There wasn't much of a sunrise this morning, and the day would end with the same scenario…….a partially hidden sunset due to rain clouds. Guess we have to have days that are not terrific to appreciate the ones that are.
The weather today surprised us. Gone were the steamy hot temps we have been experiencing. Replacing that was a nice breeze and a comfortable mostly sunny morning and afternoon. The Volendam has dropped further south and away from the Equator, so perhaps that is the reason for tolerable temperatures. We hope it lasts.
For a change, the dress suggestion was "dressy", although it was not reflected in the menu choices. It seems that we have begun to run low on some food items such as fresh produce. Only the strawberries are left for breakfast but the bananas are still holding up. No more blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. We understand that there will be a shipment for the Volendam in Suva, Fiji, tomorrow's port. And Captain Paul mentioned in his noon talk that we are in need of bunkering fuel. Now we understand why our scheduled departure time from Suva is 11pm. In fact, the Captain added that if the bunkering is a slower than normal process, we may be leaving later than 11pm. Not a problem since we are close to the next stop at Dravuni Island, a tender port that is basically a short beach day.
Once again, Kimberly, the cruise and travel director, had to have two sessions for the Unlocking Fiji lecture in the World Stage. She only has today to cover four upcoming ports in Fiji, so they expected a full house for the guests to learn all about this area. Usually the explorations team give a snippet of info on every tour offered in these ports, but we did not see it listed today.
We spent the late morning visiting with friends at the Seaview Pool, while enjoying the nice breeze for a change. We noticed that unless you flag down one of the bar staff crew, they do not come around and offer beverages. The few that are working at this pool seem to congregate near the bar and out of the sun. And if you happen to be sitting under the overhang where smoking is allowed, then you get service.
Retreating to our room for ice cold sodas, we decided to try for a room service lunch again. But this time after placing the order over the phone, we added that yesterday's quesadilla turned out to be chicken soup. It was good, but was not ordered. The waiter thanked us for pointing that out, and promised it not to occur again. On most ships that we have ordered room service, after it is delivered, we receive a call from them confirming that everything is OK. They do not do that here. Following the deliverer's advice yesterday by calling the order again, got us nowhere, since they never answered the call.
Dinner was not really special considering the dress code. It appeared to us that the majority of folks dine early, because the lower dining room is almost empty by 8pm. Of course tonight, there was an event in the casino called "Casino Royale" which began at 8pm. Besides games and music, they offered a free slot tournament and lessons in blackjack and roulette. If it wasn't the casino event, then maybe it was the performance of Annie Gong playing her instruments in the show lounge that drew the guests out of the dining room.
Back to dinner, we ordered the tomato bisque, and a Las Vegas-style Cobb salad. OK, we said what exactly does Las Vegas salad mean? Turned out to be slices of marinated rare steak slices over the top of salad fixings. No lettuce was involved. That was a creative way to hide the fact there is little of the lettuce left. Anyway, it was good for a change. We both ordered the BBQ pork ribs which were not as good as the baby back ribs they had over a week ago. These were mostly bone and little meat, although tasty, we were a bit disappointed. Finally the dessert arrived, but late. One of us ordered two scoops of chocolate chip ice cream…not a complicated item. Turned out they could not find any that was still frozen, leading us to think that there is a problem with the freezer on the ship. None of the ice creams or frozen yogurts have been coming to the table frozen. So the best thing we can do is not order it anymore. It has been the same scenario in the Pinnacle Grill for dinner as well. There are other choices and also the choice of no dessert at all. Fewer calories to burn off.
We checked the weather in Suva, Fiji tomorrow on the TV. It showed N/A….wonder why? Going online, we found the possibility of rain. Bring out the umbrellas……
Bill & Mary Ann
