Another nice relaxing sea day to look forward to today. We got up just after 7.00am and went out onto the balcony to see what the weather was like. Once again, it was cooler and the wind had increased; it was not what we had expected in these latitudes, and the sky was heavy with cloud.
After getting washed and dressed, we headed for the promenade deck to do our daily mile. However, it was uncomfortably windy, and the deck was wet in places. As we stood and watched the white horses galloping over the Atlantic, we occasionally felt the sea spray in our faces and tasted the salt on our lips.
Once we’d completed two laps, we abandoned our walk and decided to go for breakfast in the Lido buffet. I enjoyed some Greek yoghurt with raisins, dates and pumpkin seeds, washed down with orange juice and coffee.
At 10.15am we went along to the Royal Court Theatre for the Port Presentation, which covered St. Lucia and Barbados, which we would be visiting later on in this voyage. We have been to both of these places several times before, but seeing the photos and hearing what highlights were on offer whet our appetite again. It’s been nine years since we last cruised in the Caribbean; the last time was in March 2017 on Fred Olsen’s Braemar. We were so excited to be back! 🙂
We remained in the theatre for the next talk, which would be cruise director Sally Sagoe leading a Q & A session with the sports writer and broadcaster Rick Reilly, whose talk we had enjoyed so much yesterday. Once again, it was informative and amusing, and we enjoyed Rick’s patter and his sporting anecdotes.
Lunch we ate in the Lido self-service buffet. We didn’t have a lot as we weren’t really all that hungry. Listening to Captain Howarth’s noon navigational and weather information, we learned that the wind was now gusting at 30 knots; we could certainly feel the ship’s motion. It was a pity really; here we had a lovely Deck 8 balcony stateroom, with a larger than average balcony, and we hadn’t really been able to put it to good use so far. We hoped the weather would improve as the cruise went on, and indeed the captain told us that the wind should die down overnight.
Back in 8025, Trevor put the TV on to watch some of the FA Cup matches being played at home, while I read my book, did some of this blog and went into the shower to do my hair ready for later on, as it was the first of three formal evenings on this voyage. Tonight was Black & White Night, and (as Sunderland supporters) it pained us to have to dress in those colours! 🙂
The Daily Programme advised us that there were games of Lawn Bowls and Cornhole (Baggo) up on the games deck on Deck 11 this afternoon, but we were sure they would be called off due to the inclement, gusty an squally weather, otherwise we would have gone up to play. Instead, we just stayed below decks and passed the time pleasantly walking around the ship.
Soon it was time to start getting ready for dinner. I dressed in a full-length strappy black and white striped dress, which I teamed with a sequinned black wrap and silver sandals. I put on a white wig, which instantly transformed my appearance and added to the overall effect. Trevor dressed in his crisp white wing-collared shirt with his black dinner suit and black bow-tie and cummerbund. Thus attired, we made our way along to the Britannia Restaurant, passing people who were dressed in shorts, t-shirts and sandals. 5.30pm is just so ridiculously early to have dinner, especially a black tie dinner! In future, I think we’ll have to book onto the later sitting.
As we walked into the restaurant, we wondered if any of our table mates would put in an appearance tonight, and we eagerly watched as each couple entered the restaurant, to see if they would be heading towards table #503. However, it was not to be; Trevor and I were on our own again. Ricky, our waiter, told us that another couple had been here last night, when we were in the buffet!
Once again, it was a delicious meal with a great view from our window table. It was too cloudy to expect an amazing sunset tonight, and we could tell it was still very windy because of the people strolling the deck outside; their hair and clothes were being buffeted about all over the place.
After dinner, we went along to the Queen’s Room to watch the dancing for a while, everyone looking resplendent in their crisp black and white outfits. Then it was along to the theatre once again to take our usual front row seats for tonight’s cabaret by the Royal Court Theatre Company. It should have been a Cunard ship-themed all-singing, all-dancing spectacular called “Be Our Guest”, but because of the bumpy ride we were currently having, the show had been changed to a music-and-singing performance called “The Sounds of London”. It featured the fabulous ship’s orchestra and the singing company presenting us with a medley of well-known songs by British artistes, such as Elton John, Phil Collins, Gary Barlow, Adele and others. We enjoyed it a lot.
Afterwards, we hot-footed it down to the Golden Lion for the quiz, which was called Quickfire. Each person played individually (rather then in teams) and you were given a gadget that had a number of (mine was 29) and buttons marked A, B, C or D. (A bit like “Ask the Audience” on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire) You only had so long press your chosen button, and the top six players were shown on the board after every question. For the first five questions, number 29 showed in second place, then I disappeared off the board, never to return. It was certainly a quiz with a difference.
As ever, the place was packed; the Golden Lion is obviously a very popular evening venue.
Once the quiz was finished, lots of people left the pub, but their seats were quickly filled by the new arrivals who had just come out of second-sitting dinner.
Next, we had karaoke, and the entertainments team asked for singers to get up. Now I have a claim to fame on the Queen Elizabeth, because I was the first passenger ever to get up and sing! On the Maiden Voyage in October 2010, the pianist in the Golden Lion was singing Elton John songs, and when we came to Don’t Go Breaking My Heart which Elton John sang with Kiki Dee in 1976, he said he wouldn’t be able to do that one without a female singer. So Trevor volunteered me to get up! I shared the guy’s piano stool with him and belted out the lyrics for Kiki Dee’s part to a massive round of applause. It started something though, because whenever the pianist played that song he asked if I was in the room to sing with him! 🙂
I put my name down to do Back to Black by Amy Winehouse, and I was the third singer called up. After that, lots of people put their names down and the overall standard of singing was very good indeed. After everyone had had a go, they allowed those who had previously sang to do a second number, and I did that lovely song Will You by Hazel O’Connor. Once again, I got a decent cheer and round of applause. 🙂
The karaoke went on until quite late, and it was about 11.45pm before we headed back to 8025.
Tomorrow we would arrive in a new port of call for Trevor and me, that of Puerto Rico. We were booked on a half-day morning tour starting at 8.30am, which meant we’d need to be up at seven.
Going out onto our balcony for the last time before turning in, we noticed that the wind had indeed died down, and stars gleamed and twinkled in the black velvet sky. We left the balcony door open slightly to allow in the gorgeous sea air, then settled down for the night. We slept well.