All at Sea

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Monday
Gizo Island required tenders and with a 2.5'metre swell and a choppy blustery sea the decision was made to cancel our island stop. The information was piped into the cabin by the captain early morning with the advice that safety was paramount. Imagine people going over by tender and not being able to get back on board due to deteriorating weather.So we did a lazy 3 hour loop of the island and set sail for Honiara.Pablo the cruise director then came over the intercom to tell of of the new sea day arrangements. A new what's on sheet was issued, outdoor decks closed and most people seemed content with the changes. Celebrity mugshot, trivia, dingbat, battle of the sexes, and the funniest game of celebrity heads kept us amused all day between eating and drinking vast quantities of food and drink. The Ocean Bar is the venue for many of the games and it is getting fuller by the day. It's a matter of finding a seat and joining in with those people as your new team. Really is a great way to meet people, forces you to engage with anyone and everyone. We took a cheese board and a drink out the back of the boat tonight and watched the sunset with a lovely musical duo serenading us. Sitting doing nothing is very relaxing, no internet, no interruptions, no demands, good for the soul. You can get an unlimited internet package for $79 for the cruise or $10- for the day, many have chosen to use it with modems located around the ship. Or you can use the public computers in the atrium. The atrium was the hub today for the puzzle people, the daily book swap, and the games such as quoits, bean bag toss and putting. They all draw a huge crowd, so Australian, where people will cheer on 2 flys crawling up a wall. And today was laundry day, with massive amounts of people all contesting for the few machines. Was speaking to one couple who bring enough for the whole cruise, we brought 5 sets which does require a couple of laundry days. No fisticuffs for machines however my stuff was offloaded out of the drier prior to the time finishing, have heard some amazing stories of people coming to blows over washing. Today we ate all 3 meals from The Pantry which is the buffet style eating venue. They serve you, with many choices available. Each day there is something new, mussels were today's attraction. I imagine the bad weather meant the kitchen had to do a big scramble, they probably were expecting to feed 200 to 300 for lunch and got 1500 instead.

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