The day began with a stunning sunrise, although only one of us saw it and took several pictures. That works out fine with the lazy one of us.
There was another weekly brunch in the dining room at 10am, but we chose to go to "our table" in the Pinnacle Grill. We were the only ones there for at least ½ hour. Some came as late as 9:15am, but they were seated. Much later than that, Arsa would direct them to either the dining room or the Lido. They spoil us with their service.
Some jobs of the day were collecting 2 sodas using the free cocktail vouchers we got on Vancouver day last Wednesday. Then another letter was delivered concerning using our non-refundable and cashable shipboard credit. As we stated earlier, you can no longer get "cash" for the cashable amount at the front desk. Now we will be prompted to go online to apply for either a direct deposit to a bank account or have it applied to our credit card. Still not sure about the credit card refund. The letter had been sent by accident since we are not leaving. But we wanted to remind them that we wish the amounts to roll over for the following two cruises. They did confirm that, but we shall still pay close attention with every start of this longer trip.
One of us finally made it a point to check out the library. We may be wrong, but we swear the library had a beautiful marble table with chairs. If they did, it is gone and has been replaced with book stands with newer up-to-date books. That should give us reading material for a few weeks.
The Grand Opening of the Shops began today at 9:30am. Making a quick sweep through them, it appears that most of their inventory is similar or the same as before. Just more of it. The guests that are headed home tomorrow will only have today to buy things, and by the looks of the crowd, they were doing just that. We did go to the photo shop to collect our complimentary photo of the ship. It was larger than previous ship photos, even the one from the Grand World Voyage, so that was good.
We had intended to take some more photos of the Cake Me Away display in the Lido, but the time got away from us and we missed it. There is always next week.
Captain Smit came on with his noon talk and identified the ship in front of us. It was the Coral Princess with up to 2000 passengers, and was heading the same way we were…..back to Vancouver. Then behind us, the Regent's Seven Seas Explorer with 750 guests followed up the rear. Also going to Vancouver. We began our first Alaska trip with both of those ships on September 3rd. How fast these two weeks have gone. The Captain said that all three vessels will be receiving pilots starting at 1:15pm. One thing for sure was that today was a 100% improvement in the weather department. The skies were clear blue with no clouds hardly at all. It was a bit warmer, but there was still a chill in the wind. At one point in the afternoon, we saw the temperature was 71 degrees with an 11-mph wind. That would change when we began entering the Queen Charlotte Strait and the Inside Passage near 4pm or so. This is a narrow passage that has strong currents and riptides, but also some pretty nice scenic sailing. We were on the lookout for any form of wildlife such as the Pacific White-Sided dolphins, orcas, or humpback whales. It was very windy in these narrows, so staying on our veranda gave us some shelter and a better place to take pictures. We did see a few whales as we entered the straits seeing their spouting, splashing, and diving. Then they dove deep and never resurfaced. Besides a lot of gulls and one cormorant, we never saw orcas,dolphins, or porpoise this time.
We dined on custom-made Lido sandwiches with a few tortilla chips and two cookies, just to say we tried them. Bad news was they were good and possibly addictive. Later before dinner time, we popped open another bottle of the sparkling wine to commemorate the end of another 7-day cruise, then really relaxed on the veranda until it was time to leave.
Last week we had asked our waiter Regie if the pork bellies or veal chops ever shows up on the menu. He said no, but to our surprise, the chef saw to it we had the pork one night. Then a few days ago, Hakim came by and asked if we would like veal chops for dinner tonight. Of course, we happily said yes, please. So we had starters of spring rolls, tomato soup, and a Caesar salad. The entrees arrived piping hot and we enjoyed the best veal chops ever. No kidding, even the ones on the GWV were not as good as these. Grilled to medium, they were tender and seasoned just right. Our kind waiters and Matre'd were pleased to see that we had just about cleaned our plates. Saving a bit of room for dessert, we shared a small serving of Baked Alaska. Before our meal ended, there was another parade of cooks and waiters singing their farewell song. Seems like we just did this, as the week flew by in a nano second.
Comedian Steven Scott was the entertainer tonight with classic mature? jokes from nightclubs of the storied Borscht Belt Resorts. (PG-13) Not sure we have ever seen that warning on an HAL ship. And as always, there was a Wajang movie which was Iron Will….rated PG. That works for everyone.
Tomorrow will be another busy one with mostly all new guests boarding. We will be going off the ship and enjoying a pleasant day in Vancouver once again.
Bill & Mary Ann
