There wasn’t any mention of heavy weather on the horizon as we left Manila, but very early this morning, the ship experienced significant deck motion in all directions, roll, pitch and heave, indicating the combination of swell and wave action exceeded the limits of the ships stabilizers. There was also over 40 knots of relative wind over the deck and the temperatures dropped considerably since we left Manila. Rain was in the forecast for Hong Kong, along with cooler temperatures. The cooler temperatures were fine, but rain would put a damper on our planned excursion to Macau.
Coffee Chat
Singer Toni Warne was the guest at Coffee Chat this morning. She has been singing since she was a small girl and her mother encouraged the development of his musical talent. While she received a big boost in notoriety after her appearance on the UK Version of the Voice, she had been singing professionally for years before she appeared on the show.
HAL Singers and Dancers
The Holland America singers and dancers hosted another Q and A session this morning. A few members of the cast had traveled with the touring Broadway Shows and they commented how they prefer the cruise ship gig since they have an opportunity to perform a wider variety of shows rather than the same show 8 times a week. Even the pay on cruise ships is now comparable to working on some Broadway or West End shows and more and more singers and dancers are sticking with cruise ships as their primary venue.
Afternoon
During the Captain’s noon update, he mentioned that the heavier seas were not forecast and that we should expect to see conditions improve as we close on Hong Kong.
During drawing class today Ben gave an overview of the Chinese Dynasties and the art that is associated with each one.
The Craft today was to string Millefiori beads into a one of a kind Millefiori Necklace. Judy’s kit was green and red beads that she’ll wear for Christmas.
They spent some time today touching up the paint on our balcony.
Evening
Tonight’s dinner them was a Secret Garden Dinner “Enjoy the Mystery and Wonderment of this floral inspired dinner”. Each table had a 5 foot vase as a center piece complete with a wonderful arrangement. Eddie and Calista – the resident florists – were busy scurrying about tending to the dozens of arrangements on every table. Although none of the vases toppled, the ships motions now and then had everyone ready to reach out and grab one if it started to tip.
Here are the vases that were on each table. This photo was taken the next day
Bernie Fields, the virtuoso harmonica musician joined us for dinner. We learned that he uses music written for the flute or violin as the foundation of his arrangements. He also carries two spare harmonicas in his pocket in the event of a malfunction – which while rare, does happen from time to time.
Toni Warne was in the Queen’s Lounge for her second show. She wowed the crowd with her powerful voice singing such hits as Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Tina Turners “Proud Mary”
