Surprise, surprise…..when we woke up this morning, it was still warm outside. We sure did not expect that, especially knowing we have headed northwest for going on three days now. Guess we will not have to pull out the heavy clothes quite yet. One nice thing is that the seas are behaving. There were no swells to speak of and the winds were minimal. If anything, they were following once again.
It appeared many of the usual diners in the Pinnacle Grill this morning slept in later. We began with 10 customers at 7:30am, which increased by 8:50am. Now you might think that the service would be better with fewer people, but that was not the case. One of us was lucky to get a refill on the coffee in an hour. Then we remembered there had been a crew party last night, so the waiters were having trouble waking up too. Normally there are a couple of really cute waitresses in here, but they seem to alternate between the Neptune and here. And when they are here, the coffee cups never run dry.
It was another lazy day, but our morning walk was pleasant. Most of the guests were in the World Stage listening to Kimberly's talk on Naha, Okinawa, which will be on February 25 and 26. We still needed to watch the lecture on tomorrow's port of Ishigaki and see what there is to see and do. We also had a job to do – fill out the Immigrations and Customs Inspection forms, following the instructions given. We also had one custom's declaration card to complete. Now we are ready for the face to passport check when we arrive to our first Japanese port tomorrow.
The other surprise of the day was some wildlife spotting. During our morning hike, we actually saw a turtle alongside the ship. Only one. We also saw small white floating markers every now and then. They may have been attached to nets or traps. The ship has to stay clear of those because if they tangle around the azipods, we could be in trouble. There were many flying fish, but only two boobies diving for them. Then this afternoon, while watching the birds dive, we spotted dolphins. Not in large numbers, but two at a time. They did not jump high, but skimmed the surface and dove. They were too fast to get a photo, but it is always a thrill to see them.
We actually had a real sunset tonight. If it wasn't for a thin layer of haze on the horizon, there may have been a chance for a green flash. Never happened, but one day we might see one. Dinner was good with a coconut shrimp appetizer and a bowl of Indonesian soup…..both excellent. Mains were Weiner schnitzel with lingonberry sauce. For a change, everything on the plate was appetizing like the carrots and sliced fried potatoes. We could do without the fried lettuce used as a garnish. What was nice was the dessert of strawberry shortcake, but not really traditional. This old time dessert was served in a glass and was layered with a tangy cake on the bottom and a parfait-like cream on the top. There was an essence of strawberry and few pieces of mango added.
There was a different type of show tonight with a balloon artist called Syan. One of the top balloon artists in Japan, he will demonstrate his speed and polished skills this evening. We understand the combined talents of the ship's musicians was a success last night.
Looking forward to Japan.
Bill & Mary Ann
