Yesterday we were advised that there was a problem with the ship's Navigator sight, blaming the misinformation it contained on a routine maintenance that was done. Their suggestion was to log out, then log in again. However, this morning the Captain announced early on that everything was off, especially the correct time. The app did not recognize the ½ hour increment. Even the TV in our rooms had the wrong time. People riding the elevator with us asked what time it was. Of course, one of us sets the clocks before doing anything else after dinner. Since we were on time for breakfast, we knew the time was 8am. Sure hope someone figures the app out and fixes it.
During our morning stroll, we came upon an injured bird, a small one, but not necessarily a sea bird. Sometimes these birds will hitch a ride, then end up too far out at sea to return to land. The poor little thing was barely moving, but we did not intervene. Some other folks did. Something tells us they gave it a proper burial at sea, since it was close to dying. It's not the first time we have seen birds land on the ship, eventually dying. There was one occasion where we sailed Trans-Atlantic, and a pair of pigeons tagged along. They made it all the way to Ft. Lauderdale with the help of the outside crew who fed them and gave them fresh water daily.
There are two lecturers onboard. One is astronomer Andy Fletcher, who has talked about the universe, special relativity, space, time and finally….weirdness. Then a historian Mike West has shared interesting facts about the wonder of ships and their place in history. Neither speaker has their talks repeated on the room TV's, which is too bad for those of us that choose not to sit in a crowded lounge.
On the other hand, the port talks are repeated on the TV, but the sound is cut in half. We did report this to Nyron and Ian, both of whom do the talks, and they were already aware of the problem. Nothing has been done to remedy this problem unfortunately. It's another IT glitch we understand.
Anyway, on a different subject, a few days ago Ian came on the speaker and said that some very large reference books had gone missing from the new library. Oh my gosh, there are thieves among us. We had to laugh when he requested that these books be returned immediately. Then he added that we would be allowed to take a photo of a map or whatever, but do not remove these books. So, why wasn't a sign posted saying not to take them? Yes, everything has to be in writing. Passing through the library today, we were happy to see the stack of these huge books back on the shelf. The thieves have been exonerated. And we are sure they meant no harm……
Later in the afternoon, we received a complimentary photo of our dinner group in the Pinnacle Grill last night. The ship's photographer had taken shots from both ends of the oblong table. One of our friends was halfway blocked. Our picture was OK, but we hope our friends got the shot of the opposite side. We shall ask tonight. We also got the delivery of our every two-week delivery of 32 Coke Zeros. No flowers this time. Finally, we were given a list of the upcoming tender ports for the whole trip, and our President's Club priority boarding privilege. It will be interesting how they will handle this procedure as there are other folks that qualify for it whether through being Neptune and Pinnacle suites and now Club Orange members. This can be quite touchy, and we do hope there is a plan where our group has a separate line or a different access to the tender platform as we did in the past.
We were two friends short at dinner this evening, as Greg and Heo attended the first Sel De Mer venue in the Pinnacle Grill. Since there is no dedicated restaurant on this class of ship for this special dinner, it is considered a "pop-up". The same applies to the Tamarind….a pop-up. We discovered that our 10 complimentary Pinnacle Grill dinners do not apply to pop-ups and there is a full price charge plus the 18% gratuity. Even the Mariner Star program discount does not apply to these dinners. And to complete this picture, every specialty dinner is full charge as well. We will need to make reservations for the regular Pinnacle nights, because, unlike the shorter cruises, there are many more specialty dinners on this grand voyage.
Coconut-crusted shrimp was ordered by all of us, along with cabbage-bacon soup, and salads. Mains were mahi-mahi and pork tenderloin, which ended up being breaded and fried Weiner schnitzel. There are no more blueberries or black and raspberries available, so the desserts are limited to only strawberry decorated. The carrot cake was most ordered, but not the same as we have known on past cruises. The raspberry frozen yogurt was good as always.
The showlounge was a movie theater tonight with The Woman King shown. And all of the music venues were performing tonight. Once again, we had to turn the clocks back one hour. One more day at sea, and we will be in the Marquesas.
Bill & Mary Ann
