Why are we blogging?

We thoroughly enjoyed the blogs from those on the World Cruise 2010. They were so useful and some were also very entertaining and so we we started our own, late 2010, ready for the 2011 cruise(s).

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Day 40 - July 3rd ANZAC Cove

ANZAC Cove may not be too familiar to UK readers but to Australians and New Zealanders, ANZAC Day is revered even more than the UK’s Nov 11th Remembrance day. ANZC Cove was the site of the battle of Gallipoli that incurred very heavy losses and in NZ certainly, probably Australia too, businesses are not permitted to open until 1pm.  This puts it on a par with Good Friday and Christmas Day as a day of extreme importance.  With this ship consisting mainly of Australian and NZ passengers, it cruises ANZAC Cove from before 6am until about 11am.  Unlike cruising the Suez Canal,  the ship literally cruises in circles and at 6am there is a Dawn service and then a full service, with the choir, at 10am. Just about all passengers respect this service and decks 12 and 14 are crowded.

Paula wasn’t too well and returned to try and sleep, but my cough didn’t help, so I made myself scarce and had a natter and a coffee down in the Atrium for a while, then eventually rejoined Paula in the buffet.  A chat with two other couples then stretched out a couple of hours, before the 4:30pm quiz where we managed our usual score of about 13/20.

Formal night yet again...  They seem to come around quite often, though in reality this was about number 6.  They are optional of course, but a surprising number do dress up, though several now tend to use them as an opportunity to dress up in local costume - whatever that might be.   Tonight I managed the NZ rack of lamb, having missed it last time it was on.  Very nice too.

Live show again with the resident singers and dancers and this time, it was a Beatles tribute, “Here, There And Everywhere.”  We enjoy these shows, but they are not lavish by any means, certainly the scenery is just about non-existent.  The costumes are usually impressive and with just six dancers and 4 singers, the speed of costume changes is most impressive. If you accept  that they are no more than a pleasant way to give your meal time to settle, they are fine.  Some may criticise them for a lack of polish, but we have no complaints.

Tomorrow – Athens. Hopefully Paula will be a lot better as we have booked a Princess tour.   

   

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