Another day at sea presented us with a beautiful sunrise, although waking up an hour earlier was not easy for one of us. Occasionally a world cruise will take an eastbound direction, where you lose an hour every few days, as opposed to going west, and gaining one hour for the most part. The couple of times the world cruise did the eastbound direction, so we opted for a different grand voyage, such as circle South America and Antarctica. It worked better for us.
There has not been a crowd in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast like we expected. Customers come in slowly, but have not filled the room. Of course there are fewer guests on this cruise – about 1250 we have been told. But we are not complaining, as it has worked to our advantage and everyone else we know. According to a reliable source, we will lose more guests in the segment ports than we gain. For that reason, we bet these segments will be heavily promoted in each region we travel. There may be some good deals out there.
After breakfast, we began our usual walk around the promenade deck. Once again, this deck does not have the ambience of the smaller ships like the Volendam we recently sailed on. There are only a couple of areas that have lounges, but there never seems to be anyone relaxing on them. There are walkers like us, but no one stops to chat. Perhaps as time goes on, things will change. After all, many of us are still in the process of unpacking.
So back in our room, we continued to finish the job. Even with the 50 felt hangers we were given, we still needed 25 more. Of course, we exchanged them with the wooden hangers which take up so much closet space.
We have to mention the subject of laundry. We are so lucky to have complimentary laundry service which is currently worth $35 a bag. Or if you chose the unlimited laundry for the entire 128 days, the price was $768. That did not include dry cleaning. And pressing only package is $384 for the whole trip. Now we really appreciate the perk of complimentary service. And by the way, so far we have turned in a full bag two days in a row, and they were returned same day. Can't beat that.
We all got a notice yesterday concerning account balance charges. The credit card authorization process has changed. In the past, we all had our charges billed at the day we debarked, whether it be a segment or two or the entire voyage. Now there will be multiple settlements during this cruise. There are seven dates (mostly segment endings) where owed money will have to be paid. If you maintain a credit, then obviously there will be no charge. And for that reason, we had the opportunity to change the card on file if the policy presented a problem. Any refundable credit at the end of the cruise will be put back on your card.
Taking a break, we took a walk to the Seaview Pool to catch some sun. The clouds had gone away, and the sun was out. But that can be deceiving, as with the nice breeze, you do not feel the burn. One of us had a nice glow by the late afternoon after an hour sitting at a table by the pool. At high noon, Captain Frank sounded the horn. We like that tradition. Then cruise director Kimberly came and chatted with us for a spell. We met her on the Tales of the South Pacific, and she did remember us. Among other things, we asked if her morning coffee chats could be televised later in the day. She promised to look into that. She did explain that sometimes there are copyright laws, and everything had to be researched completely before jumping the gun. Kimberly remarked at how different this group of travelers were compared to the seven day cruisers she usually deals with. She is correct. There does not seem a need to hurry up and do everything since we have time on our side. It was time for us to move on after she left.
The masked boobies appeared this afternoon, putting on a display of soaring and diving for fish. They are truly a remarkable bird, and of course, one of us got some clear shots of their performance. Finally, everything got stashed in the new drawers and also hung on the walls with the nifty magnets.
There was an invitation to a President's Club welcome reception, compliments of Gus Antorcha, the President of HAL. It began at 6:30pm in the Gallery Bar with Captain Frank, Henk M, and key officers and staff greeting each of us. Henk's wife Christel was in attendance as was the Captain's wife Alexandria. We were served beverages of our choice, then sat with Martha, Bob, and Mike and Pauline. Christel joined us as did Captain Frank. We all had a nice visit as we dined on numerous delicious canopies. The main subject had to be the switch with Brazil's visa requirement. The Captain reassured us that we WILL be going up the river as long as the water level is acceptable. The hour went by, and soon it was 8pm. Time for dinner, or actually a half hour late. But none of us were holding others up as we have tables for two.
Dinner was good because we had forgotten to eat lunch today and were hungry by now. Many good items were on this menu such as Thai papaya salad, arancini, Caesar salads, honey mustard chicken and meatballs and spaghetti. Call us crazy, but those are favorites of ours. The food was excellent and our mains hot. Ordering small desserts, one of us had coffee which was singly made. Our assistant waiter Al said he warms the cup up with boiling water first, then makes the coffee, which stays piping hot.
One more day at sea, and we will be in our first port of Tobago. Never been there before……
Bill & Mary Ann
