Today’s Chroncile can be found here.
We’re starting to reach Peak Sea Day over here. We didn’t even make it to a lecture today. (Though in our defence, the Q&A with Captain Freddie Ligthelm was unfortunately the only time that we could get an appointment with Future Cruise Manager Nilton.)
But we did get an appointment, and we were able to lock down a pair of vista rooms on the Osaka to Manila expedition cruise. We’re still hopeful that the price will drop between now and early January 2027 – when we will no longer be able to cancel without penalty – so I have set up a price watch on CruisePlum, who will e-mail me if the price ever drops.
(I’m unsure whether this kind of price watching is common practice – if anyone’s interested in seeing how this is done, just let me know and I can put together a how-to.)
No luck with releasing the seven staterooms we accidentally put on hold! But they should release on their own within a week. There’s still plenty of availability, however.
Also – they recorded Captain Freddie’s lecture, so I am going to watch it sometime soon.
We continued our battle against the homework hydra, and then my daughter and I went to lunch at the Restaurant while my wife and son dined at La Terrazza.
The lunch menu:
I had the beef stroganoff:
While my daughter had the chicken fingers (not pictured).
We both had the jasmine tea chocolate tart for dessert:
Delicious!
I went off to use the steam room and take a nap while my wife once more took the kids for a swim. 2 pm magically became 3 pm once more – the third time zone change in a row – and we were at trivia before we knew it.
I’m still not entirely sure whether the mid-day method of changing time zones is preferable. You feel the loss of that hour keenly in the afternoon, though I do like getting it over with before bedtime. Perhaps this method is easier on the crew? If so, that would be enough to tip the scales in favour.
Regardless, three time zone changes in three days is a challenging prospect. Glad there are only two more time zone changes left to go this trip!
Anyway. Expedition team trivia today. We struggled with some of the demographic questions regarding the team – the average age of the expedition crew (40), how many expedition team members have children (3), and so on – though I think everyone struggled with those.
Huge credit to my son for remembering the original number of settlers that landed on Pitcairn (27), the islands we visited in the Marquesas (Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, Fatu Hiva, Tahuata), and the island groups that we visited (the Tahuatas, the Marquesas, and the Society Islands).
Big thanks as well to our group for remembering the ship that inspired Moby Dick (The Essex) and what’s on the top of the Pitcairn coat of arms (a wheelbarrow). Our performance was good enough for third.
Back to the room for a bit of a break, and then off for the evening briefing and recaps:
We have two potential landing sites laid on – the first is in the main town of Hanga Roa, and the second to the north at Anakena.
We have two tours planned for this visit – the first is Exploring Rapa Nui, which is largely a bus tour but which will hit all the major sites. The second will be the hike to Rano Kao and visit to Orongo village. Tomorrow afternoon is open for us, so we’re hoping to find a spot where we can swim and snorkel.
On to the recaps, starting with Sarah’s presentation on lichen:
Lichen is a combination of algae and fungus – There’s a considerable amount of lichen on the moai statues, which can be used to measure dates. This can be accurate to +/- 10 year sat the 1,000 year mark, but it’s really useful at periods less than 500 years when carbon dating breaks down.
However, there’s a concern that this lichen will eventually break down the statues. They are considering renting out the “lost friend” or “stolen friend” (the moai in the British Museum) as a way of raising some of the $500 million needed for the restoration.
Damon then ran through a “precap” for some of the wildlife that we might see while we’re there, including an endemic sea urchin, the Chimango caracara, and the Easter Island butterfly fish – which, despite it taking Damon three attempts to photograph, can often be spotted right off the pier.
Off for dinner at La Terrazza. This was perhaps the first time when it seemed a little bit mixed – almost like they were short staffed? No real delays or anything that truly merits complaint, just not as exceptional as it has been in the past. I had an extra-large portion of the shrimp in cognac sauce:
Some of the shrimp were a bit on the cool side, but otherwise very tasty.
Back to the room in time to take in the last moments of dusk:
And then off to bed – big day tomorrow!