During the night, the seas continued to create what the Captain called deep, rolling swells. Not a huge problem on the Dolphin deck, it would have been a factor with seasickness for one of us, had we been on Veranda deck. This is probably normal for this part of the South Pacific, but if it continues, it may affect our tender boat landings on Easter Island. We are about half way there, so perhaps the seas will calm down. All of us are staying positive. Which is difficult, in light of the continuing problems with the coronavirus. HAL must have their hands full dealing with the ships that have directly been affected by this unfortunate new virus. Even though the Amsterdam has no people infected with this virus, the staff has gone the mile to keep us healthy with extreme cleaning measures. Every surface has been sanitized more than once, and we have had ample warnings about washing our hands frequently. Keeping a small Purell in our pockets also helps when we cannot wash our hands immediately. That still is no guarantee that other countries will accept us in their ports. Once again, time will tell.
This morning, we found an email regarding the 2022 Grand World Voyage. It was a survey they use to create the itinerary for that trip. This used to come in paper form, but that practice has changed in order to save a tree, we guess. This survey is also available on the Navigator system, where it is free to fill it out.
The mystery of the internet dilemma was partially uncovered when we sent a photo of our settings, which had been changed by the IT guy onboard to our son. A computer genius, in our humble opinion, our son had determined that the settings were incorrect and were probably blocking the sent emails from going out. Following his instructions, the "fix" worked, and we were back in business again. At least as long as the connection holds up. That has been off and on all day, but at times there was a window where we were successful in sending a few of the blogs with the photos. Now we are only 12 days back-logged. But with two more days at sea, we should be able to catch up with the waiting reports.
It appears from reading the When & Where, that we do not have any speakers onboard to usually give lectures on sea days. We still have the EXC guide, Glenn-Michael doing a trivia of where in the world, and the Polynesian Ambassador, Kainoa, talking about Easter Island, but the usual speakers that deal with science or animals have not popped up.
Valentine's Day is coming soon, and many gift type sales have appeared in their ads. Like a sale on fragrances, Faberge eggs, pendants from the St. Petersburg collection, mix and match watches, and jewelry by Effy. Usually there is a hint to send your special friend or partner flowers. However, we do not think there is an abundance of flowers onboard. Most all of the public flower arrangements are created with props, and few flowers. For instance, the two large vases across from the front desk contain large plastic hearts, sticks wrapped with yarn, and balls of yarn connecting the two vases. There may have been a few vials of single orchids here and there for color. The fillers were feathers. We suspect that the allowance for fresh flowers has been cut as a money-saving thing. Perhaps this is happening in the entire cruise industry. Who knows?
One of us got a haircut at 5:30pm with Clara, the lady barber. She did a fine job, using scissors only, and taking off exactly what was asked….about an inch and a half. This haircut will last for maybe six weeks, but it is safer than asking for a #1 buzz cut, and they use a #0 clipper cut, and you are about shaved.
Going to our favorite seats by the atrium, we noticed that the ropes and ladder are back at the Astrolabium on deck three. The parts needed to fix the lights must be here. It does attract many folks we know to ask us what is going on with this. Greg and Heo really think they will be selling tickets for zip lining. They are very funny guys. We had hoped to listen to the Ocean Quartet, but they were off for the night. No music, and no dancing. We sure do not remember this happening when each band takes a day off once a week. By the way, a new group of dance hosts have boarded. All but one fellow went home in Santiago a few days ago.
Dinner had some different items on the menu. The fish entrée had been hake, but when we saw the menu, it had been changed to cod. They either ran out of the original hake, and substituted cod, or never had it in the first place. One of us ordered it, and said it was really tasty. No smell, no bones, it met the test. Brochettes of beef was a close second, the recommended dish of Chef Petr. Greg had the cheesy breaded veal, a close relative of wiener schnitzel. Saying it was OK, he should have ordered the beef. By the time we got our desserts, most of the diners had left the room. We were among the last to leave, and it was only 9:30pm. The waiters were already decorating the room with Valentine's Day mobiles and table centerpieces. It will look very red and festive tomorrow.
We had a little preview of the show tonight, but earlier at 7:30pm. It was the group Abba Fab, who we recently saw while on the fall cruise. Five minutes into the routine, we remembered every song and every dance step. They were good enough if you were into that type of music.
We hope that tomorrow the seas will calm down and the temps will rise.
Bill & Mary Ann
Monday, February 17, 2020
Report #99 Sea Day, Enroute To Easter Island February 13, 2020 Partly Sunny 61 Degrees
