Another day at sea entailed my 13 laps before breakfast, listening to a couple of lectures and a generally lazy day. I also keep fit by walking up the stairs all the time!
Sometimes, it's too hot to sit out on the pool deck, and the small pool becomes very crowded.
Another surprise evening event - dinner under the stars. All the chairs had blue covers and it was aset menu. Delicious food as usual.
Monday morning, I woke around 6 am. to find that we had docked in Cebu - not the exotic stop we had expected! We were moored next to a ship unloading sand! There were numerous port officials on-board, customs, etc. We were all very hopeful. of seeing some buses to take us into the centre of Cebu, but they never eventuated!
Even though the Filipino authorities had given permission for us to dock and leave the ship, the port was privately owned, and the owner wanted a rather large amount of cash.Our Captain was seriously fed up - you could tell by his tone as he relayed messages to us!
The ship beside us was unloading fine sand - consequently the starboard side of our ship was covered in it!
We were probably in port for nearly 11 hours, and everyone was very happy when we finally pulled away from the port. I was watching from my balcony as the pilot 'jumped' from the ship - he wasn't a slim little man either - both ships were moving at speed.
Unfortunately, one of my shipboard friends has got covid, and she and her travelling friend have been confined to their cabin!
Tuesday - we are now 'steaming' towards Manila and expect to be there at 7 pm. My poor steward now has to stay on until Hong Kong because his flight should have been yesterday. We are sailing between small islands. There are birds (Boobies) swooping to catch the flying fish. The sea is a beautiful blue.
We are now hanging around, just outside Manila Port. We have to wait for the pilot to bring out a ship that is in our berth, and he has to 'hop' from that ship to ours. The Filipino staff are so excited about seeing their families. There're about 400 Filipino crew, so I'm not sure how their few hours (?) of leave will work!
We have been sailing past lovely scenery. The most impressive was a 100m high statue of the Virgin Mary!
The talks today were about the Ring of Fire - the Philippines gets about 200 quakes a day. There was a 2.5 yesterday - that wouldn't be noticeable! We also heard about the history of Manila. I have a full day excursion tomorrow and have to be ready to leave by 06:45.!
Wednesday -- We finally made it to Manila!
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