Good bye to our California time zone…look out Hawaii time zone here we come. We have been having a lot of difficulty with our internet service since leaving Chile and I have gotten a little behind on my posts. Hoping to get caught up tonight. The seas have been relatively calm and sailing has been smooth (I am hoping I didn’t jinx us by typing that). This morning since we got extra sleep, not really we just gained an hour, we all met for breakfast at the Pinnacle resteraunt. I am glad we were all able to get together there as one of our regular staff members, Marco, is getting off the ship tomorrow as his contract is up. We had a chance to take a few photos with him and say our goodbyes. I know that is all part of ship life that crew come and go, but it hard to see our favorites go. I wish the entire crew could stay the same the entire cruise, but it doesn’t work that way. After breakfast Megan and I went to crocheting for a little while and then met up with mom and Valerie at 11:00 for a lecture on the highlights of Polynesian islands. They talked about Tahiti, Cook Island, Tonga and Ne Zealand and things to see and do at each of them. I am actually a little sad we only get one day at each of these places, but it gives me the opportunity to look forward to returning here again someday. I’ll say it again, it feels like Hawaii here. They share the culture, language, family feeling, music, dance, weather….so to us Hawaiian lovers, it feels like home. At 1:00pm the Polynesian ambassadors had their last performance of this cruise for us. They will also be getting off tomorrow. They did a few different hula dance performances, sang, and then the group of passengers that had been learning the Ukulele got to get up on stage and perform for the passengers. We spent the afternoon at arts and crafts making our pearl earrings, relaxing, the girls worked on homework and then dinner at 5:15pm. I am exhausted and I am in my room typing to you lovely people at 7:00pm my time. And guess what, we turn our clocks back yet another hour tonight. Tomorrow we arrive in Papeete, Tahiti. We have an excursion to tour the island and hopefully we’ll get in some shopping. I am thinking it would be a great opportunity to purchase a Tahitian pearl in Tahiti. We’ll see what the day holds for us. This mommy is going to bed early tonight. I survived an emotional day today with only one crying episode. Four years ago today Don and I sat at UCSF hospital and listened to two amazing doctors tell us that he had cancer in his bones and that it was terminal. They put him on hospice and gave him 2-3 months to live. My life changed forever that day and it marked the start of what was to become a completely new existence for my family and I. We have come a long way and we have survived and thrived through the grief and pain of losing him. I miss him everyday, but will again give him all the credit and my deepest gratitude for being the man he was that allowed us to be where we are right now in this very moment. O.K…..now two crying episodes. Love one another, like there is no tomorrow, because there may not be. Hugs!! Debra

Day at Sea…enjoying being in our “home” time zone. We don’t have to do any math when we are making phone calls home….but not for long. This morning started with a nail appointment for me and a Polynesian bracelet class for Megan. Then it was off to Project Linus crocheting time just long enough to turn in my third completed blanket of the trip. Then we went off to the pool to meet mom for some fun in the sun. Valerie had tutoring today and tonight she had music trivia. She joined a team and is enjoying a little fun and trivia on most sea days with a regular group of six people. They almost won the other evening as there was a lot of Disney songs. Mommy is so proud. We are closer to the equator and are trying to be diligent about our time out in the sun so we don’t burn again. Arts and Crafts class today was making of a pearl necklace with genuine pearls that were previously purchased by the arts and craft director on Kimono Island. I love knowing how these crafts all tie into places we have been or are going. Tomorrow we get to make the matching earrings. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon until dinnertime. Tonight was Polynesian themed Gala and everyone was encouraged to wear his or her most colorful attire. The staff was wearing rainbow bow ties and all the chairs had rainbow colored covers on them and all the napkins were colorful as well. It was quite beautiful and I forgot to take a picture, but there were pictures of us taken that I will get posted as soon as I get them from the photo staff. Tonight we set our clocks back an hour and we say goodbye to a short stay in the California time zone. Sweet Dreams to you all. Debra

Hello California time zone, long time no see. Today we visited Pitcairn Island. Although it is more appropriate to say that Pitcairn Island visited us. We awoke to the flatboat pulling up along side our ship filled with the locals and their goods to sell this morning. The girls, mom and I headed off to breakfast and just as we were finishing up they announced that the “stores” were open for business. Imagine 1300 people all trying to go to the same place at the same time. I kept joking, not really, that is was just like a black Friday sale. We wandered up to the pool deck where they had many tables set up. Each of them represented a different artisans selling their wood sculptures, jewelry, coins, lots of t-shirts, honey, and of course stamps. You could buy a postcard for a dollar and a stamp for $2.00 to send it back to the states. We had our own postcards and bought about 12 stamps between us. We purchased some honey and t-shirts and of course our magnets. I also purchased a book. We have been collecting magnets from everywhere we went so far. We then sat poolside and filled out all our postcards so they could be given to the postmaster to be taken back to the island and await the next mail pick up in May. Most likely we will be home long before those postcards are. At 10:30 there was a lecture with the Pitcairn Island Ambassador who told us so very much about the history and the day to day life on living on such a remote island. These are my favorite factoids from today. Pitcairn Island is the 3^rd largest Marine Sanctuary in the world. There are fewer then 50 people that currently live there full time. It is the only certified disease free island in the world. There is a school with three children currently enrolled. There is a one year old and three year old also on the island that will start school there eventually. When the children reach either middle school or high school age, decided by the families, the parents send the children to boarding school in New Zealand. The drinking water comes solely from rain water. The electricity comes from diesel generators that run from 6:00am till 10:00pm. They are working on moving to solar energy in the future but they are not there yet. They get fuel from New Zealand in 55-gallon drums and that fuels their “quad” type vehicles. Last year they received 7 passenger mini vans for when there is a group of tourist (in smaller ships of course) arriving on the island. There are no hotels; if you want to come here and stay they homestead you with a family for your visit. None of the land is owned. It is considered crown land. Anyone can come and petition to build here and the land is free but you only own the structure. The doctor on the island is contracted for one year from New Zealand. He handles most everything. For major cases the patient has to go to Tahiti or New Zealand. They await the next ship coming through and catch a ride as needed. New Zealand sends a supply ship to the island with essentials four times a year. This year there are 18 cruise ships visiting the island and the locals selling their wares earn 50% of their income in those 18 days. They spend the rest of the year maintaining the island, it’s infrastructure, growing their food and all the other day-to-day things we do. They are like family and they share things among one another. Lastly, there are no taxes. They all seemed happy and healthy. After that talk we went and had lunch and relaxed a little until our second lecture of the day from our Polynesian ambassadors on the history of the Lei. From all over the world including the Hawaiian islands. He showed us picture of every type of lei you could imagine. Leis made from beautiful flowers, leaves, ribbons, feathers, shells, pearls, and his favorite…money. It was a lovely presentation and I learned so much.   We now have a couple more days at sea till we arrive in Tahiti on Saturday. More crocheting in our future, lectures, school work, etc. At the heart of everyday though, is spending time with my family. We get stopped almost daily and told how lucky we are to be traveling together, how sweet it is to see us all spending time together, how happy we all seem as we are always smiling. These things warm my heart and I pray our joy and peace is spread to those who cross our paths. Life is for the living and we are living it to the fullest. Hugs from all of us to all of you…Debra

Greetings from approximately 300 miles off the coast of Pitcarin Island (at least as of around noon today). It was a gorgeous 79 degrees today. We are hanging near the equator and after some time out in the sun today, I am a little redder then I would usually be for having been in the sun that long. But, my glow will shine brighter tomorrow, LOL!! We had a lazy morning today as we keep having so many time changes we are wide awake at 6:00am and our bodies are a little confused. Tonight we give back yet another hour, putting us back in our home time zone in California. The girls are excited to not have to constantly do math to figure out what time it is in Cayucos while they think about where their friends are at home and what they are doing. I think it will be short lived as we are continuing west and on our journey to the International Date Line. It is my understanding that we completely will lose February 27^th. We will go to bed on February 26^th and wake up on February 28^th. So does that make it a 127 day cruise, does Holland America owe us a refund? I am totally kidding, but it’s a good question…. We all had breakfast together this morning before the girls went off to work on school for a little while. Mom had a nail appointment. At 10:00 Megan I went to the project Linus meeting spot to help them lay out all the completed blankets to date on the ship. Last year’s world cruise generate 297 blankets by the end of the trip. They averaged about 80 people making blankets. This year there are about 120 people making blankets. To date they have already completed 220 blankets. Which is why they are seeking to buy more yarn in Sydney. Some amazing contacts have been, some with the help of dear ones who read my blog, and we are on track to get the yarn we need to keep everyone making blankets for the remainder of the cruise. They kindly asked for donations today to help support the yarn drive and I believe they are well on their way. I spent a couple of hours relaxing poolside today, that’s why I glow. Then, I met mom at 2:00 for a Polynesian presentation on the history of hula and Polynesian dance. The ambassadors are still on the ship and I believe they will be with us till Tahiti. I had a hair appointment this afternoon and I had my hair highlighted and trimmed so it looks kissed by the sun as well. Thank you so much Glen, you made me feel more beautiful! Then it was off to the main dining room for a nice dinner as always with the girls and mom. As usual I was back in my cabin at a too early hour as the children ran off for their evening activities with Geoffrey at Club HAL. Tomorrow the flat boats come along side our ship from Pitcairn Island and people will board our boat to sell us handcrafts, homemade honey, to stamp our passports, and to sell us postcards to be completed and then sent out from their post office. My understanding is that there are 100 people that live on the island. Receiving a letter from there is a valuable occurrence as their stamps are obviously hard to obtain and desired by stamp collectors. Regardless I will make an effort to send something home from here. Hope you are all enjoying your week wherever you are. Love and Hugs from us all…Debra

Enjoy the photos of the blankets as they were displayed today.  It is humbling to know these people have dedicted so many of their “vacationing” hours to create something beautiful for children in hospitals.  Project Linus you will be blessed beyond measure when this ship pulls into port in Fort Lauderdale.

Another glorious sea day. Mom and I were blessed to have massages again today. We spent a couple of hours pampering our bodies and relaxing our souls. It was such a wonderful indulgence. We headed back to the room afterwards and picked up the girls so we could all have lunch together. After lunch Valerie went off to tutoring and Megan and I went back to the room to rest and work on schoolwork and tidy up around the room. Mom and I had a Pisco Sour party tonight hosted by the captain and officers. Those of you who have been reading my blog, we tried our first Pisco Sours in Puerto Varas in Chile and fell in love with them then. My goal when I get home…among others…will be to find a bottle of Pisco to purchase. It is a wonderful summer drink, refreshing, a little stronger then a margarita. We love having the opportunity to touch base with the captain and the officers and to personally thank them for everything they are doing to keep us safe and happy. After the cocktail party mom and I headed to the Pinnacle Grill for our first dinner there of the trip. We frequent this “establishment” for breakfast, but it was our first time there for dinner. We enjoyed a bacon appetizer, lobster bisque, filet mignon and lobster sauce, creamed spinach and sautéed mushrooms. A nice bottle of wine and it was a wonderful way to celebrate mom’s birthday one last time. They brought her another cake to the table and sang her happy birthday again. It was another wonderful way to celebrate mom’s special day. Then we popped over to the front desk and paid to have our passports stamped on Pitcarin Island. I guess the immigration officers come on board there and you pay a fee to get your passport stamped, or not. Which I find peculiar since we don’t even actually set foot on the island; the local people actually come on board and bring their merchandise to sell.   We did get a chance to look at our passports; we haven’t seen them since boarding the ship in Fort Lauderdale. We have new stamps in them from Argentina, Chile and Brazil. We get our passports back after Pitcarin Island and have to physically carry them with us when we are in New Zealand and Australia. Today we also received a form to complete for the French Polynesia Health Control. It is a questionnaire asking us about our travel information for the past 14 days to ascertain our exposure to Coronavirus. This is the times we are in right now. They are no reported cases in French Polynesia and they are trying to keep it that way. I can not blame them. Mom and I keep saying how we are in this bubble out here on the sea, where no one new has come into our bubble and we have no risk of exposure at this time. Hearing about all the other cruise ships in the world, this is a unique experience for sure. We are just going to keep taking care of ourselves. Being conscientious of our hand washing, covering our mouths when we cough or sneeze, and did I mention hand washing. We give back yet another hour tonight, so we will only be one hour off from CA time. We are almost “home” in time zones. It’s been hard having so many changes in a short period of time. But I guess it is better than all at once. Sending love and hugs from across the sea. Debra.

We not only made it safely to Easter Island, we safely made it ON to Easter Island. We were told that there was about a 50/50 chance that it would happen and we consider ourselves lucky that we did. The weather was beautiful. There was a 70% chance of rain in yesterdays forecast for today; this morning it was 4% and the skies stayed clear all day. It was warm, and clear and bright. We were quite overwhelmed with the size and grandeur of the Moai Statues we saw today. There are 5 main viewing spots on the Island and we got to visit four of the five. Including the quarry they believe most of the statues were actually constructed. In the picture below you can see two statues mid carving. No one really knows how the statues were transported around the island. Some have actually been knocked over throughout the years due to hurricanes. Archeologist from China came over and actually brought a crane to restore the statues to their original place and to build a base to minimize the chance of them falling over again. Some of the “hats” were damaged beyond repair so that is why there are many statues without them. I have so much more to learn about the origin of these statues. But suffice it to say that there is definitely a feeling of spirituality when you are at these sites. The rest of the island gave us such a peaceful feeling of familiarity to our beloved Hawaii. They share so many cultural traditions, music and love of the land. Since this is an island of Chile, everyone speaks Spanish, but there is also a part of the island that keeps the Hawaiian language alive. It is somewhere I would visit again, if I could get here. There is one flight that arrives here daily from Santiago, Chile and once a week a flight arrives from Tahiti. They average the arrival of about 12 ships per year. Take into consideration the 50/50 rule, that’s not a lot of tourist that visit here. I feel blessed beyond measure to have been granted this opportunity to have been to this beautiful island. We are off to sea now for a couple of days before we arrive at Pitcarin Island. We will not be getting off the ship there, but the ship will be bringing ambassadors onboard who bring arts and crafts to sell and share their culture with us for the day. We also give back another hour tonight. Putting us now just two hours ahead of CA time zone…we’ll be back to Pacific Time zone soon. Hugs and Love to you all. Enjoy the great pictures. Debra

Happy birthday to Mom!! We are so blessed to be able to spend this special day with my mom this year.  We have been telling people all over the ship that today is her birthday and she got a few extra surprises.  After Megan and I got back to the room last night we went down to mom’s room and decorated her door (the secret arts and craft project we’ve been working on).  It’s kind of a ship thing to do and we had a lot of fun repurposing Megan birthday decorations for Mom.  We brought her breakfast in bed to her room after letting her sleep in.  Then we went to a special Polynesia performance on the pool deck.  The weather is finally warm and sunny again.  Mom is such a lover of all things Hawaiian and it was almost like we had ordered up this time on the cruise just for her.   We got to listen to the performers and watch the hula dancers while we laid out in the sun in our bathing suits.  As the performance ended the ukulele payer came by and wished mom a happy birthday and then said, no let me do you one better.  He pulled out his ukulele and sang mom happy birthday in English and then again in Hawaiian.  Mom was moved to tears.  It was so special that him did that for her!!  We relaxed away the rest of the afternoon.  Megan and I went to arts and crafts class as well.  We went to the main dining room for dinner and the wait staff again serenaded mom with the traditional celebratory song they sing for each guest when they are celebrating a birthday or anniversary.  A great day of celebration. We also gained back another hour last night so we are official in the East Coast time zone. Tomorrow we are scheduled to arrive at Easter Island.  Weather permitting we will be allowed to tender off the ship.  Please pray happy thoughts for us that we are blessed with the chance to get off the ship and see all the amazing statues.  We are hopeful.  Hope whatever you are doing this weekend you are have a chance to relax, rest and stop and smell a flower along your path today.  These are the days that we are remembering the end of my beloved Don’s life and they are getting more and more emotional as we get closer to his angelversary  in a couple of weeks.  If you knew him, remember him.  That’s how we keep his memory alive.  Love and Hugs.  Debra 

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. It’s a day for lovers onboard the Holland America Amsterdam. There was a special radio station broadcasting today and you could have requested dedications to your loved ones. They also had video messaging recording in the portrait studio.  You could make a video to your beloved and it was shown before the show this evening in the theater.  It was actually kinda funny because there was only five videos made and they showed them all twice.  But the show tonight was the Amsterdam singers and dancers and they performed love songs from the past and present.  Other then it being a holiday, today was pretty much a normal sea day. We did crocheting, tutoring, arts and crafts, dance class and we wrapped up our secret arts and crafts project….picture to come.  Tonight there was a Gala for Valentines day and we all got a chance to dress up in our best red attire.  The dining room was all decorated with hearts and there was red and white chair covers on the chairs.  It was quite festive.  Then we went to the show.  After the show we went up to the Crow’s nest and watched the 9:19 pm sunset.  Then the party began!!  All the guests were invited to attend a Valentine’s Day party. The cruise director jokes sometimes how the “late night” guest go until 9:30pm on a good night.  Tonight was definitely an exception.  The crew was encouraged to join the party this evening and they came out in droves.  It was so great to see some of our favorite staff members all dolled and ready to celebrate.  Everyone was in such a great mood.  Mom and I sat at the bar till about 11:00pm and watched the world go by.  Couples dance.  Crewmembers smiling and laughing.  And everyone celebrating love and life.  Hope you had an amazing Valentine’s Day with whomever you choose to spend it with. Love and Hugs and Chocolates and flowers from us all.  Debra

Another wonderfully relaxing day at sea.  I enjoy starting my morning at the Pinnacle Grill fro breakfast and this morning I got mom and Valerie to join me.  The food is good, the service is amazing and the mimosas are free.  We are starting to see a rotation of some of the staff as their contracts are ending.  We got approximately fifty new crewmembers at our last port in Chile and sadly had to say goodbye to some that we had become close with.  I know that is ship life but I hate change as does the girls.  After breakfast Megan and I went off to our Project Linus Blanket making activity.  They approximated they brought enough blankets to complete 400 blankets this year, up 100 from last year.  They announced yesterday that they anticipate running out of yarn with the next ten days. Over 200 blankets have been completed and with the yarn people currently have checked out, the remaining will trickle in.  So they started accepting donations so that they can purchase additional yarn when we come into port in Sydney.  If anyone has any personal connections there, please let me know as soon as possible. We made a donation ourselves and hope they can acquire more yarn so we can keep crocheting along.  The rest of the day was spent doing arts and crafts, tutoring, lectures, some shopping, a secret craft project, and then a family pizza party.  Geoffrey, the Club HAL director reserved a space for all the kids and families on board and had the kitchen prepared us a private dinner.  It was nice to be with the other kids and their families for a little while. We recently got a new 6-year-old little girl who came on board with her mom.  Her dad is an officer on the ship and they are here for about three weeks.  Valerie and Megan are happy to have another girl on the ship.  The other three children are a 7-year-old boy from China and a 13 and 14-year-old boys from Seattle.  They are all getting along surprisingly well.  I expected at this point for there to be more “sibling” rivalry, but that has not happened.  After dinner we went to the show this evening, it was a group who sang ABBA songs and we all love their music and sang along when we could.  Even Valerie was jamming, thanks Mamma Mia.  The talk around the ship today was focused a little on whether or not we’ll be able to get off the ship in Easter Island. I guess the seas can be rough there and it is a crapshoot as to whether or not we’ll actually be able to disembark.  We are hopeful; as it is a port we are really looking forward to.  The other big topic about the ship is to whether or not we will be allowed to dock in Singapore.  With everything in the news with regards to the coronavirus virus, we just aren’t sure what is going to be decided.  We have time till we get there so it will be decided on, in our best interest when it needs to be.  Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  There are lots of events scheduled around the ship for the holiday.  Lots of couples on this trip.  It is also a Gala Night so we will get a chance to get all dressed up.  I will spend the holiday loving on my mom and my girls, enjoy the box of Chocolates sent to us via our amazing Cruise Specialist representative LynnDee, missing those not here with us, and probably relaxing at the pool.  Love and Hugs to you for this special day.  Celebrate love.  Love of friends, family and self.  Big Hugs, Debra

Day at sea.  Good evening from the coast of….well…no where really.  We are sailing the open seas on our way to Easter Island, Chile.  The seas are rocking and rolling and we are along for the ride.  Megan and I had a nice breakfast this morning while Mom and Valerie had a chance to sleep in. Then it was time for crocheting, floral arranging class, lectures, arts and crafts class (today was a Valentine’s day craft), tutoring for Valerie, homework time, and then off to the dining room for a lovely sit down dinner.  We lost an hour last night and we have finally moved an hour closer to the California time zone.  Rumor has it we are changing six hours over a period of ten days.  I will keep you updated on that one.   We have our next Gala on Friday for Valentine’s Day.  I will definitely get you photos.  That’s really all I have for today everyone.  We are staying healthy, washing our hands often, and getting plenty of rest.  Wishing you all the same.  Blessings, Love and Hugs.  Debra