Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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melsea
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Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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Post by melsea »

Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

Day 38. 9 of 10 at sea sailing through endless sights of the blue sea & skies.
14th February

Valentine's Day.

Woke up again early, something to do with the fact we have gained several hours in the pass days gone by. Waking up and thinking its later than it is, who knows..
So with waking up Bill decided to do his walk as it will be a whole lot cooler than it will be when the sun comes up. Not before we had opened our Valentine Cards, I bought 2 as I could not decide which one to choose. Bill bought a wonderful card with a heart that had written on the front 'one in a Million'. How lovely is that!!.
I stayed in bed as I was still in recovery mode but I am a whole heaps better than I was the day before, thank goodness for that. I rolled over to go to sleep but that didn't come easy as I suddenly had a few bouts of coughing which was annoying and then I had a song on replay in my head. I did managed some sleep but not as much as I had hoped. Around 08.30 Bill returned from his walk laden down with fruit and tea which was very nice.
We went to breakfast a little earlier than usual. We had table 14 which is rather apt considering the day it was. At 10am we would be sailing the exact co-ordinates of where we got married in the vast Pacific Ocean 22°15'S, 136°31'W
Even though our anniversary isn't until tomorrow.
Once we had sat down at the Glass House for our breakfast we mentioned to the waiters that at this point at sea the actual position is where we got married. They were a little confused at first but then they realised what we meant and one of the waiters asked what I got as a present for our anniversary, I held my hand up and showed him my lovely new ring. His expression was priceless and he said wow. Just the reaction you want, which was rather nice.
Breakfast finished I went to Masquerades where the Spa staff were holding a special Valentine's Day raffle, needless to say I didn't win. But two of those that had won were the ones who had put their entry in last and in fact that was how I won on Oceana by being the last one to enter, I think there is something to be said for doing it that way, must remember that.
At 11.15 there was another talk being given by Eric Knowls on the Art Deco movement and how it came about at when as this is an area that no one really knows and it depends where in the world you are but it would be prudent to say that it really surfaced at the Paris Exhibition in 1921 (I think that's the year).
He will be doing another talk and his last tomorrow, think he said he leaves in Tahiti.
The days are sweeping along at rates of knots as the time was almost there to go to lunch which like breakfast we went earlier than usual but I wanted to as I was feeling a little peckish believe it or not and so at 1pm we went to lunch. Doing lunch early meant I could get to the art class earlier too. Although one would have thought so but even coming 25 minutes early there were a lot of people already there. I did however managed to get a good seat today and position myself with no one blocking my view, at last a good seat, they are not easy to come by and my place at the front has be taken by the lady who got on at Valparaiso and who I helped on her first day. I counted that there were about 45 of us in class. Today's lesson was painting part of the Pitcairn Islands.

Day 39. 10 of 10 at sea on the wonderful waters of the Pacific Ocean.
15th February

Our 4th Wedding Anniversary.

Clocks went back last night to -9 GMT.

Woke up at 7.30 by the alarm. Neither of us went for a walk this morning.
We opened up our cards to each other. Later there was a knock on the door and it was Brian bearing gifts, Champagne & a card, the champagne was wrapped in paper but no ordinary paper. It had a greeting on it that clearly was printed on and it said "Mel & Bill, Happy Anniversary" it also had the number 4 and an anchor with Aurora written on it. A really lovely idea and made with great thought and care too.
Not long after there was another knock on the door and it was a delivery of flowers from Bill. The flowers were beautiful and the arrangement was for a table and looked absolutely stunning.
We took the flowers and the champagne we got from P&O down to breakfast at the Glass House. The waiters liked what we had done and they gave us two champagne glasses and Bill opened up the bottle of champers which he did very well.
So there we were sitting in what was Cafe Bordeaux but is now the Glass House having a lovely breakfast drinking champagne! The waiters were doing all they could to make our day special which was rather nice.
Later we went for a walk around the ship to find the place where we got married which was the Uganda Room next to the Crows Nest. We looked at the two maps they have at both sides of the ship that are situated outside the Crows Nest. While we were in the Crows Nest the cruise director turned up and it seems he was getting things ready for the passengers who paid to do the behinds the scenes tour and they were to be presented with a photo of their tour. We told him of the fact it was our wedding anniversary and that we had got married on this very ship on this day. We also told him that we too have been to the engine room with photos of us in our regalia on that day.
The day seems to be whizzing by and soon it was 1pm and we went to the restaurant for lunch. I spotted Brian & Lorraine and we went over to them to say thank you for their gift and the very inventive wrapping paper which we now have on our wall in our cabin.
Sat out on deck 7 later. 16.30 Eric Knowles last talk.
In the evening we went to dinner as our per usual time and we were given a good table and within minutes of sitting down balloons were put up above us.we had a lovely meal. Behind me sat Eric Knowles and his wife.
After we had our desserts the waiters gathered to sing 'congratulations' to us, the tables around us joined in the sing song.

Day 40. Land!! Tahiti, French Polynesia. 9am - 02.00am Evening Casual/Tropical
Clocks put back last night at 2am to -10 GMT

Very Hot & humid.

Woke up thinking it was 7.25 when in fact my iPod was still an hour ahead. I was that tired last night that I didn't realise I hadn't put the clock back on it, oops.
Went to Glass House for breakfast. I left the ship just after 11am. The heat outside was quite something. I went to the tourist information building where I found they had 30 mins free wi-fi. It took a while to fill in a questionnaire which you had to fill in to get the free wifi. Once done I made my way along the shore front and headed for the park area where it was used very much a leisure area by the locals. The whole area was a marvel of birds, flowers and trees. I spent a long time here and sat watching the world go by. I came across what looked like a pond that had lots of lovely plants on the water and beautiful lilies. Also there was a mini waterfall feature and lots of little birds were drinking and washing in the water. I took a lot of photos, I noticed little birds flying towards a tree that had yellow leaves, as I got closer I watched them for a while and I saw a little nest. I stood quietly nearby and took a lot of photos and hoped that with the photos I was taking I may have some for this sectors Photography Competition. I went back to the ship via the buildings on the other side of the road. Found some familiar places that we have seen before.
I got back to the ship at 5pm. I took some photos from the ship before I headed back to the cabin. I was that hot that I had a shower before I took a nap.
In the evening we had our meal upstairs in the Beach House. The weather was excellent and we had our lovely meal outside. Our view out back looked very reminiscent of the view we have seen in Madeira, if you didn't know it you would have thought you were there. After our meal we walked up on top deck and admired the very luxurious yacht docked next to us. Also we looked across the waters to see the Island of Moorea which is our next port, its only about 12 miles away and when we have been to Tahiti we took a ferry over to Moorea, which is while we are staying put until late. What they are going to do in the mean time, go around the island??? Who knows.

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Dancing Queen
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Re: Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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Post by Dancing Queen »

Another two great reads.

I can really sympathise with the cough/cold, I picked a virus up over Xmas which hung around for about 10 weeks, one day I was fine the next it would be back with a vengeance, I have never coughed so much in my life !! I hope this wasn't your experience as I found it so draining which would have been the last thing you wanted with so much to see and do.
Jo

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emjay45
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Re: Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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Post by emjay45 »

I didn't realise you also had a cough melsea. I just couldn't shake it in spite of 2 lots of antibiotics. How lovely to have been married at sea.

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Re: Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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Post by melsea »

Jo,
my second cold was the one that gave me a real heavy deep cough which really hurt. Fortunately I had a constant supply og honey and lemon coursety of P&O. PLease you enjoyed the latest reads, more to come..

Emjay,
I was lucky in that I didn't get another one after that for the rest of the cruise. I do belive by that time that those arriving from UK on later sectors that the flu/cold season had grown less.

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Re: Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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Post by Onelife »

Hi Mel...Just wondering what happens about entertainers on a long haul cruise. I'm presuming that they're off loaded at each port as new ones get on? But what happens about the Headlines? Do they just keep producing the same routines or do they get replaced also?



Regards

Keith :wave:

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Re: Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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Post by melsea »

That's a very good question. Though had you asked that for our 2012 World Cruise I would have given you a different answer, and since I didn't go in 2013 or 2014 I do not know if there were differences on those cruises. I'll explain, on the 2012 much of the entertainment was pretty much as it usually was. The Headliners would do their set shows that most of the fleet would have seen so they generally didn't differ there. On the world cruise you would have seen those shows more than once. In all the world cruises we have done, The headliners have stayed on all through the whole WC there have been exceptions due to injuries, illness and misbehaviour. On the 2015 Cruise the whole structure of the entertainment throughout the cruise was totally different. Not everyone was pleased with it. I can see why but I probably saw less entertainment this round that I had ever done. Headliners usually do all their shows in the main theatre and in the evening. I can probably count the number of times they performed in the evening on one hand as most of their shows were performed in the afternoon at around 3pm or 5pm can't quite remember as I din't go. This did not go down well for a lot of people and in fact the Headliners were none too happy either as in reality they did so few shows that one would be forgiven for thinking were they on the ship. The changes they made were for two reasons I can think of 1. This time there was Freedom Dining which changes the whole dynamics of putting on shows & cabaret acts so that entertainment is spread out through the evening. 2. I may be wrong but I seem to remember they brought in a new entertain director on shore side and so think many of the changes came from there. In 2012 WC we had so little entertainment that it was not probably the best aspect of that cruise in fact we had the least of it than of any cruise we had been on.
I saw only a few Headliner shows not because of when they were on but because I was so disappointed that the shows had not been updated as I expected them to have been. My reason for thinking this was that when we were on Oceana in both November & December 2014 the shows on there were updated and the Choreography and how the singers were now doing the dance routines as well it looked and sounded so much better, if it was terrific, so you can 'understand' my disappointment. Watching the old stuff it really was obvious that it needed to be update, some of it is just embarrassing.
Other entertainments we had the usual Caravan, Cool Blue, The Aurora Orchestra/Band. What we did have were other acts a lady I can't remember her name who sang & played instruments in either the Champions Bar or the Crows Nest and she was on for the whole cruise. We also had a brilliant Pianist who would play in Charlies Bar, Crows Nest. A pianist was missing on the whole 2012 WC. I was so noticeable that in the end we occasionally had James Cuisick, the Purser at the time play on the Piano to fill the void. Most evening guest entertainers came and went who would get on one place and get off another. We had more than enough to see throughout the evening whether it was in Champions Bar, Crows Nest, Carmens or the Curzon Theatre. One thing that was different and was not popular was they would put two acts on in the Theatre so it would be like seeing a mini variety show. So you might see a comedian in the first half then a singer or musician in the second half. Which sounds good on paper but if you didn't like one half it was not good. This had the effect of people either turning for the first half and leaving in the second or vice versa. Not a good thing as there was no natural break so it much have been disturbing for entertainers. I must admit I did do both but only a couple of times. Once I actually forgotten what one of the entertainers was, I hadn't read the Horizon. Anyway the second act came on and I thought oh no, I tried to stay but couldn't. It was the very good lady playing the Flute, a lovely instrument but it played havoc on my ears it was so painful I had to leave.


Keith I bet you wished you hadn't asked now. But I couldn't give an answer without explaining why.

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Re: Melsea's Adventures of South America & Pacific Adventures Part 12

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Post by emjay45 »

I agree melsea, I think freedom dining changed things with the theatre. I didn't like it. I do like the Headliners and this particular group were excellent. I would have preferred to see them in the evening though. I did go once in the afternoon when they were in the Curzon and it was as if you were going to the cinema with drinks and snacks for sale as you went in and people walking around selling ice-cream. It was a 45 minute show I don't think people were going to starve or de-hydrate in that time. :roll:

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