October 21, 2024 Sea Day #10
It was our final Sea Day. Tomorrow morning the ship docks in Vancouver. It was a gloomy morning with rain, wind and four meter high waves. The temperature at 8 a.m. was 12°C.
The clocks were advanced forward one hour overnight. We are now the same time as Vancouver. We talked to Handa and Anto, our room stewards, to personally give them a small tip today, rather than leaving on our desk in the morning. We had breakfast at the Grand Dutch Café since the dining room today didn’t open until 9 a.m. to prepare for the four hour long Hawaii Brunch. The menu wasn’t inspiring so we decided to skip it. Suzanne & Graham went and said they enjoyed the Hawaiian plate - macaroni salad, grilled teriyaki chicken, Korean beef short ribs and sticky rice.
There was a 9 a.m. lecture in the World Stage. Dr. Robert Hilt presented Chasing The Moon’s Shadow about Solar Eclipses with emphasis on cruises that Dr. Hilt has taken to get to an area of total eclipse and then chat to people on the ship before and after the event. There is a Holland America cruise in 2025 and 2027 (August in the Mediterranean) especially for tracking an eclipse. Total eclipses can last from 30 seconds to over seven minutes depending on the earth’s rotation, how close to the equator and the position of the moon.
We took the hour break between lectures to pack about 90% of our things. The only purchase we made was Kona coffee. At the Aft, Mid-ship and Forward elevator lobbies there was an electronic scale for people to weigh their luggage for their flights from Vancouver. We took a look inside an elevator to see that the floor carpet has the day as part of the design. They are not very large, maybe six people could squeeze in but with one wheelchair maybe only two other people. There are four at each elevator lobby, which is right by the stairs.
Virginia Stilt’s final talk was at 11 a.m. in the World Stage about Public Gardens, like Vancouver’s 450 hectare Stanley Park, that are becoming less formal and adding native plants that are perennial. There are still many formal gardens like Vancouver Island’s Bucharest Gardens. She showed gardens in Trømso, Norway, and Bergen, Norway, that highlight local plants.
At 11:30 a.m. up in the Lido Market was Cake Me Away, with a variety of cakes at several different places in the buffet. It was to last until 2 p.m. While we were there the captain came over the P.A. for his daily announcement. Our position was 47.37°N and 126.38°W the course was NE 36.47 at 19 knots. The wind was 13 knots, the waves were one to two meters and there were brief sunny breaks. There were just 252 nautical miles to the Port of Vancouver.
We climbed up to the Deck 12 to the Explorers Café for our second Americano and Cappuccino of the day. You can get a larger size there. Since the outside decks were cool and windy we walked the halls of all the decks on our back to our statement giving us a little over 7,000 steps.
We got our books and went to the Ocean Bar to use our complimentary Mariners Cocktail coupons. On our way back looking down into from the Deck 2 to Deck 1 Art Gallery. The 20 or so quilters who had been working on their quilt tops during the cruise were displaying them on the Art Gallery floor. The quilting women had their sewing machines set up in the two Hudson Rooms which we passed several times each day. All the Art Gallery paintings and small sculptures were up on Deck 3 in the Rolling Stone Lounge for the Grande Finale Art Auction this afternoon. The spouses and friends of the quilters were taking pictures from up on Deck 2.
The entertainment show was at 3 p.m. this afternoon, due to people packing this evening. It featured the impressionist, Tyler Bryce, for his second appearance. The Movie Avatar was playing in the World Stage theatre this evening.
We danced a few dances at the Ballroom Dance hour before going to dinner. When most guests on the 5 p.m. seating had completed eating, but before they left, a parade of waiters, assistant waiters and cooks snaked their way through the two levels of the restaurant singing. The patrons were waving the white napkins as the 100+ member group passed their tables. We said farewell to Suzanne & Graham and Jo & Mike and our waiters Sandi & Armadi. After dinner we slipped our waiters a small tip. On the way back to the stateroom, we stopped to get an Americano and a Cappuccino. When checking that we had everything packed, including what was in the safe, Larry discovered that I had not lost my GPS devise in Honolulu. I had put it on a safe place and forgot and for the past week thought it was lost. I had put in my money belt and it was with me on all the excursions, but I did not know it.
We put the luggage in the hall after 9 p.m., so that it could be taken off the ship in the morning. We can pick it up in the terminal before going to Customs. We just need to take our carryon to breakfast in the morning.
Steps. 9,967
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