Cruising Past Tonga, the Equator and the International Date Line

I always enjoy time at sea. Many people forget that a great vacation includes down time, relaxing, and sea days give us the luxury of time to spend simply being on the high seas. The internet allowed me to work a little, but the relatively high cost of technology on the high seas stopped me from wasting too much time on the internet, sticking with the essential. We all need more time away from our technological addictions, which if you think about it didn't exist for most of us 25 years ago.

While Julie reads a couple of books in her backyard lounge chair almost every weekend when we're at home, I read as many books while cruising as I do the rest of the year combined. Among some forgettable books, I read a funny crime novel called Tourist Season, the DaVinci-code-like The Templar Legacy and a truly great spy novel called A Gentleman's Game. While none of them had anything to do with where we were, I recommend them all as great vacation reads.

In between chapters, we took dips in the pools and hot tubs, luxuriated in the views, and, on rare occasions, took in shipboard activities. We did mark out time for the ballroom dance classes, where we learned a lot of steps that I will probably forget until the next time we're on a cruise. Because there were so many regular cruisers on this long trip, the crowd at the dance lessons overflowed the dance floor. It makes me think the dance floors have grown too small for the ship sizes, but it was still fun.

We enjoyed lots of terrific meals, including an English pub lunch accompanied by Guinness on a couple of sea days. Every evening at 5:00 PM, Princess held a happy hour for Diamond Club guests, with complimentary snacks themed to match the drink of the day, which was $3. At night, of course, there was always fantastic entertainment, and knowing we had sea days encouraged us to stay up a little later than normal.

The sea days were highighted by geographical landmarks. We cruised past one of Tonga's islands, taking in the view from our balcony. No natives paddled out to meet us in outrigger canoes, but on the bright side, we weren't stoned to death like the unfortunate friend of Captain Bligh. Crossing the international date line heading east, of course, gave us back the day we lost flying to Australia.

When we crossed the equator, the crew held a corny ceremony by the main pool, hosted by King Neptune himself. We watched a few minutes and then headed back to our lounge chairs by the aft pool. I now wish I would have gone to a sink to see if the water swirls reversed when we crossed the equator, but the ocean was certainly blue. Even if we missed most of the ceremony, Julie and I are now designated Trusty Shellbacks, like sailors of old who crossed the equator.