Pinky and Perky World Cruise #3 on Arcadia

[Pinky and Perky]

When I was talking about some small portions at meal times in the main dining room I should have added that another plate is always available with no grumbles from the waiting staff or chefs.
Kanya had a really delicious veal dish but the size of the meat was small, so we asked for another and received it with smiles.

Here is an idea for you of our dining program on the first leg.
Three styles of dress code for passengers.

BLACK TIE evening...Dinner jacket, Tuxedo or dark suit and tie for the gentlemen, ball gown, trouser suit or cocktail dress for the ladies.

SMART, jacket required...Smart shirt and trousers with a jacket for gentlemen, smart separates or an elegant dress for ladies.

EVENING CASUAL...Open necked shirt and tailored trousers or smart jeans for the gentlemen, dress or casual separates for the ladies.

10th January...Southampton...Evening casual.
11th January...At Sea...Smart, Jacket Required.
12th January...At Sea...Smart, Jacket Required.
13th January...At Sea...Black Tie.
14th January...Ponta Delgada...Evening Casual.
15th January...At Sea...Black Tie.
16th January...At Sea...Smart, Jacket Required.
17th January...At Sea...Evening Casual.
18th January...At Sea...Black Tie.
19th January...At Sea...Smart, Jacket Required.
20th January...Barbados...Evening Casual...Tropical night.
21st January...At Sea...Black Tie.
22nd January...Curacao...Evening Casual..1960/70's night.
23rd January...At Sea ...Evening Casual.
24th January...Panama Canal...Evening Casual.
25th January...At Sea ...Black Tie.
26th January...At Sea... Evening Casual.
27th January...Puerto Quetzal...Evening Casual.
28th January...At Sea...Smart Jacket Required.
29th January...At Sea ...Evening Casual..Country and Western night.
30th January...At Sea ...Black Tie..Black and White Evening.
31st January...At Sea...Smart Jacket Required.
1st February...San Diego...Evening Casual.
2nd February...Los Angeles...Evening Casual.

You can see P & O and its passengers love to dress up for "Black Tie" nights.
The ladies do have some fabulous ball gowns to show off.

We are ready for the Tropical night with our matching shirts but forgot about the Country and Western evening.
Need to try and find something at our next few ports if possible.

Linda I promise to post photos.

We are now in much warmer weather with blue sky and blue seas and calm seas.

This is what the passengers from the UK dreamed of, that escape from the cold British winter.
A large number will be leaving at Los Angeles and flying home.

[Pinky and Perky]

Our first view of Barbados as Arcadia rounds the Island at sunrise.

Seven Seas Mariner also in port.

Military ship in port (sure Frank will be able to put a name to her). 

Arcadia and Seven Seas Mariner.

Missus O and Welcome to Barbados.

We had a great work around town and ended up back at the ports local bar for "Barbados spicy hot Buffalos wings" and more than a few Banks local beer.

We arrived at sunrise and left at sunset.

We had a great day in Barbados a wonderful sail away and tropical evening. 

Curacao next up and a new port for us to put a flag on our world map

[Pinky and Perky]

Curacao 22 January 2014.

Our first visit to this country/Island.

Monarch first in.

Willemstad with its pretty painted houses so much like Aruba which we visited in 2011.

Monarch.

Monarch and Arcadia from the "Pontoon bridge" or Queen Emma Bridge or "The swinging old lady".

The floating market with its fish offered for sale from the fishing boat.

The fruit and vegetable market.

Carnival Breeze arrived around 2.00pm and this is a photo from our balcony.

Queen Emma Bridge open for Arcadia's departure.

More of Carnival Breeze.

Very nice port of call.
We walked around most of the 2 sides of Willemstad and were very impressed with what it offered.
The wonderful coloured buildings did remind me of Amsterdam.
We loved Curacao very much.

[Pinky and Perky]

It was a wonderful Tropical night after our departure from Curacao.
Sail away, dinner and evening party around the pool was excellent.

Here is one photo for you to enjoy.
Missus O decided to save the matching shirts until the next one.
Country and Western gear is still a problem, may need to shop in San Diego for the next one.
Ships shop has nothing at all.

NO, NO, NO...................


That is not me in the middle....... That is a far too handsome fella to be me, but then again!!!!!!!!!!!

Mirror mirror on the wall........................

[Pinky and Perky]

We have had a very busy 2 days since leaving lovely Curacao.
We have been told 550 passengers are completing the full World Circumnavigation on Arcadia for 2014.

23rd January 2014.
We were invited to the first leg P & O Peninsular Club Caribbean Tier Luncheon. 
Around 50 passengers.
Points are awarded for the number of nights sailed with P & O.
The lunch was really top notch with free flowing champagne and wine. 
Nice people on our table hosted by the Front of House Manager.
I will scan the menu later and post, it was really very special, at least what we selected.

24th January 2014.
As with our 2011 RTW cruise, all suite passengers were invited to a private breakfast in the new East restaurant to view the arrival at the Panama Canal.
The East restaurant was previously known as the Orchid restaurant.
Located on the top deck 11 it has terrific views port and starboard.
Boy does it look smart.

Not sure if these are new lock gates or not.

Pacific Princess joined us.

Also Coral Princess was on a Gatun and back cruise.

Pacific Princess about to leave Gatun locks.




Coral and Pacific Princess's.
How much do you get for 2 Princess's Frank?

A little Island hideaway on the Panama Canal.

If you missed the "balloons" Luis here they are or were.
We started with 50 and due to the heat on the balcony glass that popped them, we ended up with around 20!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you could see them on the webcams.
If not I think the ships photographers may have a photo of them so I will post later.

[Pinky and Perky]

The Panama transit never fails to create a buzz.
It was our second transit but still excited us.
What a wonderful experience.

Puerto Quetzal was our next port of call on 27th January 2014 and a new port for us.

A small harbour with the port facilities offering a few bars, restaurants and lots of small stalls selling local souvenirs.
We did not do a tour, instead spending our time walking around the stalls having a few beers and seeking shade as the temperature climbed to a hot 31 c.
We purchased some very nice local souvenirs to remind us of Puerto Quetzal and Guatemala.

The port as we approached.

A local band was playing some nice music for the passengers.

Frank, at first I thought this may have been "Event" but after I went back to the cabin to get the glasses I could make out the name on the bow as "Bridget Bardot" and a picture of a blond lady flying in the air and on the wings the words "Sea Shepherd".
So I do not know which her real name is!!
Also Australian flagged.
She must have arrived after us as I did not see in the morning.
It does look like they are cleaning her up, very nice, even if an unconventional looking cruiser.

A beautiful sunset as we sailed away.

[Pinky and Perky]

Wednesday 29th January 2014.
Today was a sea day and fun around the Aquarius Pool with a "Build a boat" competition.
Passengers had to build a boat from materials they could find around the ship.
It must float, carry 4 cans as cargo and withstand a rough seas test.
Judging was carried out by Arcadia's Master and her 2 Safety Officers.

Captain Sarah Breton and her staff judging the 4 entries.

First boat paraded around the pool and then launched.

This was the second entry Called "Sea Bubble".

She was taking some heavy weather testing.

This one was called "Black Pig"!! And was very unstable, in fact she lost her load of cans.

The final boat was called Tango 6.

All 4 boats together now receiving the final votes from the judges

And the winner was "Sea Bubble" and here are her builders and looking very happy too.

It was great fun and beautiful gorgeous weather around the pool.

[Pinky and Perky]

San Diego 1st February 2014.

A wonderful sunny day greeted us upon our arrival in San Diego

Already berthed was the Costa Deliziosa, this photo taken as we started to come along side.

We took a "hop on hop off trolley" tour which lasted around 2 hours and covered most of downtown San Diego including the historic "Gaslamp" quarter and Balboa Park.

A view from Coronado Island looking at downtown San Diego.
Not sure what the yellow triangles mean!!

The Old Town Trolley, we had a great driver/guide named "Smitty", fun guy.

Arcadia and Costa Deliziosa.

Star of India.

The trolley took us past "Little Italy" which had a street fair, so we walked back (5 blocks) to it once the tour was completed.
We passed many "Bird of Paradise" plants, really beautiful.
Loved little Italy, shopped and had a beer.

We stopped for lunch, calamaris, fresh oysters and lots of local beer.
After this photo we had 3 more oysters and 2 more beers!!!

Costa Deliziosa had an extra passenger hoping for a free cruise!!

Close to our berth was the aircraft carrier USS Midway.
The Coronado bridge is in the back ground.

We really did enjoy San Diego, a beautiful city offering so much.
We had a lot of fun.

[Pinky and Perky]

Tahiti, Papeete, French Polynesia, 11th February 2014.
The name Papeete means "water basket".
Tahiti is the largest of the 130 islands of the French Polynesia.
Tahiti, the largest of the Windward group of Society Islands is a remote island – 4,100 miles from Los Angeles, 3,800 miles from Sydney and 5,900 miles from Tokyo.
Tahiti comprises of two almost circular islands (Tahiti Nui, on which Papeete is situated, and the smaller Tahiti Iti) joined by a narrow isthmus.
Fringed by coral reefs and lagoons, the island reaches a maximum height of 7,352 feet.


The weather improved soon after our arrival, the sun was breaking out and the humidity rising.
Once ashore we were greeted by some lovely senior Polynesian musicians.

Arcadia berthed.

Look at the marks along her newly painted hull.
This happened during our Panama transit; clearly the mules did not keep her dead center in one or more of the locks.
I am sure the crew will repaint once we are in Sydney, if they can.



We had Pacific Princess follow us through the Panama Canal and there she was berthed in Papeete.

We had a helicopter trip booked and at first they asked us to wait 1 hour to see if the weather was going to improve.
It did and we were off.

Our pilot (in white shirt) Kanya and 2 of Arcadia's passengers from London known to all on the ship as the "four happy widows", the other 2 chickened out of the trip, fear of flying!!!!

A few photos from the helicopter.
The Island of Moorea can be seen in the distance.

Magnificent waterfalls were seen in the valley and in one place at the far end of the valley 8 waterfalls could be seen.
Absolute stunning view, breath taking.
Recent rain had provided this fabulous view making the forest below so fresh and lush green.

Back on land we had a shopping trip around town and ended up at a local French restaurant.
Using my very rusty school boy French I was able to order a crevette(prawn) salade with balsamic dressing and moule a la crème with fritas.
Washed down with plenty of local Tahitian beer called Hinano.
The size of the mussel dish was a complete surprise knowing this was for one person!!!!!!!!!
Good job we ordered a salad and only one mussel dish.

Some hours later we walked back, full, to the ship!!!!!!!!!!
Papeete was a very expensive Island to buy anything, but we are unlikely to return so splashed out a bit to ensure we enjoyed it to the full.

[Pinky and Perky]

Bora Bora, Polynesia, 12th February 2014.
Bora Bora, the Pearl of the South Seas, is the most famous of the Leeward Islands in the Society Islands group of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France.
It is a mountainous volcanic island set in the South Pacific Ocean, surrounded by coral reefs, and 150 miles northwest of Tahiti.

This was our first sighting of Bora Bora on a damp drizzly early morning.

Bora Bora was a tender port.
We had a helicopter trip booked but was soon told once we landed it had been cancelled due to the weather.
Although the weather did improve later in the day and late flights did take place, we had lost our slot.
So it was just a stroll and a little shopping and a beer or two.

Arcadia at anchor.

A local tour boat.

Always nice to see the colourful local folks playing typical Polynesian music.

Here are some photos from Arcadia as we departed.

[Pinky and Perky]

Some facts from Arcadia's bridge team.

The bridge of Arcadia is located on deck 8 forward and this puts the bridge 26 meters or 85 feet above sea level.
In normal conditions of weather and visibility this means that the visible horizon is around 11 nautical miles or 12.6 land miles, which is approximately 70 Arcadias laid from bow to stern.

[Pinky and Perky]

Friday 14th February 2014.

We awoke on this day to find Arcadia had been transformed over night by the entertainment team into a valentines "love boat".
Red balloons, red hearts, red decorations were everywhere.

We started our day with the now daily routine of a walk around deck 3.
Three laps = 1 mile and we are now up to 5 laps before breakfast.
Returning to our cabin for a shower before breakfast we found a red rose on my, yes, my side of the bed.
It was from our steward(ess) so a kiss was in order!!, well two in fact , one left side and one right side!!

At breakfast all the eggs, steaks, toast, fried bread, rolls, fruits such as pineapple, water melon and honey dew melon were shaped as hearts.
It did look rather nice.

The events all day had a valentine theme to them.

The "black tie "evening dinner was also valentine themed.
I had ordered a bottle of Lanson Rose champagne as a surprise for Kanya.
I was glad to see she did not notice the table had champagne glasses on it instead of the normal wine glasses.
When Bony (our wine waiter) appeared with an ice bucket and this lovely looking bottle of pink champagne she was shocked and so very happy.
That was a very nice and good well kept secret between Bony and myself.
Dinner was wonderful and we decided to go along to the Valentine Ball.
What a great evening doing everything from waltzes, jive to disco dancing.

Then at 11.50pm we headed back to our room.
On our table in the cabin was a plate full of heart shaped handmade chocolates from our Butler.
Next morning I did not kiss him but Kanya did!!

What happened next was something we always wanted to do and witness!!!

At 00.00 the ships clocks went forward 24 hours, we had crossed the International Date Line.
We were sitting in our cabin having a little final brandy "night cap" following a fantastic valentine's day on Friday 14th February 2014 and we moved into Sunday 16th February 2014 in a flash, in an instance, a blink of an eye!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday 15th February 2014 was missing, it did not exist!!!!

The entertainment team did a great job of making light of the missing day.
They published the Horizon news sheet as usual for Saturday 15th February 2014 but with some humour that I really appreciated, up to you.....

Example...
9.00am-late –Gossip Get –Together
Join your fellow passengers for this popular past – time.
Launderettes (Decks 4, 5, 6, 7) Midship.

10.15am-Beginners Pole-Dancing With Millei The Moocher.
The Retreat (Deck 10) Midships.

11.15am- Guest Speaker- Diane Simpson.
How to get away with murder.
Palladium Theatre (Decks 2 & 3) Forward.

11.30am_Shuffle-Maude.
Passengers compete to see how far they can push Maude down the deck.
Please note: this game takes place on an exposed section of deck 16 and passengers are advised that playing in high winds holds an element of risk.
Remember that with winds of Force 10 and above Rule 41 applies.
Whereby if Maude is blown overboard the game must be cancelled.
Stratosphere Deck (Deck 16) Aft Port Side.

11.30am- Naked Bungee Jumping.
Strictly for passengers over 80 years of age.
Bridge Wing (Deck 9) Forward.

2.00pm- Mobility Scooter Grand Prix.
Maximum speed 25 knots. Bring your own crash helmet.
Promenade (Deck 3).


In-Cabin T V Channel Guide - Highly Recommended by:.

From the Chief Engineer.
Four Welders and a Funnel.

From the Salon Girls.
Facial Hair Attraction.

From Travelling Alone.
Free Willy.

From the Medics.
Saving Ryan's Privates.


Situation Vacant.
To work with photographers handling batteries.
Must have a positive outlook and be able to take charge.

And a lot more.

[Pinky and Perky]

Suva, Fiji, 17th February 2014.

In 2011 we called at Fiji but at Port Danareu (tender) not Suva the capital of Fiji.

A very nice welcome for us in Suva with a local band playing, they also performed a Hakka, no doubt the Fijian version.

Two Fiji warriors in grass skirts and a port Police man in a skirt/dress!!

We had an afternoon tour of the city booked so the morning was free.
We visited the municipal market a short walk away and then a supermarket.
Stalls full of wonderful looking fruit and vegetables.
This photo (a tad out of focus) shows the enormous size of the local bananas, Kanya just could not believe the size. On her table are also limes and ginger.

On our tour now.

Fiji's Parliament House.

A guard outside the Presidents Home.

A visit to the Fiji Museum.

Double hull canoe with notes.

Part of the "Bounty" rudder with notes.

We had a refreshment stop at the Suva Holiday Inn and some free time to shop then back to the ship.



That band was on hand again to say" Goodbye" and play "Sailing".

This was a very nice port of call, we liked Suva very much.

[Pinky and Perky]

Bay Of Islands, New Zealand, 20th February 2014.
Arcadia's maiden call.

I was up early on the observation deck at first light to witness our arrival.
This call was built up by our port presenter as being a "wonder sight" not to be missed.
It was drizzling with mist and low cloud and I could see nothing!!!!!!!!!!
So much for a mass of little Islands popping up into view as Arcadia entered the bay.

We were at anchor just off Waitangi some 1.6 miles from Paihia.

Luckily we had no tour booked but took the free shuttle down to Paihia the local small town.
The weather was so bad I never got to see Russell.
It did clear slightly before we left and here are the only photos I took.

[Pinky and Perky]

Auckland 21st February 2014.

Part 1.

A firm favourite with us and she did not disappoint again.
A really nice bright, warm sunny day unlike the previous call.

I was up early and took some great photos of Arcadia arriving in Auckland.
This is just a sample with Sky Tower in the background.