Weather – Partly cloudy, slight breeze, calm seas (again!) 23°
At last a bit of a sleep in! That is what Sea Days are all about. BUT silly me, I made a meeting time for our Tauranga Tour at 10.30am in the Wheelhouse Bar. So needless to say we needed to get up at a reasonable time to get through the bathroom and breakfast.
We headed for the Horizon Court for Breakfast, and the same lovely lady was on duty at the entrance to the Buffet. She was most helpful (I wish I had worked this out earlier, and that I took note of her name!) and she said “would I like my ‘usual’ – muesli (dry) 3 peaches and yoghurt”. She was amazed I ate so little – I did eat more one morning and wished I hadn’t! What a good memory, so duly done and she took me to a table, leaving Pete to organise just himself.
Just before 10.30 we wondered into the deserted Wheelhouse Bar and arranged a group of couches and chairs for our Tour Group. A good sign as all were punctual except our young ones! Jas eventually showed up, having left Kristi in bed as it had been a rather late night (3am) and they had plenty to drink! He had crawled out of bed and thrown some clothes on (and no doubt headed straight back there at the end of the meeting). The meeting was reasonably short. We ran through the proposed timetable/route and costings, which everyone was more than happy with.
While we were at our meeting Julie and Dave went to the Princess Theatre to see the Culinary Demonstration followed by a Tour of the Galley. It was most interesting.
A number of the CCer’s had done the Ultimate Ship Tour – costs USD$150, but you get a Chef’s Jacket, a Waffle Bathrobe and other stuff, which was very interesting. The tours were up to 3hrs long, as I mentioned earlier. Dave was going to do it, but never got around to putting his name down! (Something to remember to do on the next cruise.) As well as that, a good number were drawn from the ballot for the Chef’s Table (USD$75) which was done on three nights. Only about 10-11 get on each Chef’s Table, so it is quite something to get balloted for. I would have liked to do the Chef’s Table, but as you needed to able to walk and use stairs, it was not really an option.
At Noon in the Atrium, there was to be the “Egg Drop”, so curious to find out what that was about, we headed down there. We found a couple of chairs on the lowest level and waited. Having no idea what it was about, we asked another passenger, who informed us it was a competition to throw an egg from the second level and have it land in a target (a hula hoop on table cloths) in the centre of the lower level. People entered had received their instructions on the rules etc a few days earlier. It was most entertaining watching various groups with their different techniques to get there fresh eggs down without breaking it. I won’t bother describing it all, but needless to say some were very innovative and the commentary was most entertaining. The participants aged 6 -75+. We didn’t wait for the winner to be announced as it did go on for some time.
As it was time for our last lunch on board we headed to the International Dining Room, and asked to share again. This time we were sat with 6 others from America and Australia. The conversation was a bit weird and strained for a while, but once the four ladies left, Pete and I chatted to the two remaining gentlemen – one from Kansas and the other from St. Louis. We ended up having the most interesting conversation, and in the end at 2pm, the waiters indicated it was time we left!!!
Strolling back through the Promenade Deck we ended up at the Explorers lounge where the last of the Art Auctions was taking place. As we were feeling a little jaded we decided to stop here and watch the progress. Like last time, it was all quite false and it was unbelievable what people were buying and more astounding the ridiculous prices they were paying! Each to there own, but it must be a great money spinner for the Cruise Line. While sitting there we were joined by Julie and Dave, who were equally tired. Pete at one point nodded off!!
The last Afternoon Tea was on in the Pacific Moon Dining Room, and as there was an area set aside for CruiseCritic.com members, we went along. This had been organised without prompting by the Activities Staff, which was most appreciated.
Then it was time for a rest!! Back to the Stateroom for a nana nap! And boy did that hour rush by! Julie and Dave arrived for drinks before we knew it. So drinks were poured and we adjourned to the balcony to enjoy the vista. We could just see the coast line of the East Coast and enjoy the afternoon sun.
As we had been ‘rotating’ around the Dining Rooms, we headed for our second to last dinner to the Savoy. We asked for any table except the “massage table” and were seated to the one next door, which did have a bit of a vibration, but no where near as bad. Again a lovely dinner was had by all.
One thing I haven’t done is keep tabs on who ate what and when. Suffice to say the menu’s varied each night, we sometimes all had the same dishes and other nights we all tried something different. Most nights had a theme, and each of the Anytime Dining Rooms had a different Signature Dish. Pacific Moon was Asian, Santa Fe was Mexican, Savoy was English, and we guess Vivaldi’s was Italian, but we never dined there as it didn’t open until 8.15pm each night, which was too late for our liking.
Tonight’s entertainment for us was in the Explorers Lounge. Roger Carr, the resident pianist/signer who had played each night in the Crooners Bar was putting on a special show with the backing of the Ships Orchestra. We got an early spot as Roger was quite popular, and only once did we manage to get a seat the Crooners lounge for part of his segment, as there were a number of regulars who seem to get the few seats there were. We ended up with an Australian couple sitting with us, and during the conversation he mentioned they had a tour of the Bridge that morning. Turns out when you are on your 20th (yes 20th) cruise you get an invite to the Bridge! This couple didn’t look old enough to have done 20!!! Mind you the couple with the most cruise days under their belts had done 928 days! The show was enjoyable and Roger told us a bit about his career and how he came to be on the ship. He was in the backing band for Sammy Davis Jnr for 2 years. Only downside was the wife of the couple we were sitting with was a real talker and kept chatting to Pete during the show, and eventually I told Pete to hush, as she was becoming a real pain – think she had a wine or two too many!
Meanwhile Julie and Dave had headed for Deck 14 for Movies Under the Stars – lying on deck loungers with blankets, to watch ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ which I had seen on the flight over.
Our show was over by 9.30pm, so we were off to bed as we had an early start for Tauranga in the morning.
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