We have two days in a row where we haven't seen any land. Joyce was pretty nervous about how rough the seas might be, but we have been pleasantly surprised at how 'calm' things have been. Now don't misconstrue this...there has been nearly constant rocking motion as we've hit the long swells, so we know that we are moving. It hasn't been as disconcerting to not see land, and looking out over the blue ocean has been somewhat mesmerizing. We will certainly be glad to see land tomorrow morning, though we won't be putting feet on it again until Saturday.
The most disconcerting thing is that we've gone through two time changes in the last two nights. New Zealand is two hours ahead of Australia, so they've had us move our clocks ahead an hour each of the last two nights to reduce the lag on us. I don't know that the strategy has worked. When it came time for breakfast on the second day, neither of us were ready until the main buffet was closed at 10, and that left us scrambling with many of our fellow passengers at the small shop that served customized breakfasts on the same deck.
Joyce had gone on deck to do some reading and blogging and took Alan's iPad with her, since that's the only way we can really blog outside of the room (the laptop decided to have a dying battery issue just after we started the trip!). While he was out, he decided to take in the 'Extended Journeys' presentation where Oceania tries to convince us that we should book future trips while on the cruise for 'amazing discounts'. People who are on their 20th and 40th cruises get them for free. Don't see that in our future!
Most of the rest of the two days was spent doing our normal thing on sea days: Napping, Reading, Blogging, and pictures. Joyce also managed to get in some laundry while the machines weren't too busy.
On the second day at sea in this stint, Chef Gjoka had another cooking demonstration, this time with his senior Executive Chef, Frederic Godineau. Chef Frederic was a little quieter than the first sidekick, but still got a number of zingers in against his boss. Both sidekicks knew enough to let their boss win! This time the dishes were Catalane Style Plate, Paella Valenciana, Crepes Suzette, and Crispy Duck Breast with Orange Sauce. Joyce had the Crepes Suzette later at Jacques, the French restaurant, and was a big fan.
Our table companions from last night had planned a special Indian Dinner for tonight and had invited us to join them. We weren't sure where to meet David and Nirvair, so we went by their room at the appointed time, and went with them up to the Grand Dining Room. Several of the waitstaff greeted them on the way in, but seemed a bit confused that a special dinner was on its way. Nirvair had ordered the menu the previous night, and we had a wonderful meal with a lentil dish, a chicken dish, a vegetarian dish, and of course, nan. The spice level was pretty low, even for us, but we all commented that it was nice to taste the flavors of the dishes. Nirvair seemed to enjoy asking the waitstaff to give us additional servings. We followed that up with some wonderful desserts from the menu and some hot tea.
The entertainment the first night was a comedian/illusionist named Duck Cameron. He performed some amazing illusions (he didn't want to call them magic), including one extended one that had an audience members $100 bill, complete with his signature, ending up in an orange picked at random from a fruit bowl and across the stage. Joyce was finishing some mid-cruise laundry, so she didn't get the whole show, but she didn't mind too much.
The Jean Ann Ryan Company returned the second sea night with a show called "Malibu Waves", a revue that highlighted the music of the Beach Boys. As could be expected, Alan was a little concerned that they were skimping on the costume budget for the Moldavan acrobat, but Joyce didn't seem to mind.
The most disconcerting thing is that we've gone through two time changes in the last two nights. New Zealand is two hours ahead of Australia, so they've had us move our clocks ahead an hour each of the last two nights to reduce the lag on us. I don't know that the strategy has worked. When it came time for breakfast on the second day, neither of us were ready until the main buffet was closed at 10, and that left us scrambling with many of our fellow passengers at the small shop that served customized breakfasts on the same deck.
Joyce had gone on deck to do some reading and blogging and took Alan's iPad with her, since that's the only way we can really blog outside of the room (the laptop decided to have a dying battery issue just after we started the trip!). While he was out, he decided to take in the 'Extended Journeys' presentation where Oceania tries to convince us that we should book future trips while on the cruise for 'amazing discounts'. People who are on their 20th and 40th cruises get them for free. Don't see that in our future!
Most of the rest of the two days was spent doing our normal thing on sea days: Napping, Reading, Blogging, and pictures. Joyce also managed to get in some laundry while the machines weren't too busy.
On the second day at sea in this stint, Chef Gjoka had another cooking demonstration, this time with his senior Executive Chef, Frederic Godineau. Chef Frederic was a little quieter than the first sidekick, but still got a number of zingers in against his boss. Both sidekicks knew enough to let their boss win! This time the dishes were Catalane Style Plate, Paella Valenciana, Crepes Suzette, and Crispy Duck Breast with Orange Sauce. Joyce had the Crepes Suzette later at Jacques, the French restaurant, and was a big fan.
Our table companions from last night had planned a special Indian Dinner for tonight and had invited us to join them. We weren't sure where to meet David and Nirvair, so we went by their room at the appointed time, and went with them up to the Grand Dining Room. Several of the waitstaff greeted them on the way in, but seemed a bit confused that a special dinner was on its way. Nirvair had ordered the menu the previous night, and we had a wonderful meal with a lentil dish, a chicken dish, a vegetarian dish, and of course, nan. The spice level was pretty low, even for us, but we all commented that it was nice to taste the flavors of the dishes. Nirvair seemed to enjoy asking the waitstaff to give us additional servings. We followed that up with some wonderful desserts from the menu and some hot tea.The entertainment the first night was a comedian/illusionist named Duck Cameron. He performed some amazing illusions (he didn't want to call them magic), including one extended one that had an audience members $100 bill, complete with his signature, ending up in an orange picked at random from a fruit bowl and across the stage. Joyce was finishing some mid-cruise laundry, so she didn't get the whole show, but she didn't mind too much.
The Jean Ann Ryan Company returned the second sea night with a show called "Malibu Waves", a revue that highlighted the music of the Beach Boys. As could be expected, Alan was a little concerned that they were skimping on the costume budget for the Moldavan acrobat, but Joyce didn't seem to mind.
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