The clocks went forward overnight, which meant that when I woke up I was a little confused about what time it actually was my watch said seven am, and I assumed that because my watch was tied to my Garmin account and GPS time it would not change. so I started bustling around the room thinking it was actually eight am and needed to get ready for breakfast. Needless to say Jane was annoyed to be woken at seven and I was told to get back to bed. It was a glorious morning, flat calm seas and a cloud free
Category: Sea Days
I had a disturbed night with a work call from Asia at 02:45, I informed them I was on holiday and to speak to my colleague and tried to get back to sleep, which took a while. I woke for a second time at 08:30 to a grey old Amsterdam morning, and promptly managed to knock over my water glass trying to turn on the bedside light. Today was not starting well! Nicely showered we headed down to the MDR for breakfast, there was a queue for the first time on the voyage, probably because we’d departed Amsterdam earlier and
It was a solo breakfast for me first thing, it usually is, what with the excitement of the cruise, half a bottle of Pol Acker, Commodore cocktails and shared a bottle of Montagnes 1er Cru at dinner plus port with her cheese, Jane was a little jaded and had already had the foresight to order room service. My first and only lecture for the day was at 09:15, Gloria Barnett’s chat on the weird and wonderful behaviour of sea creatures, that part was excellent. The second part on pollution at sea felt a bit more preachy even though everything she
We’re all at Sea today, so it was nice to have a lie in and have a relaxed breakfast. My first insights lecture wasn’t until 10:30 as Phil Holt was first up, and I’ve seen all of his offerings several times. We had breakfast in the PG restaurant, a basic one of mixed berries and yogurt followed by a cheese, mushroom and chilli omelette.My first lecture was Grace Barnett’s chat about sharks and set out to dispel all of the myths surrounding them and went on to describe some of the more dangerous creatures that inhabit our oceans. She has
It was our penultimate sea day, which meant there were to be insights lectures for me to attend. For Jane it would be a day of sunbathing and just general chilling out. I headed off to breakfast first as I had an 9:15 lecture so an early breakfast with Jane following on once she was ready. My first lecture was Jim Jarvis OBE a customs and excise man from Nottingham who told us all about the nefarious world of drug smugglers and the many dangers involved in foiling them. From there I headed up to the Grills terrace to find
It was ever so nice to have a lie in for a change, crawling out of my pit and into the shower in time for breakfast at 09:00. We were bad today, having pancakes with maple syrup, eggs easy over, crispy bacon and sausage. Naughty but nice. We were all set for sunbathing so went straight up to deck 12 to claim a bed and catch some sun. I didn’t stay long as I had a 10:15 insights lecture. Trev Trethathen gave the lecture standing in for Angela Rippon who had to return the the UK, I assume to do
We ended up getting to dinner a little later than usual last night. We have a table for two in these new post Covid times, which last time out worked quite well as we had a friendly, chatty couple sat next to us. Time will tell how this cruise fares, but it seems promising. Jane ordered “A La Carte” with crab cocktail and lamb provencale, nice but the portions were too large for her. I had the tempura prawns from the “A La Carte” and pepper steak from the main menu, my portions were just fine. I had a cracking
Last nights dinner was the first of the Gala nights, the Black and White ball. I’d tried on all of my outfits on the Thursday before the cruise just to check if they’d still fit. I’d lost a lot of weight while in hospital and thought I might have to dig out some of my older gear. As it happens the time back at home hasn’t been kind and everything just about fitted still. Anyway getting back on the ship and the sea air seems to have shrunk things further as I had a right job squeezing into my DJ
We woke to grey skys and a slight swell as we headed across the top of Brittany. My alarm had woken me at 06:45 and I climbed into my running gear to head off to the gym, oh dear! Lockdown hasn’t been kind to me and I looked like “Little Britain’s Matt Lucas as the Only Gay in the Village” I should have tried it on before packing it. I’ll try again tomorrow with a cotton t-shirt which won’t be ideal, but I really need to make the effort. Jane stayed in bed as she’s booked breakfast in the room,
I slept a bit better overnight, as it was our second night on board. The room is very quiet but we do have an annoying squeak, it’s got an irregular interval and seems to be outside the room somewhere as I can’t pin it down. Jane joined me for breakfast in the PG dining room, so we were a little later getting there. I tried the devilled kidneys on sourdough toast, nice. After breakfast we went to relax in the sun while I waited for my first lecture of the day. We were just off the North Spanish coast near