Today was a most welcomed sea day, and also a special day for one of us. Namely….a birthday. It is an occasion that I prefer to fly under the radar, but that was not to be.
On our way to breakfast, we discovered a large birthday greeting card hanging on our door with the cutest little clothes pins we have ever seen. OK…..someone let the cat out of the bag. The assistant manager of the Pinnacle, Able, whispered a happy birthday as we entered the room. That was sweet.
Arriving back to the room, there were two balloons on the door with the card. Going inside was a nice surprise with a gift of flowers from Shiv, our most favorite head of housekeeping, several cards, and a triple layer "cake" created with red and pink dining room napkins. That was from our room stewards. Then the phone rang, and it was Jennifer from the front desk wishing me a wonderful day. Finally, a single chocolate cupcake was delivered with a birthday card from Captain Friso. Emails from family and friends poured in as well. What a way to start the day.
The weather could not have been nicer with temps in the 70's. Wave heights were no more than 3 feet and the winds were gently blowing. Even with some partly cloudy skies, the sun warmed up the day nicely. If there were showers, they remained on the horizon. During our morning walk, we saw no fish and only one bird, possibly a booby. Why only one, we don't know. It must have hitched a ride from Easter Island.
Lectures were delivered at the World Stage starting from 10am with POW'S and the casualties of war, followed by the complexity theory at 11am, and ancient ingenuity with secrets lost to time at 1pm. On a lighter note, a movie called My Penguin Friend was shown at 2pm. That is one feature we miss on this class of ship, and that is the Wajang Theater. It just seemed more cozy for those films which were shown sometimes twice a day on sea days.
Queen Elizabeth tea was served at 3pm and one day we may try it. That is close to our lunch time, so adding pastries and savory snacks is not do-able.
After lunch, we did some internet searches on Pitcairn Island, our brief stop tomorrow. This is a very special spot in the world and the history is beyond interesting.
Dinnertime rolled around, but tonight we went to the Pinnacle Grill for the first time this cruise. We usually order the same starters and mains, and tonight was no exception. Wedge salads with no bleu cheese, dinner rolls, and one order of clothes-line bacon were the starters. One of us had the lamb chops and the other a ribeye steak. French fries, the skinny ones (yeah, right) was the only side we needed. The steak and the lamb were mouth-watering tender and seasoned perfectly. The grade of meat here is top-notch in our opinion. We had already decided not to order dessert, but our waiter had brought forks and spoons. He also brought a tray of three little macaroons, the new replacement for the chocolates.
We were about ready to depart, when the waiters, Tina, and Able came along with a special birthday cake, unlike any cake we have ever seen. It was a piece of art made with red velvet cake in the form of a fish maybe. The top was covered with a cream cheese frosting and dotted with fresh berries. The entire outside had thin chocolate candy cut in triangles. It looked like fins on a fish. In the old days, you never would have heard any birthday songs, but now we do. In fact, we were the third table to have the celebration. The group sang the song then had me blow out the "candles" or the little battery-powered luminaries. Tina cut a small portion for us to share, and we donated the rest to the wait staff.
So much for flying under the radar, but it was sure a great day. And much appreciated.
Bill & Mary Ann
