Not every day in paradise goes as expected. Late last night, one of us discovered that there was no cold water in the shower. And the hot water was dangerously scalding. No in between, and no way to possibly shower or shampoo hair. Too late to call the front desk, we decided to wait until morning to report it. When these things happen, it usually affects more than one room. And besides, the plumber has already replaced the mixing valves in our bathroom.
One of us missed a fabulous sunrise this morning. Good thing the cameraman is an early riser. It has been the better time to catch the sunrise than sunset, because the clouds are different at that time of the day. And really, I never miss it if there are pictures…..
We informed our room steward of the problem before we set off to breakfast. He already knew about the two rooms to the right of us, and now he knew we were impacted. Even though he had reported it earlier, there was no sign of a plumber on our floor. By the time we returned, over an hour later, nothing had changed. Putu called again, but we also decided to report it to the front desk folks. Within minutes, we had a knock on the door, and someone came to check it out.
We took our mile walk around the promenade deck, and came back to see what happened. Well, we had cold water now, but no hot water at all. Later on we found out that the plumber forgot to turn the hot water valve back on. We should be good to go…….until the next time.
The other problem was the internet, or should we say, the lack of internet. It took all day for some things to be sent and received. When we finally got tired of watching that annoying circle go round and round on the screen, we brought the computer down to the lobby. Thinking we might get a better signal did not work. It was no better there than in our room. We finally asked the fellows at the front desk if there was a problem, and they all laughed, and said yes….big time. The excuse was there was limited space or bandwidth, we assume. It could be where we are sailing or the direction we are sailing. You name it, we have heard it. At least we know the problem is not our computer. We suspect this might be the case with little or no internet until we arrive in a more densely populated area of the South Pacific.
We kept an eye out for possible bird sightings, and finally spotted one. But just one. That is one downside to the aft room, since the birds always seem to follow on either the starboard or port sides, looking for those elusive flying fish. And we do not know why, but the better viewing seems to be on the port side. We suspect it depends on the angle of the sun as well.
Other than that, it was a lazy day for us. The ship's promotions were in full swing in every department, and will continue for the next three days, taking advantage of these sea days. It seems that one of the most popular activities is trivia, which happens three times a day. Bridge games are also held three times a day with beginner, intermediate, and duplicate. At 3pm there was a movie matinee showing The Duke. And there was a craft project making kukui bracelets (no charge).
Lunch for us was room service around 2:30pm with salads, sandwiches, apples and a couple of cookies. The choices are better for us than what is served at the Lido. By the way, we have read recently that the mask mandate for some of the crews on the HAL ships has been dropped. Guess that does not apply to the Zuiderdam, because there have been no changes here.
The sun set quickly but did not produce the same colors as this morning. Too many clouds on the horizon, and too difficult to get the western angle from the back of the ship.
A dinner surprise put a smile on one of our faces. We always order from the Orange Club menu, which offers a special every evening. Tonight's special was a veal cutlet with risotto and veggies. Expecting a small slice of veal, it turned out to be a grilled veal chop. And it was one of the big ones. The other entrée was a mustard-glazed tuna steak, which was good, but not as tasty as the veal. It was shared as it was too much for one. Had to pass on dessert.
The entertainer in the Mainstage was comedian Sid Davis. However, one of us had a date with the shower…..hope it works.
Bill & Mary Ann
