January 17, 2026 Sea Day #5

   It was raining on this Sea Day #5 of 9. We are on the way to Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu. The morning temperature was 27°C, wind WNW 23km/h and humidity 89%.

    We had time for breakfast in the dining room, before attending Coffee with Robbie at 9 a.m. Today’s guest was the Hotel Manager Bart Groeneveld from the Netherlands. It was an interesting 30 minutes about running a hotel on the water and how it is supplied with staff, food and beverages. Sue and Sandy came to see what Coffee with Robbie was like.

    The Port Talk with Berny, the travel guide, in the World Stage theatre was at 10 a.m. He gave the information about the last two ports in Vanuatu, Port Vila and Mystery Island.

We stayed for Morag Hocknull’s talk about the cultural challenges and life experiences while she and John lived in remote postings in Papua New Guinea.

   In the Rolling Stone Lounge at noon, there was a line dance class for 45 minutes after which we walked six laps on the Promenade Deck which had dried, but the sky was still overcast. Then at 2 p.m. we were back in the World Stage theatre for Dr. Gerald Carney’s presentation on James Cook’s first Pacific Voyage from 1768 to 1771.

    We decided to go to Afternoon Tea in the dining room where the tables were set with a three tier plate service with mini sandwiches on the lowest level and tiny two bite pastries on the top two levels.

    There is a casino on Deck 2 but it is not used much. In the evening one of the three Black Jack tables may have more than two players. The three dozen slot machines rarely have more than half a dozen players.

    Happy Hour is every day from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in two of the bars and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Ocean Bar. Today in the Ocean Bar at 5 p.m. the Dam Band was scheduled to play ballroom music for 45 minutes. Some of there tunes were like a jam session, but we and another couple were able to dance to about half of the tunes.

    We met Margaret and Ted for coffee in the Library Café after dinner then went to the World Stage theatre for the 8 p.m. kickoff for the Costume Party. The singers and dancers performed for the first 15 minutes, then the Rolling Stone Lounge band started the party with the Activity team encouraging costumed, or not, passengers to come to  the dance area at the front of the stage to dance. It was filled to capacity in no time. Later in the evening, there was a costume judging contest in the World Stage theatre. We didn’t stay to see who won.


Total steps   11,840

the Costume Party in the World Stage theatre

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