Today was day two at sea, and a busy one if we chose it to be so. Many different activities revolved around the HAL reps that are onboard beginning with a cooking demo, coffee chat with Erin, a lunch with our travel group and President of HAL, a happy hour beverage with our travel group in the Crow’s Nest, and finally the President’s Club reception and dinner in the Explorer’s Lounge and Pinnacle Grill. We would decide to do some of these, but not all of them.
No matter what the weather holds, we decided it was time for “shorts” again. By 10am, it was overcast and cloudy with temps in the mid 50’s. The humidity was 85% and the winds were 25 mph, which were following winds. The ship was maintaining a speed of 16 knots.
This morning we resumed watching the GWV presentation from yesterday’s Q&A session. We are happy they can record this and other talks on our room TV. It was very interesting to hear the questions asked and the answers received. We heard many legitimate inquiries, and the repeated answer of “we will look into that, or we are working on that” was the basic answer on most things. The speech was nothing more or less than what we expected. The 2028 GWV and the Australia/New Zealand itineraries were revealed with not much new expected there. Many more long-time cruisers are leaning towards the shorter Zaandam itinerary as opposed to the longer Volendam one. Some do not like these smaller and older ships and will book on the newer Pinnacle class ships, even if they are back-to-back voyages. The name “Princess” was tossed around as well as an alternate idea.
Captain Frank came on with his noon talk stating we have 630 nautical miles to reach San Diego. The temperature may climb up a notch as we sail down the west coast and the swells maybe up to 6.5 feet. He is happy to say that the clocks will not change until after we leave San Diego. Fine with all of us. The sunset will be 8:10pm and the sunrise will be 6:15am. Currently we are sailing along the coast of Cape Mendocino.
We did not attend the lunch in the upper dining room at 12:15pm with our travel group and the President, since it was too close to breakfast and also too close to dinner. Too much in one day. Instead we worked online and one of us took the every sea day walk on the promenade deck. More folks are packing to leave in San Diego in a few days, but we have to verify the number. We do know that the bottom line is the ship will be sailing full.
Tonight was a formal evening as well as a Night in Hollywood. We all received a flyer this morning outlining the activities tied to this theme. This would not apply to our group, since we would spend most of the time at a special dinner. The evening began at 7pm in the World Stage with photos and interviews with the activity team. Erin announced the Phat Cat Swinger, a 10 piece band. The evening continued with different things we do not know how to explain like 4 awards and acts in between. It was dubbed a “costume event”. What happened to formal attire? Oh well, we did not go, so we will never know.
We were invited to the President’s Club Reception and Dinner beginning in the Explorer’s Lounge at 4:30pm. Really early for us, there about 40 members invited. This included the new inductees which numbered 14. Tables for four were set up and we were served beverages and numerous fancy hors’deuvres for almost an hour. We lucked out and sat with friends Cathy and Mike, who were also getting their pins tonight. During this time each member was called to get the special pin and boutonnieres for the guys and flowers for the ladies. Photos were taken and they each got the frame holder for the photo and certificate.
Then we were led to the Pinnacle Grill for a special meal prepared by Culinary Ambassador Ethan Stowell. We were seated in the back room with Tom M, Gayle, Marty and Beth Bodensteiner. The first course had a mystery title of Hamachi crudo. Turned out to be a piece of raw fish with radishes on top. Few of our tablemates ate it. I lucked out and had more of a tiny veggie salad with no fish. The littlest rolls we have ever seen were served with the first course. The second course was mushroom cacio e pepe with pecorino romano cheese. It was a pasta with mushrooms. Entrées were a choice of ribeye, rack of lamb, or salmon. We chose the ribeye, but it was not a ribeye that we recognized. More like a tenderloin, it was a bit on the tough side and nothing like ribeye. The rest of our tablemates had the salmon. The best part of the meal was much simpler with a large warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream, peanut crumbles and chocolate sauce drizzled over the top. Wines were served with each course, although four of us did not drink any. A nice after dinner drink served was a small glass of almond dream, a mix of three liqueurs. Now that was good.
The conversation around the table was varied and polite, but when it came to serious legitimate questions regarding this particular cruise, we were basically given the brush-off. Even keeping the questions coming as constructive criticism was not overly welcomed. Compliments were accepted freely. We did have specific inquiries about the President’s Club amenities which are different on each and every HAL ship. Beth seemed unaware of why we would be allowed to use our complimentary dinners on the Tamarind pop-up on the Zaandam or Zuiderdam, but not on this ship. Then we wondered why there were so many pop-ups making it difficult for us to book a regular evening. Beth seemed surprised to learn of so many specialty dinners held in this venue. All of us asked why there had been so many segments on this cruise, creating a “ferryboat-like” atmosphere for the entire trip. We know it is a matter of dollars and cents as far as filling the ship. What many other full cruise guests did not like was the fact the segment folks were getting deeply discounted fares, then bragging about it when they boarded. Hard to ignore.
One particular thing we recalled from last year’s discussion with Beth, was the fact that some of the cruise hosts from a popular travel agency had been inducted into the President’s Club which for years had not been allowed. One such couple did get their pins several years ago, only to be rejected weeks later when their days were re-inspected. Their days as hosts did not count since their company covered the fares. Somewhere along the line, this policy had changed when we heard several hosts were inducted last year. Upon asking Beth about it on last year’s world cruise, she claimed that this was going to be rescinded….it was a mistake. But did that happen? We guess not because more travel hosts were getting their pins this year. We did ask if Gerald Bernhardt, the head of the Mariner Society would be replaced since he retired last year, and the answer was probably no. Too bad, since he was well-versed on the subject and well liked.
By 8pm, Beth had to attend the awards in the World Stage, so it was a good time to say thanks and head home. It will be nice to wrap up the report and get to bed early for a change.
Bill & Mary Ann
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