The day at sea was most welcomed today. Six days of ports was a lot of work. There was a lot packed into today's schedule, starting with three lectures in the Queens Lounge. The shore excursion manager and Kainoa shared highlights of the upcoming ports. Bottom line, they were promoting ship's tours.
At 11am, a new set of guest speakers, Charlie & Sadie Urbanowicz, lectured on anthropology. He also outlined his future topics that he will discuss. We believe that these talks will be televised on channel 39 later.
It seems that we have picked up a new Culinary Arts Center Host, Melodye. She joined Tournant Chef Andrew when they worked on creating Hoison pork chops with cabbage, pineapple, and macadamia slaw.
Also, a new guest chef joined us by the name of Natacha Gomez. She would be cooking a Kokiyaj Caribbean Trifle and roasted pork with tamarind sauce.
We noticed that there was a class to learn the waltz this afternoon. It may be possible they have dance instructors onboard now. We shall investigate.
At 4pm, Kainoa gave a talk on the upcoming stops in Pago Pago and Fanning Island. Hope we are able to tender into Fanning Island, as sometimes it is not possible due to the tides and winds.
We spent a short time at the aft pool, simply sitting in the clouds and misty rain. One thing we can you for sure, is that you can get sunburnt rather quickly in this part of the world. Sort of forgot to use sunscreen or use a visor. Tonight, the results are warm faces and pink cheeks. We really do know better.
Most every chair pad had been stored away on the lower promenade deck. The wind was that strong. It was fun watching the incoming waves collide with the ship's hull as we cut through the water. We did see one bird and a few flying fish. A whole lot of ocean surrounding us.
Around 6pm, we went to deck nine to catch the sunset. It was no near as nice as last night's.
This evening was the second "gala" night of the cruise. Dressy attire is recommended for the ladies, while the fellows can get by with a collared shirt and slacks. No mention of suits or tuxes anymore. What is not allowed are shorts and jeans in the dining room or any other fine restaurant. So far, people are dressing nicely, much the same we have seen on past cruises.
We had company for dinner……the security officer, Norm, and his lovely wife, Moira. Since all of us showed up tonight, there were nine seats around the table. Arriving last, we squeezed in to sit down. That's when a very embarrassing thing happened to one of us. My purse clipped the breadplate, which flipped under the table and broke. Like we said before, the new plateware is thin. Our waiter was so quick to pick up the pieces, we're not sure everyone saw that. At least, we hope not. The rest of the evening went well, especially when the wine began to flow. We ordered the tenderloin with jumbo shrimp, which was tasty and tender. The rack of lamb did look appealing as well. Our tablemates said it was great.
Back in our room, we discovered that a small part of the carpet near the wall was wet. It wasn't spreading, so we took a chance and reported the next morning. Hope it is nothing really bad………..
Bill & Mary Ann
Here is another sunset in the lower part of the North Pacific…………….
