Day 54 - February 28 - At Sea

We woke up at 7:55 to 81 degrees under partly cloudy skies.  We had coffee, dressed and went to breakfast at 9:15.  We sat out on the aft deck and read until 1:30 when we returned to the cabin.  Glenda had a nail appointment at the spa at 1:45 and at 2:20, I went to the casino to enter the $5 scratch off slot tournament.  I didn't make the top score, so I returned to the cabin and read.  Glenda came back at 3:15 and took our new Indonesian stuff to the laundry room to press them before the night's Indonesian themed dinner.  At 4, we went to bingo where we both got close but did not win.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Don, Bob & Martha, John & Katherine and Dewa.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Pat and the bar staff until 9:50 when we went to the casino and played penny slots until 10:30.

Day 53 - February 27 - Benoa, Bali, Indonesia Day 2

We woke up at 8 and it was 79 degrees under partly cloudy skies.  We had coffee in the cabin, dressed and went to breakfast at 9:10.  At 10, we met with Marylon in the terminal and went out to find Made waiting for us.  Our drive to Kuta was 30 minutes and it rained on us a bit during the drive.  Once there, we shopped and walked around some of the temples along the beach. Glenda bought a dress, some pants and a sarong.   After about 1 and a half hours, we were very hot and decided it was time to go back to the ship.  The drive back was a little over a half hour in the traffic and Glenda and I shopped at the shops outside the gate for a bit and I bought a batik shirt.  In the terminal, I bought a Bintang (local beer) cap.  We re-boarded the ship at 12 40.  We went to the cabin to shed our sweat soaked clothing and drop off our purchases.  We went around looking for crew member's families.  We stopped in the Lido and got some ice tea and went to the aft deck with Marylon and Don until I returned to the cabin at 2 to download pictures and update the blog.  Glenda returned at 2:30 and went to the verandah to read.  I worked on the crossword and read until time to clean up for the evening.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Don, Vicki, Heidi & Ashel and Bob.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Bob, Tom & Karen, John & Katherine, Barbie and Peter until 10:20 when we went to the casino and played slots until 11:50.  We got to set the clocks back one hour.

Day 52 - February 26 - Benoa, Bali, Indonesia Day 1

We woke up at 7:50 as we were docking.  It was 77 degrees and sunny.  We made our bed as we had given Bagus, our cabin steward, 2 days off to visit his family.  We had coffee in the cabin, dressed and went to breakfast at 9:20.  At 10, we left the ship and met Marylon in the terminal.  We negotiated for a taxi to the Sukawati Market.  It was a 45 minute ride to get there and our driver, Made,  walked around the market with us and even carried shopping bags.  After about 75 minutes of shopping and bargaining, we decided that the heat was getting to us and it looked like rain, so we started back.  The ride back was a little over an hour and we re-boarded the ship at 1:10, dropped off our packages and went up to see how Don was doing with his candy giving for the crew's children.  He had only had about a dozen kids so far, but expected more later.  We went for ice cream and to the aft deck until 2 when I returned to the cabin to download pictures and update the blog.  Glenda came back at 2:20.  We read until time to get ready for the evening.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Don, Vicki, Tom & Karen, John & Katherine and Bob & Martha.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Tom & Karen, P{at, Diane, John & Katherine, Barbie and Peter until 11:10.

Day 51 - February 25 - At Sea

We woke up at 8:40 to 82 degrees under cloudy skies.  We had coffee in the cabin, dressed and went to breakfast at 9:45.  We went to the aft deck after breakfast where I worked the crossword and read while Glenda sunned and read.  At 11:30, I went to the cabin to update the blog.  I returned to the aft deck at 12:15.  We had ice cream at 2:15 and wen to the cabin at 3.  At 4, we went to bingo where Glenda won $28 in the first game.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow’s Nest and visited with Don and Vicki.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don and Bob until 10:10 when we went to the casino.  Glenda won $15 and I did not.  We went to the cabin at 11.

Day 50 - February 24 - At Sea / Captain’s Dinner

We woke up at 8:30 to 77 degrees under partly cloudy skies.  We had coffee in the cabin and I updated the blog.  We went to breakfast at 9:35 and then to the aft deck where I worked the crossword and read and Glenda sunned and read.  We left to go clean up for the night since we were attending the Captain's Dinner on this formal night at 6 and we wouldn't have time to shower and dress after bingo.  At 4, we went to bingo where Glenda won $80 on the final game.  We went down for the pre-dinner cocktail party at 6 and at 6:20, we were called to dinner in the Pinnacle Grill.  We were seated with Peter and 2 sisters from New York and Florida.  We had a fantastic six course meal and great wines.  The gifts from the Captain were ceramic tall mugs with the 2015 World Cruise Itinerary map on them.  At 9:15, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Don, Peter, Barbie, Bob, Ann, Captain Jonathan and his wife.  There were many officers and staff there who had come from the dinner.  At 11, we went to the casino and Glenda won $60 on the slots and I didn't.  We returned to the cabin at 12:15.

Day 49 - February 23 – Geraldton, Australia/At Sea

The Captain woke us at 7:10 announcing the cancellation of our stop in Geraldton due to high winds that even prevented us from entering the channel to the port.  We went back to sleep when he repeated his announcement at 7:50 followed by Gene telling us of the adjusted daily program.  We finally got up at 8 to 70 degrees under mostly clear skies.  We will now get to Bali 6 hours earlier than the original schedule in 3 days.  We had coffee in the cabin, dressed and went to breakfast at 9:35.  We went to the aft deck and I worked the crossword and read while Glenda sunned and read until 2:30 when we went for a snack and back to the cabin at 2:45.  At 4, we went to bingo where we did not win.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow’s Nest and visited with Don, John & Katherine, Tom & Karen, Rich, Heidi & Ashel, Ann & Cathy, Jeff and Martha.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Tom, John & Katherine, Peter and Bob until 11 when we went to the casino and played slots until 12.

Day 48 - February 22 - Freemantle, Australia Day 2

We woke up at 8:20 to 68 degrees under mostly clear skies.  We had coffee in the cabin, dressed and went to breakfast at 9:40.  We left the ship at 10:15 and took the shuttle bus into town.  We ran into Jeff as we left the bus.  We went to the souvenir shop for some toys for our stewards' children and then searched for the Freo Chocolate store, which sells Fremantle award winning chocolate.  While searching, we saw a lot of wall art and when we finally found the store, we bought lots of chocolate bars.  Then we walked back toward the port and along the way, we saw a beautiful building which turned out to be a B&B and it was for sale.  It would be a great place to live after kicking out any other tenants.  We got back to the the ship and re-boarded at 11:45.  We returned to the cabin and I downloaded the pictures and updated the blog.  We read in the cabin until 2 when we went up for ice cream.  At 3:15, we had a safety drill and it lasted until 3:40.  At 4, we went to the sail away party and we stayed until 4:30.  We read in the cabin until time to get ready for dinner.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Don, John & Katherine, Tom & Karen, Jeff, and Ann & Cathy.  We finally got a permanent band for the the Crow's Nest today, the Gemms.  After dinner, we returned and visited with Don, Peter, Tom & Karen, Barbie and John & Katherine until 10:45.