Sunday Brunch was back in the Daily newsletter, however the times were changed from 9:30am to 12 :30pm. Except for us, we cannot break our record of dining every single day in the Pinnacle Grill. We were 5 minutes late in arriving, but several couples had beat us there. Looks like our secret is out, and more of the Neptuners have discovered how pleasant it is here.
Back in our room, we began noticing there was a "skunky" odor somewhere and soon found that both of the flower arrangements in the fancy vases were the culprit. We had noticed that some of the new flowers had begun to droop and die. These were delivered just a couple of days ago, so they should have lasted longer than that. When we took some of the better flowers out and dumped the water, we found the source of the smell, which was like something had died in our room. The stems of the flowers had rotted and needed to be trashed.
Just about the same time we were re-arranging the two bouquets into one, Kumar, our rep, called to see how we were doing as well as checking to make sure we had received the invite to a cocktail party tomorrow. Yes, we had, and yes, we would attend. And while we had him on the phone, we described the problem with the new flowers. He said that was unacceptable and he would send the florist to our room to correct it. We said it was OK, since one of us had already sorted through the good ones. So we were not certain anyone would show up.
The Captain was a bit late with his noontime update since he had a Q&A session in the World Stage at 11am. He is one of the captains that enjoys sharing the details of his job, and the passengers love hearing it all. It did not matter if he was late because we were not going anywhere anyway. The Zaandam was already 315 nautical miles from Hawaii with 694 nautical miles to go to reach Fanning Island. We are currently sailing in deep water, but he talked so fast, we missed the number of feet. We did hear that the winds were 15 to 25 knots with a 6 – 7 foot swell. The temperature was 81 degrees with a humidity of 74%. It sure felt like the swells were deeper since we were rolling pretty good all night and into the day as well. Certainly, the winds contribute to the ship's movement.
We spent a relaxing day, which we really needed after all of the hiking for 6 days in a row. The only break we took was for our custom-made sandwiches in the Lido. The Lido worker actually missed seeing us for so long, which is always nice to hear. One thing for sure, going up to deck eight, the motion of the ocean was much more pronounced there. One of us ran into our buddy Nancy and we both came to the conclusion if the seas do not calm down, there will not be a stop in Fanning Island. The visit there was cancelled the last two years, but we did get a wonderful scenic sailing around the entire island. Another clue to the possibility of another cancellation is the fact that there has been no mention of guests purchasing some items while in the Hawaiian Islands to donate to the kids there. Time will tell….
Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill at 8pm. When we arrived, our table was ready for us, except the rest of the outer dining room was empty. There was a party of four in the back, but we were basically the only ones there. So of course, we had their special attention for the evening. We did order the wedge salads with one shared appetizer of the chicken tacos. Truthfully, that was plenty of food for dinner with the added fresh bread rolls and garlic butter. But one of us had enjoyed the pork belly entrée so much, we both ordered it this time. The generous serving of this delicacy was not disappointing. And the shared order of French fries was plenty of food for the meal. When we were about done, the chef came out and we thanked him for his good work. We added another comment to never change the recipe since it was "right on". That did bring a smile of appreciation to his face. Desserts, coffee or tea were offered but we had no room left….not even for the small macaroons.
The show this ,evening was a singer by the name of Suzanne O Davis with timeless hits from the 60's. Oh we remember it well. Or there was a movie, Casino Royale, to match the theme of the "dressy" evening in the casino. By the way, once the casino opened for business after being closed for six days, it was full to the max.
One more day at sea, and maybe we will stop at Fanning Island. Keeping our fingers crossed.
Bill & Mary Ann
