Another lazy day at sea today, en route to the mouth of the Amazon. Got up at 6.40am as it was so pleasant to be up early yesterday. We went along to the Palms Café for breakfast again. It was quite full; it’s amazing how many people get up very early even when on holiday. Maybe it’s something you do when you get older.
We went for a stroll along the deck and watched some birds flying around close to the ship. Every now and again they would put their wings back and make a headlong dive into the ocean, before surfacing seconds later. We soon realised why – they were after the flying fish. We often see flying fish in the Caribbean; some of them are quite large and can skim the surface of the sea for quite a distance.
Later on Trevor went inside to listen to one of the talks about the Amazon, but today I thought it was too nice to be below decks so I took my book and sat up at the pool deck. I am reading Dead Tomorrow by thriller writer Peter James. Like all of his books, it’s a suspenseful page-turner.
After a couple of hours I’d had enough of the very hot equatorial sun so I sought shade in the Marquee Bar, enjoying a cold beer while listening to the cheerful reggae music being piped over the speakers. It really does put you in the holiday mood. 🙂
We ate lunch al fresco again and just spent time pottering around the ship. As usual, the afternoon flew by and soon it was time to get ready for dinner again.
Afterwards we went along to the Neptune Lounge to watch tonight’s cabaret, which was called “Music Legends” and was performed by the Braemar Show Company. It portrayed the music of legends such as Roy Orbison, Elvis, Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner.
Talking of the Neptune Lounge, it is not really a theatre so the seating is somewhat odd. There was fixed seating arranged in a shallow horse-shoe shape around the lounge, along with moveable chairs and small fixed tables. You could get a brilliant seat with an unimpeded view at the front or sides, but further back and your view will either be blocked by someone’s head or one of the pillars around the room. So it was not without amusement that we watched the mad scramble for seats each night. Queues at the door started pretty early and some of the old farts had queue-jumping down to a fine art. You could see the looks of determination on their faces as they strode purposefully towards “their” usual seat, and as soon as a better seat was vacated (for example, by some of the dancing couples going to dinner) then they were up and into that seat! I mean, is it really worth spending your holiday queueing just to see a little 45 minute cabaret?!
Once the show had finished, we went along to the Skylark Club. Colin and Liz were already there, so we went and joined them for the quiz, hoping that four brains would prove better than two. Indeed this was the case, as we won! It was an “A-Z” quiz, in which each answer started with the relevant letter of the alphabet, so we got 26/26 and received a chilled bottle of Fred Olsen white wine. Good old Fred! 🙂
Then back to cabin 7054 and bed for the night.