Day 51 – Tropical Paradise

COFFEE CHAT

The featured guests for Coffee Chat this morning were the three Sea Cadets:  Jelle, Stephan and Thorald.  They are all going to college in the Netherlands and spend time at sea as part of their education.  This also allows both Holland America Line and the cadets themselves to see if they are a good fit for the company and life at sea.  During their studies they will have a couple of Sea Cadet tours and ultimately must decide if they are going to specialize in Deck or Engineering.  During their first tour they get a chance to work in both areas. 

Our Polynesian Cultural Ambassadors left us in Papeete and we were joined by the Maori Cultural Ambassadors who will sail with us until Auckland.  This morning in the Mainstage they introduced themselves and held a presentation titled “Maori Myths, Legends and the Taonga Culture”. 

Holland America is known for having “days of the week” mats in the elevators.  I joke that on the World Cruise all they really need for most people are two mats – “Sunday Brunch” or Not Sunday Brunch”.  Most of the time, the day of the week doesn’t really matter. 

For the second time this cruise we attended the Sunday Brunch in the Main Dining room, which runs from 11 AM to 1 PM.  This year instead of serving ourselves from the various food stations, we are served a fixed menu automatically brought to our table.  At first, I was a little skeptical of this sampler concept, but now I think it is a wonderful way to serve a Sunday Brunch as we get to sample a wide variety of dishes and avoid the temptation to overeat. 

Here is a list of today’s offerings: 

Cold Sampler

• Fresh Fruit Salad, Blueberry Yogurt and Granola
• Waldorf Salad
• Shrimp Nigiri
• Salmon Tartar
• Mushroom Brushetta
• Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese
• Cured Speck Ham Wrapped Melon Ball

Hot Sampler

• Spanish Omelet
• Fried Chicken and Chips
• Grilled Petit Tenderloin
• Biscuit with BBQ Pulled Pork
• Mini Lobster Pot Pie
• Banana Bread French Toast

Dessert

• Mini Apple Pie
• Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Black Forest in Shot Glass

TROPICAL PARADISE DINNER

The theme in the Main Dining room this evening was Tropical Paradise.  Paper palm trees were hanging from the ceiling while the waiters wore Hawaiian shirts and straw hats. 

I wore my grass skirt over shorts along with a tropical print shirt.  Straw hats were at every place setting.  Jim Hodson, yesterday’s guest entertainer, was our dinner guest this evening.  He has been on cruise ships for years, but only recently has a guest entertainer.  For a while he was an Assistant Cruise Director on Seabourn ships. 

Annie Frances, who hails from Australia, was the featured entertainer this evening.  She is quite popular with the passengers and she always puts on a wonderful show.  This evening she performed a variety of hits from the 70’s including:  Joy to the World, Lookin’ Out My Backdoor, Close to You, You’re so Vain, Candyman and Memories.