At breakfast today, the most talked about subject had to be: Will we or won't we go to Easter Island? The tension has mounted to the point of making odds about our chances. The going figures are 40% we go, and 60% we don't go. The swells are nowhere near what they have been, and we saw no signs of white caps today. But as of noontime, we were still 350 miles away from the island, so the conditions there could be altogether different. With his PM talk, Captain Mercer reported the winds were currently 10 knots with two swells coming from the south and the east. He also warned that the sun factor was a "10" tomorrow, and we would need to take care by using sunscreen. However, in ending his talk, he warned that the tendering process was marginal at best. Then he elaborated about who would be allowed ashore such as the able-bodied guests only. Specifically, wheelchairs, scooters, and walkers would have to wait until open tenders were announced. Last year while we tendered to shore at Easter Island, it was taking 45 minutes to load one tender boat on the average. That was way too long, so this year, the decision to limit the access to those who can board quickly had to be made.
President's Club bi-monthly gifts arrived today with one flower arrangement and 17 Coke Zeros. It is a nice perk, but we do hope the flowers will last more than a week. The chrysanthemums and gladiolas are delicate, and do not have a long shelf life. And we will need to keep the room on the cooler side, because the heat will dry them out even faster.
On a lighter side, the weather was quite pleasant today. The winds had died down, and walking the lower promenade was easy. No deep and long swells. Sure makes a difference. It felt a lot warmer than 64 degrees, especially in the sun on the aft of the deck. Many more folks were taking to the lounges in the back, as well as the guests in the lanai rooms. We did our two miles, then went down to work on the backed up reports and photos. It has been nice to have these laid back days at sea to get this job done. Now the internet was down more than it was up, but during very short periods, we were able to get some reports and emails through.
When we took a break for lunch in the Lido, we did see a few people out by the pool in the lounges. Probably not in the pool, but laying in the sun. Since we have not been back there for weeks now, we will have to start all over again. Time to whip out that sunscreen.
Things happening on the ship included another Easter Island deck sale for mugs, shot glasses, mugs, and postcards. Sounds like most of the t-shirts are gone. Kainoa did an amusing talk all about humpback whales. He added many stories about his growing up in Hawaii and his family's interaction with seeing the whales. Nothing like a firsthand account of how awful the blow of a whale smells. Later in the day, lessons on ukulele playing happened in the Crow's Nest. The Microsoft team conducted 5 classes during the day, which is super. However it would be even better if the internet onboard was working properly.
Dinner was the highlight of the day. Every night with our group of seven has been nice. Even made better with good appetizers and entrees. One popular item was galumpi with ground pork mixed with rice and rolled in a cabbage leaf. A special sauce was poured over the top. The barramundi fish entrée was especially good, as was the fusilli pasta with Bolognese sauce…..a favorite dish for one of us. Made better with extra sauce and grated parmesan cheese.
The show tonight was a familiar pianist by the name of Naki Ataman. He had been highly recommended on the Tales of the South Pacific, so we made it a point to attend his performance. He was even better tonight as we caught the tail end of his show. Hope he does another concert before he departs.
So we wait for tomorrow and see how the weather and seas behave. Fingers crossed……
Bill & Mary Ann
Monday, February 17, 2020
Report #101 Day at Sea February 15, 2020 Saturday Partly sunny & 64 degrees
