Sunny but still a lumpy sea as we power along at 21.1kts. Thankfully the temperature has risen to 20° and we ventured out around the deck for the first time in ages. Captains Circle cocktail party tonight, and as we haven't been to one for the last couple of sectors, we decided to go along.
Our scheduled party is 5.00 (for late dining), which is really disruptive as we are all done & dusted by 5.45 so they can have the "early diners" party at 7.00. Our issue is that there are 2 hours to fill in between the party and dinner. We had lunch earlier with Louise & George and they told us the best spot to go for the cocktail party, so we eventually joined them, along with Carol & Alan from our table. I say "eventually" as although we went down 15 minutes early, the queue was was way back to the Art Gallery!
There are almost 1200 Elite & 500 Platinum passengers and for some reason they lump us all together. Spread over 2 nights, with 2 parties per night equals roughly 400 each (allowing for non-attenders). Certainly the spot where we sat was excellent for service (polite expression for plenty of drinks) and comfort. The usual suspects were recognised as most travelled - 1900 days for the American and some 1200 for the regular Aussie couple who have been on all of our cruises. No, we didn't win the lucky draw either 😩.
Day 94 - 2 September - at sea
Bit of a shock to wake this morning at 6.40 and it is pitch black. Sunrise is not until 7.56! At least it feels slightly warmer and the sea is flattening a bit (I think, looking through the darkness). It goes without saying that we are only up at this hour because of bridge (again).
The talk of the day (apart from wishing every male in sight "Happy Fathers Day") is whether we'll get into Easter Island tomorrow. The forecast is apparently unhelpful, but the Captain has been to Easter Island twice - & got in both times. We'll see if his luck prevails. As we went to Easter Island last time, we are not concerned one way or the other. Certainly if we do get ashore we are going no further than the local town as the rest of the island is a National Park & the Chilean government wants USD80 each to go there.
While it is a sunny afternoon, the swell has increased - one of those long Pacific swells, which is causing the ship to both pitch and roll (even with the stabilisers out). The sea at last is a beautiful deep blue with a generally clear sky, but it is still a bit too chilly (Chile) to sit on the balcony.
Day 95 - 3 September - Easter Island
It is dark! Sunrise is not scheduled until 8.30, but from what I can see outside it is showery and a bit windy. Not unexpected, the Captain made an announcement at 8.30 that the sea conditions make it unsafe for tender operations and our visit ashore is being aborted. We really felt sorry for all those who had not been/missed visiting before. Even more sorry for those who had been queuing up for tender tickets since 6.30 & those (foolish enough) to have prepaid private tours.
Well at least the sun has come out as we sit at anchor with the officials aboard giving us clearance to arrive and depart. I think the reason for this is that we are disembarking 4 passengers/crew for medical reasons (hope the ride to shore is not too bad). Apparently the officials had to "borrow" the navy all purpose ribbed boat as the conditions were too rough for their normal boat!
Well that went well - Not! Having sat at anchor all morning, we are told just after midday that the officials on board and disembarking passengers & crew will shortly be leaving via our tender platform. The navy boat arrives and after a considerable period it approaches the platform, but they refuse to tie up. Although there is still quite a swell, we holding position with our thrusters to protect the port side of the ship.
Passenger bags are loaded, some officials jump onboard, half an hour later, still bobbing around and passenger bags are unloaded. No passengers/crew are now getting off, so a new manifest must be produced for the officials and after another half an hour the last official gets off and away they go. Interestingly, they seemed to have some "packages" with them....... Eventually at around 2.00 we actually got underway and had a scenic sail-by as we left, headed for Pitcairn Island scenic cruising in 3 days time.
After we left the relative shelter of the island the weather has further deteriorated with swells of 4-5 metres and light showers. Hopefully the Captain is correct and the weather improves tomorrow - fingers crossed!
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