Asia Cruise Blog

9/27 - At Sea - still in the 40's and mildly rough seas. After breakfast, we went to a digital camera seminar, but it was geared toward fancy cameras with a big lens.  Not for us. We then went to the photo gallery for the first time and found all the pictures taken of us.  We bought the one of us boarding the ship, and let the others go.  They ware ok, but it is a long cruise and we don't want to buy these too soon. We went to a sale that was being held in the dining room, but it was all JUNK. Then we went to watch a watercolor painting game.  We were too late to participate but it was fun to watch.  Six women started a painting, and every 60 seconds they moved to the next painting and then every 60 seconds moved until they were back at their original spot.  Very interesting to see how they all turned out. Wrote in my journal for a while, had pizza for lunch (really good), went back to the cabin to try to transfer pictures from camera to cell pho...

9/23 - Ketchikan, Alaska  weather about 42* to 50* with rain off and on We had a quick breakfast and then got off the ship to get a shuttle to a local church.  The congregation was very welcoming and priest was very upbeat and happy to see us.  There was a one-year-old little girl being christened at this mass and that made it very special to all of us visitors.  The mass was lovely, the music a little fast paced and unfamiliar to most of us, but we all enjoyed the opportunity to meet the "locals".  There were more than 6 shuttles used to get us to the church, so Father asked parishioners to pitch in and drive some of us back to the pier.  Dan and I rode with a young father and his 10-year-old daughter, very sweet. After a quick lunch on the ship, we walked 2 blocks to the site of the Lumber Jack show for which we had tickets.  OMG, what fun!  There were axe throws, chainsaw cuttings, pole climbing, and log rolling.  Thank goodness the r...

Day 1 to Day 6 Sorry, I am unable to add any pictures to this page, but the ones I have on my phone are not coming up as available, and the ones I have in my camera can only be transfers by a USB cable and these computers do not have a USB port.  So, until I can get someone to help me in this computer Cafe, I will have to use only words. Back to Day One of the cruise - September 19, 2018, We had the best flights on United from Fort Myers to Houston to Los Angeles.  They left on time, the flight crews were friendly and helpful, the airport personnel could not have been nicer and the wheelchair people were the best.  On the second flight from Houston to LAX, the flight attendant in our cabin was so nice, she came to our seats right after we landed to tell us how much she enjoyed our talking to her and wishing us a fabulous and safe voyage, When we arrived in baggage, there were only 5 suitcases still going around, and 3 were ours!  The baggage handler took all...

Hi again We are in Juneau Alaska and have been on the ship 6 days.   This is the first opportunity I have had to update.   We have been so busy doing things,  I don't have time to write about them. For now, just know the ship is beautiful. The cabin comfortable,  the food delicious. The staff friendly, funny and helpful,  the shows are entertaining,  the games and activities are great,  and the other passengers are the best.   Have not met anyone who is cranky or annoying.  The weather has gotten progressively cooler,  with rain on and off yesterday. Will try to add more details and pictures tomorrow.

ASIA CRUISE BLOG Introduction     Sept. 11, 2018   Welcome to the personal log of Lois and Dan O'keefe who are on the adventure of a lifetime.  We are sailing one week from tomorrow on Princess Cruise Line's Coral Princess,  from the Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) for a 2-month cruise to Alaska, Japan, China, South Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Hawaii!       We want to keep you updated on the days at sea, adventures in port and, of  course , on what we know will be fabulous people we meet.       Sept. 16, 2018 :  Here is a look at how we prepared for this trip, starting with making the reservation one year and one month ago, up to what is still left to be done.        The first six months, we dreamed and planned.  Then in January, we kicked into gear.  The list of projects we had was daunting, but we slowly checked everything off...