We had a much needed day at sea to kick back and relax. There were only four of us in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast when the doors opened. Most folks slept in later, or they were on one of the overland trips. Now one would think the service would be excellent, but that's not always the case. The waiters and waitresses that work in here alternate between here and the Neptune Lounge. When the two girls are not here, things do not seem to go as smoothly. For instance, we can give our order to one waiter who takes notes. When the breakfast arrives, another waiter serves it, not knowing what you had ordered. They never hang around long enough for us to tell them the English muffins were missing, like this morning. We did eventually get them, but only after we had eaten most of our meal. No explanation, because the muffins were brought to us by another waiter who was new. Yes, we know it is a fine point and the world won't stop, but we think their method of serving needs some attention. We keep hearing that the decision to operate in this fashion is a corporate thing and probably will not change, even if it is questioned by the Hotel Director.
We had a day's worth of photos to process and reports to be composed, so that kept us busy off and on most of the day. We took the time for a morning walk, and found that there was another awards meeting with the waiters and cooks was being held in the upper dining room after 10am. We do know that the positive comments made by the guests regarding service in every dining venue is rewarded somehow. And when we leave a message regarding service from our room stewards and waiters, we are thanked within hours of submitting the remarks. So someone is listening.
The motion of the ship has become a problem. Not only are we pitching and bobbing like a cork in a tub, but we are experiencing vibration from waves getting under the ship when it raises out of the water. It makes one heck of a racket too. We watched during our walk as the deep swells reached the ship and caused the shuddering. Reminds us of an earthquake.
We all had one job to do this morning and that was picking up our passports on each passenger deck. We went at 9:45am and the line moved quickly. We will need these tomorrow when we get checked by the locals in the cruise terminal. It is not a zero-clearance day, so that means we will be able to go back on the ship and get off when we wish. Those who will be going on over lands will need to take them when they leave for their tour.
It was a very overcast and dreary day, until the sun began peeking through. We did get some time at the Seaview Pool, and were joined for a while by Greg. We had to laugh because it appeared he was scanning the decks looking for the strange couple before coming back to us. None of us wants a repeat performance or confrontation from the lady.
Captain Friso came on for his noon talk, reminding us of the procedure that would happen tomorrow with docking and customs and immigrations. The pilot will be dropped from a helicopter on the aft deck sometime around 4 or 5am. It goes without saying that no one will be allowed back there, and we are banned from using cameras and flash lights to see the happenings. These can be blinding for the pilot, which most people do not know.
Lunch was two Dive In burgers with fries after 2pm. There is seldom a line of folks waiting there, and the service is swift. This has worked out well and we use the Dive In at least twice a week for lunch. Today the noise overhead from the closed retractable cover was making an awful racket. Thinking the roof would fall down, most all of the folks in the lounges and chairs and tables never flinched. And for the first time, we noticed that one side of this pool area has one row of lounges, while the opposite side is filled with tables and chairs. There was also one row of lounges behind the two Jacuzzis.
This was also a good time to do some Durban research after seeing where the shuttle drops us tomorrow. It has been so long since we stayed in this city, we do not recall seeing any of the malls. This has always been the drop-off for safaris to Kruger for us and many others. Tomorrow it will be just another port to explore and will be fine with us.
We went to take some sunset pictures at our later walk, but the sun was gone. No sign of it setting. The timing was off due to the fact we have been dropping south rapidly. Besides being rough and difficult to walk, it was also getting dark. Time to get ready for dinner.
One of us made a run to the front desk to see about buying some South African Rand. However, they were not selling it. We recalled that they only sold Japanese Yen and the Singapore dollars. We had hoped that Rand was available, but the only other currency was Euro. They said that they did not deal with Bank of America anymore for the money exchange. Good to know if anyone is planning on coming on a long voyage, and you don't want to search for money exchangers on shore.
There was not a lot to choose from this evening, so we had our usual salads and shrimp cocktails with extra red sauce. One of us had the alternate chicken while the other had the alternate lasagna. One of the chefs as well as some of his cooks have been entering the dining room to chat with guests. Hari, the chef, asked if our dinners have been served hot and was pleased when we said yes…very hot.
We sure hope the seas calm down tonight as we get closer to Durban, South Africa.
Bill & Mary Ann
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