Having lost one hour last night, we were slow in getting to the dining room for breakfast this morning. This probably was the case with many other passengers, because the room was near empty of customers. Today, we were greeted by a head waiter, and were seated at a table by the back window. Our food was freshly-cooked and served right away. No waiting. Just like when we are on the Amsterdam.
It was time for some shopping to use up some of that shipboard credit. One particular line of pearls has always caught our eye – Majorca. A collection of them were displayed in the shop last night, and it was not hard finding some to take home. Be a nice token to remind us of our tropical trip this fall. This afternoon we picked out a watch and more elegant jewelry. Hope the "gala" nights never go away, or wearing such nice jewelry will be difficult while we are at home. Anyway, we vowed not to leave any of the credit unspent, and we did a fine job of doing such that.
Lunch was in the dining room, the first time they have been opened from noon to 1pm since before we hit the islands five days ago. Once again, showing up near the end of the service, it was not crowded. We had a wonderful waiter that had recognized us from previous cruises. He admitted that he also prefers the smaller ships, like us. Both of us ordered different entrees, but found the food to be very good….even the mushroom cheeseburger.
After lunch, we relaxed on our veranda, until the rain began. Once it did, it flooded the gutter quickly. Good time to continue the Downton Abbey series. There are several seasons with many episodes. And we are running out of time, with only 4 days left before we are back to Vancouver.
Lectures continued about the Kon-Tiki, and Kona coffee. Movies shown were My Cousin Rachel and Megan Leavey. We spotted an unusual behind the scenes ad in the daily newsletter. A tour of the navigation bridge, engine control room, back stage, main gallery, laundry, and the provisions store was offered for a mere $150 per person. Funny, we did the very same tour for free a few years ago. Oh well, we hope they have some takers.
We have noticed that the three music venues alternate with one group being off one evening. Today, the musicians from Lincoln Center Stage are absent, but will return tomorrow. The billboard onboard and the BB King's Blues have been off once this week as well. It is possible and practical that the Hawaiian team are gone from the ship.
Dinner was good in the dining room. It was also very quiet, since we were told that lots of guests were reportedly tired from 5 days of ports. Sea sick might also be the case for a few. A favorite entrée happens to be the honey-mustard drizzled parmesan crusted chicken breast, and it was on the menu tonight. One of us had turkey scaloppini, also very tasty. Frangipani pie proved that some of "Hawaii" is still on the ship. Luis, the dining room manager, stopped by to chat, as he does every time we dine in there. You could not help but notice that half of the room was empty this evening at 8pm. Luis said that was correct, because of the rough seas. Apparently, many guests were sea sick. He added on the evening of Nawiliwili, that was just the opposite. And since we went to the Pinnacle Grill that evening, we did not see the rush of guests showing up at the same time, especially on deck two, to eat dinner at the open seating time. Luis said it had to be the worst night of his life, because over 1000 folks showed up, demanding to be seated. We often wondered what they would do if this happened. He said it was not pretty, and he thanked us for going elsewhere that evening. In addition, he concluded by saying life for them was so much easier when the seating at dinner was fixed. He would be happy to see that return, but doubts it ever will.
Entertainment this evening was a film from Frozen Planet Live with music to accompany it. Except it starts at 10pm, and it was only 9pm. One of these nights we will see this performance.
On another note, we searched through our stack of saved info, and still could not locate any itinerary of either cruise – Alaska or Hawaii. We do remember when the port info booklet had more real info. Now, these booklets come without a cover that shows the Captain's biography and the entertainers that we would see during this cruise. Usually on the grand voyage, every segment is printed on the first daily newsletter. And it certainly helped to have the Log of the Cruise handed out at each segment. We have heard rumors that these have been eliminated. We did not get one after the Alaskan trip.
Then today, we got a notice that let us all know that there will be no tiles given out at the Mariner's Celebration tomorrow, The boxes of these tiles are reportedly delayed. Now, they are promising to send the tiles to our home addresses. They are scheduled to arrive at our homes by late-October. We shall see…….
Bill & Mary Ann
