Well, today is finally the last sea day we will have as we approach the island of American Samoa. It has been a seven- day run without the stop in the middle at Fanning Island. We did experience a fine morning while circling the atoll, but now we are all ready to step foot on solid ground again.
After breakfast, we took our usual walk out on the promenade deck. We found the seas to be quite unusual with a silky satin look about the swells. This does happen occasionally when there is little wind with no noticeable swell. There wasn't a wave breaking except where the ship cut through the water. It remained this way until later in the afternoon when we picked up the wind and began to have some rocking and rolling, or should we say pitching. Although the temperatures were in the mid-eighties, the humidity was up to 72%. To say it was "sticky" was an understatement. With the wind speed at 3.2 mph coupled with broken clouds, the day remained plenty hot and muggy.
When we had to go to the library to send emails, we noticed that there were few places to sit. We came to the conclusion that when it gets this hot outside, the folks stay in the air-conditioned areas of the ship. Can't say we blame them. The library area was full of people, mostly ladies, playing board games or cards. The puzzle tables had ladies sitting around them, chatting away 100 miles a minute. A few gals were reading, while some pretended to read, but were really asleep. This sort of gave us a glimpse of what life must be like in a retirement home. On the other hand, there were folks lined up to get beginners bridge instructions in the Hudson Room. And a cooking demo was hosted by the executive chef, Javier, in the World Stage. He was grilling shrimp.
There has been a dance sessions to learn different moves every sea day, and a ballroom dance hour in the Ocean Bar at 5pm. Afternoon tea is still served in the upper dining room at 3pm, but that is right after our lunchtime, so we have yet to attend. It is difficult to keep lunch light, but as long as we stay out of the dining room and Lido, we are good.
There's a first time for everything, and today was no exception. At 2pm, there was the usual port highlight talk delivered by travel director Kimberly. Shortly before that, she announced that no more people would be allowed in the World Stage because it was filled to capacity. Those people who were sitting on the stairs had to leave since it was against the safety rules. So in order to accommodate everyone interested, she was going to repeat her lecture at 3pm as well. The talk was all about Pago Pago and Apia…both in Samoa and American Samoa. To be perfectly honest, these islands are interesting, but they are not considered over-the-top ports like Singapore or Hong Kong for instance. We believe the only reason for the overflow was due to the excessive heat outside. The World Stage is a cool place out of the heat.
Being that the clocks were turned back one hour, the sunset was shortly after 6pm. Back outside deck six forward, we waited until the bitter end to see what there was of another South Pacific sunset. It was less inspiring than last night, but pretty just the same. And there was a strong breeze which we liked for an hour or so.
Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill, however we forgot to tell our dining room waiters last night that we would not be there tonight. About 7:45pm, the maître 'd, Johny, strolled into the restaurant and came over saying that's where you both are. We guess they were waiting, like they have started to do, with a loud greeting from all four head waiters. It's rather amusing, but also a bit embarrassing as they announce our entrance every night. We are trying to figure out how to sneak in without detection. The only option is to enter with several other folks at the same time. But the problem with that is most everyone eats early these days.
Anyway, our meal was wonderful as always with our wedge salads, savory bacon, filets with baked potatoes….the smallest they can find. Dessert was more complicated than we expected. One of us ordered the crème Brule, and the other sorbet. We waited and waited, and finally Anton the manager came over and said all of the sorbet was melted and not suitable to serve. I did say that's fine, I can live without it, but he insisted they would find some frozen sorbet within a few minutes. Finally it arrived, and it was watermelon sorbet and pretty frozen. They would not accept no as an answer. Like we said, they have spoiled us in here.
Looking forward to seeing Pago Pago again. It's a nice place to take a hike and go out to lunch.
Bill & Mary Ann
