The further west we travel, the warmer it has gotten. There was an increase in the humidity as well, getting us accustomed to the change gradually. During his PM talk, the Captain said that we were 300 miles from Easter Island and 820 miles from Pitcairn Island, our next sort-of visit. We never get off of the ship there, but a group of the islanders come out to us, and stay onboard for a few hours. More than once, the seas were too rough for them to come out, much to everyone's disappointment.
With all of the news revolving around the deadly virus, we are not certain of any of the upcoming ports. This ship has not been to China recently, where the virus originated, but these days, many other countries are being more careful as to who they will allow into their ports. For the first time ever, we received a health questionnaire for French Polynesia. It is required for every guest and crew member, we assume, to complete the form stating where we have visited in the last fourteen days. The questionable phrase on this form is: For the territory of French Polynesia to remain free of any contamination, prevention measures have been established. None of us knows exactly what this means. Many cruise ships have been denied entry in other places in the world, and now we are in fear that will happen to us. We do not have any ports in China this year, but will that matter? No doubt, this is a new experience for everyone, and we are sure that the company will do their best to keep us all safe, even if that means cancellations.
On another subject, we got a notice that we can have an official Pitcairn Island immigration stamp put in our passports for $10. Now we are not sure why we would desire to have this, especially when the extra space in our books is important. On our last South Pacific voyage, we were warned not to get the offered passport stamps while in Vanuatu or Fiji, as they could make our passports voided. Can you imagine being out of the country with an invalid passport? We recently learned that even worn pages in an older passport book can also make them invalid. So no stamps for us.
The Polynesian group continued their classes with pareo tying, dance lessons, and learning about the canoe, something that is found in every corner of Polynesia. One other activity included a port to table session with Chef Petr and Kainoa, who is really expanding his talents on this cruise.
A special invitation had been sent to all of the President's Club members last week for "amuses" around the pool. Beginning at 6:30pm, we entered the Lido Pool area to be escorted through a receiving line of the Captain, hotel director, and the cruise director. We guess you could call this a mini dinner, since the tastings began with skewered fruit, followed by many delectable vegetable-based items. They included Caesar salad with anchovies, mussels served in a shell, scallops, jalepeno peppers, little lamb chops, beef wellington, and lasagna. Then tiny desserts were served like tiramisu, a lemon ball of something gelatin-filled, and fruit. None of our group knew this much food was going to be served. And of course, any type of drink was offered. Actually several drinks if you wished. Many of our friends had just gotten into this club and it was nice to see them join the party. The Captain and his officers circulated among the tables for the entire hour. Neither of us ate too much…mostly the jar of mixed nuts, because we wanted to save our appetites for dinner. Truthfully, we had made reservations in the Pinnacle Grill, but cancelled them because of this party.
So all of us did show up at our table, and enjoyed it regardless. Both of us ordered the meatballs and spaghetti, and agreed it was really good. Sometimes the simple meals can be most satisfying. Conversation continued with more new stories evolving from the spread of the corona virus. More cruise lines have re-routed their vessels, or have taken their ships away from the Orient. The internet seems to be ahead of the TV news also, as many passengers and crew members have been communicating with friends and families on other lines. Once again, time will tell.
Entertainment tonight was another performance from Abba Fab. By 9:30pm, most all of the dinner guests had left the lower dining room, so we assume they either went to the show or called it a night, and went to bed. Of course there are other things to do like listening to the Station Band in the Crow's Nest, go to the Wajang to watch a movie, or stay and play slots all night.
And once again, the clocks went back one more hour this evening.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Report # 103 Day at Sea February 17, 2020 Monday Partly sunny & 61 degrees
