The ship is rocking, or is it rolling, more this morning. Still fingers crossed that it doesn't get any rougher. We saw an 8-foot tall breaker splash out of the swimming pool as they quickly drained it this morning. We usually walk straight across deck 12 from Marketplace to Palm Court after breakfast. That means we have to cross the open pool deck area in the center. The captain said in his 9 am announcement that we are in 10 foot swells that are predicted to reduce to 6 feet later today. I hope.
It is day 1 of a 7 day stretch of sea days. I got this segment's needlepoint kit this morning. I saw a huge bunch of leaping dolphins speeding along the port side before we passed them. It was a joy. Clay was sitting on our starboard balcony all that time and saw nothing. Our cabin stewardess stopped me on my back into our cabin to inform me that the Coke Zero Sugar Zero Caffeine I had rejected with a request for additional Coke Zero Sugar only was all that only the Zero Caffeine was being stocked aboard now. She asked if I had some other request, I replied no I would wait for Coke Zero Sugar only to be replenished and she could let me know when it was back. We'll hope my request goes up the chain of command and is honored before we disembark. I have small hope with 7 sea days followed by 2 weeks + in Africa. This on top of no fruit Greek yogurt for the past week. Not likely it will be back aboard before we depart. At WC per diems, I expected a better effort from Crystal. I know from past F&B managers that I am easy to profit from as a passenger but this is ridiculous. My demands are not expensive or obscure.
Today is a formal night. I believe there are 4 this segment. We have a dinner reservation at Umi Uma at 6 pm. It is our favorite specialty restaurant. Ironic given it is the Japanese sushi specialty! Tonight we move the clocks back 1 hour. I have looked to see how many hours we'll gain back over this next week. I'll be surprised. I am sure there must be at least 2 or 3 more though. The captain said this morning that we are running 3 of 6 generators and will have to average about 19 knots to make our 2 to 3 thousand mile distance to Port Louis, Mauritius. I don't remember the exact distance but we both looked at each other in shock as this stretch of Indian Ocean sea days exceeds the entire distance of the previous segment.
We've discussed that this is probably our last big trip. That in the face of the aggressive onboard booking sales literature. They are actively promoting their 2021 Northeast Passage cruise which is not yet available on their website but I guess they are selling it onboard at a discount. If we aren't buying, I can't imagine that this is their market demographic onboard, but what do I know. Anyway, it is breaking my heart. What a fantastic voyage!
This afternoon while Clay went to the popcorn movie, I sat out on the balcony and did needlepoint. After an hour or more with only seeing 2 birds, I noticed a disturbance on the water. Something black, solid, not birds. It turned out to be a pair of blue whales! How do I know this? Well earlier in the cruise we had a marine biologist aboard who gave a lecture about how to identify whales spotted by their blows and back fins. He said blue whales blow forward and their little back fin is about two-thirds of the way down their back vs. humpbacks that blow up and the fin is about 1/3 back. Plus it was enormous, the largest creature I've ever seen. It was easily twice the size of any humpback I've ever seen. It was very exciting. Later I saw another small group of very distant dolphins.
Little Bob hits the road
Little Bob hits the road
