Day 56 – At Sea

Day 56 – At Sea – March 1

Today is the second of three sea days between Bali and our first port in the Philippines.

Coffee Chat

Today’s guests for Coffee Chat with Hamish were:  Neptune Lounge Concierge Laurence from Cebu,  Lido Cook Hazel from Manila and Print Shop Manager Edwin from Manilla.  They work in different roles around the ship, but they are all from the Philippines.  They discussed their plans to visit with their families while in Manilla in addition to a little more insight into their daily routines.

Hazel is well known by many guests as she works in the Lido Market making omelets in the morning.  She makes around 100 omelets per day on this cruise, but that is less than ½ the amount she made during a recent cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  On that ship she was servicing two lines simultaneously.

Edwin works by himself in the print shop, printing 850 copies of the daily “When and Where” in addition to everything else that is printed onboard.

Laurence works in the Neptune Lounge where he provides Front Desk services and other support to passengers in the Neptune Suites.

Lunch in the MDR

We arranged a van with a driver to take us to the Subic Bay/Cubi Point US Navy complex where I spent some time while in the US Navy.  While planning for this trip, a couple from Cruise Critic, along with their friends heard what I was planning and asked to go along.  We met today for lunch to get to know each other a little better before our excursion.

This was my first time in the Main Dining Room for lunch this cruise.  Rick and Margaret were also on our trip, so the 9 of us were seated at a large oval table.  There was a nice selection including an Asian Burger or some Baby Back Ribs.  There was an option called an express special where you could choose two items each with a smaller portion.  I chose the Asian Burger and Chicken Soup which were both delicious and I was glad to have chosen smaller portions since they turned out to be plenty big enough.

We had a wonderful lunch learning more about our travelling companions, one who left Vietnam in 1975 and spent some time in Subic Bay before heading on to the USA.  Another in our group was an officer in the South Vietnamese Army who spent 10 years in prison after the war before being released in 1985 and then getting a USA visa in 1990 where he lives today.

Afternoon

I lost twice with Texas Hold’em today.  The slot tournament was in progress and I bought an entry for $20.  Here is how the slot tournaments work.  There is one two hour qualifying round each day for three consecutive days.  A $20 ticket buys you a chance to play a special tournament slot machine for 3 minutes.  At the end of 3 minutes, your score is recorded, and the 6 highest scores achieved over 3 days advance to the final round.  During the final round, the 6 players play 6 identical machines, side by side, for 3 minutes and the highest score wins $500 cash in real money.  All of the six qualifiers get a Club 21 hat or shirt as a consolation prize.

Judy made a coin necklace today in crafts and learned how to make a double slip knot.

At the end of the today’s second qualifying day, I was in 6^th place with a score of 471,000.  Many people don’t play until the last possible second on the final day, so I was fairly certain that my score would not be enough to make it into the finals.

Gala Night

Tonight was a Gala Night advertised as the “White Dinner” symbolizing purity and elegance.  Participation in the “all white” theme was very high – I would guess that 90% of the guests made a serious effort to wear “all white”.  Our table was hosted by Claudia, the Digital Workshop Host.  She was raised in Monterrey, Mexico and moved to Texas with her family when she was a teenager.  She was a lot of fun and a great table host.  Around the time we were finishing the main course, according the Captain’s earlier announcement, we crossed the equator for the second time.

The Holland America Singers and Dancers returned for a performance of the show titled “On Tour” which was advertised to “Deliver a Performance of Rawness and Edge” and create an Arena Band Experience.  They danced and sang to a variety of big hits from the past 40 years including “The Way I Love You”, “Under Pressure” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.  This cast is very talented and full of energy and enthusiasm.

After we returned for the evening we discovered our latest pillow gifts – two RFID metal credit card holders.  It wasn’t clear how they worked, but we would ask around tomorrow.