Amusing Moments on ms Volendam

Candyfloss for dinner?

Within an hour of boarding the ship, before we had even put out to sea, I was having a surreal moment on the 'Volendam'.

   We were berthed at Captain Cook Wharf in Auckland, close by Queens Wharf  which was a fan zone for the Rugby World Cup. From my window seat in the Crow's Nest I could see onto Queens Wharf and the performance stage and enormous screen that showed close-up enlargements of the action on stage. I was idly looking down when something white on the screen caught my eye. I couldn't believe it! It was a sheep!

   Then another sheep showed up and two men, dressed in black shorts and singlets, proceeded to shear them. 

   So there I was, in the middle of New Zealand's largest city, in the central business district, on a cruise ship, watching a sheep shearing competition. How unexpected was that? Bizarre!

   On our third night on board, we had dinner at the Canaletto Italian restaurant. Very nice it was too. The waiter served us morsels of antipasti from a platter. I had a delicious seafood soup, followed by chicken marsala. We ordered desserts, a pastry concoction for my husband and a mousse for me.

  We got a plate of candyfloss! A big plate of bright green candyfloss. "We didn't order that," I told the waiter. "No, ma'am," he replied. "It's our present from the fairy in the kitchen."

   We did get the desserts we had ordered and we, like big kids at the Easter show, devoured the candyfloss. Thank you, kitchen fairy! 

   One last thing I found amusing. The photographers on board the 'Volendam' are no longer called photographers.They have morphed into 'Image Creators'. How's that for a fancy name!