Days 30/31 - still at sea

Well, that is one month done and that means that the next section is the really busy one, with the highest concentration of ports as we head for the Med sea. For some reason the shoulder problem has returned so it was back for a massage later on in the day – but Maria had gone!  Arlene did a fine job but I think my neck may need a manipulation.

Alana had us doing the Merrilyn and the dancers back in NZ will know that it was at that point in our New Vogue classes, that I gave up trying to learn...  Alana’s  teaching methodology is that of assuming everyone is a total beginner and doing lots of repeats, but section by section.  This is the method that works for me – repetition in short sections.  Whilst I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I mastered it, at least I could stumble around the floor by the end of the session.

We did the usual trivia quiz sessions and a quick dip in the shaded rear pool.  At 5pm each day, the captain makes an announcement over the speaker system and he kindly let us known that many of the rumours circulating regarding the engine woes such as terminating at Dover.  In fact he had the good news that they hoped to have the generator repaired and ready for testing by Gibraltar or Barcelona.  There was a pirate Party on day 30 and at the pre-dinner extra practice class, part way through, a scruffy looking pirate rushed onto the floor, picked up the lightweight Alana and carried her off!  Her only comment when she returned was that if she had known, she would have done her hair...

On day 30, we opted to go to the movie being shown in the theatre “Unknown” but on the second night, unusually, there wasn’t much on that interested us.  Our last try was up on deck to watch “Pirates of the Caribbean – part 3” I think, but there was too much quiet conversation that was drowned out by the ship’s systems just behind the screen, so even though the clocks were going back an hour, we called it a day.

Tomorrow is a big day and one of the major highlights of the cruise.  We are couple of hours late into Aqaba  - now 10am arrival, and 1400 people including 150 crew members are off to Petra.  No doubt photos galore tomorrow but most people will be back late, so their posts will also be a bit late – mine will – as we relax with another day at sea before spending the day going through the Suez canal.