Sunday April 5
We had an early shore excursion – 8:00 – so we were up and
out after a quick Lido breakfast. We were at anchor just off Catalina Island,
so we gathered in the Rolling Stone lounge and trooped down to our tender. From
there we walked over to the one pier on the island, where we boarded our tour
boat. Our tour was billed as a Wild Dolphin Adventure, and we were super lucky
to get into a big pod shortly after coming out of the harbor. Our captain drove
with the pod so they could surf our wake, which they did enthusiastically for
quite some time, and then they were done. We headed out towards the wild
south-eastern tip of the island to see what we could see, and what I could see
was a whale spout. It was very cool! I told the captain and the whale actually
blew a couple times before sounding. We hung out in the area and saw it a
couple more times before we continued on to see sea lions and a seal. It was a
fun trip!
We walked around Catalina for a while. We’d wondered if
things would be open given that it was Easter, but no one on the Island seemed
to have noticed – it was jammed with tourists and everything was open. We’d
thought about having lunch there, but it was really a zoo. We decided to come
back to the ship and eat in the dining room, so we got it the tender line and
were back on the ship not long after.
Unfortunately a new thing seems to be not having the main
dining room open for lunch, so we went to the Lido. The food is good there, but
there’s a lot of waiting in line and not-quite-warm-enough food. I had some
very tasty chicken (adobo and satay) and some shrimp paella.
After lunch we had some down time, so I decided to head up
to the Tamarind Bar to do a little blogging. It wasn’t staffed, so I stopped at
the lido bar and grabbed a club soda to go. The Tamarind bar is midships on the
top deck (11), and it’s a wonderful spot to hang out.
Meanwhile, Dave went to the international beer tasting,
where he took home a can of beer for winning the trivia contest, and then he
and Jen attended the regional wine tasting, where the information which was
presented was of questionable use and verity, but they had a very good time
chatting with their tablemates.
Josh and I both ended up in the gym, where he rode the
exercise bicycle to single-handedly (double-leggedly?) power the ships’ engines,
and I did a very hard TBP online workout and mat pilates. There was time for
both of us to get cleaned up and recovered before our 6:00 reservation at Morimoto
by Sea, a specialty restaurant on board and the only one of its kind in the
entire HAL fleet. The dining room was fairly small, bright and open, and we had
a table right next to the window. The food was fabulous – we ordered almost
everything on the menu (it’s a small menu) and enjoyed tasting all the
wonderful things. Everything was perfectly prepared and delicious and
delicious. Even Josh’s sushi was above the usual.
After dinner I went in search of a dance venue but nobody
was playing dance music, so I ended up in the lounge where they were playing “LaLa
Land”, a game where the group hums songs selected by your assistant cruise
director Lauren, and one person tries to guess what they’re humming. Usually it’s
played in teams but we were a small group so we all played as one team, and it
was hysterical and harder than you’d think, even though several of the people
playing could actually carry a tune.
Afterwards I joined Dave at the evening show, a “xylo-synth”
player with a choreographed light show. It was lots of fun to watch and listen
to, and both Dave and I enjoyed the laser organ, which had a semi-circle of
lasers shining up from the floor that the performer could play music on by
interrupting the beams with his hands while his wife did a dance with color
changing batons. Well, you had to be there.
We were making good speed overnight – 17 knots or more – so unlike
the first night the ship had some sway and vibration, so excellent sleep
conditions. Also, Towel Dog!!!
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