Honolulu, Hawaii There were no problems waiting for Immigration and Customs this morning as our last port was also in USA so we were off the ship by just after 9. Along with our friends, Isabella, Arthur and Shirley, we were keen to take a helicopter ride hoping to see some volcanic activity from the air. We've had an excellent lecturer on board lately, Gary Shahan, a former US teacher, who told us everything we need to know about volcanoes. Did you know, f...

Los Angeles We're back at sea today after a day in the Port of Los Angeles. There have been a few changes - we lost two of our friends, Elaine and Clinton, who will be back in Melbourne by now, and we have a new Italian captain. It's been a little rough since leaving LA but I don't suppose we can blame it on his inexperience. What did we do yesterday? Mainly, we went shopping. Everyone said that Walmart was a must but after the one in Manzanillo, I was doubtf...

Fort Lauderdale First stop, USA. We'd been told on board that we needed a hard copy of our ESTA, the USA visa waiver but I hadn't bothered to print one before leaving home. I knew it wasn't necessary but checked with the Purser to make sure. When we got to the Customs shed in Port Everglades my heart sank. The officers who were checking passports did not have computers and I was worried. I did have the waiver numbers but no hard copies. How could we ...

The Bermuda Triangle After a beautiful sunny, albeit a little hot, day in Bermuda we are back to overcast skies and rain. It is sultry, though, so the swimming pool is again popular. At noon each day the Officer of the Watch gives a report from the bridge of the ship's position, speed, bearing and extra information. Sometimes it's to do with nautical terms and other times it's interesting facts about our position or our next destination. Today it was about th...

Bermuda Bermuda, a typical gorgeous tropical island with sunshine, azure waters, beaches galore and white roofs. Well, maybe the roofs aren't typical but Bermuda has no other coloured roofing material. I'll tell you about it later. We docked behind a sister ship, the Caribbean Princess, another larger ship than ours. It was hot and we hadn't planned anything so we put on our hats and set off along the dock which was next to an old fort. There was plenty ...