Hello Koh Samui, goodbye Koh Samui! The wind makes it impossible for us to safely transfer to tenders, which are necessary to visit this island as it doesn’t have a port. It’s an inevitability of cruising, although very rare, that one may miss a port.
Captain explains: although not particularly rough, the wind creates quite a swell, and it’s too risky for customers. The exception being our lost travellers from last night, they are brought out on a five mile journey which must have been very uncomfortable, and are reunited with Westerdam for the remainder of their cruise.
One could also say it’s karma or serendipity since it turns out I have to work today. I get a couple of hours in before we walk, and later spend the remainder of the day fixing a problem of my own making, it’s a relief that I can respond within hours of being notified there’s an issue.
Later on there’s an impromptu cocktail party around the pool, but we don’t bother with that, we just visit the jacuzzi and then get some swimming done, both are quiet as the ship is bouncing around a bit.
We dress for dinner, DJ’s tonight as it’s formal, although they no longer use this phrase, on HAL it’s called Dressy, however we stick to our own principles and do it proper. The number of appreciative comments we receive from both customers and staff reinforces our opinion that we are doing the right thing.
It’s the last of the company shows and TJ the Cruise Director has already told us this is their “save the best ’till last” moment. Unfortunately we don’t agree, whilst it’s a great show the previous two are better in our opinion.
In Pinnacle I’m going full-on Asian tonight, choosing everything from the right hand sub-menu. So I’m starting with tuna on sticky rice cakes, then tandoori lamb chops, and finishing with sticky rice mango sushi. Sadly the latter is a huge disappointment but I don’t expect to presume every course is perfect. Mark has more traditional starter and pudding which are equally enjoyable, if not more so in the case of the latter.
