Did anyone know that today is Popcorn Day? We sure did not know this, but then, most everyday has a special theme to it and the staff here likes to add it to the Daily newsletter.
Yesterday during his noon talk, Captain Friso stated that we are all alone out here in the middle of the ocean with no other ship traffic. No commercial ships or cruise liners to be seen anywhere. And what makes it even seem more isolating is the fact that we have lost the signal for the TV. In the beginning of last week, we began to get pixelating periodically with pastel green and pink colors interrupting the programs. Then the screen would go blank, although the sound was still there. This was occurring while in Manta as well as Lima. Then yesterday around dinnertime, all we could get was the "Not Available" notice on every channel. That meant no current news and no football games. This lasted all day long, and we know there must be a whole lot of sports fans in particular that were not happy campers. Being cut off like this really made us feel very alone.
Reporting this to the front desk folks, all we learned was that the techs are working on it. Has something broken we asked? There was no good answer, only apologies for the inconvenience. We have been doing this blog on every world cruise since 2005, and going back to those times we visited Easter Island, there was no problem with reception. We would have documented it. And there was no promise of when this will be fixed. It sure is a good thing that we have access to plenty of movies and in-house programming. We even discovered a channel that has short programs on relaxation and sleep help. Now that is new. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the closer we get to Easter Island, the better the chances are that we will get the signal again.
We are happy to report that the internet service has not been affected. It may be a bit on the slow side at times, but it has remained functional.
Today's Captain's talk revealed that the weather is the way we like it. That is – sunny and calm seas. However, he still puts a bit of doubt on the port of Easter Island as far as the tendering service. Right now, he says it is 70% favorable, but with 4 foot swells, we may have problems. We have about 1248 nautical miles to go and have a 1 to 2 meter swell with little wind. We do notice that technically, we should have had a time change or two by now, but Easter Island's time is the same as Chile, the mother country. We bet that after we leave for Pitcairn Island, we will be putting the clock back like three days in a row. That should be fun……
We had a very relaxing day with our usual activities which included a couple of long walks outside, watching two good movies, catching up on internet work, and reading on the veranda. It was a good day for lectures, although Kimberly has not delivered her talk on Easter Island yet. Perhaps she is waiting until tomorrow so the info is fresh in everyone's minds.
Happy hour preceded dinner, then we both ordered the popular starter of breaded chicken tenders, Caesar salad and hot lentil soup. Mains were really comfort food with sliced roast beef pot roast and veal meatballs. Both were served with mashed potatoes. Different, but it worked. Desserts were one lemon sorbet and a Tres leches panna cotta.
A piano/vocalist, Dean Stansby, was the entertainer this evening featuring "Where the Music Takes Me".
Bill And Mary Ann
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