Day 38 (22 September 2015)

Nothing but blue sea - a smooth sail mid way between San Francisco and Honolulu

Nothing really different from yesterday’s activities. We attended a cha cha cha lesson at 2:30 pm. The steps were basic and we knew all what was shown. The American way of dancing the cha cha cha is on the first step, not the second beat as we do in Australia. Also we are starting to walk around the ship – today it was a 1.6 klm stroll – tomorrow we will stretch it a bit further. Our meals have been breakfast delivered to our room, a buffet lunch in the huge dining room and a sit-down dinner in a room forward of the ship. The buffet are the worst meals – the plates they give you are twice the size of a normal size plate and it is easy to fill your plate with food that you don’t usual have. At least the sit down night meals are controlled. Now, this is a good time to talk about the people we have met and seen on board the Golden Princess. The average age appears to be about 73 years – mostly Americans with many Australians and a few Canadians. On arrival in Australia the North Americans are only staying in Sydney between five hours to three days before travelling back to their homeland. What a pity they couldn’t see our great country with time to spare! The crew are a mixture of various countries with their country of origin labelled on their shirt badges. There are many Filipinos, especially in the dining room. We have made a great acquaintance with Ferdinand (a Filipino) who is on his fifteenth (9 month) contract with Princess Cruises. He is fantastic, fun with an unusual accent and seem to be at our needs in the dining room before we decide what we need – uncanny! Now there is the laundrette room, not far from our Stateroom. There is the Queen of the Laundrette, an Ozzie with amazing knowledge of everything laundry. Her knowledge of every nook and cranny of washing machines, irons and dryers would make you squeal with amazement. What a journey she has taken – to have a 28 day cruise and enjoying the company of unwitting passengers in a claustaphobic laundry room. Enough of that. There is another person –an American. A tall gentleman with almost portly pear shaped figure. Who feels he is the Elvis at karaoke sessions and can dance with any lady he wants on the dance floor. This James Bondish fellow dances the dirty dance way. Thank goodness he hasn’t taken our Anne into his clutches in what appears to be the typical sleaze many women avoid. At dinner time we are sitting with a Chinese couple from Vancouver, Canada. They are in their eighties and is a struggle to have a good conversation with them. We don’t know if it is a language barrier, however they did tell us they were English teachers before retirement – who’d have thought? They introduced us as Priscilla and Mr Wong. We try to crank up good old Australian conversation but their usual response is an impassive stare to display recognition that they understand what we are saying – we meet all sorts of people on this adventure. So far the weather has been overcast – the North Pacific Ocean being a beautiful blue sapphire colour. So until tomorrow – cheers.