Come on guys…..80 degrees? Try 60 degrees, and that is probably tops. It has remained mostly cloudy, but at least, we do not have any rain. The seas have behaved nicely as well. What has been missing are any signs of flying fish, or birds. Yesterday morning, during our walk, two gals, on the younger side, claimed to have spotted humpback whales. But looking harder, we could see nothing but waves, suspecting this was a way to begin a conversation with the folks passing by. Works every time. That brought to mind a man who swore he saw hammerhead sharks while scenic sailing off the coast of eastern Australia a few years back. Seems every time he saw one, it just slipped below the surface. Who knows?
Breakfast in the dining room was really quiet, because it appeared a lot of guests are sleeping in later. Setting the clocks ahead catches up with everyone eventually. We should have one more hour to set ahead this evening to be back on Pacific time.
We all received the disembarkation package this morning. It had the letter with instructions for the process we will have when Wednesday comes. Luggage tags co-ordinated with our flights were included with another Canadian declaration card to hand off when we debark. Then, if memory serves us right, we will have to do the kiosk for Canada re-entry, then proceed to the USA customs check. But we still have today and tomorrow on the ship before we have to deal with it.
We took the opportunity to begin packing at least one suitcase. Gosh, we missed the Le Vian presentation in the Ocean Bar once again. They were handing out 1 carat midnight sapphire just for attending. We will never know what that was all about, or how much these sapphires were worth. Passing through the lounge later, we saw at least 100 folding chairs jammed in there. Guess they had a large crowd. If you say “free”, they will come.
During his noon time talk, Captain Scott had some better news. It seems that the man who needed a transfusion last night, had three donors come forward. That was a miracle, and helped to stabilize him. Despite that, the Captain did admit our speed had been increased to 22 knots, just in case we needed to get to land sooner. He said that once he gets the OK from the doctor, he may slow down, and go 17 knots like we should be traveling. The plan now is that we reach the coast off of Vancouver by midnight tomorrow, pick up the pilot, and be docked before 7am on Wednesday morning.
Lunch was in the dining room, which also was not busy. One of us had had the room service chicken noodle soup and pasta, while the other had a salad and mini-burger. Just enough, although we added dessert – one sherbet, and one plate of profiteroles. Our waiter came running with extra vanilla ice cream, not ordered, but we declined. Just too easy to over-do it. And besides, we needed to save ourselves for our last dinner in the Tamarind tonight. The final evening will be in the Pinnacle Grill.
Sweatshirts were needed for our afternoon walk, and we did notice far less folks outside. Perhaps they were staying inside playing bridge, mahjong, learning how to cook Asian dumplings, or playing trivia. The games here are just that…..games without prizes or DAM dimes, like on the grand voyages. On this ship, the winners take a bow and that’s all. That’s how it should be….not competitive.
There was a fleeting sunset tonight, not the same as we have witnessed coming from the Hawaiian Islands. And with the time changes, it has been setting earlier every other day. Before we knew it, the time for dinner came at 8pm. It was off to the Tamarind for a gala night. Everyone dining in the Tamarind on deck 11 was dressed formally, even the ship’s officers, who seem to congregate here for their dinner often.
We ordered our favorites which included spring rolls and tempura shrimp, which is served with a particularly good papaya salad. Thai beef salads followed, then entrees of a wasabi-crusted steak and a platter of tempura vegetables were served. One side of brown rice rounded out the meal. What is nice with dining up here is the fact that our food arrives freshly cooked and hot. It does not sit on a serving table, waiting for eight other diners to be served. Don’t get us wrong, the waiters do try hard, but sometimes our food has been only slightly warm in the dining room.
Desserts were the fortune cookie and coconut rice pudding, which does not taste like coconut at all. We were too early for the 10pm show in the Mainstage, but since we have already seen it, we headed home instead. 1000 Steps was the performance by the singers and dancers of the Eurodam, their final show of this cruise.
The Captain maintained over 20 knots for the remainder of the day, so we assume the patient is not out of the woods yet. Also, the clocks went ahead for the final hour tonight. It is getting harder to wake up in the morning for us and the crew.
Expecting cooler weather tomorrow, our final full day at sea.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Report #25 Day at Sea October 15, 2018 Monday Partly cloudy & 80 degrees
