A sea day is what we all needed to jump start the batteries so to speak. We overheard several guests on the tender boat yesterday remarking that they were really tired, and were keeping the day simple and short in Savusavu. Maybe that is why the line was so long to reboard the boat back to the ship. We also learned today that the reason our sail away was delayed was due to a medical debark at the last minute. Captain Paul added that the patient was doing OK, which is always good news.
We all had one important job to do today and that was a muster station check-in between 2 and 3pm. It is mandatory for those who are traveling on cruises longer than 30 days to repeat the drill in that span of time. Of course, these days it is as easy as finding the location of your assigned station, and have a crew member scan your room key. Then you have to watch the safety video on the stateroom TV, which gives you all of the emergency details. When this video is done, the regular programing will come back to the TV. As a matter of fact, the video was already on the TV at 6am this morning.
The weather was surprisingly comfortable with temps in the low 80's, less humidity, and a nice breeze. Since we are so close to our next stop in Tonga, the Captain maintained a speed of 7 to 8 knots. The seas were a bit choppy, but the movement of the ship was not too bad. You tend to roll somewhat when the ship goes slower. We did see a few birds but could not identify them. They were flying way too far away, and not behaving like boobies that we are used to watching. Will have to do some research on the birds in this area.
We're not entirely sure if we have covered the subject of shipboard accounts. Last week we received a notice saying that updated credit card processing rules and the length of this cruise dictates that any balance on the cards would be processed on October 25th. We do not recall that ever happening on past cruises…even ones that exceeded 128 days. That is one of the first requests we make at the front desk that our account will not be charged until the end of the voyage. When we boarded on September 6th, we were told the card would not be processed until November 22nd. This is how it has always been handled. Well, we guess the rules have changed. The only thing that kept us from being charged now was the fact we have considerable credit on our shipboard account. We do not owe anything. So for that reason, we were exempt from billing or having our credit refunded to the credit card. Things can sure get complicated and you have to be prepared for every scenario. And equally important is knowing what is refundable (cashable) and non- refundable (use-it-or-lose-it). Like we said….complicated. The notice ended by saying we had one day or 24 hours to ask questions or change your credit card they had on file.
We spent some time at the Seaview Pool which was practically empty of guests. Funny, because the weather was so darn nice, this was the place to be. Of course, Captain Paul was having a session in the World Stage answering the dozens of questions he received in the box at the front desk. We really wish these talks and lectures would be repeated on the TV in our rooms. They used to be, but like many other things, they stopped doing it. If it is a nice day outside, we will never be inside a crowded dark theater. We used to look forward to listening to Barbara Haenni's port lectures at night before we went to sleep. Maybe that is a question we can ask someone in charge that can do something about it.
Caesar salads with sliced chicken and a shared club sandwich was our lunch today at 2:30pm. Everything came as ordered too. By not going to the Lido, we are not tempted with grazing. And we have successfully stayed away from the sweet desserts at lunchtime with the exception of one chocolate cookie each.
Dinner was "dressy" and most of the folks did just that. We are seeing fewer baseball hats and t-shirts in the dining room at dinner. Starters were jumbo shrimp cocktails with American sauce. No escargots for us. The salad was niçoise with ahi tuna slices, and was fine if you ignored the raw part of the fish. Yes, we know that is how you eat it. The savory balsamic dressing "cooked" it just enough to make it good. One of us ordered the roasted lamb chops (very tasty) and the other a tenderloin (tender and good with grilled shrimp). There was a different cake offered for dessert, but when we ordered one, they said they had run out and were making more. That's really unusual, but when we mentioned it to Bayu, our head waiter, he promised to have it for us tomorrow. Or he would have it sent to our room like he did for another couple of folks. Tomorrow is fine we said. Risman substituted a hot fudge sundae and a frozen banana yogurt. Fine and dandy with us.
Showtime was a group of three singers called The Knights. They celebrated works of Elton John, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, and Andrew Llyod Webber and many more. However, one thing we never like is the fact we had to turn our clocks forward one hour. We are beginning to head east now and the extra hours they gave us will slowly disappear.
Bill & Mary Ann
