We had another day at sea today, heading for our final port of call Lisbon. The day didn’t start particularly well, I somehow missed my alarm at 06:45 and missed getting up for the gym. I was so late I nearly missed getting to breakfast before fencing classes at 08:45. The fencing is getting more intense now and we had some actual bouts, fighting with each other, putting into practice the moves we bad learned so far. Once that was over I headed back to the cabin for a shower and onto the first lecture of the day. Jeff Tall’s
Category: Sea Days
After our drinks in the Commodore Club we headed back to the room to get changed for dinner. Tonight is our first formal night of the cruise, so I was decked out in my DJ and Jane was looking lovely in a long black and white gown. I ended up dithering between wearing my white or black jacket, ending up on wearing the black. It was captains drinks in the Queen’s room before dinner, and while we usually don’t bother, we popped in for a glass of fizz chatting with Ken, June and Katy from our table. Dinner was very
It was the same routine today, up at 06:45, into the gym to cycle. I did a HIIT workout today to change it up again. A bit more intense today, 30 mins @ 198 watts average After my shower we went to the Britannia for breakfast for the first time. I had a fry-up with Bury black pudding yum! Jane had a cheese omelette. Satisfied, I headed off to my fencing class, it’s hard work, especially when you are my size. It’s made even harder when you are partnered up with an enthusiastic Asian chap who hadn’t done it before,
It was still a bit bouncy aboard today, so I stuck to the static bike in the gym, rather than risk death on the treadmill. I’d decided to do a more structured workout, so did 30 minutes at an average of 177 watts, covering 14.75 km. I really need to get better, Sa Collebra, on our trip to Majorca in April is going to kill me at this rate. A shower later and a quick look at my watch, I realised it was 08:20 and I’d not had breakfast yet. With fencing classes at 08:45 I really needed to get
We managed one more drink in the Commodore Club before heading off to get ready for dinner. Jane had a Marguarita and I reverted to the Doombar, a much nicer pint. We were upstairs in the Britannia, and having already recc’ed our table I was able to put our hostess right when she tried to put us on a table for eight. Surprisingly all ten of our dinner companions were there for the first night, we are usually missing a couple through tiredness. Dinner was a very chatty affair, with all the introductions, it looks like it’s going to be
I had a good night’s sleep, but Jane was complaining that it was a bit bump in the night, I never noticed. I awoke just before my alarm at 06:40, got dressed in my cycling gear and off to the gym to sweat. I’d not expected to use the treadmill, it’s too dangerous when the sea is anything except a millpond. I was hoping there would be a Wattbike or similar to train on, but disappointingly there were only Technogym static bikes, which are pretty good, but have no connectivity to my Garmin, so I can’t properly record my workout
After the choir, we headed back to the room for a rest, Jane was still feeling a bit rough, in keeping with the sea state. It was looking like our final visit to the Commodore Club wasn’t going to happen. That Captain had promised that once in the English Channel, the sea would calm down. It didn’t seem to. So we rested until it was time to get ready for dinner. When I was all clean and shiney we went to meet Pat and Giana for one last trivia quiz in the Red Lion pub, stopping only to place all
The skipper’s rush to beat the storm across the Bay of Biscay seems to have failed. We’re bouncing along merrily in the teeth of a gale. Winds of 60+ miles per hour, and 3 1/2 metre waves. All very exciting if you don’t suffer from motion sickness. Unfortunately Jane is not feeling top tippy, the wrist bands from yesterday’s shopping trip don’t seem to be having the desired effect. I was sent to breakfast alone in the Lido, with orders for a cup of tea and a toasted bacon bagel. I got up to deck 9 to find my route
We only had the one drink in the Commodore Club before heading down to the stateroom to get ready for dinner. We were going to meet Pat and Giana in the Red Lion for the wipeout quiz at quarter to eight. We weren’t successful in our endeavours, getting eight out of twelve questions correct, the same as the eventual winners, but failing miserably on the wipeout question. Our winning streak had com to an end. It was time for dinner and as is traditional on the final formal night, there was the parade of the chef’s, where all the catering
Jane had a particularly bad night last night. Being a lady of a certain age, she’s been experiencing”power surges” which has been disrupting her sleep quite badly. This coupled with the lively seas means she’s very tired this morning. I was late getting up, my knackered Achilles, means no running and there’s no fencing today so I didn’t stir until after 9am. After a shower, I headed up to the Lido for breakfast, with orders of bring me something nice, and a cup of tea following me out of the door. I had a freshly made ham and mushroom omelette