DAY 32---PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA

                                                    PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA

It is 89 hot and very humid degrees here at noon.  I said in yesterday's blog that I had exchanged my tour ticket for one this morning.  Well, it was raining as we docked so I did not go on the tour.  We were here on our 2017 world cruise and I did a tour then.  I can see why there are several NFL football players from here.  The men are huge as are most women too.  

JUST A REMINDER, CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM FOR MORE VIEWING ENJOYMENT!!

Historical/Background Info:       

        This is our second visit to the island.  American Samoa is a US territory (the only one south of the Equator) covering five South Pacific islands and two atolls.  Pago Pago is the largest of the islands and Tutuila is the capital of American Samoa.    It was first settled around 600 BC by Polynesians, as were most of the Pacific islands.  From 1878 to 1951 it was a coaling station and repair station for the US Navy, known then as “United States Naval Station Tutuila”.  This is because it is home to one of the deepest deep water harbors in the South Pacific.  It’s sheltered from wind and rough seas.  It became a US territory in 1900.  Pago Pago was a vital naval base during WWII.

       Bora Bora is surrounded by sand fringed islets and a turquoise lagoon protected by a coral reef.  It is known for the diving here.  The island population is approximately 11,000.  The people here are "American nationals" but not American citizens.

      Tourism, entertainment, food, and tuna canning are its main industries.  As of 1993, Pago Pago was the world’s fourth largest tuna processor.  It is home to Chicken of the Sea and Starkist which together export an estimated $445 million in canned tuna to the US.   

LAST EVENING

Dinner with Janina, the cruise consultant.  We discussed our special "Diamond" dinner and who we would like to invite to join us that evening.  We get to choose who dines with us and what the menu is.

          I had ordered a nice red wine for our dinner.  Murphy, sommelier, is presenting the wine.

It is a Flora Springs "Trilogy" red blend.  They have a wine list with wines you have to pay for.  This one was $95.  Murphy is decanting the wine.  It really did need to "open up".

                     Veal osso bucco with creamy polenta was enjoyed by the three of us.

I decided against the chocolate cake with molten caramel and ice cream for this lemon meringue tart.

Rebecca retired but I went to the show which was already in progress.  The production cast singers are  pretty good and I enjoyed the show.  Sometimes the female singers can be screechy.

TODAY

                                                  Sailing in the very large deep-water harbor.

                                                   This tug is delivering the harbor pilot.

                          It started raining so here are some photos of the rainbows it produced.

                                                 If you look close there is double rainbow.

                                                         Some sort of a naval vessel.

    A couple photos of the house where the commander of the naval base lived back during WWII.

                                                Here are a couple huge tuna fishing boats.

                                          We will be docking here at the cargo container pier.

                                                Here you can see both ends of the rainbow.

     Photo taken from our balcony.  There was a group of Samoan dancers greeting our arrival.

                                   This is American Samoa's Miss America contestant..

                                                       Looking back from our balcony.

                             Straight out our balcony looking at the entrance to the container pier.

The town is just off the pier.  Easy walk but the local authorities say we have to wear masks to and from the ship and when inside shops.  This and the rain made me decide NOT to go on the tour.

                                                     Lookout on top of the volcanic hill.

                                     Very rugged terrain with heavy vegetation and palm trees.

        I wanted to take a photo of my lunch but ate half of the first plate before I remembered.  So, I had to go get another plate for this photo.  Beef empanada, cumin roasted flank steak, tomato & hearts of palm salad, and a chili beef taco.  All were very good.  The tomatoes were super good so must have been picked up locally.

        I will be putting photos of the different venues here on Mariner in the coming days.  That way you will know what I am talking about when I mention going to them.  So let me start with Compass Rose the main dining venue since that is where we are dining most of the time.

Entrance where they will ask your suite number then escort you to a table.  They know us so we just walk in and go to our table at Dara's station.  We don't need a menu as we know what we will be ordering before we go.  We get the menus the afternoon before delivered to our suite plus the menu is on out tv.

                                             What you see when you enter to right side door.

                                              What you see when you enter the left side door.

     This is the center section between the two sides.  The kitchen is in the back of the restaurant.

                                        This is a look into the kitchen.  Just one side of it.

                                                     This is how they set up each table.

        I must say the food is very good for the most part and always served very hot.  Service is remarkable considering the number of people dining here basically at the same time.

        We did our treadmill time this morning then got cleaned up.  I have been working on this blog post also this morning and again after lunch.  So the plan for this evening is cocktail hour in Mariner Lounge and Pedro will be bringing us some jalapeno poppers.  At lunch I asked Dominic, the Prime 7 maitre'd, if he could fit us in Prime 7 for dinner at 7pm today.  He said, "of course".  We will be going to Bruce Hammond's second show at 9:30.  We loved his first show.

                          Tonight's Compass Rose menu however we will be dining in Prime 7.

        We will be sailing at 6pm and be at sea next two days (Wednesday & Thursday) enroute to Fiji.