We got up this morning at 8.00am, then got ready and went along to the Lookout Lounge for another session of Sea Stretch. This time, however, we didn’t do the balancing-on-one-leg type exercises because of the motion of the Voyager on the Indian Ocean waves, which was quite noticeable. Instead we sat on chairs for those exercises.
Afterwards we once again went to the Veranda Café and enjoyed an el fresco light breakfast.
As tonight is formal night, I therefore went back to the cabin to colour my hair and get it washed and blow-dried so I wouldn’t have to faff about with it tonight. Trevor spent the time attenting a lecture given about the differences between the Anglophone and Francophone islands of the Indian Ocean.
Once my hair was done it was then time to attend a second lecture about the 1810 capture of Mauritius. I took along my kumihimo to do during the lecture, which was actually very interesting. One thing about these cruises is you always learn something new, whether it’s history, geography or different cultures.
Lunch today was in the form of a delicious barbecue served out by the pool deck. There was pork, beef, chicken and tasty grilled vegetables and jacket potatoes. As it was a bit windy, we took it into the Veranda Café to eat, washed down with a chilled glass of rosé wine.
We didn’t really do a lot after lunch. Just wandered about the ship, relaxed in the sun and took part in the 2.30pm quiz in Scott’s Lounge. Once again we did appallingly; they must think all the passengers are Mastermind champions or something, because all the questions were fairly obscure.
While taking part in the quiz I enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine while Trevor had a pint of Stella Artois. Once the quiz was finished, we got talking to another couple and, just then, the friendly barman Roger appeared with another glass of wine for me and a half-pint of Stella for Trevor. I was just about to comment that we hadn’t ordered them, when the barman gave us a wink and a smile, then high-fived us and walked away. We were the lucky recipients of a couple of freebies! 🙂
Afterwards it was time to start getting ready and dressed in our glad-rags, because tonight was formal night and the Captain’s Cocktail Party. I didn’t go to the hair salon this time, as I’d brought a hairpiece with me which made it look as though I had my hair up in an elegant bun. Then I put on a long, black velvet dress and Trevor looked very smart in his dinner suit with dark blue bow-tie and cummerbund, then off we went to the Darwin Lounge, where we strategically placed ourselves at the end of the row near the aisle, so we could grab the free glasses of “champagne” as the waiters walked past with their trays. 😉
Then Captain Alex Tkachuk did his little speech and introduced all his senior officers, during which time we managed to have three refills of our glasses and enjoy a couple of tasty canapés.
By this time it was time to go along for our dinner. We were placed on a table with another two couples, and enjoyed a scrumptious meal washed down by some more of the sparkling hock. When I ordered a second glass, the cheerful barman Roger brought it, but said it was “courtesy of the captain” and didn’t charge for it! I think Roger is fast becoming our favourite barman on this cruise! 😉
The show tonight was called “American Bandstand” and featured the ship’s production company. It was very good, but all the music was canned and the ship’s orchestra, consisting of piano, guitar and drums, only put in one appearance. This, to me, made the performance seem a bit flat, and we couldn’t help comparing it to that on our last cruise, on Fred Olsen’s Boudicca, where all the shows, and the orchestra, were superb.
We finished off the evening by going to the Sunset Club where one of the singers was doing a pretty mediocre rendition of James Bond themes. There weren’t really very many in the Sunset Club; the most prominent feature was the number of empty chairs.
Roger came over and took our drinks orders and chatted to us for a while, and we sat in the corner and listened to the music and chatted to nearby fellow passengers. But the place emptied out around 11.30pm, so we went back to cabin 4130 to settle down for the night.
Tomorrow we’d be visiting our 77th country – Madagascar, and it was with this pleasant thought that we drifted off to sleep on the ocean waves.