We have begun the four day sailing towards Easter Island, Chile. Looking forward, it always seems like a long stretch, but we have done much longer at sea such as the distance from Nuku Hiva, Marquesas to San Diego. Sometimes that takes 8 or 9 days at sea. So this is a piece of cake.
The day began mostly sunny and much warmer than the last three days in Lima. As the day advanced, it became cloudy and overcast with occasional passing showers. A few masked boobys appeared alongside the ship as did some pods of dolphins. They were far from the ship and stayed in a feeding pattern, not jumping high. We did get a couple of shots of them despite the distance. And we finally got to see the return of the flying fish. We think it is due to returning to warmer waters as we are heading southwest now. Hope we get a picture of a booby catching some which we did. And we did get many photos after spending considerable time outside observing the birds. Patience pays off.
We took a moment to pay a visit to the onboard cruise consultant, Chantall. We did not know they had started a sign-up sheet for appointments. It was close to noon time and we only had a few questions regarding fall cruises in 2026. While we waited for her final clients, we saw many folks we had wanted to see, but always seemed to miss them. One was Shiv, our favorite head of housekeeping. His office is on deck one, so we seldom have a reason to come here. Then Henk M passed by and stopped for a chat. He never seems to be in his office as he is always on the move . We also got to talk to Jennifer, who works behind the scenes for the guest relations manager. She helped us out while on an Alaskan cruise 2 years ago when we accidently missed going through Canadian customs in Vancouver on back-to-back cruises. None of us ever forgot that one.
All of us received a flyer concerning our 2 day stop in Easter Island. The number one concern is the safety of the guests who will be using the tender boats going ashore. Detailed directions were explained as far as entering and exiting the boats. We know from experience that conditions may not be the best there. The note continued to say those who could not walk on their own down the stairs from deck one to A deck to access the tenders would not be allowed ashore. That included all those folks that use scooters. We are not sure about the wheelchairs or walkers. In addition, unless we are booked on shore excursions, everyone will have to get tender tickets. Priority tendering will not be offered. Hmmm, we will have to investigate this. If the conditions for tendering ashore are not the best, it is possible this stop can be cancelled. Safety comes first.
Many sea day activities took place today including lectures from three guests. They are Lyn Yaworsky speaking about ancient and new wonders of the world, Andy Fletcher talking about everything Albert Einstein, and finally Rob Quintrell lecturing on the battle of Midway. Games took place inside and outside the ship, while "Cake Me Away" took place in the Lido. We must have missed it because we always go for lunch after 2pm.
A new twist has been added to the dining room dinner menu. The entrees are called "Comfort Food", and most every item is a favorite of ours. This evening we ordered two different salads and empanadas with mystery fillings. The chefs like to add curry to many things such as these empanadas. Actually, they were pretty good. Our mains were the bacon-wrapped meatloaf with the creamiest mashed potatoes we ever ate. Snow peas, green beans, and carrots were on the side. We enjoyed every bite. Dessert was one whoopie pie which turned out to be a dark chocolate bottom they called a cookie. It was not, but more like cake. In the center was a thick layer of marshmallow cream. The same soft cookie was on the top. One of us ordered the raspberry sorbet as the dark chocolate tends to interrupt sleep, working like a cup of espresso coffee. Never at night for either one.
The World Stage Repertory Company presented "Drive In", a show wrapped around movies. Most of the second seating diners left before 9pm we assume to attend the second showing. We never finish our meal that early. Remember the days when the shows were 8 and 10pm? Not anymore…..
Bill & Mary Ann
