Got up around 8.00am and went out on the balcony where the weather was already pleasantly warm and sunny, with only a slight sea-breeze. We then got dressed and went up to the Ocean View for our breakfast. I had an American breakfast of crispy bacon, corned beef hash, pancakes and French toast, liberally covered in maple syrup – a far cry from the bowl of cereal I usually have at home! 😊
After breakfast we went outside on deck for a stroll around. We found ourselves on Deck 15 at the Lawn Club (grass! on a ship!) and went round to where a glass-blowing lesson was in progress, with seats for spectators. We spotted Kendal and went over to sit with him. A bloke was making a multi-coloured flower ornament and was being shown how to shape the hot glass with special pliers; the item was returned several times to the kiln to keep it hot and pliable. We looked at the various items you could learn to make, from paperweights, glass bowls, sculptures or ornaments, but the prices were pretty steep, between $80.00 and $120.00. Think I’ll give it a miss!
It was then time to go and participate in the morning Brain-Waker trivia, and we went down to the Sky Lounge where Kendal and Janet were already waiting, quiz papers at the ready. Shortly afterwards Norm and Frank arrived, and we were all set. We missed winning by a point.
We were slightly late arriving in the Eclipse Theatre where music historian Bill Powell was giving a talk today all about the Everly Brothers. Again, this music was from an era before my time, but the talk was very interesting indeed, and I realised I knew all of the songs that Bill played, so we enjoyed the music a lot.
It was too nice a day to spend it below decks, so after the talk we went up to the Mast Bar and sat in the shade from the hot tropical sun, each enjoying a freezing cold bottle of Budweiser. Afterwards, we watched a “Passengers v Officers” game of pool volleyball, which was really good fun. At first we though the officers, who were all young, would knock spots off the middle-aged and elderly passengers, but in fact the passengers won! 😊
Still remaining outside, we had a burger with some salad for lunch, washed down with more cold beer, while we sat on bar stools by the pool, people-watching and enjoying the sea-breeze ruffling our hair. Dull and rainy Britain, home and work seemed another world away. 😊
Around one o’clock we returned to our stateroom where Trevor sat out on the balcony and read for a while; I spent some time doing this blog. Then we had a half-hour power nap before making our way up to the Sky Lounge for the music trivia which was called “Awesome 80s”. That was good, because the 1970s and 80s are my music eras, so we expected to do very well. We had to give both the artiste and the title of the song. Dare I say it? We won once again! That’s 18 rubber bracelets Trevor and I have accumulated between us so far. 😊
We stayed in the Sky Lounge after the quiz for the dance class, which featured the Rumba this time. Even though we’ve been learning this one at home, there were a few new steps we hadn’t tried yet, but we enjoyed the music and the dancing and felt that we’d made some progress.
It was then time for the Progressive Trivia Round 5. Looking at the league table, we saw that “It’s Only A Game” was in the lead by five points, so we hoped we’d maintain our lead. Our nearest rival was a team called “The Internationals” so we were as interested in their score as we were on our own! After this round the gap closed by two points, as we only scored 11/15 (bad for us!) but they scored 13.
After the quiz we stayed in the Sky Lounge for one more drink before just spending some time pottering around back in cabin 8166. It was then time to get showered, shampooed and spruced up a bit more because tonight was the second of the “Evening Chic” dress codes. I wore a black off-the-shoulder dress with silver polka dots and a pair of silver sandals with small silver rhinestones (quite tame for me!).
Table #350 was full in the restaurant later on, all 12 of us were there. It did feel, however, as if it was two tables of six, because it was difficult to hear/participate in any conversation at the opposite end of the table, so people tended just to talk with those nearest them. The meal was delicious; as usual there was a good choice and we washed it all down with plenty of cold water (very much needed in a tropical climate like this) and chilled rosé wine.
Afterwards, as we were walking through the entertainment court, we saw that they were about to start a game of “Celebrity Heads”. This was where the participant had their back to a screen showing a picture of a famous person; they had to ask the audience questions that could only be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’, e.g. Is it male? Is it an actor? Then they had to guess the celebrity before the timer ran out.
The show tonight featured a singer called Kenny James who had apparently had 13 consecutive wins in a TV talent show called Star Search and had won the $100,000 prize. Obviously an American TV show because we’d never heard of either the show or the singer. It transpired, during the performance, that Kenny James was also a past member of the 1970s soul group “The Hues Corporation” (whose most famous single was the 1974 hit Rock The Boat) but Kenny was not one of the original line-up. It was a decent enough performance, backed by the superb ship’s orchestra, but a singer, in my opinion, generally tends to be a one-trick pony and it can get a bit boring after a while.
When we came out of the show, we went along to the Quasar Lounge which was conveniently-situated just along the corridor. The ever-present karaoke was taking place with the usual ebullient crowd, but I didn’t get up to sing this time. We just stayed for a couple of drinks and the usual friendly chat with the barman.
Then it was back to stateroom 8166 to settle down after another most enjoyable day. We went out on the balcony for a short while, but the sea breeze had blown up a bit and it wasn’t quite as warm as it had been. We had also been notified earlier that, as we were now travelling east, our clocks would have to go forward now to GMT -9, so we’d lose an hour in bed.
Nevertheless, we took some time to pause and listen to the soporific sounds of the Pacific Ocean washing along the sides of the Eclipse as she carried us on the waves, comfortably ensconced within.