March 31 to April 5, 2019
Final Sea Days from March 31 to April 5, 2019
March 31, 2019
We departed from Taiohae, last evening, the final stop in French Polynesia. In six days, we will be back to San Diego. It was Sea Day #12 (or #1 of the final 6 Sea Days).
The early morning temperature was 27°C, the wind was quite strong, the sky had white billowy clouds on the horizon, also a higher level of thin clouds, which filtered the sunlight, as we walked on Deck 3. The sea swells only about 1.5 meters high. The strong winds were whipping the foam from the whitecapped waves into a mist. The palm trees around the Deck 9 enclosed pool were swaying from the wind coming in from the fully open cover. We edited our photos over specialty coffee in the Deck 11 Crow’s Nest. We stopped at the Shore Excursions desk to ask about the elimination of the Fern Caves on the Tahiti tour and were told that there was a miscommunication between the tour operator and head office and were given a 15% refund on the excursion fee.
It was Sunday Brunch at noon, in the main dining room and it was full. The captain’s daily message mentioned that the noon temperature was 31°C. The ship was just three degrees south of the equator. We sat with Beryl and George from Revelstoke and talked a bit about dancing, followed by Tim Calvert’s talk about yachts and their owners at the Mainstage Theater.
Looked at some future cruise itineraries for Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore for part of the afternoon.
Our evening was our usual routine – 5:15 dinner in the main dining room; stop to play the 7 p.m. Trivia game in the Billboard Onboard bar, our score was only 7 out of 18. The mainstage entertainer was pianist and singer, Liam Cooper, who played the tunes of Billy Joel and Elton John very well.
The band playing at B.B. King’s Blues Club had Sunday night off and at 10 pm there was recorded dance music. Usually the recorded music does not start until 11:30 p.m. We met Beryl and George, whom we had met at lunch, and chatted in between dances. We were among about a dozen people dancing for over an hour. Michaela played any requests we had if she had them on the computer. Steps 14,190
It was the first time zone change going east. Our clocks were moved ahead one hour. There were two more changes before we arrived in San Diego.
April 1, 2019
It was Sea Day #13 (or #2 of the final 6 Sea Days). We crossed the equator into the Northern Hemisphere during the night, at 1:13 a.m. The early morning temperature was 27°C, it was windy, the sky had lots of grey clouds and you could see rain was close by. The waves were one and half to two meters high and some white caps on wave tops. Larry awoke with the start of a cold. We did not hear of any April’s Fools Day tricks.
We slept in until after 9 and quickly dressed and rushed to the dining room for breakfast before it closed at 9:30. We sat with Dianne and David. Dianne, we had met in the Cruise Critic Games Room on the first Sea Day. We walked on Deck 3 for an hour, since the morning talk was not of interest. We watched as the ship entered the rain and the decks got wet. The temperature only dropped a couple of degrees, but the wind seemed stronger. There were only a few places where there was no shelter from the rain but it was not too heavy. With each circuit, the number of people reading on the deck loungers decreased. We walked 11 circuits which was almost six kilometers. Steps 12,332
We met Merrill and Jane for lunch in the main dining room and got caught up with them about the visits to the islands. The ship had passed through the rain for a time. Larry played cards in the Cruise critic games room while Claire went to the poolside Line Dance class to learn Cupid Shuffle and Wobble. Both were quite easy steps to remember, for now. Each dance had four sets of steps to create a repeatable pattern that turned 90 degrees at the end each repetition. There was a jump and hip wiggle in one and some low kicks and a cha-cha cha step in the other dance. Although the pool roof cover was only slightly open, there was a bit of blue sky visible, but later in the afternoon, there was more rain.
Carol missed dinner and the Trivia game. The five of us scored was 11 out of 17 for Trivia game. One of the questions was a question on the daily puzzle page a few days ago - In what country is Timbuktu?.
The mainstage performance was Canadian comedian Scott Harris. He preformed an engagingly funny show. Timbuktu is in the African country of Mali. Steps 18,664
April 2, 2019
It was Sea Day #14 (or #3 of the final 6 Sea Days). The early morning temperature was 26°C, the sky had a high-level haze and thin white cloud, the wind was about 20 kph. There were two-meter high swells.
On the daily program there was a note that the Internet signals could be slower and even intermittent due to the geographical location of the ship at about latitude 10°N and about 131°W
We had the usual dining room breakfast, this time with Clary and Lynn, two of the 109 RVers onboard, During our hour-long Deck 3 walk, the haze cleared and sun became more distinct. The humidity seemed to be less than yesterday. Steps 9,387
We arrived at the Deck 3 dining room for a Mariners Loyalty lunch 10 minutes early and the room was almost 2/3 full. The captain gave a short speech and we toasted with a glass of champagne. We sat with Joy and Mike, whom we have met before and Americans Joe and Diane. This cruise was the second Holland America cruise for both couples. There will be three days of these luncheons. It appeared that the diners will be a mix of one-star (one completed voyage), two star (30 cruise day credits) and three star (75 cruise day credits) mariners for each day, since most of the 2,100 passengers are at least two star mariners and the Deck 3 dining room can host only about 500 people at one time. Each passenger received a china coaster with a blue sketch of the Eurodam ship on it. To be a four-star mariner, 200 or more cruise day credits are needed. More than ten 14-day cruises would be needed to reach that level.
In the afternoon we joined Barb, Pat and Cary for games of Five Crowns.
On the app for Holland America that can be activated on the ship, you can find the location of the Holland America fleet at any time; add appointments to your own daily schedule; make reservations at the spa, specialty restaurants or shore excursions; see your account of expenses that have accumulated, see the deck plans of the ship and there is a chat feature.
Our evening was – dinner, Carol was feeling better; the trivia game our score was only 5 out of 18; listen to part of the Lincoln Center Stage string trio play Mozart and Dvorak before finding a seat for the mainstage performance of the multi-instrumentalist, who played flute, electronic saxophone and keyboard.
This evening at 11 p.m. there was the Indonesian Crew variety show of traditional songs and dances. The Mainstage Theater was about 90% full of guests. 40% of the crew are from Indonesia. The show lasted 65 minutes, starting with a welcoming Bird Dance with the main character wearing a beautiful red and gold brocaded dress. Another dance with about two dozen people was lots of fun with the dancers kneeling on the stage and alternately bowing and straightening. Some of the performances would have been more enjoyable if they had lasted four minutes rather than over six minutes. At the finale it looked like about 50 crew were part of the cast. The show was over shortly after midnight. Overnight was the second time zone change, moving the cloaks one hour forward, this week. Steps 13,583
April 3, 2019
It was Sea Day #15 (or #4 of the final 6 Sea Days). The early morning temperature was 24°C, the sky was mainly white clouds with a few blue patches. During the day the sun was in and out of the clouds.
We had breakfast in the dining room, but with 45 minutes still left people entering in couples were sat at tables for two and not asked if they wished to share a table. There were not as many people as usual in the dining room, probably due to the time change.
We walked on Deck 3 for half an hour. Just after 10 at the midship Lido pool, the entertainment staff presented “Housekeeping Zoorodam”. Dennis allowed Larry to airdrop his photos to our Iphone. The deck around the pool was transformed into . These were the creations that guests might see each night on their beds, along with the next day’s schedule and a wrapped chocolate. We did not wait for the parade of housekeeping staff. We had arranged to meet Dennis and Carol for Five Crowns in the Crow’s Nest lounge on Deck 11. There was enough time before and after lunch for a 30-minute walk.
We didn’t bother with Bruce Petty’s morning talk about the fighting at Guadalcanal or Tim Calvert’s afternoon talk about submarine & how they function. We treated ourselves to lunch in the specialty restaurant, Pinnacle Grill, on Deck 2. Steps 14,090
When we pass the Future Cruises Desk these days, there are usually at least half a dozen people waiting to book another cruise. This afternoon Larry played Five Crowns with the Cruise Critic friends and Claire attended the talk by the Shore Excursion Guide about “The Secret Language of Ships”, which explained the markings on the ships and explanations of the functions for Draft, Bulbous Bow, Stabilizer, Azipod, Load Line, Whistle Blasts and the flags -National, House, Courtesy & Signal.
Our evening was our usual routine – dinner, the trivia game, our score was low just 5 out of 18. The mainstage performance was the return of pianist, Liam Cooper, another entertaining performance. Steps 16,817
a towel animal “zoo” of all of the kinds of towel animals
lunch in the specialty restaurant, Pinnacle Grill
April 4, 2019
It was Sea Day #16 (or #5 of the final 6 Sea Days). The early morning temperature was 20°C, the sky was cloudy and some blue sky was visible, but as we cruise north the temperature is decreasing. There was a light breeze and the sea swell was hardly noticeable at less than half a meter. People are already packing to leave the ship in two days.
We walked about two kilometers on Deck 3 before breakfast in the dining room. Then we purchased an internet package and climbed up to the Crow’s Nest on Deck 11 for cappuccinos and were able to post nine days of text, maps and all of the photos from Tabuaeran, before the Internet access ground to a halt. Not even connecting to email was possible the rest of the day.
We met Jane and Merrill for lunch on Deck 9 in the Lido market. Later, Larry played Five Crowns with some of the Cruise Critic card players - Barb, Pat & Dani. Claire read finishing her fifth book on the cruise, then walked on Deck 3.
This evening was the final Gala Attire dinner in the main dining room. Our table looked dressy for the occasion and took photos of each other in our Gala clothes. The six of us had a terrible trivia game tonight scoring a humbling 5 out of 18. After trivia, there was enough of an Internet connection to see the Environment Canada website, but no connection for posting photos to the blog. Before the show, there was a video playing showing the donations made by the passengers and Holland America to the people of Tabuaeran, back on March 20th. Over twenty 60 liter boxes of school supplies, five sewing machines and more. The Shamrock Tenors returned to the mainstage for this evening’s performance.
Another try to post pictures was lumbered at a pace half of one photo per hour. We had bought the streaming package!
After the show, Larry went to the Casino and Claire went to Lincoln Center Stage for a performance of Bruch and Beethoven by one of the violinists, Niels;, the violist, Tom and the pianist, Pierre. Just as the concert ended, parading from the Deck 2 dining room were dozens of waiters wearing beige trousers, white long sleeve shirts with white vests carrying trays of chocolate delights for the evening’s “Chocolate Surprise” on the Lower Promenade Deck 2. Several stopped at the different bars and lounges and others offered their indulgences to people in the corridors. Each tray held several dozen two-bite size treats . There were sticks holding balls of chocolate truffle covered in a milk chocolate shell, tiny chocolate raspberry tartlets, sticks holding white marshmallows dipped in a milk chocolate, mini chocolate macaroons sandwiching a chocolate spread, and miniature waffle cones (smaller than a thumb) containing a lemon custard topped with a chocolate ganache rosette. They were all tasty.
The band was playing their second set of the night in the B.B. King Blues Club and it was danceable music. We joined a couple of dozen couples on the dance floor for a few dances. Then checked on the progress of the three uploading photos – not much.
Overnight was the third time zone change this week, getting everyone back to San Diego time. Steps 13,733
Gala Night surf and turf dinner
April 5, 2019
It was the final Sea Day #17, our last! The temperature was 18°C as we headed to breakfast in the main dining room on Deck 2 to meet Marylou and Ken. The sky was mainly sunny, there was a light wind, the humidity was not noticeable, and the swells were around a meter high.
After breakfast we climbed up to Deck 11 to the Crow’s Nest Lounge in the hope of getting a faster internet connection. The text went in well, but the pictures were slow to load in the morning, but changed to a snail’s pace in the afternoon. In seven hours, about 80 pictures were uploaded. For over a week in the Crow’s Nest Lounge around 8 people at a time have been working form early mormomg till late into the evening on a 9000 piece puzzle. This morning it was finally completed. From deck 11 we saw a cargo ship travelling in the opposite direction. During the captain’s noon announcement, he mentioned that the cargo ship was a Neo PanaMax class, which means it is so wide that it needs to use the new third lock to pass through the Panama Canal.
We had our final dinner with Dennis, Carol, Jeff and Susan and the wait staff, Ida and Adrian. We skipped the trivia game, but the others tried and scored 10 out of 25. We went to the show where comedian Scott Harris was followed by accordion player, Annie Gong. Jeff and Susan dropped by the stateroom after the show to give us participation pins that Michela, the trivia hostess, gave to the trivia players.
Most people were packing their luggage, in anticipation of leaving the ship tomorrow morning. Later in the evening the corridors were clogged with luggage to be taken to a storage area and put into an onshore warehouse for passengers to collect after leaving the ship in the morning, before clearing United States Customs & Border Services. People were reminded to keep out medications and clothes to wear in the morning from their packed luggage. Steps 12, 985.
9000 piece puzzle
Guadeloupe Island
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