The Sulu Sea

Since leaving Pare Pare we have been three days at sea. The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest, and Visayas to the northeast. 

The Sulu Sea contains a number of islands. The Cuyo Islands and the Cagayan Islands are part of the province of Palawan, whereas Mapan and the Turtle Islands are part of the province of Tawi-Tawi. The Sula Sea is also where the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, one of the World Heritage Sites, is located. The seas’s surface area is 100,000 square miles. The Pacific Ocean flows into Sulu Sea in northern Mindanao and between Sangihe talaud Archipelago, North Sulawesi. 

We are navigating toward our next stop in Manila. The open water has been a little rockier that what we have experienced, so far, but we have our sea legs and neither of us has been bothered by the bigger swells. I thought I would take this time to show you more of the ship and more specifically, our cabin. I’m seeing a lot of our cabin today as I have picked up a head cold and gone through a fair amount of Kleenex in the last couple of days. The good news is that it has happened at sea and hopefully, I won’t be missing excursions we have scheduled upon our arrival in Manila. I actually feel pretty good but made the decision to stay away from other passengers so as not to spread “the love”. This means missing trivia and leaving our team short, but I think they’d rather that than get sick. Currently, we are in third place in this round of competition. 

In our first day at sea we crossed the Equator. Neptune held court poolside and all polliwogs (those who had not crossed before) were brought before the court and ordered to kiss the fish in this crossing the equator seafaring tradition. You will see some of the fun and games below. All very wet and tongue in cheek. Our second day was lovely and we spent a fair amount of it outdoors. On these days, they serve caviar and champagne in the pool off of a surfboard. Quite nice. Last night, Joe was selected as one of the participants in a magic act before dinner. He was fabulous. Today will be a low key day for me and Joe just departed to lead our trivia team. Enjoy the pictures below to see where we spend the night and relax in our cabin.

We were told prior to leaving by other passengers that we would get into a rhythm and discover the things we prefer to do while onboard. We have found this to be true and have enjoyed ourselves every day. The food choices have been fabulous, the people we’ve met interesting (to say the least), the entertainment top notch and the staff absolutely incredible. Each of these staff members go out of their way to make you feel at home and appreciated. We have certainly appreciated them. The ship is always ship shape and has become our home away from home. We miss all of you and are so happy you have found your way here to share in our adventure. 

Fun fact: Once a week they empty and clean the pool. The fact that they can do this turnaround in a day is amazing. After the equator crossing there was all manner of things in the pool from spaghetti put on some heads, colored shaving cream smeared on heads and fish goo that was used in the ceremony. The next day…all clean and ready for use.