Subject: Report # 60 Sailing Towards Hong Kong February 29, 2016 Monday Partly cloudy & 89 degrees
Report # 60 Sailing Towards Hong Kong February 29, 2016 Monday Partly cloudy & 89 degrees
During breakfast in the dining room this morning, we noticed that the waiters were stashing all the stemware, plates, and even the wine chillers on trays on the floor. Of course we asked what gives? One of the head waiters, Ade, told us that it was precautionary because of the rough seas. Most specific, the rolling and pitching caused by the deep swells were expected to get worse, and there could possibly be damage from it. They were simply thinking ahead. We told him about our experience with 55 foot seas on the 2002 Asia/Pacific trip while on the Volendam. That did cause lots of damage in the dining room, because the worst of it hit during our late-seating dinner. And far into the evening as well. We hope never to experience those extremes ever. Now a 13 foot swell…..we can handle that.
Unfortunately, not everyone can deal with seasickness. It happened to hit three young girls, daughters of Radi, a head waiter. They are here as visitors, having come onboard while we were in Indonesia. It should have been a fun holiday for his wife and kids, but the sickness had hit his youngest the worst. She has had no food for the last three days. We recommended a simple solution of giving her our favorite dessert…..jello. At least she would be getting some fluids that way. The doctor did dispense some meds for her to take. So she may be sleepy, which is better than sick any day.
Somehow we forgot to mention that last night was "White Night", a gala dinner with the suggestion to wear all white. Maybe we forgot to mention it, because the decorations were minimal at best. On previous grand voyages, the dining room looked like a snow scene, with sparkling white snowflakes hung from the ceiling. It sparkled and was magical. The three tier white Chinese lanterns did not do it for us. The waiters looked nice in their white vests and top hats to match, but when they proceeded to climb on empty dining room chairs to pull the lanterns down towards the end of our meal, we felt rushed, like we needed to hurry up and leave. We are certain our hosts, Eddy and Calista, noticed it too, although would never say a word.
The "White After Party" took place in the Crows Nest from 9 to 11pm. They served appetizers like pizza (like we really need pizza after dinner?) and were offering special drinks for sale. Barb said it was crowded and noisy. That is probably because there was no show in the Queens Lounge. A comedian, Paul Adams, and a guitarist, Vincenzo, took to the stage for an early show at 7:15pm.
Anyway, back to today. The seas remained rough and rolling all day. As far as we know, it never did rain, and there is no way the temperatures were as high as they had predicted at 89 degrees. The skies were mostly cloudy, and one good thing, is that the humidity was down a lot from the previous days we spent in Indonesia.
Much work on the lower promenade deck continued with grinding, sanding, painting, and hosing. Seems like they save up this busy work for the decks A and B crew to take turns being outside for fresh air. There is a group of us that enjoy being outside as well, but when the dust is blowing or the paint smelling badly, it sends many of us back inside. Naturally, the ships need maintenance all of the time, but we wish they would pick better times to do this work. There are a lot of folks with rooms on deck three that we know that like to sleep in later, but cannot due to the noise on the deck. Their "do not disturb" signs don't work on the window side of their rooms.
As we usually do on sea days, we met Barb for lunch in the dining room. We all ordered the cowboy hamburger with cheese and BBQ sauce. Oh yeah, and a small piece of flourless chocolate cake and a sliver of peanut butter pie. Both were too good. It will have to be jello again for dinner dessert. Once again, all of the tableware was placed on the floor in trays, covered with napkins after everyone left the room.
There was another Mongolian cookout in the Lido Pool today. That seems to be more popular than the Sunday brunch.
Taking a walk outside was a thrill in itself. The winds were blowing a gale force eight by then, making walking difficult. Very few people were able to stay out there long, except for Jack and Shirley, our British friends who have claimed their spots on the starboard side forward. We always know where we can find them on sea days from 10am to about 6pm or later. As well as being a great place to read, it is also the perfect spot for visiting.
There was a movie we watched called Suffragette, a story about the feminist movement in England in the early 1900's. It dealt with women's fight for the vote, which eventually led to every country changing their laws.
Dinnertime came quickly, but the choices for our meal were not the most desirable tonight. Sometimes it is hard to make a decision because there are too many options, or like tonight, there is not much for dinner. Good standbys are French onion soup and Caesar salad. Kentucky fried chicken appealed to one of us, while the other ordered a lamb shank. That actually looked better. We did keep the dessert light.
Once again, we noticed that the surrounding tables were being cleared of all items, leaving only tablecloths. Something was going on, so we asked Rudy, our assistant waiter. He said that there were two reasons. Rough seas meant the tableware had to be placed on the floor, but spraying with disinfectant was the other reason. Over seven cases of the gastrointestinal flu had been reported, so the crew has gone into the sanitizing mode just to be safe. And we are washing our hands at least 100 times a day. Can't be too safe.
The waiters had a crew party to go to in the Crow Nest at 11pm. Usually, they are held outside, but due to the inclement weather, it was changed to a better location.
The show this evening was presented by the ship's singers and dancers with a performance of Rock of the Opera. Not sure if it will be a go if the ship is moving too much.
Bill & Mary Ann
