Six straight sea days from Long Beach, California to the Hawaiian Islands chain sorted out the “cruisers” from the “trippers” among guests new to long “crossings,” as voyages like this are known in the trade. For those accustomed to a port stop every other day or so, extended periods at sea with no land or other ships in sight can be a challenge, especially if the seas well up more than normal, as they did this time. One Conversationalist is travelling alone because the partner does not “do” extended sea days.
To compensate, the entertainment staff dream up a range of activities to distract people from the journey, and prime among those are the team trivia competitions that create fierce interest and competition along with, occasionally, contest as official answers are queried. That all starts at noon which automatically, for some, becomes a time to head for lunch to avoid the crush that descends an hour later.
The resident musicians put in long hours, covering several venues from late afternoon to early morning. All visiting artists who come on for a few days at a time are accompanied by the house band which is astonishingly talented – with often little more than an hour’s preparation they back up the visitors perfectly, usually having never seen the act before.
Apart from that, food options across the four main outlets become a focal point, accompanied by complaints about clothes having shrunk. The pool side gang get in sun hours, when it is not raining, the bridge players fill in up to four or more hours, a watercolour class meets twice a day, gym classes attract a few, as does mahjong, and good numbers turn up to the Conversations.
With four speakers aboard, there are always two to three presentations a day that span a range of subjects and spark many discussions that spill over into the hosted table chats or simply around the ship. Some regular attendees refer jokingly (mostly) to turning up for grad classes. There is a lot of interest in: current global conditions and how they got to be that way; local cultural differences and patterns; social and political change; and all the quirks that distinguish unfamiliar places.
After those six days the Hawaiian stops ranged from sleepy Hilo to bustling Honolulu where shopping vied with cultural and monument excursions. For some there are pilgrimages to Walmart in places like Kona, while others headed for the volcanoes and more beaches.
Then all too soon we set in on the next six straight days across to French Polynesia – the patterns recurred. Highlights were a Canadian comic who traversed the usual husband/wife routines but then revealed intriguingly that all his material was written by his wife, thereby upturning some usual stereotypes. New Conversationalists joined, and some departed, with that repeated when we reached Papeete in Tahiti after a stop in Bora Bora that, for many, was an anti-climax. Aside from the fabled “over the water” bungalows, the rest of the island has been hard hit by COVID so adding to earlier degradation visited by the GFC. Bora Bora was not the Bali Hi anticipated by many.
And the highlight in Papeete (which was closed tight for Sunday on the day we visited) was having Mark Zuckerberg’s $US350 million “yacht” tied up next to us, complete with it’s $US30 million “chaser” boat along for crew back, provisioning and security. It was a stark representation of the world’s wealth distribution.
Then came a stop in the delightful Raiatea with one of the world’s most spectacular sail ins: through a narrow gap in the coral reef towards a lagoon-facing Pacific town tucked along the foothills of some impressive hills. The township itself is full of lovely old style general stores that sell just about everything, and many guests reported back on the high quality of the snorkelling and diving – and some took the opportunity to buy the final black pearls that are the speciality in this part of the Pacific.
Our next stop is Aitutaki followed by Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, and those who have been there before are preparing everyone else for the highlights.
The filtering-in news of the Vanuatu tragedy, and the associated French overseas possession of Mayotte’s obliteration, takes on additional meaning and significance as we sail through associated waters, and there are a lot of thoughts for those affected. Those challenges are now woven in with the broader ones of world affairs as we traverse the USA, Russia, China, India and the Pacific states, including New Zealand, during the Conversations.
There is much to consider as well as to observe, and a lot more discussions to have with all the interesting people on board.
* By Brian Stoddart. Brian is an Emeritus Professor, Screenwriter – winner of TMFF (UK), KIIFFA (India), Feel the Reel (UK), Bridge Fest (Canada) and Siren International (Australia) competitions, Crime novelist – the four Superintendent Chris Le Fanu novels set in British India and Conversationalist extraordinaire. He is also a regular contributor to Fremantle Shipping News whose previous articles as The Conversationalist All At Sea and a range of feature articles can be found right here!
