Bound for Hawaii
7 February 2026
It’s said, probably inaccurately, that on July 4, 1776, King George III wrote in his diary, “Nothing of importance happened today.”
I think I can say that to you, dear readers, regarding the upcoming days “at sea,” when we’re not off the boat exploring exotic destinations. On sea days, it’s all about eating, napping, watching TV, staring at the ocean (never boring) and looking for interesting things to do. Each day they supply us with a list of about 50 things going on around the ship, such as lectures, art lessons and craft classes, religious services, solo traveler get-togethers, aerobic and other exercises, trivia contests, darts competitions, choral rehearsals, live entertainment, even ballroom dance lessons and beginner French lessons. There’s indeed something for everybody, from early morning to late into the night.
When I awoke at 5 a.m., I was alternately being slightly lifted off the mattress and being driven deep into it. These are my favorite seas for sleeping; enough to rock me gently but not enough to roll me out of bed! I thought we were in rough seas, but when the sun finally rose I could see that we were in relatively gentle seas, with low rolling “hills” of water we lightly rode up and down. Sadly, it’s too cold to sleep outside in my hammock; maybe when we get deeper into the southern hemisphere, where it’s currently summer, I can enjoy my balcony more.
This morning the Bowlins and I attended a lecture on Hawaiian history and the great king Kamehameha, the conqueror and first ruler of all the Hawaiian islands. The lecturer, a man from Hawaii, had great trouble with the great king’s name, never pronouncing it the same way twice. It was a fairly boring lecture, as David Bowlin leaned over and confirmed to me part-way through. But it did set the mood for our next stop, in a few days: the Hawaiian islands.
My afternoon lecture, while the Bowlins attended yet another art class, was by an author who spoke about getting books published, and the writing of memoirs. It sounded like it would bore me to tears, and I was looking forward to a nice after-lunch nap, but she managed to keep me both awake and interested as she spoke about books I’d never heard of but now want to read!
Now, back to the Waymo experience in San Francisco. I thought of a couple of other things I meant to mention. One is that, the second time we summoned a ride, beneath the “Unlock Doors” button that appears in the app as the car is arriving, there’s an “Open Trunk” button so you can store your luggage. Perfect!
Also, the second time we used it, the app asked if I wanted it to display my initials on the car. I didn’t know what it meant, but I said OK. The next time a Waymo arrived for us, as it got near us “PC” appeared on the dome on top the car. So we didn’t have to look at the license plate to know it’s the right car. The initials tell us, and the fact that our app unlocks the doors confirms it.
Finally, we were amazed at the tight squeezes the car can make. It’s so perfectly aware of its size and the objects around it, it can easily and smoothly make moves a human driver probably wouldn’t attempt as it moves through traffic. And time will only make it better and better!
I’m surprised how many Germans are on this cruise, so many that a lot of announcements on the ship PA system are repeated in German. Lots of Americans and English. A few French. I haven’t heard any Spanish. LOTS of Asians aboard, most eating with chopsticks. Yesterday I sat in a lecture beside a Swedish couple. I can usually spot Swedes even before they speak. They are always very smartly dressed and more formal than others, until they’ve had a few drinks.
8 February 2026
Another quite day at sea, but I attended FOUR hour-long lectures. One was a very interesting talk by a “profiler,” a psychologist who specializes in psychoanalyzing psychopathic killers. She told about what methods detectives use to get murderers to confess to their crimes, and the body language they look for as they interview their subjects. VERY interesting presentation.
Another lecture was described as, “Jeff Skiles, Commercial Pilot.” I had nothing else to do, so I attended. It turns out this guy was the copilot in the “Miracle on the Hudson,” when Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed a commercial jet on the Hudson River when birds knocked out both their jet engines after takeoff from LaGuardia airport in 2009 (Tom Hanks played Sully in the movie). Again, very interesting to hear him describe what they were doing in the cockpit during the 3 minutes between the bird strike killing both their engines and the ditching of the plane in the Hudson.
Next, the Bowlins joined me for a talk by a marine biologist who specializes in algae and seaweed. David slept through part of the lecture, but it was fairly interesting, including a lot of info on how, according to this biologist, algae will eventually save mankind (it already produces 70% of the oxygen we breathe).
Finally, I heard a talk by a man whose expertise is in studying statistics and data to, basically, predict the future. He worked for years with billionaire investment expert Sir John Templeton, who is considered second only to Warren Buffett in investment savvy. He gave a very funny and interesting talk (NOT about investments) and I look forward to hearing him in future lectures here during our cruise.
Most of these lecturers are only on the ship for a few stops, then they fly home. One we missed was Stephen Payne, architect of the Queen Mary 2. He was 35 when he designed QM2, and he was aboard on the first part of this world trip, from Southampton, UK, through the Panama Canal. His time aboard ended with arrival in Los Angeles, when our group came aboard, so we just missed him. But I’ve seen recordings on my stateroom TV of the lecture he gave Monday on his designing of QM2, explaining why he put things where he did, and how the ship was built. Sorry we missed seeing it in person!
Someone asked Linda about the food aboard, and she posted these images from the ship’s buffet. We ate well!
10 February 2026
Sorry, not much to report today, regarding my own yesterday. Nothing other than more fairly interesting lectures and better than average meals at the buffet. I also spent about 3 hours in my hammock on the balcony, sipping wine and reading my book.
I’m mainly posting today to report my breakfast habits, and to share a video of the beautiful elevator I take every day, and a recording of the elevator saying, “Deck 4,” which is where I live. Turn the volume up to hear her say four. I laugh every time I hear it! So English!
I’ve fallen into a breakfast routine. Every third day, for health’s sake, I have hot oatmeal, but of course I add a pat of butter (their “pats” are twice the size of an American butter pat), a generous amount of brown sugar, and some cinnamon. Also some salt. Apparently they don’t cook anything on the ship with salt, giving in to the health concerns of so many people. They have pitchers of half and half, but I forgo that. Healthy day, you know.
But on days 1 and 2 I have a real breakfast. First, I steal a knife from the cutlery area. I proceed to get a piece of “six grain bread,” or something like that, and drop it into the toaster. While it’s toasting, I go pick up a couple of macho-sized pats of butter. When the toast is done, I split it in half with the knife and make a butter sandwich, so the hot bread can melt the butter. I leave the knife for the staff to take care of.
Then it’s off to get 2 fried eggs. Their eggs must be Grade B Extra Small. Or they may be quail eggs. Tiny. I really should get three. On a side note, last night at the buffet I had their “Southern Fried Chicken.” It was delicious and perfect, but I got 2 thighs and both of them together were smaller than 1 standard thigh at home. I don’t know where they find these tiny chickens that produce tiny eggs, but the flavor is great. It’s possible that selective breeding to make chickens bigger has sacrificed some of their taste.
Then it’s down to the hash browns. Their hashbrowns are exactly like McDonalds, just a different shape. McDonalds has the best frozen hashbrowns I’ve ever tasted, and these match them.
Next I go to the ham carving station. Their bacon is tasteless, no smoked flavor. It looks like American bacon, but isn’t seasoned the same, and what they call sausage is nothing like the sage sausage we have in America. But David Bowlin had me get the slice of ham the guy slices off custom for you, and it’s great.
Next, I proceed to the sauteed mushrooms and grilled tomatoes, part of a standard “full English breakfast.” I forgo the jellies because I already have more on my plate than I can hold. Except I could hold one more tiny egg.
Speaking of the full English breakfast, I don’t see any of the British passengers getting it, which includes eggs, “Canadian bacon,” toast, “pork ‘n’ beans,” the mushrooms and tomatoes. Instead, the British get kippers kippers kippers for breakfast.
A kipper is a whole herring that has been split, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked, traditionally over wood chips, giving it a distinctive smoky flavor. I’ve never had one, and probably never will. Now, turn up the volume and listen to the elevator say “four.”