Waking up to blue skies, a slight breeze, and a noticeable sea swell, we knew it was going to be a great day….and our last full day at sea before arriving to the islands. At breakfast this morning, we gave Alejandra a list of 11 dinners we would like to reserve for the remainder of the trip in the Pinnacle Grill. She told us there were 11 specialty pop-up dinners, so we needed to secure what we could now. That will begin this evening if she has space. On our way out of the restaurant, she had OK'd a table for tonight at 8pm. The rest, she will let us know later.
Guess what we saw while walking this afternoon? Yep, flying fish. Funny we had just thought about that yesterday, and here they are today. There were not huge numbers of them, but we know there will be more. Now all we need are the birds…..
Once again, we went to the Ocean Bar for cold Cokes, and who should appear, but Denise and Howie. Boy, did they have a story to tell. One underlying fear we all might have is getting stuck in an elevator. Well that's exactly what happened to them in the glass elevator midship around noontime. Eventually help came, but we bet it seemed like ages. After that, they had drinks in the bar. We said it should have been doubles! And that is one elevator we shall avoid in the future.
During his noon talk, Captain Frank mentioned that once the ship reaches the Hawaiian Islands, it will be necessary to turn off most of the fluorescent lights on the promenade deck during the evening hours. Apparently these lights attract some birds to land on the ship. We have seen this many times over the years. And the end result for the birds is never a good one. So we can expect a "romantic setting" on the outside decks, but warned to be careful if taking an evening stroll.
Today while reading the blogsites for another HAL ship, we stumbled across some interesting developments regarding new requirements from the countries of Fiji and New Caledonia. We saw that they are requiring every passenger on the Westerdam to have medical insurance for travel. Or have private insurance that would cover you out of the USA, or even credit card coverage. Wow, we have never heard of that being required before this. There was even a suggestion of where this type of insurance can be found to buy online. Since this came out well after people boarded the ship, we wonder how that will impact their trip? As for us, we never leave home without coverage, but know many folks that never purchase the expensive travel insurance. Anyway, since we are heading to Fiji, now we expect to get a similar letter.
It was room service lunch again, but a fairly light one. Dinner will be in the Pinnacle Grill, so we need to be good and hungry for that meal. Sitting out on our veranda, guess what else we saw? Yep, a booby……a masked booby to be precise. The masked boobys are the largest of the gannet family of tropical seabirds, measuring up to 33 inches in body length, with almost a 6 foot wingspan. Since most of the sightings are in the distance, one has no clue they can be that big. The one disadvantage of being in the aft cabin is that most all of the birds will fly on either side of the ship. If they dive, and regain flight, they will wander to the back of the ship. That's how the photos were taken today. There were only a few of them flying, but we did spot some flying over what may have been a school of tuna feeding.
Dinner was great tonight. Wedge salads with a strip of candied bacon, fresh rolls, and entrees of filet mignon and halibut were all delicious. Sides were ½ baked potato, French fries (the skinny ones), and sauteed mushrooms. Barely enough room for a small dessert, we had some pistachio ice cream and one chocolate souffle. While we were on our way out, some other guests noticed we had put on our masks. They told us that a letter had been delivered to everyone, releasing us from the mandatory mask-wearing. Now it is optional. After the last covid test we all took, the numbers of infected were very low. They are still warning about congested places on the inside of the ship like the show and music lounges and casino for instance. We think we shall leave them on for a while, if not, for the rest of the cruise.
Think we are all really ready for Hilo tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
