at Sea
Our first of 8 sea days to get to Guam. Our routine starts right up after port days. Breakfast, abs class at 7:30 and then back to the room to change and then we hit the gym.
Communication from our third party bookings is excellent. Since covid 19, the tour agents allow people to reserve a tour with no money due until 30 days before the tour takes place. Great policy if itineraries change. Every once in a while, a tour states that it is “non-refundable”. I certainly understand the policy but things happen beyond our control. We had a tour in Dubai that we prepaid. I contacted the tour company direct and received no response. When I contacted Trip Advisor, I received an email the next day stating that I would receive a refund. This is one reason I continue to use trip advisor and partner Viator. Great customer service. Today I received an email from our guide in Tokyo asking about spots we would like to see and transportation needs.
Honolulu was the end of the cruise for some passengers and the starting point for others. Most are doing the entire cruise but a fair number buy only segments. Many of the staff ended their tour of duty here also. New folks are easy to spot. A little lost and a little too polite in the aggressive feeding lines at breakfast and lunch. The big hungry bellies are always first. Thinner people are pushed aside. They are obviously not in as much need.
The line for ice cream never seems to end. The cookie line is at the end of it and I am able to snag a few if I get really aggressive.
Team trivia was an all time low for this team. 10 out of 23. Too many Shakespeare questions for me. There was a quote about hands and perfume. Lady Macbeth was the answer. Sometimes there is a question about an old tv series. Clare was smart enough to identify the four legged animal introduced on Roy Rogers. If you were thinking Trigger, his horse, you were with a lot of us. The answer was Bullet, his dog. Sometimes there is a reference to a television series that I never watched. Gary Coleman was the answer to one of them. Bring on the periodic table or the pythagorean theorem and I am right at home. The music questions rarely are in my span of education. Usually they refer to some musical artist in the late 20th century that I never listened to.
Another block party took place right before dinner. I was too busy doing my hair to participate. We chatted with Oscar at dinner, he told me it was his idea to do more block parties with free alcohol and less holiday decorations which go right into the trash. I told him a nice delivery of a bottle of booze every month right to the room is a better idea. He liked the idea as he would benefit too.
Dinner was superb once again. It’s hard to decide which soup to go with as a starter. The cold bisque that reminds me of a smoothie or the hot bean or chicken soup. Decisions….
The evening entertainment was Helena Angley. Helena is close to my age and grew up in Detroit. Maybe I will ask her where if I see her at lunch. She spoke about her life experiences, husband and kids. It was alright but not enough to keep Terri awake.…