October 6, 2024 Sea Day #1

   We had a light breakfast - muffin & cappuccino at the Grand Dutch Café before heading to the 9 a.m. events. Either Coffee with Alex (the Cruise & Travel Director) interviewing the Executive Chef in the Rolling Stone Lounge or making Kukui Nut Leis with the three Hawaiian cultural ambassadors - Kane, Lani & Tara, in B.B. King’s Blues Club. To make the lei took less than 30 minutes.

   Just before 9 a.m., the Captain made an announcement that the ship would be changing course to the east, to unexpectedly rendezvous with the U.S. Coast Guard to medivac a severely ill crew member. The helicopter arrived around 11:30 a.m. to hover as the crew member was lifted to the helicopter. Passengers were asked to stay off the balconies and the outside decks during the procedure.

   The ambassadors were teaching Hulu Dancing at 10 a.m. but we walked up to the pool on Deck 9 for 10 a.m. 30 minute Line Dancing lesson, where about 30 people participated in the lesson hosted by Declan. The warmup dance was YMCA. There were two more dances, one to the song “Achy Breaky Heart”, then ending with the Cuban Shuffle.

   Today the main dining room opened for Sunday Brunch from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. We joined Nelson and Vera from southern Ontario and Donna from Washington state.

   The captain’s daily announcement was shortly after Noon. He mentioned that the navigation crew, including some cadets, would be plotting the ship’s course on a paper chart in the Crow’s Nest Lounge at 1 p.m. At noon the ship’s position was 56°N and 120°W. The wind was blowing 18 knots (about 33 km/hour) which was Force 4 on the 12 position Beaufort Scale. He also stated that the ocean swells would get a bit higher than the current one metre later in the day.

   In the Crow’s Nest at 1 p.m. navigation officer Joey and two cadets Dean and Guildo showed how manual navigation is plotted on a sea chart. We were two of four people interested. We walked about 1.75 km on Deck 11 past the shuffleboard, the corn hole setup and the pickleball/basketball courts. There were a few people playing the shuffleboard and the corn hole plus a few others walking under sunny skies and 18°C temperature. Later in the afternoon accessible on the TV was NFL Football and women’s league basketball.

   Tonight was the first “dressy” attire for the evening. It was suggested that men’s outfits include a sports jacket and women wear pantsuits or cocktail dresses. There are still some people who wear tuxedoes and gowns. The ship’s photographers were stationed near the dining rooms and bars for people to pose in their “good” outfits. 

   Only Suzanne and Graham joined us at table 24. Pam and Dennis told us late this afternoon that they would not be coming to dinner while Grace and Betty arranged for a table of 4 for themselves and the two women with whom they are travelling. After dinner we stopped at the Rolling Stone Lounge to listen to the five person band playing before returning to the stateroom to get earplugs.

   The Captain’s Welcome, including a glass of sparkling wine, was given in the World Stage theatre just before the two dance company shows, one show was at 6 p.m. for the people with 7:30 p.m. or later dinner reservations and at 8:00 p.m. for the people with 5 p.m. dinner reservations. The Senior staff was introduced and toasted. Since we had already seen the same dance company performance in the spring, we went back to the Rolling Stone Lounge, but they didn’t play any tunes to which we wanted to dance. We went down the hall to the B.B. King’s Blues Club where a seven person band was playing music, with Memphis Nights as the theme.  We were the only dancers on the floor for a couple of tunes. We returned to the stateroom when the band’s set ended.

Steps 11,915


making Kukui Nut Leis with Hawaiian cultural ambassadors - Kane, Lani & Tara

diversion to rendezvous with the U.S. Coast Guard to medivac a severely ill crew member




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