Around 9am, during our breakfast service, Captain Friso made a swoop through the upper dining room to pay those of us there a quick visit. He is quite often seen in the Lido as well during lunch time doing the same thing….visiting, then eating his lunch. We shared a few "remember when" moments from several years ago, when he was Staff Captain. One of those times was a stop at Easter Island, when one of the tenderboats and a platform were badly damaged. Captain Friso literally rode the damaged platform back to the ship while being towed by one of the other boats. He remembered it well. So did we, because we had to crawl out of the shattered front window of the tenderboat to get onshore. These incidents do not happen often, but when they do, the memory lasts forever.
The biggest news of the day was Ian announcing there had been another theft in the Crow's Nest this time. Missing now? One of the majong games. He politely requested for the game to be returned soon, and from here on out, and no games were to leave the room. Lastly, he said there were no more French Polynesian Francs available at the front desk. We have never purchased these francs because the US dollar is widely accepted in most places. And most credit cards are gladly accepted where you might getter a much better exchange rate.
After our warm walk outside, we passed through the Shops where a large plastic-like world map was on display. In a box next to the map were other smaller world maps, but not the same as the bigger one. They had a kid's map, one with animals of each continent, and one that was for coloring with crayons. None of them had a price tag. So we asked the sales person, and he came back and said they were over $40. And the one that was on display was not in stock. Sort of the same story as the GWV t-shirts…….out of stock and we do not know when more will arrive.
Just as we rounded the corner, we came across Carol, the all-time favorite watercolor instructor from many world cruises. As we mentioned before, she and her friend, Siri, are on this cruise as passengers, and enjoying every minute of it. Anyway, we overheard Carol asking the sales person where the scotch tape was, and he pointed to the watch section. Hmmm, did not know they sold scotch tape. Of course, we had heard wrong….she was looking for the scotch tasting in the watch shop. Big difference. As one of us likes scotch, she invited us to join her even if it was only 11 am. And she insisted that the old saying that it's 5 o'clock somewhere applied here. We might have been tempted, but the meager tasting was straight up without ice. A bit too strong and too early. But we did have a really nice visit with her as she shared some tales of her travels. Looking forward to more visits with her.
The usual day at sea itinerary was in full swing today, although we think some folks are getting antsy to walk on solid land. Good thing tomorrow we will be able to do just that. Every guest has been given the information on how the tendering service will work. For those of us that are President's Club, Neptune and Pinnacle suites, and Club Orange, our tendering will be as simple as showing our room cards to the "guard" going down to the platform. There is no need to collect tender tickets. We have no desire to be the first ones off of the ship, because we will have plenty of time to roam the island. For the first time ever, we will be in Taiohae until 10:30pm. Not sure why since there is virtually no nightlife there. Maybe it has something to do with tides.
We were all present at dinner tonight. Greg and Heo had gone to Canaletto one evening, then to the pop-up Sel de Mer last night. They enjoyed both venues, although not every item was to their liking. They are true "foodies" and shared some photos of their various courses. The menu in the dining room tonight was much to our liking. The fish entrée was snapper and reportedly excellent. The chicken parmigiana with spaghetti was equally as good.
Bill & Mary Ann
