We got up about 8.45am after a good night’s sleep. The sea was reasonably calm with relatively little movement from the Braemar, but the sky was pretty grey.
I decided not to go up to breakfast but instead to make the most of the tea- and coffee-making facilities in our cabin, enjoying a cup of coffee after taking a leisurely shower and blow-drying my hair.
Afterwards we went along to the Coral Club to do the morning quiz; there was no sign of Jackie and Kathleen this time so there was just Trevor and me. We did appallingly, only scoring 8/20. We then had a little time to go back to our cabin and dress up fairly smartly, as today they were holding the Oceans Gold and Silver Members’ Cocktail Party in the Neptune Lounge at 11.15am.
The Oceans Club is the FOCL loyalty club where you are awarded points according to how many nights you have spent on board a Fred Olsen ship. 1-30 nights is Blue (who don’t get an invite to the party), 31-100 nights is Silver, and 101+ nights is Gold. Trevor and I are in the top tier. 🙂
Along we went to the Neptune Lounge, where Captain Jozo Glavic and his officers were there to greet us on arrival, and waiting staff flitted about holding their trays of sherry, wine, gin and cava aloft. Other white-clad staff came around with little canapés for us to savour while the brilliant ship’s orchestra played tasteful dance music in the background.
Most of the attending passengers had made the effort to dress up a little smarter, but here and there we spotted people who fell into category (e) in the next section, The Foibles of Fellow Passengers. 🙂
The Captain came onto the stage and gave a heartfelt little speech about how great it was that so many people chose to cruise with Fred Olsen again and again; indeed, 71% of the passengers on this cruise were repeat customers. Then those cruisers with the highest number of Oceans points (some had 700+ so Trevor and I have a way to go with our 134 points!) received an award and had their photos taken with the Captain and the Future Cruises staff for the Closer magazine.
The party finished in time for us to go and play “Name That Tune” (we didn’t win!) before our lunch.
The afternoon passed in its usual pleasant fashion; at 2.45pm we went along to the Neptune Lounge where cruise director Elliot Taylor was hosting “An Audience with Lloyd Davies”, a sort of “Piers Morgan’s Life Stories” event with the Welsh comedian. As predicted, it was pretty funny; Lloyd is very quick with his repartee and is also a talented musician and keyboard player as well as a comedian.
Afterwards we went back to our cabin for an afternoon nap before getting ready for tonight’s Red, White and Blue (or British) themed night. I wore a pair of white linen trousers, a blue t-shirt and a Union Jack jacket, while Trevor looked very smart in his white dress shirt, Union Jack waistcoat and bow tie. A lot of people had made the effort to dress up, and we saw several other Union Jack waistcoats as well as three ladies wearing Union Jack dresses in the way made famous by Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls.
After dinner we shot along to the Neptune Lounge to try to get good seats for tonight’s Great British Sing-along. Several people complimented us on our outfits on the way. The event was very well attended and everybody sang songs like “There’ll Always Be An England” and “Land of Hope and Glory” with gusto and much flag-waving. 🙂
There followed a really fantastic performance by the Braemar Show Company. It was called “From Europe to Britain” and was completely original. It featured the songs and dances from other Eruopean countries such as Italy, Greece, France and Ireland, finishing with a superb rendition of Riverdance. We thoroughly enjoyed the show. At the risk of repeating myself, I have to say that the entertainment on board all Fred Olsen ships is excellent.
Then off we went to the Coral Club to finish the evening off in our usual fashion. Quiz (no win!), listen to the Revolverlites, chat with our fellow passengers and enjoy a few more gratis drinks. At one point one of the bar staff dropped a glass of red wine and lemonade, and the crimson drops splashed the bottoms of my white trousers as the glass hit the deck. The waitress was very apologetic and gave me a chit which would entitle me to get my trousers laundered for free.
As usual it was after 1.00am when we went to bed but what the hell, we’re on holiday and can get up in the morning when we want. 🙂