It was odd waking up having moved our clocks back 30 minutes last night! I guess this is what it feels like to live in Newfoundland!
We awoke to sunshine on the verandah! What a delight!
I attended the coffee hour featuring the Food & Beverage Director Mehmet Musacali. It is always interesting hearing the inside story from staff. Mehmet confirmed it was eight sea cans of food that got moved on in Papeete. He said the greatest challenge is working with suppliers to get enough of any number of products for the voyage post COVID. There was a shortage of aluminum and that was problematic getting drinks. For instance, when they first started cruising, they couldn’t get any Diet Coke. They are hopeful that the supply chain issues are coming to an end soon. Mehmet gave an example of needing watermelon and trying to buy it at one port this trip. The seller said we can sell it to you - the price - it is $300 per kilogram!!! (that is like $140 per pound)! Crazy expensive! So Mehmet declined to buy the watermelon because the price resembled the cost of gold!
I followed up with two questions. 1. Will they offer a kitchen tour - maybe (they have permission but are concerned about COVID) and 2. Will they be bringing back America’s Test Kitchen? The answer, contract ended right before COVID - they are bringing back something better in January. Another question posed by somebody else - if you want a recipe can you get it? Yes, ask your room steward and they will get a copy of it for you!
J went for a workout…and I decided to go to the adult coloring class. It was shockingly busy with men and women! They have maybe a dozen different travel scenes printed on heavier weight paper to choose from and metal boxes of 36vpencil crayons. So I went and coloured about 40% of my beach scene with a palm tree before I headed to the MainStage for the EXC Talk: The Wizard of Wireless. It wasn’t quite as captivating given we have been without internet service for the past four days - but it was somewhat informative.
At lunch we ran into the couple we snorkelled with yesterday, so we sat and enjoyed burgers on the Lido deck and chatting about our adventure yesterday and future travel ideas.
J played bridge and I watched a bit of TV and blogged and prepped my texts to share with family in my 10 minute alotment tomorrow! Let me explain that Captain van der Hoeven sent out a memo stating that the ship would be offering limited wi-fi hotspots tomorrow while in Nuka Hiva. Guests will be allowed to visit one of three stations from 9 am - Noon and 1 to 4 pm to be given 10 minutes of free wifi access at one time, they will then be disconnected fromt the service. You can circle back to the back of the line to try again. They asked that guests only use text, WhatsApp/Messenger (without pictures) or retrieve/send email. I appreciate the window to try to send out some essential texts to family and friends looking after our homes! Tomorrow is our last day in port before seven days at sea so there is a small window with which we can work to a) resolve the situation (which Holland America is trying to do with repair technicians) and b) send/receive important information and c) to enjoy time in a port we might not ever return to visit!
Dinner was dressy so that means an upgraded menu. We had beef tenderloin and flourless chocolate cake for dessert. On the Mainstage tonight we enjoyed the Jukebox Rogues - a group of four male singers that travel to different cruise ships - as they sang Frankie’s Guys (songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons). It was an entertaining show.
We then stopped in to hear the end of the double piano set at the Billboard Onboard lounge. Tim and Blair are great piano players and singers!
We look forward to Nuku Hiva tomorrow!
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