Remember when we mentioned that the air-conditioning in our room was not working last night? Well, it only got worse during the night, sending the thermometer up to 88 - 90 degrees. Sometime around 10pm, a note was slipped under our door saying that a section of the rooms from deck one to deck eight were experiencing technical difficulties. There was a team of technicians actively working on a resolution. Truthfully, we think they called it a night, and resumed work at 8am this morning. That was what we were told by the front office folks this morning before breakfast. Furthermore, they acknowledged that our comfort was top priority, and they appreciated our patience. What choice did we have? Alternate accommodation was offered, but at 10pm, we chose not to leave our room. After all, we have survived a record heat wave while on a Sri Lanka leopard safari a few years ago. Nothing will ever match that experience.
On our way back from breakfast, we did see two of our neighbors coming down the hallway carrying pillows from their room. Obviously, they had re-located for the night. Bet they were not waking up every two hours like we did. Even going out on the veranda did not help much since it was still warm outside. We stayed outside walking the promenade deck, then going to the Sea View Pool for an hour. Sometime around 11am, we felt the room cooling down very slowly. The exhaust fan in the bathroom resumed running as well, but not quite as good as it had been working. The temperature eventually dropped to 77 degrees, but not lower than that. We did have several phone calls from our special concierge making sure the air was working better. We are in a particularly hot and humid part of the world, so we do hope it doesn't fail us again.
The seas were choppy today with quite a bit of rolling due to very deep swells. There was no sign of any storm, but we are probably getting residuals from a system somewhere. The Captain was correct in warning all of us to be careful walking inside and outside and especially using the stairs.
Lunch was from the Dive-In grill with a cannonball burger and a hot dog. One of us loves the hot dogs, but not the poppy seed rolls so much. In our humble opinion, we don't see how these tiny black seeds add anything special to the roll. They usually end up stuck in between every tooth, and all over your napkin and plate. Maybe next time, we'll ask for a plain roll.
While working on yesterday's photos and reports, we watched an Avatar movie. Boy, movies have sure changed over the years. And here we thought Star Wars and Star Trek were way out there. It's a whole new world out there for entertainment compared to what we grew up with. Westerns were the big thing back then, and we still enjoy the reruns while at home.
Dinnertime snuck up on us, and we were off to the dining room for delicious cold veggie-filled lumpia. The best part was the sweet and sour sauce drizzled on the plates and perhaps a touch of teriyaki sauce. A hot bowl of wonton soup and a Caesar salad were good starters. Then we ordered the only chicken entrée on the menu which came with a cheesy pile of grits and kernel corn. Not something we eat at home, we figured it is an acquired taste. Desserts were a pineapple crisp and a toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream.
Back in our room, we found the temperature had dropped another degree. What is funny that up to now, we have had to use an extra blanket on our bed at night. Talking to some friends this morning, they agreed they have had trouble finding that sweet spot to set the thermostat. The good news was that the clocks went back one hour, putting us on EST now. You can bet we needed that extra hour to make up for the loss last evening.
There was a comedian, Chris Pendleton, performing in the show lounge. He was guaranteed for lots of laughs and a few surprises. Tomorrow we will be transiting the Panama Canal. As many times as we have done this transit, we still look forward to doing it. It will be interesting to see if we notice a difference in the water levels.
Bill & Mary Ann
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