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
It’s Commodore o’clock, Red Apple Fizz for me and Jane’s new favourite, Breakfast Martini. The Captain, Aseem Hashmi, came over the tannoy to tell us everyone was on-board and that things were going to get a bit lumpy heading home with 2 1/2 meter seas. He also informed us that today is Trafalgar Day and we were about to pass the site of his historic victory over the French. We had one more drink, Jane having a Watermelon Martini, before heading down to the room to get ready for dinner. We’d arranged to meet up with Pat and Giana for
A text message from Vodafone ES woke me at around 4am telling me their prices for calls, we must have transited the Straits of Gibraltar because the ship was moving around quite a bit. No alarm clock this morning, I’m crocked with my Achilles tendon giving me gyp so we had a lie in not making breakfast until 08.45. Once breakfast was over Jane popped along to the launderette to do a white wash while most people were off on their tours. Once that was done we went off the ship to have a stroll through Cadiz. We ended up
We had arranged to meet up with Pat and Giana for the quiz again tonight in the Golden Lion pub. We had got ready very early, so ended up having a look at the sale items racked up outside the ladies boutique on deck 3. Jane saw a pair of trousers she liked, but at 195 USD they were a bit tasty for me. She the saw another set that she liked, and this time they were more to my liking at 42 USD, so she went to try them on. The boutique doesn’t have a changing room, so she
I woke a little before my alarm this morning so was ready for it when it went off at 06.50. Jane was telling me to get back in bed while I was getting ready for the gym, but as this might be the last chance I get for a run I was determined to go. Once we past Gibraltar tonight we’ll be in the Atlantic, and if we have “Sea State lumpy” running on the treadmill might become problematic. As it turned out I needn’t have worried about running on the next few days. I was just jogging through 4.5km
We didn’t hang around in the Commodore Club for too long, leaving well before the 6pm dress code cut-off. It’s the Captain’s cocktail party for the CWC members as well as being the Masquerade Ball, so tonight was a formal night. I was in the white tux, as I’d popped a button on my black tux jacket, and not having packed a sewing kit, wasn’t in a position to repair it. We headed down to the Queen’s room for cocktails, when we saw Giana and Pat in the Golden Lion, so we made a detour to say hello and ended
Today is a sea day, and as such has been designated as a learning day. It started off well, as I leapt out of bed at 06.50 with my alarm clock blaring out. I got dressed and headed of to the gym for my run. I then went back to the room as I’d forgotten my Polar Heart Rate Monitor. Eventually I got back to the gym and set off jogging on the treadmill. 5 kms later, I was on my cool down and I noticed that my performance index on the machine was 46. Now I have no idea
We had a really, really lazy evening. Jane was exhausted and full after the Taormina visit, so we’d decided to give the Commodore Club a miss tonight and watch a film instead. We watched Florence Foster Jenkins, very enjoyable, before getting ready for dinner. Dinner was, as usual, excellent with a chicken boudin starter and a chicken curry main. Dessert was a hazelnut parfait, heavier than I thought it should but very tasty. The petit fours were a mixture of lemon marshmallow and praline cakes. Germane our waiter left a plate full of them on the table after dinner was