Things are back to normal on the Rhapsody. The computers have all dropped those rogue sessions that were racking up the huge bills, the internet service is restored, and we even got yesterday’s wake-up call this morning at 8:30 (thank you so much).
The swells gradually flattened out during the course of the day. The Captain explained that it was so rough because of a combination of the depth of the sea (5,000 meters) and an unusual weather pattern. The closer we get to Australia the less water there will be under us and the better the weather will be. Tonight we’re just having a very pleasant rocking that is great for being lulled to sleep. It’s also much easier to walk around.
Bruce got in touch with his client and they got everything worked out regarding the meeting he missed yesterday. We both got some writing done today. I’ve been fighting a little bit of a cold the past couple of days, and I ended up taking another nap this afternoon. That seems to be becoming a habit. Maybe that’s why I’m not sleeping as well at night. A few port days should cure that.
We had planned to have a quiet dinner in the Windjammer tonight but instead at about 4:00 we got a call from the Dining Room manager inviting us to dine with the Captain. What an honor that is! So of course we accepted. This was our second time – we also dined with the captain on the Grandeur last April. There were 3 couples plus a father/son pair, 8 guests total, who attended. We met at 8:00 in the Schooner Bar where Captain Stein joined us for champagne, chocolate dipped strawberries, and conversation. At 8:30 we went to the dining room. We took a photo on the grand stair case and then were seated. We had a special menu, which we got to keep. I had shrimp and Bruce had prime rib. Dessert was strawberries over vanilla ice cream served in a cup made from nuts kinda like peanut brittle. Everything was fantastic. At the end of dinner they gave each of us an 8x10 of our photo.
Captain Stein gave us some pointers for the upcoming ports and I’m more excited than ever to reach Australia. And of course Rhapsody spent the summer in Alaska so he also told us a lot about that itinerary. I’m finally convinced that it might be a good trip. I had always been put off by the thought of packing winter clothes for a cruise – there’s just something very wrong about that! We had a really nice time tonight, though. I tried to scan our photo to post here in the blog, but our scanner wouldn’t work with the thickness of the photo. I’ll have to put it up on Snapfish when we get home. I did get a picture of the captain standing on the pier in Tahiti, so here is that one.
Tomorrow is our last sea day before we reach Sydney Saturday morning. Most people are getting off the ship and they’re all sad to see the trip end. We have the same cabin for all 3 itineraries, so we don’t even have to pack anything. We’ll have from 9:00 until 4:30 to explore Sydney, plus we’ll be back twice more. I’m looking forward to the spectacular view coming into the harbor, sailing by the bridge and the opera house. We’ll be sure to take lots of pix and of course I will post some. Watch for that over the weekend.
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