Today was an eventful one. It was breakfast as usual, then we were invited to another Mariner Recognition Event in the World Stage deck four. The doors to the lounge on the port side were for the President's Club folks to enter at 10:15am. However, when we arrived 5 minutes early, this line was way too long and it appeared was mixed with some other guests. Eventually the doors opened and we were all greeted by some of the officers including Florin and Metka. Although we don't have assigned seats, it is taken for granted that the four chairs in the front are for the longest day members. So we took two of those chairs next to friends with high days too. We all agreed that we do not remember having these ceremonies at every major segment.
Today's show began with a lovely behind the scenes worker from the front desk. She works the night shift, so most of us have not seen her. She sang a song for us, then a duo of bar staffers sang two songs for us. The guitar man sure looked familiar, and when we heard his name, we knew it had to be Ramon, or very friendly Seaview Pool server. They had the crowd in their hands when they sang Sweet Caroline and had everyone join in the singing. We will have to compliment him later today.
There were not a large number of medallions handed out – the most being bronze. And as usual, there were some hijinks with Captain Rens and Florin when they awarded the medals. All in good fun we suppose, but when it came to announcing the President Club members, they may have tipped the scales with lifting our friend Moon up instead of kneeling beside her. No one was more surprised than she was.
Following this was the dancing and singing of the Cast onboard. They did an energetic dance that earned them a round of applause. We were slightly disappointed that Josh, the travel director, did not us with a song. Maybe next time.
Captain Rens thanked his crew, then had many of them come onstage to take a bow. They always earn a standing ovation. The affair ended at noontime where most of the folks made their way to the lower dining room for an exclusive Mariner Lunch. We thanked Kumar and informed him we were not attending lunch we just ate breakfast.
We made our way to the Seaview Pool for some sun and fresh air and ice-cold lemonade. Guess who was back? Yep, Ramon who we congratulated for having the nerves of steel to perform with his colleague on the big stage. Brought an instant smile to his face for sure. Something tells us he and his buddy are regulars at their karaoke place on the ship.
Captain Rens came on after 12pm and gave the details of the day. The temperature was 82 degrees, the humidity was 77%, and the winds were 10.5 mph. Doing a speed of 14 knots will get us to Komodo Island with another 224 nautical miles to go.
We had a small room service lunch with one bowl of soup and sliders. Then another party popped up in the Crow's Nest at 4:30pm with our travel agent hosts. Our group is fairly small, so we all sat in smaller groups enjoying a drink or two. Some appetizers were served like pot stickers, little spring rolls, and two types of cheese on crackers. Our hosts even have a raffle drawing where they gave away token prizes. There is only one problem in that venue, and that is noise. The acoustics are bad for crowds. And the more they drink the louder they got. We didn't notice the difference until some guests got up to leave for dinner at 5pm and we could hear much better.
There was somewhat of a sunset tonight. Although not spectacular, it was nice and we did get some photos.
Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle at 8pm. It has been our experience that the place is only half full by that time, but tonight that was not the case. The diners that had taken our table had not left yet, so we had to take a small table for two. Our dinners consisted of wedge salads with 2 slices of candied bacon on the same plate. One of us had the savory lamb chops and the other had the 8-ounce filet mignon, cooked perfectly. This time we asked for small baked potatoes, and they served them with the toppings. Dessert was Baked Alaska but cut in half. They still came out looking huge. Most of the dessert was meringue, which we scrape away and go for the cake and ice cream. A couple of macaroons and we were done for the evening.
Tomorrow we actually have a tour in Komodo Island. There is no bus involved and the only way to see the dragons is by booking an excursion. Those who arranged independent tours had to show proof or else they would not be allowed off the ship. So at 8am, we will be on the way to board the tender to walk through Komodo national Park to search for the fearsome dragons and also a see a wealth of birds. That might be stretching it because we never see many birds….it is always too hot.
There was a show tonight with a singer Nyree Huyser with songs from the stage and screen.
Bill & Mary Ann
