August 11, 2024
I have said Farewell to friends and family a thousand times over the last few months! Also have used the words hope and hopefully more than any other, while trying to maintain a smiling face.
Dinner in the City with cousin Cathy and Peggy. It was a twofold celebration. Peggy also has big changes coming - she is moving to Bainbridge Island in Seattle, Washington! Oh, I know she is going to miss our Hugs!!!
Hope to see both these buddies visiting on the ship soon!
Got to love a place that sells shirts saying " Where the heck is Yap? " Colonia ( population 3,100 ) is the Capital and Harbor town of Yap State ( population 11,600 ) one of four states in the Federated States of Micronesia. We are in the Pacific Ocean or Philippine Sea just north of the equator, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Ternate, Indonesia, which is both the name of the city and island, and is part of the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. It is a port that sees maybe 3 Cruise ships a year. However, they really made an effort to show us the best of what they can offer. It's mainly a Muslim country, and we knew we had to dress discretely, but we knew little else. We didn't have our typical port talk prior, due to a technical issue with the AV equipment. Ben a fellow resident, organized an island tour, with about 8 stops, for 90 of us residents.
Cebu greeted our Ship with a big warm welcome, despite having just been rocked by a major Earthquake, days before our arrival. The Minister of Tourism arrived with a motorcade and she proceeded to chat with the residents and thank us, for all our support.