Kind of thought the weather would have warmed up by now, but it remains overcast with a chill in the breeze. The seas have calmed down, which is a good thing. There are some wishful thinkers among the guests. We spotted one lady in her swimwear relaxing on one of the teak lounges on deck three. Have we mentioned that the number of these lounges are limited on the promenade deck? Perhaps when the weather heats up, they will add more.
Breakfast in the dining room was a mess this morning. Even coming down at 9am did not find the line shorter to get inside. Waiting 20 minutes, we got to know the couple in front of us. No kidding. Then when we did get a table in the back, we had to wait quite a while to have our order taken. Not in any particular hurry, we did not complain, like the folks within hearing distance did. This is the first time we noticed a major difference comparing this ship to the smaller Amsterdam. Never have we had delays like this. But of course, the number of passengers here is about double, so to accommodate 2000 people for breakfast, is difficult. Obviously. Now we know why we have seen so many room service carts going up and down the hallways. Asking the most friendly Head Sommelier, he told us that the ship is almost fully booked for this cruise.
By the time we got out of the dining room, it was 10:30am. Time for a walk outside. Maybe because it has not warmed up yet, there was only a handful of walkers. There were two lectures this morning, one again by Ginny Stibolt on rainforests, and the other delivered by Lawrence Taylor on the subject of Hawaii's largest individually owned ranch. Wonder if these are repeated on our room TV during the remainder of the day? Will search for them.
Checking our shipboard account, we still needed to rectify a mistake. It seems that the shipboard credit from or travel agency had been re-adjusted to less than what was printed in our invoice. That is a first. Good thing we had brought a copy with us, because they did need to also make a copy of it for their research. This was also a good opportunity to take the laptop to the desk outside the front desk and send and receive emails. No doubt, it worked much faster here.
When we got back to our room, we found that two bottles of alcohol had been left for us…..gifts from the President's Club perks. No way can we consume all of that in two weeks. Although it was a nice gesture, we asked them if we could swap the bottles for flowers and sodas instead. They were most happy to do it later this afternoon.
Can you believe they have run out of bars of soap for the staterooms? Our stewardess, Ayu, said that the box of them has not been located yet, but another bar will be coming as soon as they do find them. Bet they are next to the cases of lost Delft tiles we did not receive on the Alaska cruise.
There was an invitation for the America's Test Kitchen hands-On Workshop on 4 different days. We had the option of signing up ahead of everyone else by 5pm today. This would confirm a place in the workshop. However, we don't think this would be of interest to either of us at this time, so we did not call.
Captain Scott does his daily talk at 12:15pm on sea days. Like Captain Mercer, he enjoys giving nautical idioms after his detailed log of the cruise.
It was too early for lunch in the dining room at noon for us, even though one of the entrees was meatballs and spaghetti. Once again, we got caught up with more episodes of Game of Thrones, and decided on room service soup, salad, and sandwiches around 3pm.
Did a little shopping, using some more shipboard credit. A tanzanite bracelet was the best bet , and perhaps we will check out the cameras offered in the photo shop. More than likely over-priced, it does not matter, since the credit is "use or lose" money.
Dinner for us was in the dining room. The best item, and most popular according to our waiters, was the turkey entrée. Complete with apple stuffing, carrots, turnips, gravy and cranberry sauce, it was a fitting Thanksgiving meal. Not to mention, quite filling. The lighter ending for dessert was the orange sorbet, but the whiskey chocolate cake was good too.
Finishing by 9pm, we dropped off the six raffles tickets in the box at the shop. A special raffle will be held the day before we get off, and you could have a chance of winning a $300 basket of goodies. What a ploy to get folks inside the store to entice them to spend more money, credit or not.
Since we were already down this end of the ship, we decided to see how busy the casino was. And busy it was, because there was a lounge with piano entertainment , as well as a bar. That was fully packed. We believe this was Billboard Onboard. Passing by BB King's All-Stars, we listened to a couple singing with large band in the backround. Singing tunes we know well, it was more rock and roll, instead of blues. Several couples were up and dancing on the obvious dance floor. There was some room to sit inside, but fairly dark to see your way in there. The last venue was happening at Lincoln Center Stage with the second performance of movie classics. At least four or five string instruments were playing movie classics. From the sound of it, the tune we were hearing was from the movie Psycho. Once again, this room was full. The chairs in this long and narrow lounge are facing forward in rows, just like in a movie theater. What a huge difference with guest participation on the Eurodam compared to a world cruise. By 10pm, the majority of the world cruisers would be in bed. Perhaps HAL has done some changes that are working better for the crowds. At least judging from what we were seeing tonight.
And last but not least, the show in the Mainstage was sort of a mystery. Performed by a fellow named Brett Cave, the description was a blend of Elton John and Billy Joel. High energy and Brett's English fingers. Was he a piano man? It was too long of a wait (30 minutes) for us to find out, so we left.
Tomorrow should find us ½ way to the Hawaiian Islands, and God-willing, warm, tropical breezes.
Bill & Mary Ann
