The alarm went off at eight o’clock this morning and we lay there for the next 10 minutes, looking at the sideways view through our balcony doors of the sea gliding past, the horizon rising and falling gently. Sitting up in bed and stretching, I smiled in anticipation of the relaxing and delightful sea day ahead of us. 😊
We got ourselves washed and dressed and went up to The View self-service restaurant on Deck 8. Tonight was the first formal evening of the cruise, so we knew that there would be complimentary prosecco to add to our breakfast orange juice to make a refreshing Buck’s Fizz. 😊
We sat at a table near the large floor-to-ceiling windows which afforded us wonderful views of the endless ocean, and I enjoyed a plate of cured meats, smoked salmon and fresh pineapple and melon, washed down with a couple of glasses of fizz and a coffee. It was a great start to the day.
Venturing out on the rear decks, we found the weather was still a little too cold and windy to stay out long, but each day would take us ever closer to tropical latitudes; a fantastic respite from the appalling weather we’d been experiencing back home; wind, rain (flooding in some places) inconsistent daily temperatures and the dank, dull and grey dampness that seems to permeate your flesh to the very bones.
Looking at the Daily Times programme of events, we saw that there was a Carpet Bowls knockout at 9.30am. We’d had a lot of fun playing this the last time we’d been on Borealis, even though we’d never won a single game, so we looked forward to playing again and hopefully improving our performance! Carpet bowls is interesting when you’re playing it on a moving vessel; you never know what is going to happen! 😊
Trevor and I won our first two rounds (or rather, Trevor did, as his ball was closest to the jack each time) and we reached the semi-finals but were then knocked out. It was all good fun, helped by the encouragement and banter of our fellow players. 😊
Afterwards I returned to 7055 and retrieved my laptop in order to try to keep up with this blog. In the Neptune Lounge they have some great tables at the back of the theatre which are ideal for a laptop; Trevor could listen to the talk while I sat typing away. It wasn’t a proper lecture this time anyway; it was just an introduction to the speakers and their specialist subjects, and some of the topics that would be covered.
We then went along to the shops as I had forgotten to bring a can of hairspray with me, and we had a look around to see if there were any bargains today. Taking the laptop back to our stateroom, we decided to go to the Poolside Bar and enjoy a pre-luncheon drink. Trevor had his usual pint of Newcastle Brown while I had my usual glass of fizz. If I could afford it, I would never drink anything but champagne (Bollinger of course!) but I do still enjoy a good prosecco and cava, like Freixenet. 😊
As we were by the pool deck anyway, we thought we might as well have lunch at the little café in the corner of the pool area, with its rustic wrought iron tables and chairs and coloured water glasses. Trevor had fish, chips and mushy peas while I munched on a delicious Santa Fé salad, consisting of crunchy lettuce, cubes of cheese and ham and warm chicken breast. We followed it with a scrumptious kiwi and passionfruit pavlova. The food on board really is very good.
We then just pottered around the ship and had a post-luncheon power nap before Trevor went off just before three o’clock to listen to a talk in the Neptune Lounge about the works of Gershwin and other famous American composers. Usually I would have gone along too, but I was trying something different today – watercolour painting. I have never picked up a paintbrush and palette since we used to do art at school so I was, effectively, a beginner. The classes were going to be taught by the previously-mentioned Scottish artist Michael Gahagan.
When I arrived at the Art Studio on deck 9, 10 minutes before the class was due to begin, it was packed! They had to bring in extra chairs and squeeze us around the tables which were filled with drawing boards, jam jars full of water, paint palettes and other art paraphernalia. Obviously learning watercolour painting is very popular! 😊
It was with some trepidation that I purchased my art starter pack containing paints, a mixing palette, 2B pencil, eraser and paintbrush, as well as a selection of art paper. Looking around the large, airy room I could see that there were obviously experienced artists as they had brought their own paints and sketchbooks and had some superb previous examples of their work with them.
Michael had placed a large photograph of a brightly-coloured Bermuda tropical fish on the wall, and then came around the room with photocopies of a bare outline of the fish for us to trace onto our paper to start. The easiest way to way to do this was to place the outline against the sunlit window, then put your paper over the top; the outline then showed through the art paper and made it easy to trace.
Michael explained to us the first technique we would use, that of wet on wet. You first of all had to dip your brush into clean water and brush all over your pencil outline, before loading your wet brush with the colour you would need and then putting the wet paint onto the wet paper. This gave the colour a level of transparency, but as you were going to build the colours up anyway it didn’t matter. For example, you could paint a yellow background and, by painting a blue hue over the top, you would get a shade of green.
As I started colouring my fish in, and getting the feel of the paints and colours, it struck me how relaxing and therapeutic watercolour painting was. Everyone was using the same photograph of the fish as inspiration, yet everyone’s painting was completely different. There was no right or wrong, it just depended on your own interpretation.
The hour-long lesson winged by and was thoroughly enjoyable. I didn’t get my fish finished, but I could always give it a go another time. Someone advised me never to throw any artwork away, finished or unfinished, because it helped to look back at old work and learn from your mistakes as you increased in confidence and skill. I looked forward to going back for another lesson tomorrow! 😊
Arriving back at 7055 at half past four, it gave me exactly one hour to get glammed up and ready for the Captain’s Cocktail Party. As we’re on first dinner sitting at 6.15pm, it means our party does tend to be ludicrously early at half-five to be dressed in full evening formal wear, but I do enjoy a good captain’s cocktail party; many cruise lines have stopped doing them as part of the many cutbacks we’ve seen in the industry.
I wore a long black strappy dress in a lined flocked material with a short sequinned bolero and a dark blue freshwater pearl necklace, and sparkling silver sandals, while Trevor wore his dinner suit with a dark blue bow tie and matching cummerbund. En route to the Neptune Lounge we surreptitiously studied the outfits of our fellow passengers, and while there were lots of penguin suits and long black dresses, there were one or two people who looked at if they were dressed to go to the shops rather than for a formal party. 😊
Our master was Captain Rommel Pineda from the Philippines; he was the same captain we’d had in November on the Borealis. He’s worked for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines for 27 years, starting his seafaring career as a deck boy at the age of 17. He introduced all his senior offers and we all raised a glass in a toast, as we enjoyed a couple of glasses of free fizz. We had to say no to the canapés as we didn’t want to spoil our dinner, and in any case we’d had some canapés in our stateroom earlier on, as part of the “Suite Dreams” package that suite passengers receive. 😊
Soon it was time to go along to the Borealis Restaurant and table #87 once again, and this time we saw there was an extra place setting. It looked as though an officer would be joining our table tonight, and indeed that was the case; the Safety Officer Abigail Sanders joined us, and bought the white and red wines for our table too!
It was an interesting and lively meal once again, with no shortage of conversation and everyone regaling everyone else with what they’d been up to today. We’d certainly been kept busy; there is something for everyone on a cruise and lots of stuff going on around the ship. Even just sitting doing nothing apart from gazing out to sea and thinking pleasant thoughts is a great way to pass the time.
After dinner, Trevor and I went along to the Morning Light pub as the Neptune didn’t open until 9.00pm tonight, to allow for the second sitting’s cocktail party. We each enjoyed a cocktail in there but then got talking to the artist Michael and his wife Irene, so we had left it a little late to bag a good seat in the theatre, and all the front row seats were taken. We therefore had to go near the back, where we spotted Alan and Lesley, Alan and Kaye from table #87, so we went and sat with them. We could still see the stage though, and hear the music.
Tonight’s show was excellent. It was called “Soul Kinda Wonderful” and featured a trio of black guys doing their fantastic tribute to the music of The Drifters and The Four Tops. Soon the area of dance floor in front of the stage was crammed, and looking around at the audience we could see lots of foot-tapping going on as everyone got into the music.
The guys had a couple of encores so the show lasted nearly an hour; we really enjoyed it a lot and looked forward to seeing them again later in the cruise.
Trevor and I then hotfooted it along to the Morning Light pub to grab a table for the quiz; Alan and Lesley said they’d be along shortly. We did slightly better tonight, scoring 10/15, but it was nowhere near enough to win; the winners got 13/15.
We then stayed chatting and drinking for a while longer before Alan and Lesley said their goodnights. They’re not really night owls, they explained, so they left us around 10.45 pm. Trevor and I then took the chance to go up to the Observatory where tonight was karaoke night! 😊
When we got there, there were fewer people than usual. This had also been the case last night, and we wondered whether people were ‘pacing themselves’ because they were on the world cruise, rather than overdoing the cocktails and late nights earlier in the voyage.
I put my name down to do You Know I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse; other people were also selecting their songs. As there was a really noticeable swell on the ocean the entertainment team put out a chair in case people wanted to sing sitting down. I was the fourth person called up but I prefer to sing standing up (you can inflate your lungs a lot easier!) so I just stood behind the chair, one hand on the back for support. 😊
One guy had put his name down to do Sway by Dean Martin, and he was excellent – he really sounded like Dean. Other singers of varying abilities got up, and most people sang two songs as there was a shortage of singers. For my second song I did Flowers by Miley Cyrus.
The karaoke finished at 12.00 midnight after which the Observatory emptied out rapidly. We therefore took our drinks and sat on stools at the bar, where we got talking to one of the soul singers from the Neptune Lounge earlier on, who was (ironically) called Andy Williams. We told him how much we’d enjoyed his singing, and asked if he was performing again and he told us on Thursday night. They would be disembarking the Borealis in Bermuda.
We enjoyed several more drinks until Trevor and I were the only people left in the Observatory apart from the staff! We then took our cue to return to 7055 and settle down for the night. As we walked along the corridor, we were almost bouncing off the walls with the ship’s motion, and we hoped it would calm down.
As the clocks went back tonight as we proceeded west, we gained an extra hour in bed, and we slept very well on once again.