Traditionally, long spells of sea days are easy enough and in fact, very pleasant and this is no exception, other than the hygiene restrictions affecting mainly the food. Having a waiter or buffet staff member dole out your food is no problem, but as mentioned before, the lack of speciality buffet lunches is something noticeable. Also withdrawn are the delicious Belgian waffles from breakfast, plus the large tray of goodies (mini cakes, sandwiches etc) from the atrium bars, morning and afternoon. We can’t really complain though, but it is just something to take a little gloss off the experience.
Others have been less fortunate with Pat & Mick having to be relocated from their balcony cabin to an interior cabin, as have three other couples, due to some form of fume leakage. Needless to say, they aren’t too happy about it.
The weather has not only turned much cooler, but we have also had a couple of days of drizzly rain and the seas have been a bit more active, though we don’t know of anyone who needed the “motion discomfort devices”.
If our quiz scores are anything to go by, we are not getting any smarter either and we managed a miserable 8/20 at one morning session.
We skipped the afternoon quiz as it was an art trivia and the lure of a coffee was more attractive.
We joined a packed Princess theatre for Tony Pace’s second show. Not many impressions this time but still a great show. He must be the only performer that we know of (other than last year’s Beatles tribute band) who has managed four standing ovations from four shows. He has that knack of communicating with an audience, both on and off stage, and is a real star when he comes down off stage and plays up to one or two on the front row, but in the nicest possible way. Some performers pick on the front row. He involves them.
The day after, we saw Tony in the Horizon Court, reading (a book on Buddhism!) and went over to thank him again. He was happy enough to chat away for about half an hour or so and has to be one of the very nicest entertainers we have met. I doubt there will be the opportunity to slot in another show, but we have put in a request anyway. He is based in Las Vegas so if you ever get the chance to see his show, please do.
On both nights, the clocks advanced an hour and this seems to have disturbed the (our) sleep patterns but it was bit embarrassing when there was a knock on the door at 8:25am (just as I was about to switch on the TV for the Wake Show). There was the cruise Director returning my copies of Garry’s DVDs (of the 2011 Cruise) and I was still in my sleep shorts! Could have been worse I suppose... Warren apologised profusely, but that was all OK. We actually managed to watch one ourselves, later in the day and relived Monaco, Barcelona, Lisbon etc.
After watching the movie, “A Week With Marilyn” which we really enjoyed, we headed off to quiz. Although we didn’t win overall, it appears I was the only one in the room who knew what the “Pareto principle” was. I had to explain it on Rommel’s behalf and Paula claimed it was worth a prize. So, I managed a quiz prize without winning! What is Pareto? I’ll save that, just in case our team needs it next year.
We opted for the buffet as we wanted to go to see the singer, Mark Preston at 7:45 (our normal dining time) and another Sherlock Holmes show at 10pm. We arrived early at the show, but there were no seats left! We stood at the rear of the theatre but didn’t stay. Straight singers are not really my cup of tea.
On to the Vista for a 10pm rendition of “Sherlock Holmes and the Disappearance of the Didsbury Diamonds”. Although we had seen this particular presentation before, it was still enjoyable, as much for the cruise staff as anything. Rommel (a Canadian) trying to do an upper crust British accent and Marcus (another Canadian) trying to act the Butler’s part and then lapse into what was supposed to be Cockney, was comical in itself. After a coffee in a spookily quiet atrium, we then caught up with Alan and Alana relaxing and as usual, they filled us in with stories that really should be recorded. Their memoires of over 25 years of cruising and with Alan’s writing talent, would be a most enjoyable read.
So bed late yet again and another hour forwards too – and two more sea days before Alaska.
Happy Birthday to Tui in NZ.
So did warren enjoy the DVD's ....
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