Wed 2nd Dec. At sea

Today was forecast to be 87 degrees and it does feel very warm and humid but there is strong breeze. This means that the sea is a bit choppy and I feel a teensy weensy bit sick so I dosed myself and am having a lie down. That said, it didn't stop me from having a chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce instead of lunch. I'm working on the principle that a little bit of what you fancy does you good.  Earlier I watched a demonstration of vegetable carving by the chefs. So artistic and skilful. A bald eagle, a goldfish hiding amongst weeds, Ratatouille, the cartoon rat, a penguin and lots more. I thought I might have a go at home and then I thought, Why?   Later on one of the chefs was doing a large ice sculpture but I didn't wait to see what that turned out to be.  Will check later in the dining room.

So today, as there is not much to tell, I thought I would give you some random thoughts about anything and everything on this cruise so far.

I imagine that many of you are saying to yourselves " This history, culture and wildlife is all well and good but what about their hair?"  Well, my own hair dyer won't work on the ship's voltage and the one in the cabin has a rectangular nozzle which just blows your hair all over the place so my hair has reverted to its default holiday style of Coco the Clown's wig.  Last night after dancing on deck, I looked like Shirley Temple on a bad day.  Sandra reports that though she is putting in her rollers at every opportunity, her hair is like Olive Oil's with the added benefit of flicking out in all directions.

The food is very good, indeed quite eclectic, there was even 'tripes à la mode' on the menu last night but we didn't have it.  Everything is beautifully served and the stewards are very attentive. We have had some nice chats with one waiter from the Philippines, Bien.  He complemented us that we looked beautiful and slim, not like most of the American women on board. He said his mother was 68 and very slim with no wrinkles. How does she manage that? we asked.  She only eats vegetables, no meat or rice or alcohol and she gets 8 hours of sleep a night. We would like to meet her as she sounds a barrel of laughs.

Last night Sandra ordered our now, 'usual' wine at dinner.  Bien said it was a very popular one and hoped it didn't run out.  Sandra said that perhaps he could put a few bottles away for us and he said he would.  Came back shortly after with the bill for 3 bottles of wine which he has put away for us.  Oh no!  now we've got to drink them.

At dinner a couple of nights ago, we got chatting to two Canadian ladies about that day's shore trip.  "Oh," says Naomi "Have you just joined the ship tonight?"  Yes we have.  We swam out with our luggage overnight. Doh!

We are finding that increasingly things are getting lost - comb, specs, headband but the good news is that the other part of my camera charger has turned up.  The bad news is that my cabin card to unlock the door keeps failing and they are sick of me at reception asking for another one, so Sandra won't let me keep it. She is looking after it for me.☹

Having been on the ship for a week now, I have just noticed that the ladies' loos are all on the left side of the ship and the men's on the right. Wish I'd realised that before, would have saved miles of walking. The other thing I noticed, and I said this in all naivity,  "Have you noticed Sandra, that whenever we are sitting on our balcony, the ship is always going in the the same direction?"

A word on the shower in our cabin.  The bathroom is bijou and in the shower cubicle, if you stick out your elbows sideways, you can touch both sides. This comes in handy for bracing yourself as the ship rocks and rolls while you are trying to do your ablutions.

Sandra and I are both concerned about putting on weight.  We seriously considered cutting down on the cocktails but both agreed that the vitamin C in the fruit was doing us good.

Tonight is the second posh frock night

Me

And Sandra

Usual round of cocktails followed by dinner which was lovely.

 I ordered beef Wellington and the waiter asked would I like a side order of king prawn and lobster tail. Why not?  The show tonight was Motortown, all the hits like Heard it on the Grapevine, Dancing in the Street etc which we sang along to.  And finally a quick bop to a band in one of the lounges. Alan managed to collar us for a while in the buffet before we headed back to our cabin and our usual 10 minutes on our balcony watching the sea go by under the stars.