I started yesterday’s post with the comment that I rarely ever see another ship while cruising the vast Pacific. Early this afternoon I open the curtain to my room and look outside and see the container ship ANL BINDAREE of Monrovia which just goes to show, that while such sightings are rare, they are not impossible and no sooner than you state you never see something is a sure sign that one will soon appear.

 

 

Good Morning Amsterdam was moved to the Queens Lounge, the large theater, because the guest would be author Paul Theroux and he was expected to draw a crowd. I wandered down a little early and caught the end of the Tai Chi class that was in progress.   The Tail Chi class is offered every day at 9am in the Queens Lounge and attracts about 70 students.

 

 

 

The Queens Lounge was 90% full at 10 AM when Good Morning Amsterdam started with author Paul Theroux. As you may recall, Paul was the author of the book “The Happy Isles of Oceania” that we received as gifts a week or so ago. Paul explained how he still writes one book a year and he writes everything longhand and never uses a word processor.   As a seasoned world traveler, he responded to a question that his favorite place to live is the North shore of Oahu followed by Nantucket Island in the summer.

 

Today’s cooking demo was preparing Dutch Raisin Rolls and Onion Bread. The Amsterdam Bakers discussed the proper way to knead and prepare the dough and offered a few other tips. They had some samples already prepared that were shared at the conclusion of the show.

 

 

 

Paul Theroux offered to sign copies of his book at 1pm in the lounge across from the Ocean Bar on Deck 5.   He spent 2 hours signing 375 books and the waiting time was about 45 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Guest speaker Alan Wright explained how to star gaze in general and in the southern hemisphere in particular.   He offered to lead stargazing excursions up on deck 10 any evening when the skies are clear, but unfortunately the forecast is for overcast skies and not ideal for viewing stars.   He will be aboard until we reach Sydney so we are hoping we will have some good conditions before then.

 

 

 

I entered my first Texas Hold’em tournament today and this is the first time I have played Texas Hold’em, ever. I spent the last week reading and studying “Texas Hold’em for Dummies” and watched a tournament a few days ago.   The buy in is $60 and you then play with $4000 in casino chips. There were a total of 10 players and the objective is to be that last man standing.   I played true to the book’s recommendation and found myself holding my own and after 1 hour, it was down to me and one other person.   On the final hand I was dealt a pair of threes and went “all in” and it turned out that this hand would be all that I needed and won me the $350 first place prize.

 

The Promenade deck has re-opened all the way around as the work on Tender 9 has paused or they have gone has far as they can onboard. Now that you can walk underneath the tender, you can see the damage to the hull remains.

Before dinner, I stopped by the Queens Lounge at 7:15, one hour before the first show, so see how many people were already waiting.   There were about 75 people already in position.

 

 

 

 

There are 6 male dance hosts available during the evening hours to dance with the ladies. They are quite popular and are rarely not dancing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half of our table was invited to the 3^rd Captains dinner of the Cruise.   Everyone on the full world cruise will be invited sooner or later and the dinner takes place every Saturday if the ship is at sea.   Below is a photo of the menu from tonight’s dinner. Starting at 6pm in the Pinnacle Grill, each dinner has a special menu that is not repeated. Our tablemates reported that the dinner was fabulous – it tasted great with an amazing presentation.   Everyone also received a porcelain salt and pepper shaker with the Holland America Logo. We heard that preparation for this meal starts at 3am an continues throughout the day.

 

Bobby Brooks Wilson wowed the crowd with another high energy show at 10pm.   He has a wonderful sense of humor and puts on a great show.   One woman was so enthralled that she threw a red bra onto the stage, but it wasn’t clear if she was wearing it at the time or brought a spare from her cabin.