In order to arrive to the next port of The Gambia, the Amsterdam will have to cover over 2300 nautical miles or 2645 statute miles. That will take five sea days. Lots of excellent time to kick back, relax, and for us, catch up with past reports. All has been progressing well until we went to go online in the afternoon. It seemed that we had no service. A few hours went by, and we tried again with no luck. Calling the front desk, we were told the system was temporarily down, and it may be a few hours before we were back in business. Well……..that was optimistic, but it did not happen. We learned later on that something serious had occurred when a strategic part burned up. The antennae was inoperable, and that included the ship’s internet as well, not only the system available to the passengers. This was a big deal. In fact, it was the talk of the day, and eventually, the talk of many days to follow. We were dead in the water with communications, and would have a long wait before it could be fixed. At least the navigation of the ship was not affected, as there are many back-ups for the actual sailing. We would eventually learn more details.
We still used this day at sea to continue with our homework, so when the system was back up, we would have the reports lined up to send.
At noontime, we met up with our lunch group, Barb, Woody and Susie, enjoying the nice portions of salad, soup, and an entrée. Most times the entrees are the mini-version. A little too late to worry about excess calories now, since most of the cruise is about over. For some reason, the small slice of pumpkin pie (out of season) tasted even better than at Thanksgiving.
Since she is caught up with port talks, Barbara H spoke all about African arts. We never realized how much we did not know about weaving to sculptures, clothing, and jewelry. We learned that certain designs and colors mean different things to the Zulu people, for instance. It is a subtle way to communicate things about yourself, like if you are single, or married, wealthy or poor, sad or happy. The most fascinating fact was regarding the materials used for weaving baskets. It could be fibers from plants such as sisal, bamboo or grasses. Even discarded insulated thin phone wire was been incorporated into their basket and bowl weaving. With the primary colors, they have created the most unique and beautiful designs. These creations, whether made from natural fibers or wire, can be woven so tightly that they are waterproof. Used as a necessity for everyday living in the villages, we purchase these treasures for decoration. Now we will look closer to the collection we already have at home, and see these in a far different light.
America’s Test Kitchen conducted a rainy day lunch demo, teaching new ways to make grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Leta said she was going to attend today, since her version of tomato soup was opening a can and heating it up. Hey, that works for one of us too. And “sophistication” was the name of a fancy cheese sandwich as well.
Earlier in the day, we had a message in our mail slot concerning Melon-chol-y – translated to a feeling of sadness for the shortage of melons at the moment. This has to be one of the funniest notes in the line of messages we have gotten on this cruise. How many folks are calling the front desk about the lack of fresh fruit on this cruise? The head chef has found it necessary to ration the portions of melons, berries, and pineapple so it will last longer for most all of us. Don’t they know that will cause hoarding? Yes, we have seen it first-hand. Just say you cannot have it, and the hoarders appear to squirrel it away to their cabins. The next promised delivery should be in Dakar, Senegal, so we are certain the fresh produce will return. None of us will starve.
Other deliveries included one of the final gifts for President’s Club. In our case, it was a beautiful flower arrangement and 17 sodas. There should be one more delivery in two weeks, and that will be it. On past cruises, if there are not many days left after the last delivery, they offered us $40 each in shipboard credit.
The third and probably last photo contest was announced last week. There are several categories, and you simply bring your camera or memory card to have an 8x10 photo made of your chosen entry. The deadline is April 12th, with voting taking place on April 13th. Not sure who votes? The last few years, it has been a staff panel doing the voting. You still come out ahead, even if you don’t win, since the $5 photo fee covers the picture for you to keep. Watching the foot traffic going in and out of the photo shop has worked to their advantage. The contest has gotten people to go in that sales part of the ship.
Guest speakers have continued their talks on everything Africa. The morning lecture dealt with the predators of Africa, a subject we are most interested in. Catching his talk later on TV was perfect. The other lecture dealt with the search for spices in the continent, also interesting. At least these are showing up on TV at a more convenient time for us.
The heat and humidity have kept many people indoors. A good use of their time is going to the Wajang for the movie. The flick, Mary and Martha, was shown three times today. It was about two moms that lost their sons to malaria, and their efforts to save future casualties. Makes us glad that we have taken the meds to help prevent contacting it. Come to think of it, our host has been quarantined since we left Cape Town. He did go overland like we did, but did not take his malaria preventative meds. So when he became ill, showing similar symptoms, he was checked for malaria by the ship’s doctor. Lucky for him, it was negative. Kept confined for a week, he said that his room was cleaned twice a day by a haz-mat team. The staff was taking no chances, since he could have had the Noro virus, heaven forbid.
Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill, which had been transformed into the Sel de Mer. This would be the final venue for this menu on the world cruise. Expensive, yes, but we get it for ½ off, making the final price $49 for two. This time, we showed up at our normal 8pm time slot, and a window table was ready for us. Well, not really a window that looks out at the ocean, but a window that faces the hallway on deck four. This has always been something strange with the location of this restaurant. Other ships have the Pinnacle on a different deck, and their windows do look outside. On the Amsterdam, people walking by always slow down to see what you are eating. A little unnerving. Especially when Captain Jonathon, his wife, Karen, Hazel, and Renee from the spa, were all dining with him. They happened to be seated at the next table to us. This group attracted many lookie-loos as they walked to and from the show lounge before and after the show. If that were us, we might have moved to the back room. Comes with the job, according to Karen. You would be surprised to see how many folks stop and interrupt their meal, talking to them on their way out. Really, they need their space too.
The entertainers tonight was a group called 4Ever, four fellows singing in various languages from pop to opera and rock. Sorry to have missed them, since out dinner went over-time. But it was well worth it, because we order the rack of lamb once again. It is the best they have to offer. Hopefully, this venue will appear on next year’s world cruise, as it seems to be most popular despite the higher price.
Tomorrow, we will cross the magic line on the Equator. This time there is a plan to celebrate it.
Bill & Mary Ann
