Sea days - Brisbane to Darwin

Slept pretty well last night, was fairly rocky but there is some comfort in that.

As we were awake early we decided it was time for an early gym session.  We thought we might have the gym to ourselves as it was about 630 am.  Imagine our surprise when the gym was absolutely packed.  We pretty much got the last 2 walking machines - with a perfect view of the sun popping up on the horizon.

Post gym we went to the buffet.  Its layout is a little confusing, but once you have the gyst of where things are put out its quite logical.  The most important place is of course the pastry shop, which is also the spot you get the paid for coffee - not the filtered trash they have for free in kegs in the drinks bay.

We spent the morning better organizing our room, bathroom and closet space which in the end was a great idea.  Lunch came and we decided to do the grill up on the pool deck. Tony had a chilli dog and I had chicken tacos, followed by soft serve icecream.  All were very delish.  Its actually way warmer than I thought it would be - the pool area is super busy with lots of fat old people trying to cook themselves.

Dinner in one of the main restaurants was "Captains Welcome" and it was superb.  The entree was a crab slice that was amazing.  Tony had prawns, keeping with the seafood theme, and I had steak.

After watching an amazing sunset we went to see a concert - Nathan Foley, who was an original member of Hi5 many years ago.  It was ok - he certainly was an excitable fellow.

Wednesday was pretty much the same thing.  We tried breakfast in the MDR and it was good, but service was really slow.  Menu is a little limited too so probably wouldn't bother again.  Late morning we did some shopping - Tony bought a lovely waterproof jacket and I bought the charm bracelet.

Today we grabbed lunch from the 24 hr cafe - some mini rolls and a pie.  They were nice too - much better than the ones on the last cruise.

We spent the afternoon snoozing and Tony started to catch up on organising photos and editing the video.  We also went to an enrichment talk about exploration in the pacific ocean which I quite enjoyed.

Dinner again in the MDR - the highlight of "formal: night tonight was definitely the seared scallops.  After dinner tonight we went to see the comedy show.  A Scottish bloke called Geoff Boyz.  He was ok - parts of it was hilarious and parts just missed the mark sadly.  

Thursday arrived and we decided to change things up and do the gym in the afternoon.  So we took advantage of that and ordered room service breakfast.  So nice - and no additional cost, even though we asked for toast which was not on the menu.

Mid morning there was a talk in the theatre about Kagoshima port.  We went super early to get a seat, so caught the end of a cooking demonstration.  The Executive chef and his offsiders were cooking up a tiramisu, and they were quite funny.  The talk was interesting, and we were a little clearer about what's available when we land.

We decided on a light lunch today as we have dinner booked in the Crown Grill tonight, and it is likely to be huuuuge.  After lunch we thought we might try a cocktail each - Tony had a Martini and an tropical iced tea.  I ordered a margarita - served in a fishbowl it seemed.  I only managed 2 mouthfuls as it was potent.  Once back in the room i needed a nap, so slept for about an hour.

Dinner was booked for 6 pm, in the Crown Grill which is a New York steakhouse themed restaurant, tucked away midship, behind a bar.  The service was faultless.  As was the absolutely incredible food.   Tony scored a lobster tail which he absolutely loved.   Again, I went for the turf option and had fillet minion.  The highlight though was probably the desert.  It was a hybrid between a cheesecake and a creme brulee.  It was delicious.  Heavenly.

Friday was our final sea day before Darwin tomorrow.  We had buffet breakfast and spent a bit of time sitting outside reading.  I've been surprised, I've had no real desire to fill up the day with ship provided activity, super happy just to do our own thing and relax.

We decided to try the grill up on deck again - this time for hamburgers.   They were simple, and delish.

Dinner again in the MDR - highlight tonight was Tonys cajun seafood crockpot.  Was served up like a pie and chockers of seafood.

We were almost ready for bed and the Captain announced over the PA that we needed to participate in a search and rescue, so would be turning the ship back to render assistance.  They couldn't provide any more information, but did say it was likely to affect getting into Darwin tomorrow.  When I awoke during the night I could see that we were back on path but looked like we had spent a couple of hours going backards.