We have now begun a trek at sea on our way towards Kona, Hawaii. It was very quiet in the Pinnacle Grill this morning , more than likely due to the fact we rolled the clocks back one hour, and the fact that yesterday was a busy one in a fun port. We did notice that many guests on our deck had their "do not disturb" sign in their key slots.
The skies remained partly cloudy most of the day, keeping the temperatures down. In fact, we noticed a change in the breeze, which did not have the humidity with it. We do hope that the fairly calm seas will stay with us for the rest of the sailing. Sometimes this route we are taking can get plenty rough.
Todays newsletter was nicknamed "Backwards Day". Why….we have absolutely no idea. The itinerary was printed flip-flopped inside, perhaps to see if the folks are really reading it. The new Hawaiian cultural ambassadors have arrived, led by Kainoa. He has been on every South Pacific cruise we have done in the past several years as well as on the Alaska runs. He does his job quite well and we look forward to his talks. Today he will discuss the humpback whales.
We spent an hour at the Sea View Pool and actually found it comfortable back there. Up until now, it has been very hot and humid. We do know that after we leave the Hawaiian Islands and head north towards Japan, the weather will be quite different. In a word……it will be cold. So we will soak up the sun as much as we can until then.
There was a mandatory drill today that meant we all had to attend our muster station and have our room keys scanned. It began at 1pm and the odd number staterooms went first. Those on decks one, four, and five went first. Then at 1:30pm, the even number cabin numbers went from decks six, seven, eight, and ten. It seemed to work well because no one was called after the fact like what usually happens when we are in a port. After getting scanned, we all had to go back to the room and run the safety video. Once completed, the room TVs went back to normal programming. Sure beats the days when we had to trip up or down the stairs with our life vests in tow. Then stand at attention in the hot sun by our tender boats.
At 6:30pm, we had an invite to a cocktail party for the President's Club members and the key officers and staff. It was dubbed Mexican Style and included some nice Mexican canapies, like nacho chips with bean and guacamole dip, coconut crusted shrimp, a cheese puff, and a beef treat. Drinks flowed by the attentive bar staff as we were greeted by Captain Frank and Henk. We would guess that the number of staff and officers exceeded the number of guests, as there are only about 26 of us. It was a perfect opportunity to discuss the itinerary changes that were made yesterday. It does sound as if the change in direction will be final. A lot goes into re-routing, according to Henk, and we learned that the deliveries and fuel bunkering are the first things to be mapped out. Then the ports are added depending on their availability as well. More details regarding these changes will be coming in the following days according to Shiv, who filled us in on some of the details.
Following the party, we had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill tonight. Usually we always order the wedge salad, but tonight, there was no iceberg lettuce, so we had to switch to Caesar salads. They still went well with the clothesline bacon, although the thick slab bacon has not been available since day one. They have substituted regular bacon which is OK, but not quite the same. Our entrees were the lamb chops, but on a "naked " plate. In other words, no smear of bean puree or other unidentifiable vegetables. We each added a half of a baked potato, and our plates were full. Our waiter had suggested we ask for three chops instead of two, but that would have been too much. We are happy with the slightly smaller portions. And as it was, we skipped dessert. No room.
While talking to Captain Frank, he sort of said that the seas will remain calm at least for a few days. Now we are wondering what we have in store for us?
Bill & Mary Ann
