This morning brought us sightings of flying fish, and one booby, a bird that delights in hunting them. The fish are fun to watch as they suddenly appear by popping up out of the water, sometimes singly or by the dozens. You can compare it to popcorn sizzling, then popping all at once. In some areas of the world, the birds seem to know to follow the ships, because these fish will fly to get away from the ship. Once they are air-borne, the clever birds dive for them. Sometimes they are successful, and other times….not. Anyway, while we are walking our miles in the morning or afternoon, watching the display is always a good excuse for stopping for a few minutes. Never know what you may see when you least expect it. And as always, we are on watch for dolphins and whales……both of which we will see , especially if we left the cameras in the room.
Breakfast was good as always in the dining room. We have been learning more about the newest crew members to join the HAL group. Namely the Thai crew, and the re-introduction of the European staff in the Pinnacle Grill restaurant. Many years ago, when the alternate restaurant was called Marco Polo, the wait staff was European, mostly Italian. By the way, it was complimentary back in those days. And those days are long gone. Eventually, when the Pinnacle Grill was born, we noticed the wait staff was mostly Indonesian. Last night, we were surprised to find two waiters from Serbia working there. They were friendly and got our orders perfect, which all of the wait staff does. Guess the industry is leaning towards diversity these days. We have also heard that some of the different nationalities have been having difficulties in obtaining visas, so the company has to have other options for the employment pool. We might add here that a Cellar Master's dinner was held in the Pinnacle tonight for $95 per person.
Being that we are in the middle of the South Pacific with few islands around us, the internet has been squirrely. Right now, we are dealing with the "minute" package, which for us, is 600 complimentary minutes between the two of us. Also, some of the folks booked with a perk of some free minutes as well. However, for those who purchased a megabyte plan, such as the Premium plan, they have the better deal. The time is not ticked off by minutes, like for us. When we get into these "iffy" areas, we can tick off minutes only to discover, we cannot log on, wasting 10 minutes for nothing sometimes. We really wish in the future, they have one system that will be fair for all. For this 51 day cruise, megabyte plans were available before the trip, or the day or two after we boarded for a little more money. At some point, we will have to purchase either a 31 day plan or a 20 day one. Then we can have internet (when available) for 24 hours a day. Perhaps in the near future, a better solution will be developed that will fit everyone's needs.
Once again, we made it to the aft pool for some cloudy sunning, visiting with folks we know, and catching up on reading a "real" hardcover book. We are happy to report that there still is a library on this ship. It is self-serve, and perhaps less of a variety as in the past, but it still works. Also, there is a fairly good amount of borrowed books, donated by guests who left them onboard.
Lunch was taken in the Lido with two generous portions of salad and a couple of tasty slices of pizza. We needed to keep it light, since we have been invited to an early dinner at 6pm in the lower dining room. The theme of the meal was President's Club Musical Chair Family Dinner. There are 12 such members onboard for this trip, so three oval tables in the center of the dining room were reserved for our group. The musical chair part of this was that each table was hosted by either by Captain Jeroen, Henk, the hotel director, and Roland, the food and beverage manager. At the start of each course, the fellows changed tables. The family part was the fact that the meal was served family-style with the courses on platters to be shared.
The two of us were seated with two nice ladies, Ruth from Michigan and her companion, Kathy, from South Carolina. And our host for the first course was Henk. Meeting these ladies for the first time, they were a bit on the quiet side. However, as the evening progressed, they joined into the conversation, and felt more at ease. The next rotation brought the Captain to our group, then finally, Roland joined us for dessert.
The starters were seafood deviled eggs and a mezze plate (olives, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, and roasted cherry tomatoes.) A mixed salad was added to our plates as well. The main course included linguini, beef brochettes, roasted chicken, and a vegan burger. Sides were sautéed spinach, grilled fennel, and cherry tomatoes. We could have a little of each, or as much as we wished. Garlic bread and rolls were included as were a New Zealand white, and a California red wine. Since one of us does not drink wine, a cocktail was substituted. Finally, dessert was offered with a mango & blueberry cobbler (the best), and a coconut dulce de leche torte. If that wasn't enough, along came the waiters with gormandizes of petit fours from the Pinnacle Grill.
Peter, the head chef, came to each table of guests along with one of his top chefs who was responsible for this lovely meal. We all thanked him for his efforts. One by one, the other two tables broke up, except ours. Henk joined us and Roland claimed a victory, because our table had lasted the longest. It was fun getting to know the officers a little better as well as some of the other President's Club members. The evening ended around the same time our regular meal ends every night…about 9:30pm.
So we asked the Captain if he expected rain tomorrow, and could not say no. Should be an interesting stop whether it rains or not.
The entertainer for tonight was a comedian named Mike Robinson, another fellow we had while on this year's world cruise. Bet he comes back again next year.
Bill & Mary Ann
