AT SEA, en route to Esperance, Australia – March 13

hmmmm

Not warm enough to sit outside…that’s the weather report

Today is the day things took a dramatic turn…maybe dramatic is a strong word, but today was a…day.

It started as most days do around here lately, whether on tour or not. We wake up and see how the world has changed over night, not just our world, but the world…How are things in Canada? Calgary? Alberta? Open our door a crack to see if there’s any new letter…nope. Are we still headed to Africa?...seems like a go.

That all changed when we attended a ship-wide ‘town hall’ meeting with the captain and other senior staff. During this meeting they told everyone (without blatantly saying so) to ‘get off’. If we stayed on, we were warned to expect a significantly different experience…

• many passengers will disembark in Perth…no new passengers will be allowed aboard…the ship is going to be even emptier after Perth
• no new lecturers or entertainers will be allowed aboard
• all further large group gatherings will be cancelled...no get-togethers for long-time travelers, dance parties, Italian lessons, crew vs. passenger competitions, etc., these aren’t deal breakers, for us but…
• crew will no longer socialize with guests, no dinner with staff
• excursions in the new ports will be limited...may not be enough passengers to justify different options, there may be none to organize
• ports for restocking food and beverage are not yet finalized…a lot of organizing needs to happen to get food and supplies from the previously scheduled ports to the newly scheduled ports...we may run low on certain food items, and not all menu items may be available at all times.
  

After that meeting, we decided to get off. We emailed a bunch with our travel agent (once again a big thank you to her!!), got refunded for everything we booked to come home from Abu Dhabi with, got a new flight home from Perth, got a little sad, got over it and will be home on the 22nd. 

We end the cruise on the 19th but didn’t get a flight until the 22nd. We’ll be staying in Perth (where the cruise ends) for 3 days until the flight leaves. We’re happy about being able to see Perth a bit.