Well, here we start the month of February with a whole new outlook for the second half of this world cruise. Many people we know have already begun searches on independent tours in the new ports. We are more than certain that the shore excursion team will come up with many choices as they always do. The interesting ones will be in Africa especially if overland safaris will be included in the choices. Normally, most of the big camps fill up more than a year in advance. So far, we have no plans to do any overland trips since we are looking to do that in 2025. That is if HAL decides to repeat the African portion of that future cruise. Perhaps more guests will opt for the Pole-To-Pole grand voyage. Only time will tell.
We did receive another letter from Henk, our hotel manager, who went into further detail about the Future Cruise Credit. Originally, the first letter stated that only new bookings could receive that credit. Now they are saying that if we have existing reservations and they are not paid in full, then the FCC will apply. Last evening at the cocktail party, we also heard that the FCC may be applied to the 2026 Grand Voyage. But that has not been put into writing yet. In addition, it may take until February 29th for everyone's FCC to be calculated and applied to our Mariner accounts. Of course, we are all welcomed to make a visit to the cruise consultant onboard and have them explain the details even further.
It appears that the most asked question about the itinerary changes has been regarding the cancellation of India. No matter how they tried, HAL could not fit in that 2 day stop without impacting the rest of the journey. For us, we did not have any plans for over lands in India this time, so the change did not matter all that much. One of us will miss the shoe shopping however.
Now we are curious if any guests have decided to leave this cruise from Singapore for instance. The way we read the first communication, if you choose to leave the trip, you will not get the 15% future cruise credit. So far that particular option has not be clarified. Nor will it be encouraged.
Our day was a relaxing one. We were pretty much set on an overcast cloudy day, but eventually, the clouds departed and we had mostly blue skies and mild temperatures. There was a nip in the breeze in the afternoon, which was nice. At one point, we think the Captain mentioned seeing whale spouts, but we cannot be sure, since at 4pm, no announcements will come into the rooms. Might disturb those who are taking naps perhaps? We were outside, and the announcement was coming from deck three, so it was impossible to decipher what was being said.
We did spend some time at the Sea View Pool and found that many guests were lined up for the Lido lunch. Yesterday the theme was "soul food", and we are not sure what that might be? Today the special was donuts and eclairs and the line was even longer. So far we have been successful in staying clear of those temptations. Lunch for us was room service around 2:30pm with salads and a shared sandwich. That way we have exactly what we ordered and are not tempted with all the other good stuff.
A few boobies have stayed with us, and today we did see a couple of flying fish. The birds appear sporadically, so we figured they are taking breaks on the bow of the ship. We never did see any whales spouting, but then they may have been on the starboard side.
The dinner menu had few good choices this evening. Luckily we were not that hungry. Caesar salad is always a good option, since it appears the only lettuce is romaine. One of us opted for the room service chicken noodle soup, and a tomato/mozzarella salad without the lettuce. Our mains were one grilled pork chop and a roast beef dinner we used to get at the Mariner brunch. One of us had some fresh pineapple for dessert, which was really ripe and sweet.
Hoping for a time change with the clocks set back one hour. But it did not happen tonight….darn. Maybe tomorrow, as we are heading southwest at a high speed.
Bill & Mary Ann
