Day one at sea has found the temperatures to still be in the high 70's and a 77% humidity. The winds in the morning were 17.2 mph, but we believe that they increased a lot during the course of the day. The Captain is maintaining a speed of 20 knots, so we are experiencing some rocking and rolling. That would increase as the day wore on.
Today was dubbed "Orange Day" with a splash of orange for the dinner theme. This is the first orange event of this 56 day cruise, but we did have one evening the same as this on every Alaska 7 day run we did in September. Gosh that seems like ages ago.
The Pinnacle Grill had few customers this morning since we think people have chosen to sleep later. With so many warm and humid ports in a row, the guests have become exhausted. At least speaking for ourselves, we sure needed some days at sea to "re-boot". Now we have them….six full days to recharge the battery to relax before beginning the packing. Not ready to tackle that quite yet.
One of us worked on two days' worth of photos and catching up on news. Then while one of us was completing yesterday's report, the other took a promenade deck walk for an hour. He came back with stories of up to 20 foot sea swells, a mist from the wave sprays that soaked the portside deck, and very strong winds making walking difficult. Only the starboard side of the promenade was usable since it stayed dry. I was more than happy to be busy in the room instead, although the exercise would have been good for me. When the ship has so much motion like today, walking on the promenade deck really tweaks the hips, knees and ankles. So why bring on more pain I say?
We had room service for lunch, keeping it light with mini-sliders, a little bit of coleslaw and a shared plate of French fries. Watermelon strips were enough for the sweet tooth. We had to save ourselves for a Pinnacle Grill dinner this evening at 8pm.
We had a call from the front desk reminding us to pick up our passports. That's funny, since we did not see that printed in today's newsletter. Nor did we hear it announced that they were being hand back to us on every elevator landing midship. It only took a minute to retrieve them, handing back the receipt we got when turned them in before we reached French Polynesia. Then on the way back, I returned seven books to the library. The exchange section had several donations,, but there was already one lady who had her eye on what I left on the shelf. I still have 5 more to read.
Anyway, this is a good time to do some pearl info. Known worldwide as "black pearls", they're known as Tahiti Cultured Pearls and come from the remote lagoons in Polynesia. The black-lipped oysters also called Pinctada Margaritifera cumingi are the ones used in the pearl farms of the Tuamotu and Gambier archipelagos. Did you know that if you opened as many as 15,000 oysters, you may find one natural pearl? Actually it was the shell of this oyster that was in demand in Europe to use for button-making. These real pearl gems were so rare they were the Pearl of Queens and the Queen of Pearls.
This industry is really fairly new since the first culturing began in 1961 in the Bora Bora lagoons. With the Japanese techniques of grafting (seeding), it took two years for the first successful harvest. The farms were set up in remote areas of the atolls where the care was long and fragile. These gems were recognized by the proper institutes and jewelry confederation earning them an international reputation. The cultured pearls are gauged by the diversity of size, shape, surface quality and their colors, which range from pale grey to black with other shades of green, dark grey, turquoise and eggplant. These are said to be the most desired, although it is up to the beholder…..you the buyer.
The pearls must display a continuous pearly layer of 80% of the surface and cannot show the underlying nucleus. If they do not qualify, they are considered "rejects" and cannot be sold. However, the pearls we always see being sold at the Marketplace in Tahiti certainly can be of the lesser quality because they sell for much less than at a jewelry boutique. The size is measured by its diameter and is about 8 to 12 mm. The shapes can be round, semi-round, semi baroque, and circled. The quality is judged by the luster and ability too reflect light. You will know the difference when you see them in good light. Category A is the most desired and expensive, followed by B, C, and D, the pearls without that luster. Common shades are green, grey, black, blue, golden, silver and purple, while the most desired are eggplant, rainbow, and green shades as we stated. Once again, that's the story in a nutshell.
We had hopes for a nice sunset, but there were few clouds on the horizon and very few in the skies. The sunset fizzled at 6:30pm. Dinner like we said was in the Pinnacle Grill at 8pm. Now that we are in the final week of the cruise, we expected it to be crowded. To our surprise, it was not crowded at all. Arsa mentioned that due to the rough seas, he had as many as 9 cancellations with seasick people. Like we said, it got worse as the evening went on, making walking anywhere more difficult. It did not affect our meal at all. We both ordered the wedge salads with the small taco appetizer. The pieces of glazed BBQ chicken in these small tacos is simply delicious and we are liking them as much as the clothesline bacon. They are listed on the Polynesia side of the menu, so we suspect they will remain as long as the ship continues to go back to the Hawaiian Islands.
Our mains were lamb chops and the small filet mignon. Sides of a half potato with toppings and a shared bowl of sauteed mushrooms was plenty for us. We saved room for a shared order of Baked Alaska. We sure have enjoyed our tie spent in here, and will miss it when we go home.
There was the Orange Party in the Lido poolside at 9pm as well as a show with Nathan Samuelson playing the trumpet. We could hear the start of his show at 8pm, then once again as we left the restaurant at 9:30pm. As for us, we rocked and rolled our way to our room hoping tomorrow's seas will be better.
Bill & Mary Ann
