Our first day at sea found the skies very gloomy. It was heavily overcast, windy, with seven-foot seas. The ship was listing, making walking a bit challenging at times. It increased during the evening hours, where you don't notice the rolling as much if you stayed tucked in bed. We've sailed in much worse conditions, so this is a piece of cake.
At breakfast this morning, we found the venue quite busy with new guests. In fact, some were lined up at the closed doors of the Pinnacle Grill well before 8am. This was the first time we noticed that more tables were used in the center of this dining room. Of course, the ship is fairly full now, and the restaurants can be expected to be busy.
Working on the computer was more than frustrating today. It was acting squirrely, as it always seems to do when traveling in this area. But this appeared to be more so than previously, with reports and photos not going through together, or at all for that matter. Nothing could be sent or received, and we got tired of watching that circle go round and round. Best to take a walk and get some fresh air.
We took that break around noon, when we knew fewer folks would be walking. Due to the higher winds and the wave action, the ship continued to list. The spray from the waves made the teak decking very wet on the windward side of the ship. Could be a problem with slipping and falling. The Captain came on the speakers with his noon talk, and warned the guests about the conditions outside. He gave the usual stats about our position, weather, wave heights, and an explanation of the "rhumb line". Basically, it is too complicated to explain, however we do know that the navigators used this to get from point A to point B in a shorter distance, which helps to save fuel and time.
Many activities were happening on the ship. The shore excursions were being promoted, as well as jackpot bingo, origami folding, and even a $25 two hour painting class. We knew the time would come when a charge would be applied to some activities. Now we are not sure if this will apply to the grand voyages, as those arts and crafts classes have been complimentary. Once again, we missed the free ($25) wine tasting.
We did order a light room service lunch, because at 5pm, we would be attending a President's Club Reception in the Explorers Lounge. It read: On behalf of Gus Antorcha, President of HAL, Captain Frank van der Hoeven, Henk Mensink, the HGM, and our key hotel officers and staff invite you to a private event. It was dubbed to celebrate our health and well-being on board. Whatever the reason, it was a nice gesture. Actually, it was a good opportunity to meet the Captain and his wife, Mrs. Captain as Michelle, guest relations manager, said. Some of the key officers were Shiv, Maya, Chantal, Ian, and other key officers. There was a total of 12 President's Club members present, some we recognized, and some we did not. Elegantly prepared canapes were offered, as were beverages of our choice.
Henk introduced us to Captain Frank and his wife. Our paths have not crossed on past cruises, so this was a new meeting for all. We entered the room, and took seats by a window. Soon Chantal, the future cruise consultant, joined us, and Shiv stopped briefly for a moment. When the group was all there, the staff sat with all of us. We had the Captain and Mrs.Captain sit with us, along with Howard, as he was the only one we really knew. The conversation got interesting when it was asked of the Captain about this ship going into the Amazon River in 2024 on the Grand World Voyage. He surprised us by saying he was also concerned about taking a ship of this size and draft into that river with shifting sand bars and strong currents. Of course, there will be a local river pilot, but that is no guarantee of beaching the darned ship. It has happened in the past with smaller vessels, so it will be seen if in fact, they do go that route. The gathering began to break up around 6pm, and that is when Henk joined us, as Chantal moved to talk to other guests. A rousing conversation ensued until 6:30pm. We did have a series of questions for Henk, who took out his cell phone to take notes. One of our questions had to do with the Navigator app, and the lack of the posted menu for the dining room tonight. Henk had no idea it was not working. As a matter of fact, the internet had quit working in the afternoon. Henk agreed there was a problem, and it needed to be fixed. Then we also brought up the fact that a motorized wheelchair has been parked outside our door at various times during the day and evening. Obviously, there were no handicapped rooms available for this guest, but leaving it in a narrow hallway can be a hazardous situation in case of an emergency or fire, God forbid. Coming to and from our room, we almost tripped over this vehicle. It appears that it should fit it the room (we saw it there initially), and there is plenty of space to keep it inside. Speaking to our room steward, he has parked it in the elevator lobby, where it is not blocking any exit points. Promising to look into the matter, we hope Henk will follow through.
Now, the most interesting side show of this event, was watching the ever-growing line forming for the dining room, which on deck two, it is anytime dining with open seating. The line of folks was already beginning when we arrived to our event before 5pm. Funny, considering dinnertime was 5:30pm. Being that we are on deck three at 8pm, we never see what happens on deck two. Perhaps by the end of this week, everything will fall into place. By the time we got back to our room after the party, the dinner menu was still not posted. However, by the time we looked again, it was there. Henk did follow up on his promise. Now we shall see how long this lasts.
During dinner, Denise made a stop, in her neat flashing face mask, no less, asking if our internet was messed up. Yes, like all day it had been acting up. We clued her in on the help we got from Henk, but in the meantime, we bet there will be a whole lot of people at the front desk complaining about an expensive service that is broken. Then another couple, Wendy and Steve, also popular travel hosts, paid us a visit. The last time we saw them was on a bus to the Perth airport in Australia, as we were on our way home after leaving the cancelled 2020 world cruise. Honestly, we thought we may never see them again. And here we all are, on another dam ship. Lucky for all. So they had chosen a table for two downstairs, and admitted it was a zoo down there. Then they requested fixed seating up here, and got a nice table.
Anyway, we ordered the mahi mahi and a sukiyaki with steak strips. Very different, I made sure there was no oyster or clam juice in it. If so, I would have gone with the spaghetti. It's fun to try something different for a change…..and I liked it. Desserts were a fig pudding and a scoop of chocolate coffee ice cream. One sea day gone, and four more to go to Hawaii.
Bill & Mary Ann
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