Today marks exactly one month that we have been traveling on the Zuiderdam. The "glacier" part went by so fast, and here we are, ready to start the "palm tree" segment. It was mostly sunny when we got up this morning, and it was pleasantly warm. The seas have tuned into a deep shade of blue as we continued to sail southwest. The swells have been slight, however, that may change. According to Captain Frank, the wave action will increase during the day. He said the stabilizers are out, keeping us as comfortable as possible. Later in the afternoon, the skies became cloudy with scattered showers here and there. And as promised, the swells deepened.
During our morning hike, we noticed that all of the teak lounges were laid out on both sides of the ship. The pads on them are really nice and thick, compared to those on the Amsterdam. We began to wonder when we will start to see some flying fish. They are fun to watch, especially when they pop up by the hundreds. Of course, when the boobies are present, then it becomes a hunting game for them, and a spectacular show for us that love to watch the birds in action.
After our walk, we cooled down in the Ocean Bar with ice cold coke Zeros. This bar has been the most convenient place to stock up on the Have-It-All beverages. Originally, we were told we could get two at a time, but here, the bartender has gotten to know us, and allows us to get more. We think their rule to restrict the number given is to prevent sharing. That is not allowed. We always carry a folded bag, then take the cans to our room. When we start to dock in the ports, we will be taking some of the water off with us, but poured in the new thermos bottle we bought.
We forgot to mention that yesterday, while passing by the Lincoln Center Stage after our meeting with friends, we found the room to be full of guests. Since it was after lunchtime for most, at least half of the folks were sound asleep in their seats. Or perhaps they were listening with their eyes closed. The music was very relaxing.
There was also a real movie being show in the Rolling Stone Lounge today "Dog" (2022). We also spotted a cart full of bags of popcorn heading that way. Glad to see they are doing this here.
We are still deliberately staying away from crowded places such as the casino, the Mainstage activities, and the Shops. Until we are sure there is not a huge outbreak of the virus, we are much more comfortable staying close to "home" and away from crowds. We should add here that just about every guest we have seen has honored the mandatory mask requirement. All of the crew members wear them all of the time, except many of them need to change them more often. We can tell when the elastic straps become stretched, and the masks refuse to stay up and over the noses. But it is up to their supervisors to remind them to wear fresh ones.
A funny thing happened when we ordered room service lunch today. It appears that different waiters answer the phone to take the orders. If a request does not fit the correct button to push, it is hard to customize something. Take today for instance. Asking for Caesar salads, no anchovies, but add a slice chicken breast to each salad, sounded simple to us. When the food arrived , we had the Caesar salads all right, but we also had two hot dinner plates of grilled chicken breast with vegetables and gravy. OK, this was more than we needed, but we began to cut up the chicken breast, and found it SO good, we ate everything….except the broccoli. Hands down, this chicken entrée had to be the most moist and tasty chicken we have had so far. The slices of breast never made it on the salads, as we finished those second. Guess we will not need a huge dinner tonight, even though that will not arrive until 8pm.
Our laundry from yesterday was delivered this afternoon. Their service has been great, but I failed to check the items returned, and realized later on that a fleece vest was missing. And it is not just an everyday sleeveless vest, but one I received 11 years ago on a Grand World Voyage. It is one of my favorite vests, that has been worn frequently at home. It is not replaceable as it has the logo from 2011 on it. Long story short, we asked Putu our room steward if he knew how to find it. Lo and behold, before we went to dinner, he arrived with it, and that sure made one of us happy.
This evening was the first Cellar Master Dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. We do think that is a wine pairing fixed menu which began at 6:30pm to 9pm. Since there seemed to be fewer guests in the dining room, we assume some of them were attending this pop-up venue. There will be more of these held during this cruise, and will include Rudi's Sel de Mer, Tamarind, and two other specialty dinners. If we wish to get in our 11 complimentary dinners on regular nights, we will need to make those reservations tomorrow morning.
So, it was a bowl of chicken "spaghetti" soup, an appetizer, a Caesar salad, and mains of flounder with substituted French fries (hot and crispy), and one Club Orange special, tender slices of beef ribs and mashed potatoes. Saving a little room, we enjoyed the small slice of pear strudel with sides of vanilla ice cream….one scoop only.
Another new entertainer appeared in the Mainstage. Her name is Rachel Tyler, and her performance was called Straight Up…With A Twist. We assume she is a comedian or a singer.
The clocks went back one hour again this evening. That will put us on Hawaii time now.
Bill & Mary Ann
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