Another sea day has put us closer to New Caledonia with about 321 nautical miles to go with a speed of 18 knots to arrive there tomorrow morning. This morning the Captain changed course heading south, due to the weather and sea conditions. The skies were very overcast with a mist swirling outside from the crest of the waves. Rain squalls were all around us. The winds were expected to pick up this afternoon and the swells were around 8 feet. During the course of the day, we looked out over the ocean waters to see many big whitecaps. This system will dissipate by tomorrow, but in the meantime it was suggested that the guests stay inside and not use the promenade deck due to it being very wet and slippery. We are not sure if the outside doors were roped off, but around noontime, one of us took a walk as usual, and reported that it was not as bad as was suggested. We have been in a whole lot worse storms such as in 2002 on the Volendam's Asia/Pacific Explorer cruise where the seas reached 55 feet. Now we call that really bad and an experience we hope never to repeat.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, we have had problems with our TV. In fact, it began after leaving Easter Island. For no apparent reason, the TV would shut itself off, and it did not matter what channel was on….even the in-house programming shut off. We were unable to shut the TV on or off. Then on it's own sweet time, it came on. We have had freeze-frame with the sound continuing, pixelating in hues of green and pink , and total black-out with the sound on. Go figure. The IT guys started to check it out, but never came up with a solution. We have to give the front desk folks credit, because they have called everyday to see if the problem was resolved. Well, no it was not.
So today, we had a knock on our door, and there were two IT fellows carrying another flat screen TV to switch with the one we have. It took a while to re-boot, and it seems to be working better, although not perfect. Because of the fact that we are in the middle of almost nowhere, we suspect that has something to do with the reception. The closer we get to civilization, it should be better. We are crossing our fingers that it works.
After breakfast today, we heard considerable noise on deck three in the Ocean Bar area. Although it was not really advertised , there was a Project Linus Open House at 8:30am. We think this was a special gathering of some of the officers and crew members along with the group of guests that have made several blankets already. Some of these guests may be leaving in Sydney, the end of the first segment. Later in the afternoon, we found a link to Facebook with a video of this gathering. Kimberly led the show and gave credit to those who did the work, Marty and Gail, and those who are helpers and don't necessarily knit or crochet. There is an old saying that says: Busy hands, happy hearts. There are many of these type of guests in this category.
There were many promotions in progress today with the Shops, the Spa, and even the bars. Jewelry sales were at the top of the list today. There are only a few sea days left before we reach Sydney to make these purchases onboard. We have heard that about 400 guests will be leaving us on February 12th.
Lunch for us was in an almost-empty Lido. And the ice cream gal had a surprise for us. She had saved two sugar cones from a batch she opened today. Unfortunately, the majority of these cones were broken upon delivery. She knew it would bring a smile to our faces. And it sure did.
During the course of the late afternoon, we caught up with Kimberly's talk on the next port of Noumea, New Caledonia. It has been many years since we were there, and we don't remember a whole lot of it. We did take a tour which took us to museums and viewpoints with a stop at a local café for snacks and tea or coffee. Another time, we explored on our own covering the downtown area. Unless it is raining, that's what we plan on doing.
Dinner time had some good starters of shrimp cocktails and a tomato/mozzarella mini-salad. Entrees included a savory pork chop with applesauce and rosti potatoes. One of us had the spaghetti Bolognese, a lighter meal and definitely comfort food. Desserts were a panna cotta in a mason jar and one scoop of strawberry sorbet.
The entertainment had to be switched this evening. The singers and dancers would have had a problem doing their show due to the ship rolling, so the Mentalist, Felix Jones took their spot.
Hopefully the weather will improve by tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
