February 5, 2016 – Apia, Samoa

We’re a little unsure what date to use for today. As we’re traveling westward across the Pacific, Samoa is located east of the International Date Line. However, the Samoan people want to be on the same date as Australia and New Zealand (west side of the Date Line). As a result, it’s February 6th in Apia today, even though our official ship calendar for today says February 5th. Using this Samoan system, they are three hours ahead of Sydney (on the same day).

The Samoan Islands are a grouping of at least 15 islands covering more than 1,000 square miles in the central South Pacific. People living on these Islands all share a common Samoan language but are politically governed by two jurisdictions, the independent country of Samoa and the territory of American Samoa. Based on a treaty signed in 1899, control of the Samoan Islands was split between Germany (the western group of islands) and the United States (the eastern group of islands). During World War I, New Zealand occupied the German Samoa islands and administered the islands as a trust territory until 1962 when independence was granted. The new country was named Western Samoa. "Western" was dropped from its name in 1997. The eastern islands are still a territory of the US with the name American Samoa.

That is a lot of possibly confusing information, but there’s no confusion as to where we are today – 13.5º south of the equator at Apia, the capital and largest city of the Independent State of Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa).

While still in military service, Jim spent some time in American Samoa about 45 years ago and considered it to be one of the most fascinating, scenic places in the world, populated with friendly, happy people living in family-oriented villages. He was very curious to visit again and see what life is like in the 21st century for the Samoan people, and he was not disappointed, although there has been a lot of modernization and growth, especially in Apia – a city of 36,000 straddling the line between the traditional Samoan way (called fa’a Samoa) and the modern world.

We were told that fa'a Samoa still retains a strong influence in Samoan life and politics. Despite centuries of European influence, Samoa has maintained its historical customs, social and political systems, and language. Our tour guide today told us that in Samoa a person’s identity is strongly related to that person’s family, village, and church (99% of Samoans are Christian). She also told us that the dress code in Samoa is one of the strictest in Polynesia. Agriculture is the primary livelihood in Samoa.

We signed up for a shore excursion titled “Apia Sightseeing & Samoa Village.” We boarded a small, brightly painted bus, and our guide Tava led us out of the port and downtown areas and through the countryside to the Don Bosco Boys High School, where we spent about three hours enjoying immersion in Samoan culture.

Don Bosco is a Catholic trade school for boys who demonstrated many Polynesian dances and customs to us. They were a handsome group of young men who were cheerful, happy, energetic, and proud of themselves and their culture. Some young Samoan women from outside the school also demonstrated women’s dances to accompany the men’s performances.

There was a large crowd from the ship – we estimate about 200 of us in all) who had come in 12 separate small buses. There was a large tent set up to keep us out of the hot sun, which was good as it was very warm (86ºF) and humid today. After the dances, they offered us traditional food, displayed handicrafts, and other demonstrations.

On the way back to the ship we stopped at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a large, striking structure which we understand was funded and built by Samoans between 2011 and 2013. The sanctuary seats 2,000 people, and they hold four masses on Sunday – in either Samoan or English languages (according to a very proud maintenance man we talked to outside the building). On the inside, this church is a fusion of Samoan tradition and European styles. When you walk in the first thing we did was look up at the ceiling, which is native wood inlay, and a very beautiful depiction of Samoan art. Adding to the beauty and fusion of cultures are the stained glass windows and open sides -- allowing the trade winds to provide a cross breeze. This latter feature reminded us of a much larger version of the church we attended when we lived in Hawaii. All of us in our group were stunned with the magnificence and beauty of this building.

Highlights of the previous two sea days included the King Neptune ceremony as we crossed the equator. Due to the less than ideal weather and sea conditions this was held in the Palm Court indoors, rather than the customary pool area outdoors. Everyone seemed to have a good time anyway, and anyone who was crossing the equator for the first time lined up to kiss a large fresh fish. 

Jim participated in one event of the 2016 World Cruise Games – the “Walking Relay Mixed Doubles” competition, which involved four total laps around the walking deck (about 1.2 miles). Unfortunately, his doubles team didn’t win the competition (among eight teams), as they weren’t as much into speed walking as some of the other competitors. Ginny had signed up for the Solitaire contest but forgot to show up for her event.

Several enrichment speakers continue to do excellent lectures two or three times every day in either the Galaxy Lounge or the Hollywood Theatre. Dr. Hussein Hassouna (the Egyptian ambassador who held several international postings in the United Nations and the Arab League), and Neil Leifer (professional sports photographer) were especially good.

Entertainment also has been great. Lovena Fox – recording artist, songwriter, and Broadway actress – performed one night. She has a powerful voice, lots of energy, and was very entertaining. Comedian John Joseph also was very well received.

We’ve eaten dinner at two of the specialty restaurants recently: Silk Road (primarily Japanese cuisine) and Prego (Italian-inspired). Both are very nicely decorated and the food is fantastic. Main Dining Room food is perfectly wonderful, but these two raise the style up a notch or two. We greatly enjoy the culinary offerings on this ship!

For the past three days temperatures have finally warmed up (we are, after all, heading south in the tropics), now reaching the mid-80’s for both water and air temperatures. Thankfully, sea conditions have also calmed down.

One more sea day tomorrow, and then we reach Fiji. We’ll be visiting ports on five islands for five of the following seven days – in Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia.

Jim and Ginny