Itinerary Map now out of date

Today we received the news of our first schedule change of this cruise. Cruise ships frequently miss the Cook Islands due to weather and based on the Captain’s announcement, we are heading directly to Tonga, where we will enjoy an overnight.

Temperature: 27C/81F

Wind/Weather: E’ly about 20 kts, with partly cloudy skies

Sunrise/Sunset: 05:55/19:13

Clox:  No Change (Z-10)

Navigation

We maintained W’ly courses at just over 15 kts

Weather

Winds are E’ly at about 20 kts, which is almost right astern and slightly stronger than the ship’s speed. Therefore, we get very light winds over the deck. Skies are partly cloudy.

Meals

Today’s special meals:

• Aquavit Terrace (18:00 – 21:00) – Polynesian Buffet

Following trivia, our entire team headed to the MDR for lunch. I tried the Creole fish fritters, which were great, with just a little hint of heat. Served with an excellent sauce. For main course, I stayed with fish, having prawns in a delicious white sauce. Judi, along with the others had the stir fried veal, which they all agreed was excellent.

Loungers were removed to make room for BBQ’s

Since Papeete, the Cruise Director has been promoting the Polynesian buffet in the World Cafe/Aquavit Terrace. They had a couple of BBQ’s on the back deck, cooking Lobster tails and Monk Fish, then the Hotel GM had a hot plate by the pool, where he was cooking pepper steaks. They had a whole bunch of coconuts with Pina Coladas, a great selection of desserts and Baby Doc on a crepe station. The World Cafe had their usual variety of selections. Based on our experience, it wasn’t overly traditional Polynesian, but the food was great and the crew and officers did an exceptional job of organising and hosting. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

Activities

Still a little behind on blog posts and photos from Bora Bora, instead of heading out for my usual walk, I flashed up the laptop and completed a couple of hours before breakfast. Judi wanted to sleep in this morning, so after breakfast at the World Cafe, I headed down to the Theatre for the AM lecture – Nautical Knowledge, What the Captain learned at college.

After the lecture, I joined Judi in the Living Room, before heading up to the Theatre for the Captain’s Noon announcement and daily trivia. The Captain provided his usual navigational update, then advised he would put the remainder throughout the cabins. At that point, I knew we were skipping the Cook Islands, due to weather. Very few ships actually make it ashore, so I wasn’t surprised.

Captain’s Weather Forecaster

At trivia, scoring 10/15, we missed the play-off by 1 point. We should have scored 11, but nobody else agreed with me that Brazil was the 5th largest country, by area. Oh well, we can’t win every day.

In the afternoon, we got caught up with laundry, before heading up to the Polynesian Buffet. After the Buffet, the Cruise Director and all his staff performed as a group with another night of dancing under the stars, up on the pool deck. Great evening.

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