Day 10 - Still at sea but plans afoot - August 4th

Well, Paula knew it was her birthday (as did all passer’s by) as the balloons and happy birthday notice were on the cabin door.  No hiding on a ship.

We didn’t bother signing up for bowls today but had  a coffee downstairs, which was much better than the one the day before, which was wrong and not very hot either.  On board coffees are a bit hit and miss at times.  Although we hadn’t signed up, Paula was dragged in to make up the numbers and it was a straight best score goes forward game today, run by Bogdan.   We had a long chat with him afterwards as to where his career was going etc., as he has made it to cruise staff via assistant waiter and barman, but now has a serious girlfriend in Sydney and knows from past experience that being away from each other can be  a recipe for disaster.  His English is on a par with Barbara’s, so those on last year’s cruise will remember how she got a hard time from one or two stupid passengers.  Like Barbara, Bogdan speaks several languages (5) which is 4 more than most of us.

We opted for the BBQ lunch out on deck 14, but it was a bit disappointing, as most of the meat appeared to be overcooked.  As it was hot outside, we took our food inside to eat.  I think I could have re-soled my shoes with the pork.

Connecting to the internet was somewhat dodgy today so trying to read emails on line was a major mission, but we did get one from Paula’s son David and it appears that they are expecting twin girls.  What a brilliant birthday present message that was for Paula, as she has 4 grandsons and I have 1, so adding a couple of girls to the mix is nice for her.

Quiz?  Again, 15/20 and run by Bogdan, who pronounced “iron” as it is written – “irron”.  He isn’t at all phased by an audience.

Formal night number 2 and our first ever laundry arrived back OK “No Charge” before we left the cabin. (Paula’s request fulfilled!)

Joanne can miss this sentence.  It was lobster (with baked monkfish) and yes, it was delicious, but the head waiter cooked a simple pasta dish with garlic and chilli as dominant ingredients, so I had to try that, in addition to the soup, the lobster and the chateaubriand steak... I skipped dessert though.

The production show was a repeat “Shimmy” but still enjoyable. This time, the atrium was fairly hopping and there were several couples still dancing at close down, just after 11:30.

Plans afoot?  We keep getting the Princess Escape videos on TV and for those who have cruised before or maybe seen the Princess website, their video clip advertising the on board experience features many, many, youngish, body beautiful people and we all know that the reality is somewhat different.   As comedian Don Ware said the other night – “You get on board and all you see is old people.  A 75 day cruise?  I am not sure how many will even live that long...”  It didn’t go down too well with one or two in the audience, who seemed a bit touchy with several bits of his act, but it set me thinking.

With the various talents within our own loose group of cruisers, I want us to produce our own (comic/spoof) Princess Video, geared more to our age and beyond. The more I thought about it, the more daft ideas I came up with and came out with a fit of the giggles, with a strong vision of the line dancing, featuring people with their walking frames!  Drawing on the likes of excellent mime and mimic artists such as Benny Hill and Freddie Starr  for example, or even on our voyage, Robert Pearson,  the possibilities seem to be endless, particularly with both slow motion and speeded up video, so I started jotting down ideas.

Borrowing walkers or wheelchairs for a few minutes shouldn’t be too difficult either, so I am sure we can put together a great skit.  Even now, I have starting collecting video clips with the future in mind.  Maybe we can produce enough to sell to part finance our group future cruises.

Two more sea days now before Singapore on Tuesday, (I think we are berthing at Marina Bay this time, not Sentosa) then the schedule is almost alternating sea and port days right through to Beijing, where quite a few people are getting off - so that means quite a few are getting on again.  I am not sure that I will be up to date with the blog, but I promise to try, though I suspect we may need to rest a fair bit on the sea days.   Internet access is very poor (satellite down today) and slow at the moment, so maybe I won’t get to Skype after all.