DAY 4 Jan 16 - Sea Day Caribbean Sea

NB:- For those a little confused, we are PAUL and MARIA. Another blog on the same subject of this grand voyage is being published elsewhere by our friends Bill and Mary Ann. I think some people are getting a bit confused with who is who!! Anyway I am Paul the author of this one and Maria is my wife. Confusion over I hope.
Last night was our first of the thirteen formal nights planned for this voyage. Oh what a struggle having to dress up in my ‘finest’ after a year or so when I hardly ever even wore a jacket! At least the tuxedo fitted (having already had the trousers adjusted) but the dress shirt was another matter. Maria just managed to camouflage the fact that my top bottom did not fasten by cleverly hiding it with my red bow tie.

My oh my, we have another twelve of these nights to go. Maria looked wonderful in her glittering attire when she eventually made her entrance. The picture below is of Bill and Mary Ann and ourselves, standing behind them, having a pre-dinner cocktail in the Crow’s Nest bar.

Dinner was excellent and we all agreed that it was the best of the voyage so far. The menu selection was wide, varied and interesting. Tonight we found out the name of our table waiter from Indonesia. He was called Nandang and he at last had a name badge now displayed on his uniform. What was happening to HAL? Introductions by the table staff were usually made on the first night?

After a full and enjoyable meal we trouped onto the show lounge where Captain Albert was welcoming second sitting guests with a glass of Champagne and introducing his senior officers and the crew member of the month. We missed his pronouncement on the aft deck debacle but understand he said it would be finished on Saturday!!!

The show was energetic and colourful with the Prinsendam’s dozen or so young singers and dancers performing their routine with great vigour and enthusiasm. It lasted through to about 11.30, perhaps a little too long for our liking and we were pleased to eventually get away to a welcoming bed.

At around 4.00 am we were both woken by the ship tossing and turning and the howling sound of wind. Our balcony door was ajar and the wind was penetrating the cabin. It must have been blowing at least an 8 (gale force on the Beaufort scale) and we sure were rock ‘n’ rolling.

It was time for me to get up. By 4.50 I was having my second cup of coffee and chatting with the very pleasant Indonesian deck hand whose shift began at 5 o’clock. He suggested to me that the work on the aft deck might have to stop (or maybe had stopped if there was a night shift) because of high winds!!! You would thing the ‘suits’ that plan these things would have realised that weather conditions at sea tend to be unpredictable and variable and can affect work on the outer decks!! Once the sun comes up I will again report back with some photographs of what progress has been made back there.

The picture below shows the solitary teak sander in action at 6.15 am. The pool and two spars have been cleaned up a bit and look ready now for a wash and scrub. The bar and stools have been sanded down and varnished with at least one coat. The arc lights look like they are left on all night but this may just be a safety precaution not for night working.

The other swimming pool area, on the Lido deck mid-ship, had also been out of action to date but during the night the pool had apparently been filled and was waiting its first customer.

There was no doubt that the weather had changed as we entered the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic this morning. The wind had come up and it was distinctly much warmer with quite high humidity. We had just passed close to poor Haiti with all its untold misery when I came on deck.

During the mid-day announcements the cruise director announced that the aft deck would be finished by the next sea day which in fact was Monday next. So there was now light at the end of the tunnel but HAL should not be proud of how they have deal with this one. It has been a shamble from beginning to end.

We took advantage of the warm weather and had a few hours sunning ourselves by the mid-ships pool. It was hot and sunny, a recipe for sun burn. After a light lunch by the pool we decided to call it a day and headed back to the cabin for a read and a nap.

Tomorrow its back on dry land for us all as we visit South America for the first time on this voyage.