Last Sea Day before Tahiti

Last night at Coastal Kitchen, I enjoyed creamy truffle risotto to start, while Charlie had shrimp cocktail and a Caesar salad.  Then I had a very good grilled New York sirloin from the Classic menu, and he had seared scallops with Brussels sprouts, cauliflower purée, and caviar butter. He enjoyed his meal!

This morning we took our usual walk around Deck 14, trying to burn a few calories.  I returned to the crafting group, which will not meet these next three port days. I’m learning a lot about life in Australia, as the Aussies outnumber us!  They’re all very nice.

Charlie enjoyed watching a lot of college football, which started at 6:00 a.m. here!

For lunch, we went to Izumi.  Our favorite server Sudhanshu visited with us, as they weren’t too busy. He told us the last crossing (back to Vancouver) in the spring was the roughest he’s ever experienced.  Glad we missed that one!  He said from Japan to Vancouver (many days) the waves were 25 feet high!  

I had a She’s a Geisha cocktail and Charlie had some sake that he had especially enjoyed at our sushi and sake tasting.  

We both had the same salads as on our first visit, then Charlie had the shrimp firecracker spring rolls, which were delicious! In fact, they looked so good that we forgot to take a photo before eating two of them.

We both ordered our favorite champagne lobster roll, and I also ordered the crispy Philly roll with salmon, avocado, and cream cheese (back, below).

For dessert we both had mochi — strawberry, mango, and green tea.

We have one more meal at Izumi, initially scheduled on the 25th, but that’s when we cross the International Date Line, so we won’t HAVE a 25th of October. I’m glad we won’t miss the 27th!

Tomorrow we’ll dock in Papeete (pronounced various ways, but not « pu-PEET » as I’d thought. We plan to walk around and take photos, but we’ve been warned that most places will be closed since it’s a Sunday. This will be our first day off the ship since Seattle!