Staying up late last night to type reports for the day, we ended up watching the entire sailing out of Incheon through the locks. We had missed it on the arrival morning, so this was cool to see it now. From our window, it appeared that we were inches away from the lock walls. It did not resemble the Panama Canal locks at all. In fact, we are not sure there was a huge difference in water levels, but more of a tidal fluctuation with being in a river. Watching the extremely slow progress on the TV, it appeared that the ship had stopped. By then, it was 1am, and we ended up falling asleep.
Today, we are sailing towards Xingang, China, and the storm force was a 10 on the Beaufort scale. Cutting winds were blowing at 55 mph and the water temps were 48 degrees F. The ship was sailing at a slow clip, 12 knots, in 60 to 130 foot deep waters. The light shade of aqua-blue was an indication that we were in shallow seas.
We noticed that the lower dining room on deck four looked naked, with many chairs missing. Agung, our very nice am and pm waiter said that 80 chairs had to be moved to the Crow's Nest for the first Mariner Brunch for guests with 1000 days, we were told. Then the chairs will have to brought back for dinner, and taken back up tonight for one more Mariner Brunch. In hindsight, they should have kept the chairs here, and served the brunch in the dining room. Later in the day, we chatted with friends who mentioned that the President of HAL and his wife experienced motion sickness and had to abruptly leave the room, never to return. It can happened to the best of us. Normally, the powers-to-be went from table to table briefly visiting with guests, followed with photos. Guess that did not happen today, as there was only one CEO left, and it was more than likely too rough to walk around the room safely.
Last night, there was the first dinner for some of the President's Club members, and perhaps some new inductees. This evening, the CEO's will be hosting a suite dinner, then tomorrow night, we will attend the second King's Room dinner for another President's Club dinner with more inductees.
Did we mention that the Princeton Tailors are onboard now until we arrive in Xingang? They will be taking orders for a wide variety of high quality custom-tailored clothing in many styles and fabrics. They may be a bit pricey, but we guarantee that their work is excellent. And they stand behind their guarantees. All orders will be delivered to the guests in Hong Kong.
At lunchtime, we listened to Captain Jonathon give his PM talk. The plan for our arrival to Xingang has changed a bit. Since we are so close, he intends to bring the ship into the port the evening before we are due to arrive. Although the local officials will be boarding, no one will be allowed off of the vessel. We will all be cleared either the evening before or the next morning. It has not been decided yet. If memory serves us right, we have always gone through immigrations, and temperature check as well, onboard the ship.
It was a 2 movie day, since going outside for any length of time was not an option. The normal activities went on today with two talks in the Queen's Lounge. Things to do and see in Xingang was one, and the other was a lecture by Terry Greenberg about East and West differences. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback about Mr. Greenberg's talks.
Shore excursions to Beijing include 9 ½ to 12 hour day visits to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs. One tour will go to the city of Tianjin. There are two overland tours out of Beijing. Fifteen years ago, we took the 2 day, one night in Beijing to see the sites. Back then, it was well worth the $500 per person we paid. It was the best way to see it all without having to drive three hours each way to and from the port two days in a row. The other excursion is for four days, and three nights. That will take the folks to Xian and the Terra Cotta Warriors as well as seeing the sites in Beijing. This tour ends in Shanghai.
We let our tablemates know that we will be gone for eight days from Xingang. We'll give you the highlights of our private tour tomorrow.
The strangest thing happened while we were sitting across from the Ocean Bar at 5pm. We kept seeing something fly by the windows, and we soon realized it was ice falling off of the upper decks and pipes. We just were not expecting this frigid icy coldness that penetrates your bones. Around sunset, we ducked outside on deck nine to find ice that had formed on the retractable roof over the Lido pool. Needless to say, we took a few pictures of the setting sun and went right back inside.
Dinner was missing our two sort of single ladies, Barb and Martha, both guests at other tables. The meal went a lot quicker with only seven of us, even though we talked all through dinner. The kalbi meatballs and soba noodles was the best entrée, although a bit hot and spicy. A simple chef salad was also an alternative entrée. The soups have been much hotter, because they have been served in the older soup bowls. Good thing our food was hot, because the dining room was downright chilly again tonight. Seems like the heat has been directed to different areas of the ship, such as the show lounge, and the staterooms. We also heard that the band and the bartender has been using blankets in the Crow's Nest to stay warm late at night. How weird is that?
We've heard there is a new band playing in the Crow's Nest. They go by the name of The Paul James Band, and Barb swears they are the best ever. The word is that they are onboard for two weeks.
The singers and dancers were scheduled to perform in the Queen's lounge this evening, but with rough seas, they have been moved to tomorrow. A harmonica player is the entertainer tonight. We actually heard most of his show during the practice around 4pm today.
Good news….the clocks went back one hour tonight. We all agreed that was a great idea…….we all need the extra sleep.
Bill & Mary Ann
First time we ever saw this sign
Rough seas
Birds in our wake this morning
Had to be 100 of them
Shallow seas
Extremely cold outside
Gale force winds
Sun setting after 6pm
No heat in this sun
Did not wait until it dipped below the horizon
