It was not a surprise to us that most everyone we talked to today was most grateful that we have a few days at sea now. After yesterday’s marathon in Bora Bora, the outdoor folks, like us, had come close to over-doing the swimming, walking, hiking the mountainside, and beach-combing. The biggest factor with outside activities has to do with the extreme humidity. If you are not accustomed to it, you’ll feel zapped at the end of the day. It will take us all day just to re-hydrate, and perhaps enjoy some of those tangy bananas we bought yesterday. Potassium helps with leg cramps we heard. Barbie confirmed that when she paid us a visit in the afternoon.
Shipboard life continued as normal, but we now have a new speaker, Neville Peat, who lectured about atolls that are at risk. Phil Creaser is talking about our earliest ancestors, while Ian has launched ahead to the up-coming ports in New Zealand. He shares the stage with Nyron, the EXC tour manager. That way they kill two birds with one stone, combining tour suggestions with the port talk.
A different angle the shop salespeople are doing is offering one day sales on some special items. For instance, their pick of the day was the Citizen Satellite Wave GPS Controlled Watch, with a $280 savings. This sounded like a one day sale, so we checked it out later in the day. We were told there was only one left, but that particular model was too hard to read the hands and the numbers or symbols. We’ll wait and see if they get more on during the course of this cruise. Something tells us they will. Another flash sale was for Tahitian pearls, but it was for two hours only. Really?
The most exercise one of us got today was at the Seaview pool when a gigantic yellow wasp landed on the lounge, crawling up the blue and white pareo. It refused to leave, until it was shaken out of the fabric. Now we had to keep watch in case it had more friends nearby. Some must have come over to the ship from Bora Bora yesterday. Some years back, there was a swarm of equally as big furry bees that invaded the aft pool. Hundreds of them in fact. They fell in the pool and on the decking while we sailed out of the port. Needless to say, that was a short-lived sail away.
We got our delivery of sodas and flowers for our Mariner PC amenity. It is really convenient to receive this every two weeks. Today’s flower arrangement was a tower of blossoms….really nice. Eddie and Calista have been quite busy with these orders.
Captain Mercer announced that this evening, the ship’s clocks will go ahead 24 hours, thus causing us to lose one whole day. The reason is that we will be crossing the International Dateline, where we are going into the next day. We actually miss February 20th, and the day becomes the 21st. And to complicate the matter even more, the Captain said the real date we will be crossing that line is the 22nd. But since we are at sea, he can make this day any one he chooses. Or a day that works better for the staff, crew, and passengers. As we continue sailing westward, we will get all these hours back one at a time, more or less. Confusing, huh?
We’re sure liking the new band with their lead singer in the Ocean Bar. It has become more like a nightclub, instead of the “merry-go-round” music. They have attracted many more dancers and people taking advantage of happy hour, either at 4 or 6:30pm. A major improvement.
We could see from the Ocean Bar that the sky was taking on some color. Going up to deck nine, we had the treat of seeing a most beautiful sunset, perhaps the nicest one of the cruise so far. Later after dinner, we saw the full moon shining in our wake. What a sight.
The dinner menu had several good choices, but we settled on a cobb salad and sweet and sour pork. Even though both are a repeat entrée, they are among our favorites. Even Barb agreed. Slam insisted on bringing a sample of two desserts, which we were just going to taste. One was so good, a flan, that we cleaned the plate. This could be addictive, but also fun if we have kept our meals to a minimum, like we did tonight.
The Soul Sisters of Motown, a three girl group, was the entertainment featured this evening. They sing the tunes of the Supremes, Mary Wells, Aretha Franklin, and the Velvelettes. Yesterday while at Bloody Mary’s, we passed by a young gal with lavender-colored hair, heavily made up. We figured she was not a local, and we were correct. Their show sure brought back memories from the past.
We’re not sure, but this evening, a pre-show event was held in the Mainstage at 7:15pm. It was the Majority Rules Game Show, and since so many people go early to see the first performance, now they have something to do before the main show starts.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Report #33 Day at Sea February 19, 2019 Tuesday Partly sunny & 75 degrees
