OK, I know, late posting but life is just so busy when you are relaxing... Still no sign of my glasses so an insurance claim when we return. The front desk seem a little disorganised with the lost and found stuff as nothing is dated and the ‘lost’ doesn’t appear to be logged for at least a week when you can ask for a written notification for insurance purposes. Meanwhile, we have heard of one brazen kleptomaniac on board who appears to be happy to walk away with someone else’s bag and then deny it!
Day 1 it was NZ vs. Australia at indoor bowls so Paula and I did our bit by opening the scoring for NZ in a10-6 win. Day two, it was NZ vs. the rest of the world so we took pity and lost our early match to give the rest of the world a 10-9 win. Stops the Aussies crying into their beer, though with their record of underarm bowling, it should have been a breeze anyway. A scheduled Crazy Cruisers lunch at 11:45 rather mucked up our dance class which starts at 11:30, but I had a scheduled massage with the pocket rocket, Arlene at 12:15. Phew! She certainly puts on the pressure. I now have much more movement in the arm but the nerve pain when lying down is just as bad.
Night 1 we had a tea dance during the afternoon followed by a Mexican or island night deck party. True to form the dining room menu was totally in kilter with the ship’s theme, so we feasted on Oriental food... I decided to wear my curly black wig and island shirt for the first time along with the last of my moustaches from the $2 shop. The disguise must have been convincing as even Barbara didn’t recognise me, as Paula wisely elected to walk a couple of paces behind. And who wouldn’t... After the usual substantial meal, the on deck fruit/dessert buffet is magnificent, but totally wasted, as most people just don’t want or need to eat at 10:30pm, having finished the main meal at 9:15pm.
Day 2’s dance class was the Argentine Tango. It is amazing what most people can do after just one hour – and just as amazing how many have forgotten it all 8 hours later! (Me included.)
Future Plans...
After our 15/20 quiz score, (we didn’t win) Paula and I headed straight off to see Jo Ann, the future cruise lady. We had already looked on line at the cabin availability for the Pacific Circle cruise for next year, as an alternative to the Dubai to Dover leg of the World Cruise. There were no port side cabins available. We have done a fair of soul searching as to future plans and finances and the desire to keep in touch with the UK family. The value of Skype is that you can see who you are chatting to. Having missed out on much of Stewart’s growing up as he was taken back the UK when he was just 4, I know that keeping in touch with grandson Noah will be much easier and even keeping in touch with my brothers is easier than it once was. So after a lot of discussion regarding our age, physical condition (or lack of in my case) and also that there are already one or two couples we know and like doing the Pacific Circle, we decided to see if we could change. Jo Ann told us that our current (port side) cabin is still available and that was the final clincher – so we are now booked on that cruise instead, though it does mean missing out on the UK and Rob’s Mayoral reception. It also means missing out on my best pal Dick’s visit to NZ! Bad timing...
Another group win
After dinner, we uncharacteristically went to the Casino along with Ros and Arnold, Garry and Joanne. Ros had $20 to ‘invest’, $10 of hers and $10 from Dennis and Anthea. She accidentally sat at the wrong roulette table and found herself in a roulette competition, consisting of 5 rounds followed by a final – winner takes all from the $20 from each entrant. Read her blog, but suffice to say, she won the $500 with Garry in second place getting zero, so we all trooped off to Dennis & Anthea’s cabin, and when the door was opened, Ros flung in the $250! We opted out of the champagne celebrations and made do with a coffee and a hot chocolate in the Atrium. Alan and Alana were thrilled with our decision for next year as they have been confirmed for that cruise too. If we are totally honest, their presence was another factor in favour of the change. So next year, July 27th, off from Sydney again. A shorter holiday than this years, but our overall spending on the ship and even on shore, has been very well controlled so far, so with the pension supplementing our income, that money now goes straight into the cruise fund.
A Ros organised tour at Manzanillo (Mexico) tomorrow, our last port before LA and then the turn-around for the relaxing downhill run for home.
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