The sea was a bit rough overnight (Captain D had warned us it would be), but we slept hard in spite of it. My rubber band lashing system kept the nightstand drawers closed all night, we stuffed washcloths in the refrigerator to keep the soda cans from rolling around, and threw towels over the empty wooden hangars to stop their rattling. We didn’t have to resort to tucking in the bedding around us, though. We’ll save that for our Tasman Sea crossing in a few days. ;-)
He went to the veterans get together in the Wheelhouse Bar and then together we went to the British Pub Lunch in the Crown Grill where G had fish and chips and sherry trifle, and then down we trooped to the Donatello Dining Room for lunch #2 where I had a seafood salad and G had ice cream. Two hours spent eating two lunches...sounds like a sea day to me!
I was freezing then, and we returned to the cabin where I turned the thermostat up to bake and we started watching one of our favorite shows, American Greed on CNBC. And that’s where we stayed until we were ready for tonight’s formal night, which is an extremely shorthanded version of what it actually takes for two of us to get cleaned up and made up (just me for that) hair done (that one too) and dressed up with the correct jewelry and studs and bow tie and then, when we were halfway down the corridor to the midship elevators G realized he had forgotten his cummerbund and pocket square so we finished dressing him in the hallway. Frankly, you would think we’d have this all down by now.
Dinner was typical last formal night fare. I had a salad and lobster and prawns without any butter or potatoes but with broccoli and asparagus. We also had champagne sorbet for dessert but it took just a couple of bites for me to realize that it probably really did have champagne in it and it was best left alone.
Production show British Invasion was performed at 7:45pm and it occurred to me that we have heard a lot of Queen this cruise, which is fine with me. And then, once again, we had a second, different show option with Bradley McCaw performing again in the Vista Lounge. His show tonight was the same show we saw on our first cruise, with This Thing Called Love (yet more Queen), then something something, then Jailhouse Rock, then something something something... which is actually the fourth time we’ve heard it (rehearsal while in Cabin D123, then the first show, then hearing the second show performed while in our cabin, and again tonight. It’s great, but that may be our limit.
And finally, I have a few stream of consciousness things to share that I’ve been meaning to mention but forget in my haste to write blog posts each night.
Fiji truly had some of the most friendly and welcoming people we’ve ever met. We were greeted with “Bula” (welcome) by everyone we encountered, kids and adults alike. Many men’s wear (and also school uniforms for boys) consist of a shirt and a solid colored wrap skirt, known as a sulu, usually accompanied by fishermen-type sandals. We had seen similar attire in Samoa and American Samoa, except there they are known as lava lavas, and are generally in a tropical print and accompanied by sneakers or flip flops.
When we left Lautoka, Fiji, there was a DJ on the pier playing music and cheering on the passengers on their balconies and the open decks. Over and over again we heard the cheer “Aussie Aussie Aussie!” and the response “Oy Oy Oy!” Aussies get quite fired up by that!
We knew that Americans would be in the minority on these cruises, but are we ever! Americans and Canadians together make up about 200 passengers on a 2600 passenger ship, but we are loving our fellow passengers. Aussies are incredibly friendly and easy going and simply cruising with them has really made this season special.