This morning began with an impressive sunrise – the first we have seen for weeks, come to think of it. We did not capture it with the camera, but certainly there will be more in the days to come. Some of the most outstanding sunrises and sunsets have been in Hawaii and French Polynesia.The new guests, many of whom are on a five- day trip to San Diego, arrived at breakfast by 8:30am in the Pinnacle Grill. We think the ship is full, but we will have to check that out. The official start of the South Pacific cruise will begin in San Diego.
The weather had improved somewhat in the sense it as not raining. However, the seas were rough with a very noticeable swell. The mostly cloudy skies gave way to some patches of blue, but the winds were fierce. This is common from what we recall sailing in this part of the world. It did make our walk on the promenade deck a bit more difficult. It became obvious that many guests did not plan on this type of weather, since we saw a lot of shorts, t-shirts, and no jackets. Needless to say, they went out one door, and back inside quickly. We have not put our arctic coats away yet, so we were comfortable.
Working on photos and reports from yesterday's stop in Vancouver, we spent the morning relaxing in our new room. It is very nice having the convenience of a veranda now.
Our late Lido lunch consisted of a salad, linguini with Bolognaise sauce, cheesy rolls and a slice of pizza. They are still out of honey mustard dressing and Lea & Perrins sauce. They got a delivery of French's Worcestershire sauce, but it is not the same taste as L&P. Pulung, the dining room Maitre'd, promised they have ordered these missing items for the next big delivery.
We had to re-register our credit card at the front desk. This new accounting practice began with the start of this Legendary Cruise we were told. On our printed statement, it is called "Automated Quick Balancing". We did make it clear that if we want our "cashable credit" we will need to do that before 30 days have passed. That will be October 25th. They promised that the "non- refundable credit" will carry over to the next month and until this cruise comes to an end. That is unless we spend it. The gratuities are covered on this longer cruise, so we should have some credit left at the end.
Checking out the shops, we found very few sales now. All new merchandise has appeared targeting the warmer weather ahead. A rack of Alaska t-shirts were all that remained from the Alaska run, along with some costume jewelry and some stuffed bears. The library, on the other hand, has been re-done with all new books – mostly hard cover books. There is still an exchange corner, but most of these books were in foreign languages. And passing through the casino, we noticed that some guests were smoking. We do not think that was allowed while in Alaska.
We had another surprise when we arrived to the dining room for the gala dinner tonight. Two people were sitting at our table. How did that happen? Obviously, there was a lack of communication with one of the head waters who could not find us in her system. She did not know we had changed rooms yesterday. Our regular waiters and Pulung knew we were in the Pinnacle Grill, but she had accidently seated new guests at our table. Well, this was awkward, but she moved us temporarily to another table along the railing just for tonight. Each one of the staff involved came over and apologized including Sarif our waiter. The head waiter said she had cleared the situation up with the other guests, and we would have our table back tomorrow. Sarif told us quietly that he told her yesterday that we were still onboard, but she did not listen. It wasn't the end of the world, since we had two nice waiters that took care of us. Now the funny thing was that most of the upper dining room was empty. There were plenty of tables for two as well.
So gala dinner was simple. Two Caesar salads, one chicken entrée and one pasta with shredded oxtail meat was plenty for dinner. The rolls they serve are fresh and tasty, but they are getting smaller every time we come back on a trip. The little round ones (about the size of a golf ball) are suitable for sliders. Oh well….smaller rolls require less butter we say. Dessert was one sliced banana and a hot cup of coffee. Another change we noticed on the way to the dining room was that the Explorer's Lounge has been converted back to the String Trio venue. We are sure it is because of the Legendary angle of this trip.
A comedian by the name of Jim Flannigan was the entertainer in the World Stage tonight. Or the movie, "Official Secrets" was shown in the Wajang Theater, another option.
Back in our room, we were given two very nice canvas tote bags….much heavier than the previous bags. These are specifically made for the Legendary cruises. We are happy that our room stewards are giving us the old style HAL pillow chocolates every night as well. We wonder if they will ever serve the new Lindt chocolates?
Looking forward to another sea day tomorrow. Hopefully the rough seas, wind, and rocking and rolling improve along the way.
Bill & Mary Ann
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