Another Sunday at sea means brunch in the dining room, giving the folks a chance to sleep in later. This does not seem to apply to our Pinnacle Grill breakfast, because more and more people are showing up early well before Tina opens the doors. We think it is a game now to see who can secure the window tables first. Go figure….. The funny thing was that the sun was shining brightly and most of us had to close one side of the window with the curtain.
We think we mentioned having TV problems recently. Well, yesterday two IT fellows came with another TV screen, and although it wasn't working totally properly, it was OK. Every 10 minutes or so, the screen went dark, but the sound remained. Then the picture would return. However, last night, this same TV went on, but refused any signal from the remote to do anything….including turning it off. We tried pushing every button on the remote, but it just appeared to be "dead". It was well after 10pm, so we decided to call about it tomorrow morning. In the meantime, the screen gave off a subtle glow, enough that it lit up the room like a giant nightlight. One of us can sleep through anything, but the other is much more sensitive to light and a million other things that keep one awake at night. At one point, I thought I could drape the beach towels over the screen, but decided against it due to the seas being rougher than usual. With my luck, I might have a bad fall and be the next one to have a medical alert announced throughout the ship. It was easier to pull the covers over my head and forget about it.
We reported the dead TV to our room steward then followed up with a call to the front desk. By 11am, the same two IT guys came with another TV to install. This was # 3. They seemed to know that this problem was not going to be easy to fix. This time, it appeared that it was going to work, maybe not 100% perfect as there still was a problem with the screen going blank for 4 seconds, then the picture came back. We could live with this. But the technicians mentioned they would be back with an LG flatscreen around 3 :30pm. So off came TV # 3, but when they went to hang the new one (#4), it did not have the same hangar assembly on the back as the other three. They re-installed # 3, and said they would return with the modified LG later today or tomorrow. TV # 3 was working OK for the rest of the afternoon.
Except for breakfast and lunch and a promenade deck walk, we kept busy online and reading a book out on the veranda. The temperature never exceeded 77 degrees which was pleasant.
The Captain's talk included some info about Lord Howe Island, which we would pass sometime today. It was too far to veer off of our charted track to be able to see it. Back several years ago, Captain Mercer was close enough to take us past this tiny island with pinnacle peaks. Very unique for this part of the world. The Captain continued saying that we had following seas, although the sea state was confused with 6 to 9 foot swells. He added that we were not going as fast as he would like, but he may decide to fire up another engine to gain more speed.
So dinner time came and it was a dressy evening with a Splash of Orange theme. The menu had mostly Dutch-cuisine such as pea soup….really good, a bay shrimp appetizer, and a West Highland salad. Our entrees were one nasi goreng with grilled chicken and shrimp skewers. The other was a roasted chicken meal. The waiters forgot to mention it was a half chicken and enough to feed both of us. Actually, he said in his country of Indonesia, this plate of chicken would feed a family of four. Now I knew for sure I could not finish it all. Desserts were the smallest slices of apple pie he could find with a little scoop on vanilla ice cream on the top. And by the way, our assistant maitre'd Hazel wore one of those strikingly orange wigs for the Orange occasion. Later in the evening, some of the waiters put them on for laughs. We know that some of the wait staff are going home in Sydney and they are happy-happy-happy.
Around 8pm, there was an Orange party in the Rolling Stones Lounge. What they do there is a mystery to us. Also at 8pm, there was a $29 bar hop beginning in the Crow's Nest. It must have migrated to the Ocean Bar because the activities were revving up when we passed the room on our way back from dinner.
We were hoping to catch up on Kimberly's talk on Sydney in our room, but guess what? The TV was not working again. Same as last night, the remote would not do anything, and once again, we could not shut it off. There goes the big night light again…..darn.
Bill & Mary Ann
