Now in the Southern hemisphere.

Thursday March 31st. At Sea

Water, water every where and not a drop to drink!

Well there's as much on board as you could ever wish for but surrounding the Royal P is nothing but salty water as far as the eye can see, not another vessel in sight and I suppose I can understand why some pax feel lonely way out here. To me it is sad to overhear people moaning that the ship is too small, nothing to do, yada yada yada. I wish more  T/A's were like Michelle, asking questions of their clients before fitting them to ships more suited to their tastes... BUT if a client says, " I want to book this itinerary on this ship, end of story"...

We are enjoying these lazy hazy sea days, sailing a huge ocean on which small ships tend to move according to the whims of mother nature, much more so than the 100 plus thousand ton vessels that ply right through, steady as a rock, with more entertainment than you can shake a stick at. There is the right fit for everyone if we do our home work.

Well now some of it's starting to make sense. It seems that the cruise we were booked on last April from Valparaiso and around the horn, which was scuttled due to the Chile earthquake, well Princess for some reason canceled the early March voyage this year and some of those pax were offered  this voyage instead,  hence the "small ship" complaints. Sad really when people have paid so much. The seas are calmer now for those who were having problems, for their sake let's hope it stays that way to Papeete where most will be getting off.

Oh oh, oh what a lousy night, but at least I don't have to get up and go to work. I was "on me Todd" when I awoke at 8.00. I sauntered up to deck 9 for breakfast, met up with Dorothy and had some cereal, yoghurt and  fruit, some hot water with honey and lemon, teased some of the ladies, got dragged to a talk on gemstones, 11.00am was time for us to go through French Polynesia Immigration which didn't take too long, stopped to natter here and there, then it was lunch time. Went down for an hours nap and the next thing I know the ships whistle is blowing and time for King Neptune to come aboard. I had guessed that they may hold the ceremony early and indeed they did.

We will cross the equator officially around 8.00pm this evening we will be at a latitude of 00.00'0 degrees-153 degrees 220' West. That will be 11.00pm PDT, midnight MDT, 6am GMT. And I'm too lazy to work out my ANZAC friends times but they'll know.

The decks were crowded though I did manage to get a photo or two of the fun and games. About 10 pax, all pollywogs of course were involved and it was a mess. Much cooked spaghetti, green jelly, ketchup, ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipping cream  were used, "I know, there's kids starving in India"... At least now they don't throw the newly initiated into the pool, that used to be a nasty job for some poor stewards to clean up.

Jolene tells me there's been snow in Calgary meaning that March came in like a lion and went out like a lion too. So much for my dear old Gran's sayings… We've been steadily sailing south and after dinner took a stroll along the outside decks, the trade winds were warm and it felt good on our skin. The sun beat down mercilessly this aft during the crossing the line ceremony, but the evening is just lovely. Just after eight pm we caught a glimpse of the white line that marks the Northern and Southern hemispheres  and the ocean was so calm that we did feel the bump as we crossed the equator :)  There were a few on deck who couldn't see it for love nor money!!!

During our stroll I noticed a sea bird struggling, it seemed to have hurt it's leg it was smaller than a pigeon but larger than a sparrow with a downward hooked beak. I was able to gently pick it up and after a couple of half hearted pecks at my finger, it settled in my palm. I checked it's leg which didn't appear to be broken, so held it over the rail and with a quick flap of it's wings, flew off into the night.

Dinner was great, neither of us were very hungry so no starters for  us, Dorothy chose the lamb, I had a chilled pineapple/vanilla bean soup followed by a scallop dish and succumbed to the cherries jubilee for desert. The food has been fine, no complaints, though service tends to be a bit slow when the dining room is full, which it's not every night as many go up to the buffet for dinner.

Saturday is the Captains farewell party, we've been invited for drinks with him before dinner, as have all members of the Captains Circle past pax club. It will feel good to be continuing on with our journey but sad to see new friends disembark.

Until the next installment, bon nuit.