Last night’s dinner was much less stressful than the Black and White Gala night, mainly because I wore a pair of trousers that weren’t actively trying to chop me in half, that and I wasn’t wearing a tie your own bow tie. I’d forgotten to pack gloves, which is a bit of a schoolboy error on a trip above the Arctic circle, so after a hearty breakfast we headed into Alesund to do a little shopping and maybe a bit of sightseeing. We’d bearthed right in the centre of Alesund, so it was just a short hobble off the ship
Last night was another Smart Attire night on the ship, which was good for me, it means another comfortable dining experience. Jane had decided to go off piste and order the duck a l’orange from the a la Carte menu. It was both huge and delicious.The portions on this cruise seem much larger than previously, even I am struggling to fit in a dessert, I have to try very hard and it’s not quite beaten me yet, but I have had a couple lunches without a starter We woke late for breakfast, but Jane did make it upstairs to the
The Red and Gold Gala dinner was a roaring success for Jane as she looked wonderful in her new frock, and I didn’t look too shabby either, if I say so myself. We were looking so good we went in search of a photographer before dinner down on deck two only to be thwarted by the long queues. Not one for queuing for anything we decided to come back after we’d eaten, and try again. Dinner itself was very good, with Jane ordering Scallops, I nearly went for the wellington, but decided on the Langostine Ravioli from the a la
It was another quiet sea day today, only two lectures again which is disappointing. Not the lectures themselves, but the fact that there are only two per day. First up was John Mclean and the mythology of Norse Astronomy followed by Stuart Musgrave’s talk on Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon Tiki and Rah II expeditions Because of this I’d missed out on the morning’s trivia and Jane was beside herself waiting to tell me that they had got 17/20 without me. After lunch we met up with the rest of the quizzers for the Music Intro’s quiz – 70’s intro’s
My hip has been playing up for a while with a bit more pain than I have had recently so I had decided not to leave this ship today, we hadn’t had any excursions booked so it was going to be a quiet day on board for us. We went down for breakfast first thing before heading off to the Grills Lounge for a nice coffee. While I was sat there sipping my flat white Jane commented that I was sniffing a bit and I had noticed that I had a bit of a sore throat, so it was decided
There’s not a lot to report, quarantine is pretty dull. It’s not helped by the ships satellite signal being compromised being so far north, luckily the ship is sailing reasonably close to the coast and we have a bit of 4G to supplement the woeful WIFI signal in the new cabin. Everything about this cabin is inferior to the Grills Suite we previously had, It’s smaller obviously and that means that our bags and cases which are now all packed take up a lot of room. I don’t see any point in unpacking as we can’t go anywhere. Having the
We arrived in Bergen at about 7am, not that it made any difference to our plans. We hadn’t any excursions booked for Bergen so had decided to stay in our room for the day. Being stuck in the room in quarantine, you end up getting into a bit of a routine. Mainly around ordering meals, the daily round of requesting new mugs and glasses but mainly meals. We ended up waiting 90 minutes for lunch as that had gone missing, but a chasing phone call brought about by rumbling stomachs resolved that.. We had a phone call from our erstwhile
Things are starting to get exciting again, here at Chez Jimbo. The suitcases have been retrieved from the shed, dresses and suits are starting to appear, hanging full length from wardrobe doors in the spare room. Labels, eTickets and a myriad of COVID related documentation is sitting on the printer ready for fileing. It’s time for another cruise, one with real ports and the opportunity to see and step onto a foreign land for the first time since late 2019. Better than that it’s also our first foray into the Grills, Cunard’s more exclusive suite offering. We’re in the Princess
First things first, I headed into New Milton for my cruise haircut and to get some last minute toiletries, this was more of a time waster to allay the pre Covid test nerves than needing anything. Eleven AM arrived soon enough and it was time to leave Jane’s dad’s for the drive in to Southampton and Dock Gate 10 for the Covid tests. The queues at the Mayflower test centre were non existent and after showing our passports and Covid vaccination documentation plus confirming our names, DOB and mobile numbers it was swab up the nose time and headed off
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,