San Martin, Peru to Easter Island, Chile

Well we are definitely back at sea and crossing the Pacific Ocean, with the ship a rocking, a rolling and corkscrewing in SE’ly gale force winds of about 40 knots, and a short steep swell. With our WSW’ly heading this puts the seas on the port quarter, which causes a combination of pitching and rolling. The majority of the onboard discussion centres around receiving reports from those that visited Machu Picchu and how many sea days we can expect after departing Peru. Easter Island is our next scheduled port of call, but only between 1 in 4, or even 1 in 7 ships make the call. If we stop at Easter Island, it will only be 4 sea days, but if we miss the port, it will be almost 11 continuous days at sea. While the schedule lists Pitcairn Island between Easter Island and Papeete, it is not a port of call, as it only entails an 8 hour scenic cruise around the island.

Temperature: High 23C/73F, Low 17C/63F

Wind/Weather: SE’ly winds at 40 knots, Short/steep 12-15 foot seas & swell. Initially overcast, changing to partly cloudy around Noon. 

Sunrise/Sunset: 06:38/18:23

Clox: Z-5 (no change)

Navigation

Throughout the day, Sea Princess maintained a WSW’ly course at 18.2 knots across the Pacific Ocean. Yet again the Navigator seems a tad directionally challenged as the Patter advised a W’ly heading. 

Activities

As usual my day started about 05:30 on the Promenade Deck, completing only 12 laps or 4 miles this morning, as I wanted to get the posts I wrote last night uploaded. I find that greater bandwidth is available prior to about 08:00, so the upload time is significantly less. Since it was early, I returned to the cabin, grabbed the laptop and headed down to the Wheelhouse Bar, so as not to disturb Judi’s beauty sleep. The number of morning walkers was also reduced, probably due to a combination of the ship’s movement and having just completed a flurry of ports and the associated tours.

We headed down to breakfast this morning about 08:30, getting the same waiter as yesterday. We had 3 other couples, with one being the same as yesterday. Two of the couples rarely joined the conversation, which started off discussing the alternative tour we joined yesterday. Our original wildlife cruise was cancelled by the operator at the last minute, but the tour staff quickly scheduled an alternative tour, which although more expensive, was offered at the original price. General consensus at the table was positive and we all appreciated the tour staff’s efforts to arrange the alternative tour. Next topic of conversation was the ship’s photographers, who received very poor reviews from everybody, as nobody is happy with their conduct, services or prices. I was pleasantly surprised with the negative opinion, as I thought I was in the minority, obviously not.

Reviewing the schedule today, really nothing is appealing:

• Zumba – while I normally attend, the ship’s movement back aft brings the safety of this activity into question and I would not be surprised if it was cancelled
• Carpet bowls, bridge lectures – really not of interest
• Plethora of Princess health seminars – normally presented by a chap wearing a white coat to make you think he is a medical professional. Judi with her medical knowledge disputes much of what he presents
• Destination Writing & Culture Lecture – we attended his first lecture and left after only 5 minutes, poor presenter and subject matter way below level of the audience
• Ring toss, Hula, Choir, Ballroom dance – not of interest
• Tarot & Palmist Series – a new lecturer, hopefully not replacing David the Scientist. This subject could not be any further from my interests.
• Darts, Water Volleyball, Basketball shootout – really, doesn’t the Cruise Director check the weather forecasts before planning the schedule. The pools will resemble a Tsunami with the ship’s motion.

For the morning Judi lay down to relax her back and I got started on yesterday’s photographs until we headed down to lunch about 12:30. Seated next to our dinner table we had 2 other couples and a single lady. Except for 1 couple, the rest of us have been on since Sydney and have met for previous breakfasts or lunches. The other couple only joined in New York, so this is their first experience with Capt Kent’s announcements and the rough weather, we have experienced most of the cruise. I had the roast pork, which this time was tender and served somewhere between tepid and warm. Probably about the best you can expect from this galley.

Taken late afternoon from our balcony, with the wind having eased to about 35 knots from the earlier 40 knots.

With nothing of interest on the schedule, I actually got caught up to date with photographs and blog posts, writing one for the tour in San Martin and even getting most of this one written, up until dinner. It actually feels good to be finally all caught up, especially after the flurry of ports back in the Mediterranean.

At dinner this evening it was our least favourite menu – Italian Night. The bonus is we got to welcome Bruce and Viv back and heard all about their 3-day trip to Machu Picchu. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and reported zero issues with altitude sickness. Can’t wait to see the photographs and films. For dinner, I had the always available salmon, which was served between cold and look warm, the boiled potatoes were raw and the vegetables cold. A replacement was brought out by our excellent Head Waiter, with at least the salmon freshly cooked and hot. The potatoes and vegetables were consistent with the first plate. No deserts were of interest, so I opted for the healthy option of a fruit plate.

After dinner, Judi was feeling the effects of the ship’s movement, so she headed back to the cabin to lie down, while Bruce, Viv, Christine and I headed to Princess Theatre for the show. It was billed as Vocalist Davidia, elegant and electrifying, she is a one-of-a-king diva. Wow! what a show. It started slowly with her hitting the stage singing, but after the first song she started talking about her kids. At this point the folks sitting next to me almost left, just before she started singing again. Her voice has an amazing range and she is comfortable singing anything from the most challenging opera to pop music. A thoroughly enjoyable show and we will return for her next performance. 

As another day closes, we bid you farewell, till tomorrow and hope for fair skies and following seas.