Sent: Friday, January 15, 2016 8:40:55 AM
Subject: FW: Report # 15 Sailing Towards Nuku Hiva January 14, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 78 degrees
Report # 15 Sailing Towards Nuku Hiva January 14, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 78 degrees
Well, the day turned out to be totally opposite from the last couple of days. The Amsterdam has seemed to sail clear of the rainy skies and found some great weather. Sure is fine with us.
Due to the many time changes, lots of folks are waking up early, and taking advantage of breakfast in the dining room. We have never been big fans of the Lido breakfast, only grabbing some quick items when going on an all day shore excursion. The wait staff has completely spoiled us by assigning us a table for two (179), providing our favorite juice, and leaving a blueberry muffin or cinnamon roll on the dishes for our arrival. It has not taken long for the waiters to know what we like, such as hot coffee…one regular and one decaf, and the little jars of jams that are no longer available in this dining room. Now if you were guests from deck seven, then you would dine in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast daily. This is something new they are doing on this world cruise. Usually, they dined on the starboard side of deck four every morning.
For those folks that enjoy card games and gambling, this would be the trip for you. Beginning at 9am, beginner bridge is offered with new instructors, Gail and Michael. For those who are more advanced in the game, intermediate bridge is held at 10am.
At 11am in the Casino, they conducted complimentary gaming lessons. Today they were teaching Texas Hold 'em.
At 1pm, there was a $10 blackjack tournament, round two, in the Casino. At 1:30pm, we found many card tables set up in the Atrium, deck three. They were for the groups of game players meeting to play party bridge, mah jongg, dominos, and board games.
Then at 1:30pm, more tables are set outside the dining room on five for bridge play with the instructors.
At 2:30pm, a $60 Texas Hold'em was held once again in the Casino. The same game is repeated at 9pm, with a $1 to $2 no limit.
The big event of the day is Big Bucks Bingo at 4pm. It is held in the Queens Lounge, where they sell 3 cards for $15, six cards for $25, and $5 for add ons. There was a day, years ago, when the entire ship's population filled the lounge for this event. The jackpot always seemed to grow immense by the end of a cruise, so the take could be big. We heard a rumor that the game could not be played a few days ago, because they did not attract more than 20 people. Wonder if this will be a thing of the past?
While hiking around the deck this morning, we got the lowdown from a friend on the first Captain's Dinner that was held in the Pinnacle Grill last night. Going back several days ago, all of the full world cruisers (about 700 of us), received their assigned evening to attend this affair. We happened to notice that there was no mention about meeting in the Wajang Theater for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres before the served meal. Turned out, there was no pre-dinner reception. It has been eliminated. No doubt, in previous years, it was rushed, as we had a short ½ hour to order a cocktail and eat some of the tastiest treats with that drink. The sliced marinated filet was to die for. Scallops were also a treat for most. The served dinner with officers at each table was elegant, taking close to three hours to complete. Our friend said they were seated with a couple from India, who spoke little English, and did not attempt to communicate much with the officer or them. That's why we go as a group, and that way there are no surprises. At least the gift of commemorative salt and pepper shakers were well received at the end of the evening.
We forgot to mention the excellent entrée most of us ate last night for the gala evening. It was the beef Wellington plate. The meat was as good as it gets, cooked medium, with a rich concentrated gravy. We can say for a fact that the quality of the food is a notch or two above our recent South Pacific cruise in the fall of 2015. Bernie Rius, the former chef on world cruises, often said that you cannot make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. He was so right. This evening, we ordered the veal loin, but it turned out to be more like wienerschnitzel. We also shared the almost vegetarian manicotti stuffed with cheese, corn, and spinach with tomato sauce. The cooks have added a hint of jalapeno pepper to these dishes to give it a lift. We all seem to like it. Even though there were very tempting desserts to order, we stuck to the sugar-free jello. With the new menu formats, jello is not on the nightly menu anymore. But our waiters seem to be able to find it somewhere.
The entertainment was held at 7:15pm, one show only. It featured a couple, The Evasons, a mind reading duo. Their act was reportedly mixed with intrigue, a dash of romance, and laugh out loud moments. Our new tablemates, Bonnie and Paul did find a few intriguing moments, but thought the show was not as spell-binding as advertised. We had gotten drawn into a movie, and forgot to go to the show.
Guess what went back again tonight? The clocks……one hour back. Normally, we like this, but it is becoming too much too soon. Even the staff is noticing it, as we are noticing several staff members yawning during the day. Believe us, it is catching.
We lost the internet connection around 4pm today. So the warning in the daily newsletter became reality.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS For those who may be interested in photos, our son has created a blog site, and will post from time to time.
Here is the site:
