"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #58 Benoa, Bali Indonesia February 27, 2018 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 84 degrees Part #1 Of 2 66 Pictures

Today was much the same as yesterday in that more families would be coming onboard to spend time with their crew member. However, the numbers were much smaller today. It did not appear that a huge sandwich bag lunch was going to be set up in the dining room. The regular lunch service for the guests was limited to the Lido, as that occurs sometimes while we are in port. Perhaps the lunch was served to this group of visitors, we hope.

Mid-morning, we went over to the vendors beyond the fencing. Nothing much had changed here. All of the souvenirs were much the same, and the vendors were every bit as aggressive as we remembered. Saying no does not mean no to them. If these folks would just let us all look first without any pressure, we would have bought things. Of course we already own most everything they are selling here. The wood carvings were interesting, but do we really need a third Komodo dragon that weighs 10 pounds? We did see one large, mean-looking lion, but knowing that these wooden carvings tend to crack in the dry California heat, we changed our minds.

On the opposite side of the bus parking lot, we found a new Art Market, where it appeared the vendors were more laid back. At least the stalls here were not crowded together as much, and there was a lot of space in front of the row of shops. The clothing items were much nicer here, and if you did a little bit of bargaining, you could come out with some good deals. We did negotiate for one silky top, and the vendor was happy to take Australian dollars. Naturally, she wanted to sell us many more items at a reduced rate, but we declined.

A White Gala Night is coming up soon, so many ladies were looking for something white to wear, having forgot to bring something suitable. Many of them were trying on lacey tops and shawls with matching balloon pants. Some of them looked great, but we can see if many of the gals showed up in the same clothes, it could be awkward. It was so warm, that we were literally melting. Time to leave and go back.

Looking forward to a dip in the pool, we changed after finishing emailing. While on our way into the terminal this morning, we ran into Eddie’s family, all of whom were doing things on their phones or tablets. They said that the speed was excellent. So good that they were doing Facebook, which is normally slow as molasses. Wish we had known this before we downloaded more anti-virus stuff.

So off to the pool we went, only to find the water had to be over 100 degrees. We did go in, but only for a minute or two. One of us had a theory why it was so hot. Has something to do with cooling equipment down with water, such as a heat exchanger. Just guessing, as this pool was much more refreshing yesterday. We still lasted back there, basically alone, until 12:25pm. You may ask why that time. Well it had something to do with a phenomenon concerning the lack of a shadow at exactly 12:30pm. The guest lecturer had included this in his talk recently, and reminded the folks in the Lido before coming outside. Now the funniest thing occurred right before 12:30pm. A huge dark cloud covered the sun, long enough to block any chance of seeing any shadows anywhere. Too bad, as we did want to see if this was true. Maybe another time. By the way, the cloud drifted away within 10 minutes.

There would be even more entertainment we did not expect. Directly behind our ship, was one of the party pirate ships. A group of what appeared to be soldiers with rifles were gathering on the dock near the ship. Three more sinister-looking guys were milling about. Then suddenly after a bus of guests arrived, they broke into a “skit”, with a pirate take-over of sorts. They rolled on the ground while the fellows with the rifles took them hostage, putting them in a waiting police van. Considering the state of the world in regards to these things happening for real, we are not sure this is a necessary part of the “show”. We have to say it did amuse the lunch guests that kept appearing at the vessel. While we watched, this act occurred three more times before their lunch was over.

Shortly after noon, another ship appeared on the horizon. It was the Regatta belonging to Oceania Cruises. This vessel is 30,277 gross tons, a small ship, and was transferred to Oceania in 2003. A 824 passenger ship, she was the former RTwo (Renaissance). Described as informal, this premium ship is for mature age cruisers. We had heard she was coming into the port, but wondered where they would dock. Turns out they did not dock, but anchored out beyond the bay. Tender service began, and their guests were being dropped off near the end of the dock on a floating pontoon. If we heard correctly, the Regatta will be in this port for three days, and will probably take our slip once we leave. Also heard that they may be on a 180 day world cruise.

Feeling that we were “cooked” by 2pm, we left to have another room lunch with Dive In burgers. This time we added the fries, but decided they still are not or favorite style of fries. Double-dipped means double the oil. So next time we will do without the extra calories.

Spending a little time at the Ocean Bar, we found that the Princeton tailors have arrived. They set up their desk in the area we usually sit. And although they were scheduled to open for business from 7 to 10pm, they already had customers lined up. The sales manager was busy measuring the fellows for the custom-tailored clothing. Princeton has been coming to the HAL ships for 17 years, and do a wonderful job. Yes, they are pricey, but we have not been disappointed with the quality of the fabrics or the professional sewing. On previous cruises, they have graciously done some minor alterations on some of the clothing we purchased from them with no charge at all.

Going out before sunset, we ran into Eddie and Calista, the florists, who live off of the Crow’s Nest on deck nine. Often, they come out here to watch the sunset, like we do. Otherwise, they are on deck A, working without windows or fresh air. We asked when they can come to our table for dinner, and they told us soon, as they requested to host our table. March 1^st will be the next gala evening, so we look forward to their visit. We thought it was nice when they asked if Barb was also there as usual, as she has known them from day one.

We stayed on deck nine until darkness fell, and the pirate boat drifted on by the ship. All lit up with music blasting, we waved to them as they partied hardy all the way back to their slip. It must have been the nightly dinner cruise.

Dinner had some unusual items once again. The most exotic had to be the crocodile entrée. Sorry, it is not for us, although we did taste a tiny piece of it at a deck BBQ two years ago. Tasted like chicken with a fishy flavor. One lady commented in the elevator today that they might as well serve us snake, and get it over with. Nope….we don’t do snake either. Our entrees were leg of lamb with the most savory reduced gravy. So much better than crocodile for sure. One of us ordered the Indonesian fried banana with a different type of tapioca used in Indonesian cooking. The tapioca was the size of green peas, but tasted somewhat like tiny balls of soft gummy bears. The banana was tempura coated, and was delicious. Slam, our waiter, even brought a bit of chocolate sauce to top it off. Nice to try something new for a change.

The Amsterdam had left the port silently around 8:15pm. We watched as the lights of the harbor and island faded as we headed north.

Got a few days at sea now as we head for the Philippines. Bet many passengers will be sleeping in late to recover from two such busy and hot days in Bali. By the way, one couple we know deserves an award for enduring the longest tour yet. Try 14 hours yesterday. They did not get home until after 11pm, saying they will never do that again…ever. Really fun tour, but getting car sick on the winding road back to the port was not the best way to end an excursion.

We have to add another informative communication from Henk M concerning fair treatment for all of the crew members. As we are approaching another area of the world where a number of our crew come from, many of us passengers had asked if they would get equal time off to share visits with their families and friends. In a long note, Henk said absolutely it had been arranged “in house” that within their ranks, crew members are able to exchange favors with each other, gaining them a lighter workload for a few days. It is not feasible to have “a day off”, but the crew members understand that when they sign on for their contract. As it works for them, we are glad to see they are equally as happy as well. Henk ended his message with – “and so it goes”, in his humorous way.

Bill & Mary Ann

Long stretch of dock in Benoa