Eight consecutive sea days will be our longest, and we are now halfway to Nuku Hiva, with four days to go.  There has been some ship motion since leaving Panama, but nothing I would consider significant.  The air temperatures remain pleasant, but it is breezy on the open decks as we are cruising at a relatively fast 18 knots.

I wandered around the Lido pool a little after eight this morning and watched the Tai Chi class in progress – led by the sports director – Spencer.  At the other end of the pool, fellow passenger Bonita was leading a Zumba class for a small group.  They didn’t have a large monitor available – so they were making do using a small laptop.

Immediately after the Tai Chi, the Polynesian Ambassador Team led the Polynesian Fitness Class.

It was now a little after 9 am on a beautiful day, and there were still plenty of deck chairs available around the pool and pretty much anywhere you may want to sit outside.  Unlike some shorter cruises, there is rarely any issue with people reserving deck chairs.

I stopped by the Mainstage at 2 pm to listen to Guest Lecturer Mike West talk about ‘Sink the Bismarck!’

Mike opened his talk with a rendition of the 1960 Johnny Horton song “Sink The Bismarck”.  More HERE You can watch a video below;

While Mike did a fine job with the song, he quickly admitted that singing is not his strong suit.  Mike presented a fascinating story of this naval battle from the early days of WW II.  His presentation and slides are outstanding.  Mike concluded his talk with a sobering reminder that the loss of life during this battle was huge, as sailors on both sides perished at sea.

Tonight was the main event for our transit and one of the highlights of the cruise:  The Captain’s Dinner and Zuiderdam Ball.

Formal Nights were replaced years ago by Gala Nights and then Dressy Nights.  The trend throughout cruising has been a gradual shift in dress codes toward casualness.  With this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that on Grand Voyages, Holland America would bring back formal nights with a Tux or Suit the standard for men.

The Captain’s Dinner was a fairly typical Gala Night menu featuring Surf and Turf.  One wrinkle was a small note that additional lobster tails would cost $7.50 each.  We held another Tuxedo Junction at 6:45 pm with an excellent turnout.  I estimated that about 30-50% of the men were wearing tuxedos, and I didn’t see a single man not wearing a jacket and tie, and most were wearing suits.

Even though the dress code is only for the Main Dining Room, everyone was formally dressed in every area of the ship I visited.  I didn’t go to the Lido, where people were probably dressed more casually.

Captain Friso and Chantal greeted all the guests as we entered the dining room on Deck 3.  We have fixed dining at 7:30 pm, and our table has seven people assigned with one empty spot.  Our table was hosted this evening by the Assistant Shorex Manager, Adeline, from South Africa.  The wine was complimentary this evening regardless if your table was hosted or not.  Service continues to be excellent, and we routinely finish dinner in about 75-90 minutes.  There weren’t any decorations or chair coverings in the dining room.

The Zuiderdam Ball started at 9 pm in the Ocean Bar, the Rolling Stone Lounge and Billboard Onboard with all three bands playing simultaneously.  Having three separate areas worked out well as people could choose what type of music and atmosphere they desired.  The Rolling Stone lounge was easily the most popular and had the most activity.  While all the guests in the Rolling Stone Lounge were dressed to the nines, I was surprised to see the bartenders wearing their everyday T-shirts instead of something more formal.

The bands quit playing around 11:30 pm and the crowd dwindled pretty quickly once the music stopped.

Back in our cabin, we discovered our first “pillow gift” for the cruise.  

You can check out the rest of the cruise’s activities and theme nights HERE