Wednesday, March 16, 2022 – Day 2
No Dance Band tonight as they are backing up the cabaret singer on the main stage tonight. We spent the evening hours winning a little more at slots and watching the sun go down from the Sea View pool area.
It was also nice to see the number of birds flying around. Land can’t be too far away.
Dinner was a shared table tonight with 5 other people – a solo traveler, one couple from Texas, and another couple from Naples, Florida. The Texas couple and Naples couple had both lived in Wisconsin, so they had a lot to catch up on. Chuck and I were not in on the conversation that much. One gentleman’s birthday is March 16, so he plans to celebrate on both days.
We both had the chorizo on bruschetta for an appetizer. I had the butternut squash soup and Chuck had a salad. He had the sweet and sour pork and I had the pasta with mushrooms. When he saw others getting the beef wellington, he had food envy and wished he had gotten it instead of the pork.
The dinner ran long as shared table dinners do. We didn’t get out of there until 8:15 and that was without eating dessert. No telling how long it would have been to wait for dessert.
We went to Deck 10 for another lesson in star gazing. We were able to see the Southern Cross and Orion’s Belt with little problem. The moon is full and very bright.
Our next choice was the second set of the BB King Band or the cabaret singer in the main stage. We opted for BB King. They were as good as always but tonight’s set of songs were not very danceable. We like it when she sings “Midnight Train to Georgia.” That is a danceable song.
Once we were back in the room, we found the note that reminded us that we would be crossing the International Dateline and would be reliving Wednesday, March 16th. Still a weird concept.
In addition, we got another note that said HAL would be performing balcony washing and maintenance from 8:30 – 12:30 so they may need to enter the cabin to get to the balcony during those times. Good to know. I’d be startled to find anyone in the cabin other than Chuck or the room stewards.
So, yes, the elevator mats have not been changed and the date on my watch matches the mats again so it must be Wednesday, March 16th one more time. I also woke up at the same time as yesterday. The weather is a duplicate of yesterday. I’m getting that “Groundhog Day” feeling although I’ve never seen the movie.
We had breakfast in the main dining room this morning. We had a table for two so the service was very quick. Once we got back to the room, I rinsed our snorkel masks and tubes. I will treat them with anti-fogger later on today. I also watched Ian’s Q/A on French Polynesia. He did it live yesterday and then put the presentation on the rooms’ televisions.
We also received our official certificates for crossing the International Date Line. We may also get a certificate for crossing the Equator too.
Well, as the afternoon progressed, it was definitely not Groundhog Day.
After finishing watching the video presentation, we walked 1.5 miles around the promenade. Humidity is definitely getting worse even with the breeze. Afterwards, we made our way up to the Sea View pool.
Just as I got situated with securing our towels with the clips, ordering a drink, putting on sunscreen, and getting out my Kindle, it starts to rain. Not wanting to take the chance with the Kindle, I moved under the side awning. Fortunately, the rain didn’t last long and the sun popped out again. Back to settle in on the lounger.
Then I realized I didn’t have my thermal cup to keep my drinks somewhat cold. Back to the room I went.
Next, while in the room, I happened to check our onboard account as I do every day. Mistakes can happen and best to deal with them quickly and not wait for nasty surprises at the end of the cruise along with discoveries by your 1000 neighbors about their account.
Every coffee, can of water, soft drink that I have ordered had been charged to my account today. Weird. We have the drink package as part of our booking promotion. We are allowed to order 15 drinks a day – alcoholic or not. If you go over 15, you are charged for those drinks. Tea, lemonade, glass of water, or Lido coffee are free and don’t count at all.
It was 11:00 a.m. I was nowhere near my 15 drink limit so those drinks should not have showed up on the account. I wondered if the computers, being set back 24 hours, had kept counting from yesterday’s March 16. However, Chuck’s drinks are not showing up on the account, so I am very confused. We have the same package.
Off I went to Guest Services to show them the charges and ask if there is a problem with my package. The woman at the counter couldn’t understand why they were there but assured me that there was no problem with my package and the charges would be removed. Okay.
When I asked about having two of the same days and it possibly being a computer problem, she was very confident that it was NOT because there were two March 16s and the computers could not stop counting drinks from the the first March 16. Just not possible – they are two separate days. Okay.
Finally back to the lounger and got a little sun time before it was time for a Lido lunch. Checked the account again and instead of my charges being removed, now both Chuck and I have drinks charged on the account. Just dandy.
Guess I’m done with the sun time.
Back down to Guest Services. “So very sorry. The Beverage Dept. is aware of the problem. The charges will be removed. Nothing you must do. Problem is that there were two March 16s and computers having trouble with that.” Really? Who would have guessed.
Finally got a little more sun but certainly not the perfect pool day like the first March 16.
Travel Trivia
French Polynesia
Belonging to France, French Polynesia is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls (atoll – a coral island consisting of a reef surrounding a lagoon) stretching over an expanse of more than 1,200 miles in the South Pacific Ocean. Its total land area is 1,609 square miles.
French Polynesia is divided into five groups of islands: the Society Islands archipelago (archipelago – a group of islands), composed of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands; the Tuamotu Archipelago; the Gambier Islands; the Marquesas Islands; and the Austral Islands. Among its 118 islands and atolls, 67 are inhabited. Tahiti, which is located within the Society Islands, is the most populous island, having close to 69% of the population of French Polynesia. Papeete, located on Tahiti, is the capital.
It is located approximately half-way between California and Australia.
Soccer, Diving, Surfing, Kitesurfing, and Rugby are the most popular sports in French Polynesia.
French is the official language. Christianity is the main religion. The legal tender of French Polynesia is the CFP Franc which has a fixed exchange rate with the Euro.
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