March 31, 2026- Day # 85

 Another day at sea, so I will include some information out of the daily information sheet about Cruising.

This is a little different than what I posted previously. Cruising today is a major part of todays tourism industry, accounting for an annual 19 million guests and over $29.4 billion worldwide.  Since 2001 there are at least 9 new cruise ships launched each year, catering mostly to North American passengers. The Asia- Pacific and other smaller markets tend to be serviced by older ships. 

The first ship built exclusively for tourism was the Prinzessin Victoria Luise designed by Albert Ballin, the General Manager of the Hamburg- American Line in 1900. Cruising grew out of the tradition of four day transatlantic voyages. In competition for passengers the companies started adding luxuries. A famous example being the Titanic. Ships were designed specifically for cruising in the summer or winter climates. 

By the 1960’s, intercontinental passengers largely transitioned from ships to jetliners. This decline continued until ocean liner cruising all but ceased in 1986. The only remaining company was Cunard Line catering to the small niche market of those wanting several days at sea to get away from civilization.

I talked about the growth of the cruising industry in a prior posting, so I will not repeat it here. But suffice it to say that since the rocky start in the late 1980’s and the eventual success of the conversion of the SS France to the Caribbean cruising SS Norway luxury liner in 1990, cruising has grown into a major industry accounting for the numbers mentioned above. 

March 30, 2026- Day # 84

 

So after leaving Pago Pago yesterday, we are in Apia, Samoa this morning. As seems to be our routine, they are calling for more rain today. The locals are telling us that yesterday was sunny and beautiful and that they are happy we bought them some rain. 

Our tour today left the ship at 8:00 am, so we went to a different restaurant for an early breakfast. 

Independent Samoa is made up of two major islands (Savai’i and Upolu) and 8 smaller islands. Of the two major islands, the smaller of the two, called Upolu covers about 434 square miles, and is the most populated (with about 3/4 of the country’s population). It is also the location of the capital city of Apia. Apia is along the northern coast and known as the heart of Samoa. 

The tour today is called Apia Township and Surroundings. Before I go any further, I need to tell you a little about this tour guide. She does this job part time with her main job being a government worker as a marketer for the government newspaper. She was very knowledgeable but also had a jovial streak. She said that most Samoan people, including herself,  love to eat and therefore they tend to be on the fluffy side. She also told us that since this is a Monday the streets would be busy, but yesterday being Sunday the streets would be vacant because all the Samoans would be in church then home eating with their extended family. Everything evolved around their family, including that they have very few cemeteries, as most of the ancestors would be buried in their front yards so they remained close to descendants.This is no exaggeration as we saw many tombstones and crypts in front of many houses. 

I have photos of the Apia Clock Tower which is a highlight in the center of town, and a number of pictures from the museum which was the house called Vailima, the former estate of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, who the locals called Tusitala ( the teller of tales). If you are not familiar with his works, he is the author of Treasure Island, and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, among others. 

We also toured and we have pictures of the beautiful twin spires Immaculate Conception Cathedral with ornate wooden ceilings and stained glass. We did not get to see the famous site of the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks which are a natural playground of smooth volcanic rocky chutes. 

Of course there was another market that had many local handcrafted items, fruits and vegetables. 

I almost forget to mention that we saw a local elementary school with an area for tourism next door that we visited. They showed us the method of hot rock traditional cooking of taro and breadfruit. They also did another Ava Ceremony and provided dances, some with the Siva Afi or fire knife. There was the chance to sample some of the food we saw cooked earlier, but by this time, guess what, the skies had opened up and it poured down rain again. 

Lastly, in contrast to yesterday, these buses had padded seats and A/C and actual windows (that unfortunately collected raindrops. 

March 29, 2026- Day # ?

 Well this is an interesting day that did not happen. Just for the record, this is Sunday and actually Palm Sunday.  We crossed the International Date Line during the night so when we went to bed it was Saturday evening and when we woke up it was Monday morning. Really a cool event. So we had a Palm Sunday service on Saturday morning before we went out on our Pago Pago tours. In other words, everyone on ship  did not actually see Palm Sunday this year. 

Some interesting facts. American Samoa is the last country to celebrate New Years Eve every year. And independent Samoa that was once part of the same country and only about 102 miles apart is the first country on earth to celebrate News Years Eve each year. While this can be confusing locally, it puts American Samoa on the same date as its major trading partner the United States, and Independent Samoa on the same date as its major trading partners, Australia and New Zealand. 

In other words, they are separated by 100 miles, and 24 hours all at the same time. No pictures as this is the date that did not happen!

March 28, 2026- Day # 83

 

Hope you enjoy this narrative and pictures of Pago Pago, American Samoa. In the heart of the South Pacific, American Samoa is made up of 7 islands: 5 rugged volcanic islands and 2 coral atolls, (see my prior information on atolls). Only four islands are inhabited, with the main island, Tutuila, having the capital city of Pago Pago. The population is declining due to several factors including low fertility rates, massive migration to other areas, especially the mainland US. We were told that prior to the earthquake that occurred 150 miles off the coast and resultant tsunami at 6:48 am on September 29, 2009, there were about 70,000 inhabitants on Tutuila,  Over 35,000 people perished in the tsunami, many of whom were children.

You can see some pictures of the locals who came to the pier to greet our ship. This is a group of high school students singing and dancing to traditional songs. Our tour today was called, Samoan Cultural Experience. You can see one of the many signs we saw, warning of a potential tsunami area, and we could see evidence of damage from the 2009 disaster still present. Our tour guides were two college “kids” who had been high school classmates. They talked about the typical rivalry between the 60 villages on the island and their high schools. Each village has its own chief and the eldest daughter is the village princess. If they decide to get married, the title of village princess gets passed to the next eligible daughter or niece. We did take a bus ride (see picture) of the rustic bus with wooden seats, no A/C except to open the windows and get some air flow. As the bus went up and down the hillside you could smell the hot rubber or brakes, hoping that we did not lose brakes coming down curves of the mountain. Oh by the way, the weather was very hot and humid, then we got a very heavy rainstorm. Back at the village, they performed a ceremony that is called the ‘Ava Ceremony that is only used to install a new chief or welcome visitors. Because we were visitors, we got to see the ceremony where the chief, high priest, and princess create the Ava drink to share with their guests. We all got the chance to taste it, and it really just tasted like dirty water, but it is the “thought and hospitality that counts”.  Starkist has a major factory here, and they say that many days you can smell salt water and tuna in the air all around the factory. Also, some fantastic views including of Camel Rock.

If you can’t tell from the number of pictures and narrative we really are enjoying the Polynesian and Samoan part of the world. I think I included enough information that the pictures will make sense.