Oh, we were bumpy all night and today. Bumpy and rainy and windy…but still in the low to mid 70s. We’re hearing we won’t get out of the 30s the day we’re in Busan, South Korea; one morning soon we’re going to wake up to winter.
It’s hard to be highly motivated on days like this. We both slept fitfully, repeatedly awakened by the lurch, then shudder and drop as the ship hit the largest swells. After breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet, I returned to the cabin and repacked a few things in my suitcase. I had emptied it a few days ago to turn in at Guest Services. They gave it to the ship’s upholsterer to repair the detached wheel and it had been returned the next day, not like new but good enough to make it home, and that is all I need. We paid $99 each for these spinner Samsonite suitcases nine years ago at Sam’s Club, and they have certainly been hard used.
And then I re-watched the lecture on Hong Kong that we had sat through yesterday. There is a lot to absorb on that one. As much as we are still focused on learning about our remaining four ports of call, we are in a familiar place on this cruise, still cruising but also thinking ahead to Hawaii. It’s easy to be excited about the time we’ll spend there. It is so completely different than cruising, and, especially after this season’s cruises, will be much simpler. As grateful as we are to have enjoyed the Sapphire Princess’ VOD television, we are finding ourselves increasingly impatient with shipboard internet speed and availability. I can’t see us ever cruising again for four and five months at a time like we used to.
We asked Enrichment Lecturer Dale Erhart and his wife Laurel to join us for lunch in the International Dining Room. G has really been enjoying his talks about being a jet fighter pilot in the Canadian Air Force followed by his career as a pilot for Air Canada and later a private pilot for the rich and famous. G kept busy after lunch with his normal sea day activities but I continued my non-participative ways and spent the afternoon reading in the covered Calypso Pool area. The outside decks were closed off, and the pools and hot tubs drained due to the increasingly rough seas.
We ate a light dinner; this cruise’s Most Traveled Guest cocktail party was held in Skywalkers at 7pm, and it was really quite a ride up there. Several times we grabbed our beverages to keep them from sliding off the tables. We skipped all entertainment tonight, and instead are watching the movie Skyscraper in our cabin. Since it involves a fictional building twice as tall as the Burj Khalifa set in Hong Kong, it’s obviously a topical choice.
I’m not sure how much sleep we’ll be getting tonight. The ship is like a bucking bronco right now, not rolling or pitching but rising and dropping erratically. But tomorrow is Hong Kong, and our excitement in being there will likely carry us through our long day (9am to 11pm) in port.