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| 130 days of a world cruise |
We quickly went back to the room to change into appropriate clothing, since shorts or tank tops were not acceptable. We would say that there were about 35 people at the awards reception, where the Captain gave out some medals at each level, ending with the final platinum one for 700 days sailed. We found it odd that only four of the existing President Club members were called up to have a photo taken with Captain Fred and Henk. On previous Panama Cruises, we have had our photo taken with the group of us that already had their platinum medals. That did not happen today. We do know that there were a few of us at this party that exceeded the 700 day mark...us by over double that number. Don't know why we should be surprised by this, because the same thing happened on the world cruise. Wonder who is responsible for the changes? Perhaps the new Cruise Director, Gene? How hard would it be to say those of you with 1000 days, for instance, please stand up? Some of these elderly folks at this level may not be here next year, and deserve some recognition.
The awards were wrapped up and done by 10:50am, and we were all invited to enter the dining room for brunch. Since we had just eaten breakfast, we opted out of the brunch, and asked Presti to save us the tiles we would have gotten after the meal. Actually, it was the best decision of the day, because we did enjoy mimosas, which definitely put us in the mood for a nice afternoon at the aft pool.
Another good call to go outside, because there were turtles everywhere all around the ship. If you stood at the railing, you could spot ten of them in about as many minutes as they surfaced for air. While watching them, we also spotted some tuna, we think, as they barely breached the surface. This part of the Pacific Ocean has always provided lots of sea life for us all to see. What we have missed since leaving the Caribbean Sea, are the sightings of flying fish. They are gone now. And since we are sailing fairly close to the shores of Mexico, we are seeing masked boobies once again. Always a joy to see as they dive for fish.
The weather was much better today, despite the warning of a chance of rain. It was partly cloudy, but still warm and humid. Our only savior was a strong breeze blowing across the decks. Our days of relaxed reading are slowly coming to an end we are afraid. Perhaps we should make it a point to do more relaxing and reading at home. Summer will be arriving shortly after we get home, and so will the nice hot and dry weather. Every day we expect more people outside, taking advantage of these last days for sunbathing. True, there are a few more of them, but there is no trouble finding available lounges. For that, we are happy. The nearest company we had at the very aft of the deck, were two painters, who were taking their time with rollers on poles to cover the back end of deck eight with sticky and smelly white paint. They were so quiet, we barely noticed they were there.
Back to the room, we worked on double-bagging more formal clothes and things we will not need. We find the space bags and even the super extra large glad bags work well in packing the duffels. Watching a movie, one of the Lord of the Rings, while packing, with a stop for a late lunch helped pass the time.
It was still rather hot in the upper dining room this evening, indicating that the air-conditioning system has not be fully restored. Even our room, which has remained around 68 to 70 degrees, has jumped to 75 or more by the night time. We still wager that our Dolphin deck one remains the coolest of the passenger decks.
Dinner was good again. Having a table for two speeds up the process, which at this point, we appreciate. Our entrees of osso buco and the alternate New York steak were fine. One of us has to remember that eating chocolate, as in black forest chocolate cake, is not the best idea. Despite the time change of an hour back this evening, sleep evaded me until 2am. Of course, it probably did not help watching another movie while typing reports. This time it was helpful having the rerun of "Now You See It", as we had only caught bits and pieces of it the last two times it was aired. This is a movie you must see from the beginning in order to make sense of it.
Another day at sea tomorrow, and we will be in our last port of call, Cabo San Lucas.
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| Blooming window garden |
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| Bloomed, then went to seed |
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| Amaryllas growing |
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| The Hong Kong butterfly |
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| Time to do some pruning |
