Saturday - March 05, 2005
Taiwan: Taipei
Taipei was another port that was was slashed from our itinerary because of bad weather. Previous to this, all our cancelled ports had been places where we had to enter by tender. But Taipei was a port where we were to be docked for the day. However, the high swells and strong winds meant it was not only unsafe for us to try to enter the narrow neck of the harbor, it would also be dangerous to the ship to be tied up at port. So it's another day at sea for us and on to Hong Kong.
Captain McNaught is now officially known amongst the passengers as "No Port McNaught". We should have known there might be problems when we encountered the worst seas we've had on the entire trip. The swells were very high and waves were breaking against the Quarter Deck windows, which are quite high up and two levels above our cabin. This was the first time that I felt slightly queezy since the previous time I mentioned in this blog, at least a month ago. So I stayed in the cabin and read most of the day, just to be on the safe side.
The weather seemed to let up a bit when we were at dinner, but came on strong again around midnight. We were due to dock around 7:00 am and when we awoke around that time to discover we were still at sea, we knew something was wrong. Then Captain McNaught came on the PA system to announce that it was far too dangerous to try to take the ship into port and the winds were expected to pick up during the day to reach 50 knots, making it very difficult to get the ship out again. Seeing as this was the seventh change or cancellation from our original itinerary, the passengers were in an ugly mood about this cancellation. I didn't like it much myself, because we had really been looking forward to visiting the National Museum in Taipei, which has the greatest collection of Chinese art and objects anywhere in the world. But what can't be cured must be endured, and the captain is certainly not in control of the weather. We have just had bum luck this year. The good news is that we will carry on to Hong Kong and have more time in port there. Seeing as we both love Hong Kong, that's not a bad bargain for us.
Rumors are now running rampant on the ship as to whether or not we will even go to the Middle East or whether the whole itinerary will be changed to take us around South Africa. If that rumor has a grain of truth to it at all, I will then become one very upset customer as I have been waiting all my life to see the Middle East. Although I wonder if anyone besides me noticed in the ship's paper that the tennis matches in Dubai a couple of days ago were canceled because of rain!