Hoping to spend some time at the aft pool today, our hopes were dashed when we woke up early to see really cloudy skies. Guess that is not going to happen. If our memory serves us right, the weather in this part of the world is cool and drizzly this time of year. In no time, we will start to whine about the heat and humidity as we travel north towards the Equator again.
Besides the required fire drill with the crew this morning, Barbara H was giving a talk about what to see and do in Fremantle and Perth, our final port in Australia. It has been wonderful spending so much time in this fabulous and diverse country. We hate leaving.
The guest speaker, Kate Mead, spoke about beautiful Bali, giving us a look into what we can expect to see in a short time now. What a complete change of culture we are heading for….a world apart from the British feel of New Zealand and Australia.
Around 11am, we took a walk to deck eight and the Seaview Pool, only to find that the rain had started, and the only ones outside were the dedicated smokers. A good time to share travel agency info with Howard, another President’s Club friend of ours. History has repeated itself as more agents from our current travel agency have re-located to other companies. This is a common occurrence in this business, but it can be disturbing when your longtime trusted agent has gone to greener pastures. Especially when you are in the middle of a trip they helped you book. Things can get sticky, legally, and it is always good to know what your rights are. Not as simple as one might think.
The rain changed our plans, so we met Barb for lunch in the dining room after 12pm. Turned out that Susie and Woody decided to go early, and sit across from us. Susie writes a blog with photos, but keeps it among family and friends only. Her stories can be hysterically funny, such as the one she told about bringing bottles of wine or alcohol onboard. The company’s policy has been strictly enforced on this grand voyage this year. This subject came up at dinner last night, when Brenda told us about bringing her one complimentary bottle back from her HAL tour in Adelaide. Upon going through the ship’s security check, she was directed to the collection table. The beverage gal looked her name up on the manifest to verify that she took the wine tour. Or else, she could not have brought the bottle on without the $18 corkage fee. We feel that is discrimination, forcing folks to book tours to get the wine onboard. We may be wrong, but seem to recall that we were allowed one bottle each in every port, while on a grand cruise last year. Now we are allowed one bottle each for the entire cruise, beginning in Ft. Lauderdale for us. Not that we drink wine, the rules are sure different.
Susie and Woody’s story was better, as they planned on different scenarios to bring their wine on. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. But they have so much fun in the planning. All of us remember when it wasn’t unusual for some folks to bring on 14 cases of wine when they boarded. You know, a few years ago we took a re-positioning cruise back from Florida to California on a different cruise line. It is a very popular line that appeals to families with little kids – all of whom like to wear the mouse ears. Anyway, when we lined up on the pier to board, we saw dozens of couples packing large totes full of beer cans. We said that won’t work, as their policy said no alcohol at all was allowed. Well guess what? They went right through security and nothing was said. Nothing was confiscated. Go figure? Now we are being treated like America’s Most Wanted. If this policy is industry wide, we would sure like to know if all cruise lines enforce it.
Did we mention that the Grand World Voyage Survey is out for voting online only? Although it was not available as written, we did bring it up yesterday on the free Navigator home page. Four different itineraries were presented, all of which were westbound. One appealed to us that went down the east coast of South America and included scenic cruising in Antarctica. That was last done in 2012. Whether or not this will be the winner, time will tell. Listening to most opinions we heard from the seasoned passengers, they think the 2020 itinerary has already been determined. But what do we all know?
After stretching or legs for a long walk on the promenade deck, we went to our favorite spot on deck five in the atrium, where we like to listen to the music in the Ocean Bar. We have been watching the dancers as well, and pretty much have figured out most of the classic dance steps. It is also a great spot to chat with folks passing by. One of those guests happened to be a single gal Geri, who has taken the dance classes for many years now. She is most happy that the dance hosts have been continued on these grand voyages, because she said it makes her ever so happy to dance.
We had time for a room movie before dinner. So we watched Marshall, a true story, we believe, about Thurgood Marshall’s early career as a lawyer and eventually a Supreme Court Judge. We did not recognize any high profile actors, but perhaps that made the movie even better.
The Pinnacle Grill had been transformed into the Tamarind this evening. Specially labeled dinner ware and silverware held the new logo. Metal chopsticks were placed by each setting, but knowing most folks would not use them, the longest-handled forks, knives, and spoons were also included. A tray of three Asian sauces appeared with a basket of shrimp crackers. No bread or butter. Then we had the cute little white tablet that expanded with hot water to become our wet napkin.
Tea was poured in a small shot glass, and since we do not drink wine, so our water glasses were keep full throughout the dinner service. Our meal consisted of crispy veggie egg rolls, a steak salad, two wasabi-crusted filets with a stack of tempura onion rings. They were the best. Sides were a bowl of Hainan rice and a serving of mixed sauted vegetables.
The dessert was great. One of us had the Thai donuts, although the stack was shorter than what we had on the Eurodam. One of us ordered the large chocolate-stuffed fortune cookie with a side of vanilla ice cream. The cookie was crisp and fresh, and so worth the calories.
The Captain and his wife, Karen, had been dining right across from us. Leaving ahead of us, they stopped for a chat. They had also made it a point to come here this evening, since this menu will only be repeated once a month. Like us, they are probably booked for the rest of those dates.
For the fourth time since we landed in Australia, the clocks went back one more hour. With 25 hour days, eventually you begin to drag towards the late afternoon. When you think about it, 9pm for instance, was really midnight a week or so ago. It is still difficult to adjust in a matter of days.
Tomorrow we shall be in Albany, a small city in Western Australia. And it probably is going to rain.
Bill & Mary Ann
