What a difference from one day to the next! The ONLY negative of the day was our satellite reception. The Captain informed us early-on that the particular ‘block’ we were sailing in was void of any reception, including television. So obviously, no Internet.
Our toilet was plugged again this morning – really not a negative because once it was reported again, they completely rebuilt our facility – it’s like a brand new unit – plus, the maintenance department performed hourly checks, and the Front Office phoned twice yesterday afternoon & evening to be sure it was functioning. Part of the issue was just the fact that several units are tied together on each deck – if one unit becomes plugged, it can eventually affect other staterooms once the foreign object (such as a washcloth) is flushed into the shared system of pipes. With our facility upgraded with new, stronger valves, even if there’s a problem somewhere down the hall we shouldn’t be affected. Great follow up!
We attended Good Morning Amsterdam at 9:30, then a wine tasting class from 11:00 – Noon. Skipped lunch, took a short nap - yes, it was the wine!
Wii games at 1:00 – card games from 2:00 – 3:30. Happy hour at 4:30 with dinner seating at our normal 5:30. What a difference! We were met at the door by the Head Waiter who profusely apologized for the previous evening – then our two table waiters apologized. Dinner was fantastic – everyone shook hands (group hug) and all was well! When we got to our room a few minutes later, there were two huge plates of chocolates along with an apology letter from the Head Chef! Truly GREAT customer service and excellent follow through from Holland America. Please know I share this with you not to be self-serving in any respect – Holland America would do this for any passenger experiencing any kind of issue – that’s just the way they run things and one of many reasons why we think so highly of them.
Entertainment this evening - the Holland America Singers – what a show! They are superb vocalists & dancers, in fact much better than many of the ‘professionals’ we’ve seen. Their arrangements are outstanding – I was so impressed, I plan to talk with our Cruise Director and find out who writes their music – it could possibly be a potential resource for the NFP organization Cheryl and I are associated with – long shot, but it won’t hurt to get a name for our Executive Director to consider at some point.
This is a strange snippet of information. Our clocks haven’t moved at all since leaving Ft. Lauderdale – we’re still on Eastern Standard Time and we’re now in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! We learned the reason just a while ago. Apparently, since we were last at Easter Island, the residents there elected to conform to the Chilean time zone, which is also Eastern. We’re still 1,200 miles from Easter Island, so it’ll be interesting to see how we handle the timing issues once we leave there next Monday evening – is this where we lose a day (international date line) or how do we adjust for all these hours??
Good weather – a few clouds and some brief rain early – temps continue in the 70’s – great sailing – no issues. We’ve only had one period of rough seas, and that was shortly after we left Ft. Lauderdale. It was last year in these same Pacific waters where we had 2+ days of very severe weather & seas between 30 – 50’. So far…so good!
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