We walked off the ship this morning after breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet and into the onslaught of tour operators and taxi drivers on the pier, all offering excursions to a handful of places: the Hindu temple, the orchid gardens and sleeping giant mountain profile, the mud baths, the landing spot of the first European explorers and various beaches by boat or road. That we weren’t in the mood for any of them (not even the beaches!) told us that it was time for a day off. We returned to our cabin and slept for another two hours.
I love being on the ship on a port day. It’s stable, it’s empty and uncrowded and it’s quiet, all things that are nice to experience after nearly four weeks at sea. After we awoke from our nap, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the Horizon Court Buffet and then went to the fitness center for a nearly private workout.
Sail away was early today, at 4pm, and our plan was to be in one of the two hot tubs on Deck 16 on the back of the ship which have phenomenal views, but when we changed into swimsuits and went up there, those hot tubs were closed off. So were four of the other six hot tubs on the ship. It irritated me enough that I did later write a “to let you know” letter and dropped it off at Guest Services. Instead, we sat in two shaded loungers on Deck 16 overlooking the views off the back of the ship until it was time to get ready for dinner.
Dinner in the Bernini Dining Room with Rodrigo and Ronaldo was fantastic. My starter was a pumpkin curry soup made vegan (honestly, one of the best things I’ve had yet), followed by a salad and then an incredible vegetarian (and vegan) entree of garbanzo beans and carrots in a tomato sauce with tofu. The flavors and textures were perfection. Dessert was lemon ginger sorbet (don’t see that one very often) and it was delicious, start to finish.
There was one primary show tonight, pianist Bradley McCaw. We had seen him two cruises ago but his was a different show tonight and he is quite good. Afterward, we walked out on the Terrace Deck to look at the wake and then turned around to look at the several decks of aft terraces. This ship is just gorgeous at night.
Tomorrow is a real sea day, and, combined with the extra hour of sleep we’ll get from moving clocks back tonight, should finally have us feeling rested for the final port of this cruise, Noumea, New Caledonia, the next day.
Finally, we did discover today why China is currently pouring so much money into Fiji. The port of Lautoka is undergoing an expansion with a large warehouse facility right on the pier, also financed by China. Fiji exports a lot of bauxite to China, where it is used in the production of aluminum. And now we know.