Woke up this morning later than usual, around 8.30am. Looking out of our window, we could see grey clouds and grey ocean, and the movement of the Bolette was much more discernible.
We got washed and dressed and headed up to The View self-service buffet for breakfast, but it seemed as if everyone had decided to go at the same time, because we were met with quite a queue, something that we rarely experience on Fred Olsen’s smaller ships. We decided we would probably be better off going to the Bloomsbury restaurant, and indeed when we arrived we were shown to a table straight away, which contained two other couples.
As tonight was formal night, there was complimentary prosecco on offer which we mixed in with our orange juice to make a Buck’s Fizz, enjoying it while we placed our breakfast order. 🙂
However, the service was much slower than usual and we took longer to eat our breakfast, because we were all deep in conversation as is often the case. It was after 10 o’clock when we left the restaurant and we made up our minds we would get up much earlier in the morning in future! 🙂
As we enjoy playing the shipboard games, we had intended playing Baggo at 9.30am but had obviously now missed it. We therefore made our way to the Oceans Bar for the indoor kurling, after popping out on deck to see what the weather was like. It was cooler than expected, about 15°C, and there was a brisk wind.
A fair crowd had turned out to play the kurling, including a group of children / teenagers (who may have belonged to the same family, I don’t know). There was a lot of friendly competition and banter among the players, as each team was knocked out and the winners advanced to the next round. I found myself teamed with a pleasant lady called Kate, and we ended up winning the final! Our prize, as usual, was a prize token (worth a massive 50p); you save them up and spend them in the ship’s “Sea Cove” store that sells FOCL branded merchandise. Considering the cheapest item in the shop is about four quid, you have to win eight contests before you can afford to buy anything. 🙂
You also got “Sail & Play” points which were displayed on the board in the form of a league table, which was updated each day. The top three people in the league at the end of the cruise would win a grand prize. It was all good fun and a good ice breaker amongst our fellow passengers.
We remained in the Oceans Bar for the next game, which was Carpet Bowls. As the ship was moving, it made for an interesting game when the balls kept shifting from their original positions! This time, Trevor and I were in the same team and we did make it through a couple of rounds before we were knocked out. Again, the youngsters joined in and showed incredible hand-eye coordination, particularly against the ‘oldies’ who probably played bowls (as Trevor and I do) as a hobby! 🙂
It took us nicely up to lunchtime, and we opted to go to the poolside restaurant to partake of a light meal. Trevor had fish, chips and mushy peas whereas I selected a delicious ploughman’s platter which contained bread, ham, cheese, gala pie, salad and pickles, as well as a good dollop of Branston to go with the cheese. It was all washed down with cold water (must keep hydrated!) and a chilled glass of rosé wine. As we ate, we were entertained by the excellent resident band, Cosmic Lemon.
We then enjoyed a cocktail each while perched on a bar stool on the pool deck, looking around us at the never-ending seascape, a sight we will never tire of no matter how many cruises we do. 🙂
Afterwards, we returned to 3388 for a half-hour power nap. Then we perused the Daily Times programme to see what we fancied doing next. There were a few things on at 2.00pm but we can’t be in two places at once so we chose to go to the Observatory and do the “Name that Tune” quiz. It consisted of listening to 15 clips of music from either the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s – you had to give the song title and the name of the artiste and receive a point for each. Trevor and I scored 30/30 and were the outright winners! 🙂 We received six of the prize tokens (another three quid to spend!) but the bragging rights were more valuable. 🙂
We stayed in the Observatory for a while to finish off our drinks, then we made our way back to 3388 and pottered around a bit, reading, relaxing and watching TV. Then it was time to start getting ready for the Captain’s Cocktail Party which, for first dinner sitting passengers, took place at 5.15pm.
Trevor looked very dapper in his black dinner suit with crisp white shirt and black bow tie and cummerbund, while I wore a long black dress teamed with a sequinned bolero jacket. The ensemble was completed with black velvet Irregular Choice shoes (of course) which had embroidery featuring a forest scene, with the heel in the shape of a red squirrel. As ever, my shoes received lots of comments as we made our way to the Neptune Lounge for the cocktail party. 🙂
Although we had arrived at the Neptune Lounge five minutes early, the doors were already open, so we made our way down to a table at the front. A waiter immediately came over with a tray of canapés, while another waiter proferred a tray of drinks; we each took a glass of prosecco. On the stage, the band played and a singer, in a long sequinned dress, sang us a selection of popular songs.
Presently Captain Davor Dubravica, who hailed from Croatia, came onto the stage to the strains of Anchors Aweigh!, followed by his senior officers, which he introduced one by one. As ever, it was an enjoyable little party and everyone looked full of glitz and glamour all dressed up; lots of black suits and sparkly dresses and tops. I love dressing up on cruises, and I think it is a shame that many cruise lines have now dropped this tradition.
Dinner was delicious once again; we enjoyed a splendid meal in which the drinks and the conversation flowed. Once again, our waiter had to chivvy us out of the restaurant so he could begin to set the table for second sitting. 🙂
We headed for the Neptune Lounge for the show. On the way, we encountered a blast from the past in the shape of Kris, who is the deputy cruise director and who we knew from previous cruises; he recognised us too and we stopped for a photo.
Tonight’s entertainment featured Asa Elliott, a singer who had appeared in the comedy TV programme Benidorm. He was pretty good on the whole and engaged the audience. We enjoyed the show a lot.
Then it was along to the Morning Light for the quiz, where we were joined by Steve from table #207. We scored 11/15 once again, not enough to win.
We finished the evening off by going up to the Observatory where a karaoke was in full swing. I got up and sang You Know I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse, then later on did It’s A Sin by the Pet Shop Boys. Quite a lot of people got up to sing, and the standard of singing was quite good. Some of the teenagers got up and performed songs that none of us had ever heard of (unsurprisingly). One ‘song’ was a heavy metal one called Du Hast and was entirely in German; the singer belted it out as if his life depended on it. 🙂
After the karaoke finished, we remained in the Observatory for a nightcap, then returned to 3388 to settle down for the night. As we had to put our clocks and watches back one hour to Iceland time, we would enjoy an extra hour in bed.
We slept well, looking forward to whatever tomorrow would bring.
