Tomorrow, we will stop at Fanning Island. Then, we will head back across the dateline and have Tuesday Jan 16-- twice. The captain said that if your birthday or anniversary is the 14th, tough luck.
Mass is held every morning on board ship. There was a Jewish service on Friday. Today, there is an interdenominational service. I don’t see anyone except us who says grace before eating. We almost always do that. We will have our own little devotional in our room. We have the hymns and some lessons on our computer. (Update: We left the Mormon church in November 2015.)
We have oatmeal almost every morning even though there is an abundance of every other breakfast imaginable. Yesterday, I discovered small boxes of dark chocolate sprinkles. They are from Holland. You are supposed to sprinkle them on hot
buttered toast. Instead, I put some boxes in my bag and will bring them home for everyone to try. Another woman said she brings them home to her grandchildren, too.
buttered toast. Instead, I put some boxes in my bag and will bring them home for everyone to try. Another woman said she brings them home to her grandchildren, too.
I am watching Anthony Bourdain on TV until it is time to go the Lido Deck. That is where we are collecting the things we will donate on Fanning Island. Bourdain has a travel show. On this episode, he is in Greece.
Every day there is another show on TV called Man Vs. Food. We face that issue every time we go near the food. It is all fabulous.
The life stylist, Sebastian, gave a talk on the evils of sugar. Ten people attended. He is right but it so hard to resist. I have one pair of larger pants and they may end up being my only pants. He has a kale shake made by someone every morning
but that service is not available to us.
I was upstairs staring at the dessert area yesterday when a young woman brought out some decorations that she made out of chocolate. They were like lacy sculptures. Presentation
is a big part of the food preparation. It’s best just to avoid the whole area as much as possible. There was a chocolate fountain surrounded by fruit, too.
Later—
Just as I was leaving the cabin, the Captain made an announcement about the Costa Cruise accident near Greece. He said 8 are known dead and 70 missing. Costa is part of the Carnival Cruise Line family and so is Holland America. This will probably lead to more safety drills on board.
I attended two lectures. One was about the constellations in the southern skies. We can meet with the Star Lady on the highest deck tonight and she will point out the sights to us. We are all looking forward to seeing the Southern Cross when we
get further south. Currently, it is rising at 4 in the morning.
The second lecture was about ocean currents and their effects on climate and weather. We get a brief print out of the New York Times every morning. I noticed that snow is expected in Salt Lake City today. It has to be better than the inversion.
I am hoping to find a find an internet café in Rarotonga on the 19th or Raiatea on the 21st. We have a trip planned in Rarotonga. We are going snorkeling with Tamas. We have nothing planned in Raiatea.
