Today was all about farewells, beginning with the Pinnacle Grill at breakfast. Raj has been our primary waiter, although the entire staff is used to serve the food. It's not always efficient, but that's another story. Anyway, Raj is going home tomorrow, we assume to India, but returning to a different ship in January. He has been fun. All of the staff have been most friendly.
We spent the morning catching up sending reports, as the internet seemed to be working. Not the fastest speed, it eventually allowed some emails to download. During this time, we finished most of the final packing, keeping out just what we needed for Thursday. Weighing each piece and dividing up stuff, we ended with each one just under 50#. By the way, we did see a luggage scale by the front desk for the guests to use. It is still approximate due to the ship's movement. At the moment, we are going at a slow rate of 10 knots, so the ship tends to roll a bit.
There was a combined staff and crew farewell at 10am in the Mainstage. That always brings tears with some of the guests after these longer cruises. On the other hand, it may bring tears of joy to some of the crew members, happy that this trip is over. We find that with the longer the cruise, the more
demanding some folks become and their expectations are big. We make an effort not to be this type of passenger.....ever.
demanding some folks become and their expectations are big. We make an effort not to be this type of passenger.....ever.
We still had some shipboard credit to use and we were successful in finding a few more small treasures. Also, we had to pick up the Effy certificate for the Tahitian pearls we purchased. It is never easy to do this, as the guarantees are kept elsewhere under lock and key. The very nice salesgirl could not leave her area of the store to retrieve it, but said the other salesman would be back shortly. Once he was there, she would be free to run and get it for us. Of course, their hope is that we continue to look at their extensive collection and find something else we could not live without. Sorry, it did not happen this time.
Going outside for a walk on the promenade deck, we had a nice surprise though. We spotted the first bird we have seen since leaving Nuku Hiva a week ago. It was a white and black masked booby, all alone, and flying very close to the ship. We both whistled, and believe it or not, the bird responded by gliding within six feet of us. No kidding. Can this be a learned behavior because cruise ship folks feed them? Years ago while on a Mexican cruise on a Princess ship, we saw people throwing food to hundreds of seagulls from their balconies while docked. It didn't take very long before the captain came on the outside speakers saying, "stop it now". And they did. We never saw anything like it again.
At 4pm, there was a drawing in the Effy Shop. Since we had 15 tickets, we decided to attend. Never winning much of anything, such as the lotto, we were more curious to see how this gathering would go. And it went as expected - drawn out instead of immediate drawing. The head salesman droned on and on about the company - blah-blah-blah, while everyone began to fidget. Finally, a few pink tickets were pulled, the first one was a "no show". It was dropped on the floor. Another pink ticket had a winner. Now it was time for the red tickets, and two ladies were also winners of a mystery gift bag. If it was the same as the one Barbie won last spring, it contained a few useful items and a very tiny necklace and earring set. Of course, you were free to take it to any Effy store, and upgrade it to something more expensive. We were among the first to leave this event, since many of these people were maskless, as well as jammed in the store.
By the time the sun was setting it was close to 5pm, an indication of how far north we have traveled. The skies were 99% cloud free, and as the Captain mentioned in his noon talk, we may have a chance at seeing the elusive green flash. Although we did not see the green flash, we did notice that the sunrays were dancing on the horizon, like pulsating orange colors. And that was that. We do have photos, but will submit them tomorrow.
Dinner time came quickly, and we ordered chicken noodle soup, two ham and chicken croquettes, and a Caesar salad. Then, the gourmets we are, the best thing on the menu tonight were cheeseburgers. Yes, burgers with French fries. And not the soggy steak fries, but crispy hot ones. Made us happy campers. No room for dessert, we said our goodbyes to both maitre'ds Johnny and Francisco. Our waiters Adrian and Carl will be back on the world cruise, but probably will not be our waiters as they will be assigned to a different area.
Back to the room, we lugged the three suitcases out the door and parked them against the wall for pick-up later. Got to get some quality sleep, because tomorrow will be a long day. They always are.
Bill & Mary Ann
At 4pm, there was a drawing in the Effy Shop. Since we had 15 tickets, we decided to attend. Never winning much of anything, such as the lotto, we were more curious to see how this gathering would go. And it went as expected - drawn out instead of immediate drawing. The head salesman droned on and on about the company - blah-blah-blah, while everyone began to fidget. Finally, a few pink tickets were pulled, the first one was a "no show". It was dropped on the floor. Another pink ticket had a winner. Now it was time for the red tickets, and two ladies were also winners of a mystery gift bag. If it was the same as the one Barbie won last spring, it contained a few useful items and a very tiny necklace and earring set. Of course, you were free to take it to any Effy store, and upgrade it to something more expensive. We were among the first to leave this event, since many of these people were maskless, as well as jammed in the store.
By the time the sun was setting it was close to 5pm, an indication of how far north we have traveled. The skies were 99% cloud free, and as the Captain mentioned in his noon talk, we may have a chance at seeing the elusive green flash. Although we did not see the green flash, we did notice that the sunrays were dancing on the horizon, like pulsating orange colors. And that was that. We do have photos, but will submit them tomorrow.
Dinner time came quickly, and we ordered chicken noodle soup, two ham and chicken croquettes, and a Caesar salad. Then, the gourmets we are, the best thing on the menu tonight were cheeseburgers. Yes, burgers with French fries. And not the soggy steak fries, but crispy hot ones. Made us happy campers. No room for dessert, we said our goodbyes to both maitre'ds Johnny and Francisco. Our waiters Adrian and Carl will be back on the world cruise, but probably will not be our waiters as they will be assigned to a different area.
Back to the room, we lugged the three suitcases out the door and parked them against the wall for pick-up later. Got to get some quality sleep, because tomorrow will be a long day. They always are.
Bill & Mary Ann
