Another day at sea today and it feels like we are on the final stretch of the trip. We have French Polynesian ports ahead of us (which ought to be thrilling) and then seven days at sea before returning home November 17th.
Today it was All Saints Day so we attended a Catholic Mass at 8 am. Then this morning I chose to make an effort to do some work for my business at home. Wrong day to choose that as the internet service was vvveerrrrryyy ssssllllooowwww. I then went to hear Kainoa’s final presentation on Pape’ete, Fakarava and Nuku Hiva. Kainoa will be leaving the ship in Pape'ete and then it will just be Ian to share information. Thankfully now Holland America is replaying these presentations on the TV in your stateroom. It is so hard to get a seat. A person goes to the MainStage 20 minutes early (while another speaker is still presenting) to secure a seat. There was a woman sitting on the stairs beside me for today’s presentation. His presentations are just so informative, filled with captivating slides and sharing really valuable information about the ports.
When I returned to our stateroom, J asked me to email him 3 pictures. That effort took about 25 minutes of internet - and J still didn’t receive them within the hour. We really are floating in the middle of the Pacific so satellite communications are limited!
There are 3 classes of email one can purchase: social, email, streaming. Social is only to go on facebook or instagram. Email allows you to send and receive email. Streaming allows you to conduct video calls with family. We chose the middle level for $375 US for the 50 days for one device. The fastest category cost $500. This means that I must log off the internet so that J can log in. We are able to manage quite well with one account - it is shared between my phone, computer and J’s iPad. I recall that one could get the internet package for 4 devices for $800 US for 50 days. They now offer an upgrade to the faster internet speed for the remaining 15 days for about $75? I may choose to upgrade for the final 7 days we are at sea when I am closer to returning to the work world and trying to accomplish more.
J and I met with another cruise critic member to sign up for a snorkelling tour he is organizing in Fakarava. He had a few cancellations so we were happy to fill in the two spots!
After that, J went to bridge and I watched the 2017 movie Gaugin - about the painter Paul Gaugin. He painted for the final 10 years of his life in French Polynesia. Gaugin died penniless around 1904. One of his paintings sold in 2014 for $210 million! The biography didn’t paint him in a particularly fabourable light, but it was informative.
Tonight was a dressy night - so that meant a lovely meal. Shrimp cocktail for an appetizer and a filet mignon and grilled shrimp for our main course.
Our friends R and C from the dining room took this picture of us!
And now, I type this as we await for the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers who are about to debut their show “Chart Toppers”. The ship is really moving tonight so I expect they will have a challenging time doing their dance steps on stage! We had a bit of sunshine earlier today and as the sun was setting, we had more misty, rainy conditions appear. (The show was excellent though I don’t think the audience cheered as loudly as the performers deserved!)
Tomorrow we hope to tender in successfully into Bora Bora! Our snokelling bags will be packed in anticipation!
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