Didn’t do an awful lot today. Woke up at 8.00am with a fuzzy head and a pain in my left leg (which has been giving me gyp for the last six months). Decided it might be a good idea to have an alcohol-free day today. 😊
Wandering out on the balcony, I could see there were several white horses on the surface of the Atlantic. The sea state was still classed as “rough” with a 3.5 metre swell and a Force 5 breeze.
After drinking a glass of water and having a cup of coffee, my headache still hadn’t abated so I took a couple of Migraleve while looking at the programme to see what we wanted to do. There was an interesting-looking talk called “The Race to the Moon” and 10.30am by the on-board astro-physicist Dr Jim Teslow, so until then we just pottered around the vessel, relaxed, read and walked around the deck. All those things that make the time pass quickly while you’re not really doing much at all. 😊
I took my laptop into the Neptune Lounge and sat at one of the tables at the back, so I could keep this blog up to date as well as listen to the talk, which was fascinating, particularly as just about everyone in the room would have been old enough to remember the lunar landings in July 1969 (I was 8 years old). The presenter’s enthusiasm and his humorous way of speaking made it an excellent talk, and brought back the excitement of hearing those words “The Eagle has landed!” as well as the most famous of all “that’s one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind”. Brilliant stuff.
After the talk I’d perked up a little bit and my headache had gone, so we went along to the Ocean Bar in readiness for the carpet bowls at 11.30am, and we each enjoyed an ice-cold glass of ginger ale while we waited for the competition to start. Trevor and I were both knocked out in the first round this time.
At 12 noon the captain’s voice came over the Tannoy with the latest weather and navigational information and assured us that the sea would smooth out and the wind would drop, making our remaining voyage to Bermuda much more comfortable. 😊
It brought us nicely up to lunchtime and we went up to The View buffet, where they were holding a seafood buffet. I enjoyed some cold fresh lobster, king prawns, clams and mussels – absolutely delicious. I then had some green salad and washed the whole lot down with chilled water and a cup of coffee.
Afterwards we returned to 7055 where I lay on the bed with my left leg elevated on a pile of cushions as I read my book. I then enjoyed a power nap before we went down to the promenade deck and wandered around in a desultory fashion.
The rest of the afternoon passed in its pleasant relaxing way; as I said, I didn’t really do much worth witing about at all.
At four o’clock we went to The View for some afternoon tea, and I had a couple of small fruit scones with jam and cream as well as a custard tart and a cup of coffee. I’d already decided I was going to give dinner a miss this time.
Soon it was dinner time – life on board a cruise ship seems to consist of nothing but eating and drinking at time – Trevor went down to the restaurant while I stayed behind in our cabin and watched TV and read, enjoying a cold can of ginger ale and some mixed nuts from our minibar.
Once I was ready, I went down to the Piano Bar, listening to the pleasant music of the talented pianist as I enjoyed a Heineken Zero cold beer before making my way to the Neptune Lounge to join Trevor at eight o’clock. As the dancing as in progress, we couldn’t get a seat at the front, but we had a decent enough view from the second row, and we struck up a conversation with the couple next to us who, like us, attended dance classes so they could join in on the cruises.
When the hosts asked everyone to take their partner for the cha cha cha, Trevor and I got up onto the packed dance floor and started our moves. It was quite difficult on a moving dance floor; sometimes your feet would feel extremely heavy as the ship went one way, then the floor would seem to fall away from you. We did a very ungainly cha cha, but I think others on the dance floor were in the same boat, so to speak. 😊
We resumed our seats for a short while before the dancers disappeared off to second sitting dining, vacating some seats in the front row into which we then moved. The show tonight was one that we’d seen several times before on FOCL ships: “Hits from the Flix” where the Borealis Theatre Company performed all the best-known songs from the movies. It’s a great show, although when this is the fourth time you’ve seen it, it doesn’t have the same impact as it does the first time. 😊
It was then time, as ever, to go to the Morning Light pub for the quiz. Only Lesley joined us once again, and we only scored 11/15; two teams scored 13.
We sat and chatted for a while before Trevor and I went up to the Observatory for the Silent Disco. This has become very popular on cruise ships and is absolutely hilarious. We never join in, as we find it much more entertaining to watch. The Silent Disco is anything but silent, as the dancers are usually joining in at the tops of their voices, in complete discord while they sing different songs. 😊
We finished the evening off by going to the Supper Club in The View, for some hot snacks before we turned in for the night. Tomorrow was our last day at sea before we were due to arrive in Bermuda on Sunday. As the captain had promised, the sea was much calmer and we settled down and slept soundly.