Happy Halloween everyone!!!
Well the day has come for all of the spooky decorations everywhere to shine. Especially on the cabin doors. So Halloween -related activities included creating origami pumpkins, a scavenger hunt, Halloween costume-free time, and Cake-Me-Away, which is sure to have pumpkins and ghosts in their designs. The winning Jack-'O-Lantern was revealed, while a spooky edition of line dancing was offered. Then there was Halloween teatime, followed by an 8pm costume party in the Lido with prizes for best costumes. A bar hop took place in the Crow's Nest at the same time, then trick or treat slots was in the casino. And there was a movie, Hocus Pocus in the World Stage with a one-time showing at 8:30pm. Something for everyone. Our buddy Nancy stopped by our room to show off her version of a Halloween costume created with an older HAL tote bag. Her outfit became part of being the candy bag. What a sense of humor she has and we thanked her for sharing.
One of us has been waiting for the recent doctor report and papers to submit to the travel insurance once we get home. These used to be delivered to our rooms in a sealed and taped envelope. However, it has been a week, and no envelope. So we stopped at the front desk to ask about it, and received a phone call 10 minutes later saying we have to go to the medical center to pick it up personally. Guess there have been some issues with privacy and they no longer put these in the general mail. Going at 11:30am, the nurse located the papers and handed them directly to me. Now the disturbing fact was that a lot of people were jammed in the waiting area to see the doctors. Some were obviously ill, wearing masks. Then we recalled seeing the health info first and foremost in today's newsletter……again. Then yesterday, we saw a hazmat team scouring a room down the hall from us. Come to think of it, we have not seen our room stewards for a few days, which is rare. They have been very visible ever since we boarded, so we sure hope they are OK. Now we are double-washing our hands.
Anyway, the weather remained the same as the last couple of days. The temperature was 75 degrees with mostly clear skies, later partly cloudy, 86% humidity, and 17mph winds. The swells have continued making walking difficult and the slow speed of the ship, 8 knots, has not helped. The Captain gave his noon update with the same numbers (minus the sunset and sunrise). He said we have traveled 674 nautical miles from Vava'u Tonga and have another 150 nautical miles to go to reach Rarotonga, Cook Islands tomorrow. He expects us to be at the anchorage at 7am with 20 knot winds with waves up to 6 feet. There will be some swell around the tender pier and the ship's platforms, but he will not know the conditions until we arrive. We estimate that we have made it to shore 50% of the time and missed the port as many times. There were no tours sold here as far as we could tell, so if we have to bypass this stop, it will have little impact on the ship's business. The least favorite time to stop in these islands is on the weekends since a lot is closed and the tours do not operate especially on Sundays. The dock workers may not even show up on these days. So why do they schedule these ports on weekends? Makes no sense. Again, what do we know?
For a change, we took a break from computer work and took a walk to the Seaview Pool. We had to laugh that the last time we strolled back there, it was freezing and we were on our way to Alaska. Today the deck was full of sunbathers, but not so many swimmers in the pool. Every seat where smoking was allowed was occupied. On this ship, the smoking was happening on the starboard side. Not having used sunscreen, we did not stay too long as the sun can be pretty intense in this part of the world.
We came back a bit later and picked up a Dive-In Cannonball burger and one hot dog, the first one of this trip. We stayed clear of the cake extravaganza or else we might tend to eat too much and ruin dinner….heaven forbid.
There was a decent sunset near 7pm, but the sun dipped below those pesty horizon clouds to disappear. The sky lit up moments later and was still pretty to see. Dinner time arrived shortly afterwards and we were off to the dining room. Starters were the lettuce-wrapped spring rolls with peanut sauce, one bowl of beefed-up chicken noodle soup, one Caesar salad, and a different type of chicken breast for the entrees. It was stuffed with a duxelles of mushrooms we think, but really needed more gravy or cranberry sauce. It sat on a bed of dry rice…tasty but dry. And with the Halloween activities starting early this evening, the dining room was about empty by 9:15pm. We did see a few crazy outfits, but most of that crowd was already partying in the Lido Poolside. We finished our meal with an apricot panna cotta, the one that comes in a small canning jar, and one small plate of fresh, sweet pineapple. The fresh fruit has been excellent this cruise.
So we shall see what tomorrow brings……will it happen or not? Keeping our fingers crossed it is a success.
Bill & Mary Ann
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