Where does the time go? Sea days tend to be as busy or busier than land days, which may come as a bit of a shock to those who cannot see on earth how we can a) enjoy a long cruise and b) not be bored. Needless to say it is entirely up to the individual as we have generally eaten before 9am but we usually sit at a table for 4 for the buffet breakfast and either join others - or they join us. Whilst several of these meetings and friendships will only last for the duration of the cruise, others will be lifelong.
I originally purchased 500 internet minutes at the beginning of the cruise (note for future cruisers, there are often ‘deals’ on the first day only) and as it happens, I was exactly half way through my usage at the halfway point to Dover. When you have logged out, up on screen is a detailed summary of your usage to date which is most helpful. I expected the internet connection to be much slower than it is, but there again, NZ broadband speed isn’t very fast anyway. Connecting and emailing this blog from the comfort of the cabin, but without checking that it has arrived usually takes less than 2 minutes, which I am quite happy with.
Our regular entry into the indoor bowls at 9:15 usually results in an equally regular exit in round 1! We haven’t yet managed to beat anyone and progress to round 2.
Dance on day 28 should have been the waltz but the ship was moving around just a little too much, so we did the Samba instead. Day 29 we had our “Crazy Cruisers” lunch (very nice fish, OK chips and so –so mushy peas for me!) so we had to miss the Foxtrot session.
Just a point here. Some dancers are quite experienced and many are absolute beginners. For the first leg, to Dubai, there was one couple who were not only dance teachers but seemed to want to dominate the tiny atrium dance floor in the evenings, ‘putting on a show’ . This produced several reactions from the inexperienced and intermediate dancers – mainly negative. They either avoided the atrium totally, or in the case of the more adventurous ones, they tried to box them into a corner! Since their departure, there have been several regular couples willing to give it a go and the atmosphere has been so much better and friendlier. Just goes to show that if you are going to show off on the dance floor, no matter how good you are, the other dancers are happier just being themselves and tripping over the new steps. Both Alan and Alana have a great sense of humour and this makes the end of the day really pleasant, as the TV programmes aren’t much of an attraction.
Unfortunately Ros was confined to barracks on day 29 and the table was also short of Col & Jude, which was a shame, as we had a massive antipasto platter to share. That is what happens when your head waiter is Italian. However we have discussed having a Filipino platter one night, so cameras at the ready. Talking of cameras, Paula’s excellent shot of Arnold camel whispering has been entered into the sector photographic competition - that brought a smile to the photo-department’s face too... Another sea day tomorrow, the seas have settled down and the ‘Pirate Watch’ has been disbanded.
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