Yellow Fish cruises: Day 64: (Not) Akaroa

My first thought today, when I saw the bright sunshine, was that I so wished we had had this weather during our visit to Akaroa in October. I still feel badly that Paul and Marlene never were able to see the beauty of the Banks Peninsula. We went to breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room shortly after 7am, and while we sat there, we saw several tenders lowered into the water. The tender to the little town of Akaroa is a long one, about 2 miles, and we were determined to be on one of the first tenders of the day.

Day 6 breakfast menu

When we saw a tender being lifted back to the ship, we knew something was up. Within minutes, Captain Lewis made an announcement telling us the winds were already high but were expected to significantly magnify as the day went on, and he was cancelling our call to Akaroa as the tender rides would become very uncomfortable and possibly unsafe.

Well, darn. Maybe I was too hasty with that ‘wishing we had this weather during our last visit’ thought.

We sat at our table and leisurely drank at least another two cups of coffee. We had an entire day with nothing to do stretching out in front of us. It was a little like- no, it was exactly like- a snow day when I was a kid. For me, Mr. Motion was a bit more disheartened. After breakfast, we went out to the Promenade Deck to watch our sail out of Akaroa Harbour, with the beautiful Banks Peninsula off our port side. I love this area. It was sunny, and it wasn’t cold. It would have been a perfect day, if it wasn’t for the wind.

Looking back at Akaroa Harbour

The Banks Peninsula

Cruise Director Aaron was making announcements about new activities that were being scheduled, and we had received revised Patters within a hour or so. The galley was busy pulling things out of the freezer for a dining room lunch menu it hadn’t planned to offer, and the Maitre d’ was reorganizing his team to accommodate a sea day lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room. It’s a wonder how quickly these things come together when a port day unexpectedly becomes a sea day.

There was little doubt how I was going to spend the day. I am getting better every day, but I told G tonight that it’s a testament to how sick I was that I’m still not well. I need rest and liquids, and I swung through the Horizon Court Buffet for a cup of tea and returned to the cabin to read and sleep until lunch. Having not ordered a special meal, I simply had three bowls of consommé and a dinner roll.

Day 6 lunch menu, page 1

Day 6 lunch menu, page 2

After lunch I did the same thing, but added watching an episode of The Crown. This day, though not exactly what I wanted, is exactly what I needed.

We went to the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers and then to dinner. Last night I got down on my knees and prayed that I would get my senses of taste and smell back in time for tonight’s watermelon sorbet, to no avail. My prayers either went unanswered or the answer was “no”...I skipped sorbet altogether because I’m not going to waste calories on a dessert I can’t taste. And I had just consommé and salmon and broccoli for dinner. Food is simply fuel at this point.

Tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment was production show Colors of the World. We love that one, but ended up waiting longer for the show than the show actually lasted. The Princess Theater fills at least 20 minutes before every production show.

And that was our day. It is VERY bouncy out there tonight, and Captain Lewis told us that we will be feeling the Ruby Princess making a big list to starboard tomorrow morning at 6:30am when the ship is turned to starboard to allow the port pilot to board the ship in the predicted strong wind. Lists are fine; we simply don’t want to miss another port!