoss.com/hawaiicruise/itinerary.htm. My cousin, Dale Walling, and his wife Pat, took this same cruise, two years ago, from the port of Long Beach, instead of from the port of San Diego. See Dale's email online at http://www.patmoss.com/hawaiicruise/dalewallingans.htm. My cruise buddy is Anthony Forzano, a wealthy, retired artist/sculptor, and fellow mountain bicycle and mountain climbing enthusiast -- my best friend, who lives up in the nearly one mile high, cool clime, of Yarnell. We each paid $1,500, via travelocity.com, for the 14-day ocean cruise. This included a very nice stateroom near the center of the 2nd deck (Stateroom 2041). Passengers with staterooms on the 3rd to 9th decks paid lots more, I believe, especially for the elegant "Penthouse staterooms" on the 6th deck. Note: See some "Summit cruise deals" at http://cruises.affordabletours.com/Celebrity_Cruises/Summit. During our 14-day ocean cruise, we probably ate at least $200 each of the rich and plentiful food, in the six cafeterias on the 10th deck, and, occasionally, in the "fancy" dining rooms on the 4th/5th decks. The Summit has three heated swimming pools, four heated Jacuzzis, two saunas, a great fitness/exercise room (in the front of the 10th deck, with a 180-degree window view of the ocean), and a terrif' running track up on the 11th deck. The fitness/exercise room includes weight machines, free weights, stationary bicycles, stair climbers, tread mills, balance balls, etc., and an instruction area where passengers can enroll for pilates and yoga sessions (for about $10 per 30 minute session). Next door to the fitness/exercise room are facilities for the ladies, including a beauty parlor, a massage room, a manicure room, and a sauna. The men's sauna is also nearby. It has a large circular plexiglas window, with a great view of the ocean, which is some 10 decks (approx. 100 feet) below. Complimentary large fresh towels are provided for use with the fitness/exercise room, swimming pools, Jacuzzis, and saunas. The oval running track up on the 11th deck is 1/3 km in length, which provides 3 laps per km = 5/8 mile. It is "on top of the ship", with the blue sky overhead. Occasionally, strong winds blow across the running track. I ran on the running track 12 laps (2 1/2 miles) in the am, and 12 laps in the pm, for a total of 5 miles daily, during most days. Sometimes, I ran into 20, 30 and even 40 MPH winds, and had to "hang onto my hat" to keep it from blowing overboard. Even on a calm day, the ship's forward velocity of approx. 25 MPH provided a 25 MPH headwind when running toward the front of the ship (forward), and a 25 MPH tailwind when running toward the back of the ship (aft). Note: I finally learned that "starboard" is the right side, and "port" is the left side, of the ship. The "bow" is the front of the ship, and "stern" is the back of the ship. For example, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starboard. The Summit has several dance floors, with live bands most evenings, a casino, two theaters, a video game room, a basketball court, ping pong tables, sunbathing decks, etc. Each stateroom has a TV, with several satellite channels, including CNN. Current ship information is also provided on one or more TV channels. And in-room movies can be purchased via the remote control for $12 each. Note: A free movie is also offered, several times daily, in a spacious cinema theater on the 3rd deck. There is a small refrigerator in each stateroom, initially stocked with soda pop and numerous small bottles of "booze". We promptly emptied these items out, stored them in a spare room closet, and then restocked the refrigerator daily with fresh fruit, orange juice, water, raisins, granola, raw hulled sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc., from the cafeterias on the 10th deck. Each stateroom has two voltages available: 110 VAC and 220 VAC. There are electric wall outlets in the stateroom and in the bathroom. Note: The primary outlet voltage throughout the ship is 220 VAC. The 110 VAC outlets are converted locally from 220 VAC, and are rated for only about 1,500 watts per outlet. For more wattage, bring along a 220-to-110 VAC voltage converter (e.g., available at WalMart stores for about $20). There is a convenient wall-mounted electric hair dryer in the bathroom, and also wall-mounted dispensers with complimentary shampoo and hand lotion. A stateroom attendant changes the bedding, vacuums the carpeted floor, and provides fresh towels in the bathroom, daily. Each evening, he brings in a pitcher of fresh cold water, and a copy of the official ship bulletin for the next day. He also places a chocolate treat on each pillow. (Wow -- How "spoiled" can we get!) At noon each day, the ship Captain's voice comes on a ceiling speaker (There are speakers in each stateroom, and in ship hallways, cafeterias, and other common areas, as well.) and provides several minutes of information about the ship position, ship speed, ocean depth, weather conditions, etc. Note: The ship's current position is also shown on a map that is provided on one of the stateroom TV channels. About 2,000 passengers were on board for this ocean cruise -- mostly age 50+ at this time of year (September/October). Our lucky very enjoyable ocean passage included: The crew said that the previous round trip to Hawaii (in early September) had experienced rough ocean seas. So, our "smooth passage" was lucky for us. The ship registry was from Nassau. Crew members were from USA, and from many foreign countries, including India, Russia, South America, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, etc. One employee who worked in the cafeteria said that some 1,700 employees on various Celebrity ships all came from Goa, India. He said that Goa is a former Portuguese colony, and that they are Christians. Many others from India are Hindu, of course. When we chatted with other passengers, such as in the cafeteria, and with guys in the sauna -- many said that this was their 9th cruise, or 20th, or 49th, or 70th, etc. Wow! Time zone differences:
During our ocean cruise from San Diego to Hawaii, we were instructed to adjust our watches/clocks "one hour earlier", on three evenings during the cruise. And during our return ocean cruise from Hawaii to San Diego, we were instructed to adjust our watches/clocks "one hour later", on three evenings during the cruise. Note: California, including San Diego, were currently observing DST, so that San Diego time was the same as Arizona time, which was three hours later than Hawaii time, during our September 28th to October 12th ocean cruise. See
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/ and Pele superstition: Then, on the day before we arrived back in San Diego, I thought better of those decisions, went up to the 11th deck of the ship, and tossed the beach sand, ocean water, and volcanic stones overboard, with an apology to Pele. (Am I superstitious, or what!?) Ref.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele_(mythology) Postcards: See
Postcard #1 on Oct 4, 2007.
Transportation from Airport to Pier B in
San Diego: Some related URL links: Note: The Summit is going to the Atlantic in a few months. Celebrity will be offering their Millennium and Mercury cruise ships in the Pacific. See Celebrity to Hawaii. And see Millennium and Mercury Celebrity cruise ships at: Also, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines are "one and the
same", we are told. See some affordable cruise tour deals at: Also, search http://www.google.com for "cruise ships", and for "discount cruises California Hawaii", and for similar phrases. Aloha! |
