Sea Days.....February 19-22
Sea Days.....Shipboard Meanderings
We have 3 days at sea before our last stop in the South Pacific....Nuku'alofa Tonga. On our calendar it is listed at 4 days, but we crossed the International Date Line and lost February 20th. Yep, we went from the 19th to the 21st. So now, following Pacific Standard Time, we are 1 day ahead and 3 hrs behind.....how's that for confusing. We had pretty calm and sunny weather, which resulted in walks on the deck and a little bit of sitting in the sun and getting some natural vitamin D. The sun is still intense, so about 15 minutes is all that I can handle without sunscreen.
The ship restocked with all the major food supplies in Papeete, but as we were in the small grocery store in Bora Bora, I noticed the head chef of the ship was buying about $500 of the imported butter. He either wiped out their stock, or had it on order ahead of time. I thought it might be for something special that he was planning, but much to my surprise it was out for everyone on the buffet the next morning.....real salted butter....yum! Holland America usually ships most of it's supplies from the US to the overnight ports of call due to quality issues in some countries. Depending on the country, and how safe it's food supply, we are treated on-board to local fruits, veg, yogurt, eggs, fish and seafood which is a real treat. I heard that in the 1 month we have been at sea, we have consumed 90,000 eggs. Wow! Eggs are all over the breakfast menu...fried, hard boiled, soft boiled, omelettes, eggs benedict, egg salad. Not even counting the ones used for pastries, bread, cream pies, etc. I can't imagine how much flour, sugar, butter etc. that has been used so far to make the delicious pastries, rolls and bread that are my downfall every day. And I think I have lost a couple of pounds.... All the exercise is paying off.
They also get shipments of flowers. Mostly from the current ports of call. The flower designers on board make beautiful arrangements that are placed throughout the ship and usually last until the next overnight port. The flowers always reflect the regions that we are sailing through. The South Pacific blooms have been lovely. Unfortunately in Lima Peru the port authorities held the shipment of flowers hostage. They insisted on Holland America paying an extra tax of $2000.00 or so before they would let them come on the ship. Well, that wasn't going to fly with the company, so they said no thank you, and sadly, I'm sure the flowers went nowhere and rotted on the dock. Another reason I really do not like Lima. Although some people did not get off in Easter Island, flowers did manage to come aboard there for our trip across the Pacific. On to Tonga......
We have 3 days at sea before our last stop in the South Pacific....Nuku'alofa Tonga. On our calendar it is listed at 4 days, but we crossed the International Date Line and lost February 20th. Yep, we went from the 19th to the 21st. So now, following Pacific Standard Time, we are 1 day ahead and 3 hrs behind.....how's that for confusing. We had pretty calm and sunny weather, which resulted in walks on the deck and a little bit of sitting in the sun and getting some natural vitamin D. The sun is still intense, so about 15 minutes is all that I can handle without sunscreen.
The ship restocked with all the major food supplies in Papeete, but as we were in the small grocery store in Bora Bora, I noticed the head chef of the ship was buying about $500 of the imported butter. He either wiped out their stock, or had it on order ahead of time. I thought it might be for something special that he was planning, but much to my surprise it was out for everyone on the buffet the next morning.....real salted butter....yum! Holland America usually ships most of it's supplies from the US to the overnight ports of call due to quality issues in some countries. Depending on the country, and how safe it's food supply, we are treated on-board to local fruits, veg, yogurt, eggs, fish and seafood which is a real treat. I heard that in the 1 month we have been at sea, we have consumed 90,000 eggs. Wow! Eggs are all over the breakfast menu...fried, hard boiled, soft boiled, omelettes, eggs benedict, egg salad. Not even counting the ones used for pastries, bread, cream pies, etc. I can't imagine how much flour, sugar, butter etc. that has been used so far to make the delicious pastries, rolls and bread that are my downfall every day. And I think I have lost a couple of pounds.... All the exercise is paying off.
They also get shipments of flowers. Mostly from the current ports of call. The flower designers on board make beautiful arrangements that are placed throughout the ship and usually last until the next overnight port. The flowers always reflect the regions that we are sailing through. The South Pacific blooms have been lovely. Unfortunately in Lima Peru the port authorities held the shipment of flowers hostage. They insisted on Holland America paying an extra tax of $2000.00 or so before they would let them come on the ship. Well, that wasn't going to fly with the company, so they said no thank you, and sadly, I'm sure the flowers went nowhere and rotted on the dock. Another reason I really do not like Lima. Although some people did not get off in Easter Island, flowers did manage to come aboard there for our trip across the Pacific. On to Tonga......
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