We believe we are at a point that we have finally caught up with pictures and reports. Dealing with a new computer with many changes has slowed up the progress. Something has been causing the photos to lose the captioning, then we have to do it all over again. Sometimes it takes three times to get it to work.
One of us is not computer savvy by choice. So if something goes awry, I am stopped in my tracks. Pushing one incorrect key might delete photos and all. It has happened more than once. By the time we figure all of this out, we will be home.
We had three sets of visitors this morning in the Pinnacle Grill.....our President's Club buddies. We all decided we needed another get-together to continue sharing news and whatnot. By the way, many of the regular waiters here are moved elsewhere. Some rotate to the Neptune Lounge, but a few just joined the ship in San Diego, replacing some that went home in the same port. Many of us are not sure we like this new idea of moving the staff around, especially the waiters who have gotten to know our likes and dislikes, or that we love lots of hot coffee on sea days.
Captain Thomas came on with his update at noon. He stated that the ship is doing 18 knots as we head directly west, and the temperature was a cool 69 degrees with lots of clouds. Not exactly swimming or suntanning weather. The winds were 25 knots or 18.1 mph (more or less) with 84% humidity. The ship has traveled 769 nautical miles from San Diego and has another 1054 nautical miles to go to reach Nawiliwili, Kauai. There is currently a swell of 8 feet causing some pitching and rolling. He continued with some info on the Pacific Ocean, telling us that it covers 30% of the earth's surface. At its deepest point in the Mariana Trench, you could take Mt. Everest to the bottom of this ocean, and it still would not come close to breaking the surface. Yep, that's over our heads. The Captain admitted to us at our last gathering that he has resisted the need to give sea depths because some guests get nervous hearing that. You learn something new every day.
Sunset will be 6:17pm and sunrise at 6:10am. We missed a travel agency cocktail party in the Crow's Nest waiting for the sun to go down. Due to heavy clouds on the horizon, there was little to no color in the sky tonight. Anyway, the Captain reminded everyone to wash their hands frequently and to be sure to set our clocks back one hour tonight. None of us complain about that, especially the crew.
Dinner had crispy Thai spring rolls on the menu with the best Thai chili sauce. We each had one, but could have made a meal with those alone. One of us was still chilled from being on the veranda too long waiting for the sun to go down. A bowl of piping hot chicken noodle soup fixed that. Another tasty appetizer was the smoked chicken one. Mains were a pork belly with sweet, mashed potatoes and one plate of spaghetti without the shrimp. Diced tomatoes and olive oil made the sauce perfect. Topped with Parmesan cheese, it was a light meal. Betty, our assistant maitre'd personally brought our hot plates with hot food. It finally took a word with Dwi, the head man, that we like our mains hot. He put out the word, and now it is done. Desserts were one blueberry cheesecake - light and fluffy with no sugar added. Asking what the ice cream of the day was, the answer was confusing. I heard Hajid say something like "cakie doo", where we said huh? Was that something new? Then he laughed and repeated it again saying cookie dough. We tend to forget that English is not their first language. Good thing he laughed too. The other dessert was one scoop of berry swirl ice cream. Our waiter Hajid seemed disappointed that I only wanted one single scoop. Yes as long as it is not cakie doo. They really go the mile to please us, but sometimes less is better.
The entertainment in the show lounge was a new group of the World Stage Cast of singers and dancers with Crossroads. Perhaps the theme is country western with rhythm, roots and rhymes being that their ad showed cowboy boots.
So much for day # 2 at sea. Setting the clocks back was an extra plus.
Bill & Mary Ann
