Day two at sea began with another unexpected sunrise around 7am. Sailing on this coastline is usually not the best as far as the weather goes. We can recall seeing a lot of overcast skies and fog. It can be rough as well. It's not warm yet, but the temperatures remained about 57 degrees most of the day. It came as a bit of surprise that the winds were 35 mph, but they appear to be following winds. That probably helps with the fuel usage.
During his noon talk, Captain Smit mentioned that we are experiencing rolling seas, but he did put out the stabilizers, which should help with the motion. We waited to hear the high noon whistle blow, but for the last two days, he has not done that. The Zaandam was maintaining a 14-knot speed, but when we reach a certain point at 10pm, he is required to reduce that speed to 10 knots. This is due to a speed limit imposed for the safety of the migrating whales. We have heard some recent stories of accidents with ships hitting some whales along this coast, and sure would hate to see that happen. He added that tomorrow around 6am, he will be embarking the pilot and then proceed under the Golden Gate Bridge shortly thereafter. There has been some fog the last three days, but it seems that tomorrow might be clear enough to actually see the bridge. Many times you cannot see anything due to low dense fog. We hope for a sunny and clear day, which we do get this time of year. We know the pattern well, since we both were born and raised here.
There has been some interest regarding what "Legendary Voyages" actually means. Extra onboard credit when you book, reduced deposits, latest promotions and sales and getting your room of choice are some of the advantages booking onboard. The length of the voyages are from 25 to 59 days such as the Voyage of the Vikings, or the Tales of the South Pacific for instance. There are usually special activities onboard that will relate to your destination, as well as more overnight stays in key cities like Honolulu, Tahiti, or Bali. And by our calculations, these voyage are normally more money per diem.
It has come to our attention that there will be more "pop-up" evenings held in the Pinnacle Grill. We do have the option of using our complimentary dinners with both the regular Pinnacle dinner or the Tamarind. Arsa will let us know those dates, and we will sign up for a few of the Tamarinds. In the meantime, we are under the impression that the 51 day voyage will be full capacity and we should make all of our 10 dinner reservations soon.
Some of today's activities were labeled "Local". Not sure we have seen that word in the newsletter, but it appears to be tied to the tour department. There were talks on whales, something funky in the water?, and ask your travel guide. Another label is "new today" which included a scavenger hunt, flower arranging, dance lessons, and a beer and pretzel event with games and live music (charge applied)…we suppose for the beer, not sure about the tempting pretzels. A speaker by the name of Michael Adams talked about celebrity serial killers, and finally, there was a $25 acrylic art instruction for 2 hours at 7:30pm in the Art Studio. That is definitely new.
We kept busy but also took some time to relax on our deck. When we had some sun, it was nice. However, once the sun left, we needed our arctic jackets. Even walking the promenade deck, it was chilly due to the winds. The teak lounges remained about empty. Lunch was in the Lido with sandwiches of ham and turkey. There were few guests at the Sea View Pool, but plenty of people in the Lido Pool area waiting for the beer and pretzel party with live guitar music from Shelly, who plays in the Ocean Bar most nights.
Taking an evening walk at 7pm, we saw another sunset, but nothing compared to the morning sunrise. The sky was clear of clouds, so we watched for the green flash. There was none, but we do have hopes for the South Pacific sunsets. We might see a green flash yet.
Dinner time rolled around and we saw that the 7-day menu rotation is still in effect. We both had salads, a crab cake, and a bowl of tomato bisque soup. Mains were a turkey dinner and short ribs with linguine Romanoff sauce. Both served piping hot and very good. Simple desserts of vanilla ice cream and watermelon finished the meal nicely. Once again, the dining room was more than half full.
The PG-13 comedian, Steven Scott took the stage with his joke jam tribute from the nightclubs of Borscht Belt Resorts. We think the majority of guests right now are more interested in gambling, as the casino was standing room only.
Pillow candies were waiting for us when we returned to our room, the third day in a row now. This may also be a perk of the Legendary cruise.
Tomorrow – our port of call will be San Francisco where we always enjoy visiting.
Bill & Mary Ann
