October 2009: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

This year we decided to take a cruise to celebrate our 50th Anniversary, with our friends in San Diego, CA., They would celebrate their 40th. We decided on a 14 day cruise from San Diego to the Hawiian Islands and back. I had made the exact trip on a number of occasions during my time in the US Navy but this was a chance to make it with Helen and a couple of long time friends.

Helen and I started the trip almost a week earlier by boarding the Holland American ship MS. ZaanDam, in Vancouver, B.C. We had a very relaxing journey from Bellingham Airport to the Cruise Line Terminal in downtown Vancouver. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the sights on the way to British Columbia on an $8.00, air conditioned, touring bus. It’s a great way to start a cruise; no fighting with baggage and long lines at SeaTac Airport, as is usually the case.

We just sat back and left to driving to Jack, the bus driver. Jack was quite adapt at threading the giant motor coach through the narrow streets of Vancouver. We saw quite a bit of the town before arriving at the terminal, two hours before sailing time. We boarded the ship in record time. The dockside hassles were virtually non-existent. We spent next two hours stowing our gear and prowling the decks of the ship before getting underway.

At 5:00 PM we were in the main dining room having a nice meal when the ships horn announced that we were getting underway. After dinner, we made our way to the Prominade deck and watched the lights of Vancouver, slowly slip into the evening mist… we were underway at last. Although not for long, in a matter of a few hours we were scheduled to stop in Victoria, B.C. from 8 PM till midnight. It has something to do with customs regulations and duty free goods bought before arriving in San Diego. We didn’t plan on going ashore at any rate. We watched the show at the bow of the ship and after that we took a leisurely stroll through the stores and done a little shopping. We went back to our cabin rather early and watched a little TV and enjoyed a quiet evening in our cabin.

The next 4 days flew by; you’d think that with little to do but ride the boat to San Diego, that time would drag by. Not true, I’m still wondering where the time went.
We pulled into San Diego after 3 full days at sea and started to offload the Canadians, who just rode the ship down the coast. A few stayed aboard to for the Hawaiian Island Cruise. I figured it was a real easy vacation, riding the ship for such a short time. I’ll have to look into it in the future. It was a wonderful trip and it ended up in San Diego; what could be better than that. In a matter of a few hours we once again departed for the much warmer waters of the Hawaii Islands.

We were scheduled to hit five ports in Hawaii starting with Hilo, on the big island. Then on to Honolulu, Nawiliwili, Lahaina and finally Kona. We would leave Kona in the evening and round the island of Hawaii, heading east and view the Kilauea Volcano lava flows, before leaving the Hawiian Islands, and heading back home to San Diego. It was the first time Helen and I would cross the open ocean and I was looking forward to the trip…both ways. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

As soon as the ship docked in San Diego, we went ashore to tour the USS Midway CVA 41 at the marine museum. I had never been aboard the Midway and was looking forward the taking the tour. It turned out to be a disappointment. There were three Midway Class carriers built; 41, The Midway, 42, the Franklin D. Roosevelt and 43 The Coral Sea. I made three cruises on the Coral Sea; it was the last of the Midway Class and the one they chose to experiment with in testing out new features for future designs. The Midway class carrier was originally built with a straight deck, typical of the WWII Essex class carriers.

The USS Coral Sea had the first Angled Deck, to facilitate landing and launching aircraft at the same time, The Hurricane Bow, Mirror Landing Platforms, Steam Catapult, and extensive gun tubs on the port side as well as an a new fresh water evaporation plant, to support the three new steam cats. There were also an extensive nuclear weapon assembly and bomb elevator delivery system. More than 75% of the ships compliment of aircraft were now jet propelled so a Jet Fuel system had to be added. And the list goes on; no telling what alterations went on below decks to support Jet aircraft.

They had done a wonderful job with the Coral Sea. I was on a totally different ship when I went aboard the Midway. It seemed more like an Essex Class Carrier than a Midway Class Carrier. The passage-ways were definitely smaller the much more cut up. The ready rooms were very tiny, compared the Coral Sea. I certainly liked the layout of the Coral Sea much better.

As a maritime museum they had a nice quantity of the type of aircraft that operated off the decks of this class of ship. It was all done rather well, thanks to the volunteers in the area. The San Diego is chock full of military retirees of all description. I’m still convinced the Navy should have selected the USS Coral Sea as the ship to convert to a museum. It would have made a better choice in demonstrating the Midway Class of carrier that ushered in the Cold War Experience. It was a very interesting tour and gave me a better appreciation of the Coral Sea.

It was time to meet Jeanette and Mike McDuffy. We ate at Anthony’s Sea Grotto, an old favorite on the San Diego waterfront, right by the Star Of India. We spent almost two hours with them before going back aboard to find the cabin number of Gay & Terry.

We got a call from the Tambers and met them for coffee on the Lido Deck. We spent the next two hours, or so, looking over the ship and finally went back to our respective cabins, to get ready for the evening meal. We had an open seating plan on this trip, it took a getting used to but eventually it worked out just fine.

After dinner we went forward to the Theatre, where we found four seats and settled in for some good entertainment. The after dinner shows were not as good as other cruises we had taken but they were not bad. I think it’s asking too much, for a violin player to hold the interest of several hundred people for an hour or more; there is only so much a performer and a violin can do. There were more than one solo performer shows on this trip and I’m afraid it showed.

The weather was magnificent; I’ve spent a lot of time in deep water and never seen it so placid. The Pacific was like a huge pond, with little or no sea running, and no swells at all. It was truly a great trip as far as weather was concerned.

We done some shore excursions and had a wonderful time at the University of Hawaii, Planetarium. It is a must see if you are ever in the area. We done our thing along the entire Hawiiain Chain, from Hilo in the south to Kauai in the north and departed with an unbelievable night transit around the southern coast of the big island of Hawaii and watched the red hot lava, from four thousand feet Mt. Kilauea, flow down into the Pacific where it was quenched in a violent mix of steam and boiling sea. It was truly a sight to behold, and one that I will long remember.

As the Hawiaan Islands disappeared into the night, we set our coarse for Ensenada, Mexico. Once again, hitting a foreign port before returning to the USA. This makes no sense to me since we visited only US ports on this cruise. But, I won’t complain too much, After all it added a third country to our travel plans; Canada, the US, and Mexico. That may be partially responsible for the high cost of the trip. Expensive! Yes. But, it was worth every penny.