Where to begin? The days of unrest and confusion seems to be ongoing as we get closer to the debarkation day of March 22nd. The most crippling thing happened when we lost the reliability of the internet, which was working up until last night. More or less. When so many people are trying to make independent air travel, the more frustrating it became when they repeatedly were cut off of the connection. Late last night, we did try to send an email to book our flight out of Perth, but we did not know whether or not it had sent. And not even when we woke up at 5am to check it. Sure is a test of our patience.
However, we are the luckiest people on this ship, because we have the most excellent hosts onboard, who have gone the mile to help all of us. Today we were told by some friends that their hosts informed them that they were also on vacation, and would not have the capability to assist any of their clients with travel arrangements. We know for a fact that our hosts stayed up throughout the night, because of the impossible time difference between here and the states. There is a 15 hour difference from the west coast of Australia to the west coast of the USA. We also are aware that our travel agency staff are also working overtime, and into the late night as well. And our group on the Amsterdam are not their only clients, as they also have people stranded all over the world on other travel-related vacations. And later this afternoon, our hosts slipped a printed confirmation and travel itinerary under our door, so we could have it all in writing. So thoughtful.
Knowing that the passengers are stressing even more now, Captain Mercer announced that the folks at HAL shore side (Seattle) are going to assist everyone with their air travel. Not only the folks that booked their air through HAL originally. This was a great relief to many people, especially those who learned early this morning that all Delta flights that were just booked out of Australia were cancelled. Back to the drawing board. And we just noticed that several complimentary phones were made available at the front desk for passengers to call to make plans to go home. The only drawback was that if they called an airline, they could have been put on hold for an hour or more.
Around 1pm, a form was sent to the rooms for all to fill out their air arrangements. That way they promised to track everyone's flights. This will be most helpful, and more so if the internet remains poor.
Later in the day, after several people found their computers had jammed up, they were told that we were situated between the satellite footprints. They suggested that by tomorrow, we should be getting a better connection the closer we got to Freemantle. Sure hope they are correct. Actually by the late afternoon, we were able to get a small window where we got some emails and sent a few. There is hope…..
The usual activities were happening onboard, except for port and tour talks. We, like everyone else, kept busy with the packing. And just like every year, we always ask ourselves why did we bring so much??? On the plus side, we purchased few souvenirs on this trips, except for a few t-shirts and fabric. The only extra things we had to pack were the gifts that we got onboard. And they seem to be arriving every night lately.
There must have been a medallion awards ceremony in the Mainstage this afternoon. Normally, the group of President's Club members have always been invited. But today, it was only those who were due a medallion. In fact, we heard that Captain Mercer was not available to attend, so each and every one of them were offered the chance to have a photo taken in the atrium outside of the Ocean Bar. Of course, this was exactly where we happened to be sitting today. The photo shop manager asked us politely if we could move our chairs for an hour, so the guests could pose in front of the atrium Astrolabium. Of course, we did, but we did not go far, just moved over 6 feet or so. Not a problem.
If today was not busy enough for our hosts, they also had a cocktail party at 6:30pm in the Explorers Lounge. This group numbered over 100, along with several officers that joined us. Even Captain Mercer and Karen took the time to make an appearance. They sure are troopers under the circumstances. During the course of the party, it was announced by the future cruise consultant, Joanne, that the deadline for choosing the options of rebate was extended until June 1st, 2020. Time to think about making the best choice.
This evening in the Pinnacle Grill was the Tamarind theme. We had checked out tonight's menu in the dining room, and decided the Orange Dinner, with mostly Dutch cuisine , was not to our liking. But the Tamarind was, so we called and got reservations at 8pm. Expecting it to be very crowded, we were pleased that it was not. Perhaps most of the folks came early, as is the way things are leaning these days. We thought we had every Tamarind dinner booked in here, but this one must have been added recently.
We had the Thai salad, spring rolls, wasabi-crusted steak (over-the-top delicious) with tempura onion rings and asparagus. We had one order of Hainan rice, then desserts of chocolate pudding-like filling in a chocolate cup, and one chocolate-laden fortune cookie with a side of ice cream. For lunch, we had only a little cheese and crackers, so we could enjoy dinner, but we were still full by the time we finished. We love this venue.
It was still too early to go to the show of Chantelle Delaney, an international singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Bet she was good.
Then back at the room, we found two more gifts. They were blue-streaked lead free crystal bowls from Kosta Boda, a Swedish design, but made in Turkey. We will have to make room for them in a suitcase where they will not break.
You know, with all the grumblings we heard today, we also noticed that many people were still laughing and enjoying what is left of this cruise. And that was the message of the pillow card tonight: Without laughter, life on our planet would be intolerable. - Steve Allen –
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Report # 132 Day at Sea March 18, 2020 Wednesday Partly cloudy & 84 degrees
