The previous post was supposed to include day 18, but as it was already long, it got posted anyway. So this is not an error, more of a continuation. A fairly lazy day again so a light breakfast, despite the temptations…
HORIZON COURT BUFFET – part 7
Reading through yesterday’s diatribe, I realised that I’d missed off half of that first station on the right, so part 2 of it (after the breads) is one of the fruit stations. This is the fresh fruit. Yesterday’s selection appeared to be three types of melon, plus pineapple and a fruit salad. On other days it could be papaya (paw-paw), or whatever is in season locally.
Moving on to station two, this caters very much for those of a continental disposition and is usually a mix of cold meats, cheeses, fish - and smoked salmon (very popular). Butter and margarine are both supplied and from a casual observation, it appears that butter is the more popular.
We had an early quiz time of 9:15am, which didn’t do us any favours. We didn’t win. It was early as we had tp slot in a pirate drill.
PIRATES!
As we enter pirate infested waters, each ship carries out its own specific pirate drill. Passing a tanker yesterday, they use vast quantities of water sweeping over the upper deck, presumably to wash away the pirates. It goes without saying that for a passenger cruise ship, swamping the upper open decks with water wouldn’t be the best method to adopt, so on deck seven, they install water cannons and on the rear deck, a large audio transmitting device that blasts the eardrums of anyone approaching who looks suspicious. The general feeling on board is that anyone daft enough to try and capture a cruise liner containing 1500 Aussies and 1500 others, wouldn’t be too successful, but we still have to have the drill.
From a passenger perspective, when the alarm sounds, we have to make our way to our cabins via internal passageways only, close the curtains (well, those who are lucky enough to have them!), leave the door ajar and keep away from the windows.
The drill went exceptionally well, much to the delight of Captain Pickford, so it only took about 20 minutes.
With a rearranged day, we took it easy as Paula’s throat was a bit off.
We headed up to deck 12 (one below the traditional buffet) for the fresh tropical fruit buffet. This was a great opportunity to sample all sorts of exotic fruit so if you didn’t like any of it, it didn’t really matter. Star fruit (bland) longan fruit (similar to a lychee), dragon fruit (bland), mangosteen (nice), paw-paw, durian (the fruit that smells like **** but tastes OK), persimmon, pineapple and now and again, mango. By the time we got there, the mango had gone but we were aware that they had sent down for more, so we just had to wait. We joined Norm, Marion, Tina and Trevor at a table.
Afterwards, we played a new game of fruit golf - rolling a longan fruit down the hole in the centre of the table…
We then grabbed a drink and headed for the theatre to see the movie “Parental Guidance” with Meryl Streep and Billy Chrystal. Most enjoyable.
As Ros was off colour (she isn’t having a very good run this year) it was just two of us who appeared to defend the reputation of the Guessalots at trivia. We didn’t win.
We dressed up for formal night and Jo was in seventh heaven – lobster with monkfish, potato and asparagus! I managed it for my second course and also managed an extra one with my very tender chateaubriand beef. I think Jo managed it for all three savoury courses.
On to the Vista lounge where Sarah and the orchestra were playing for dancers from 9:15pm to 10:00pm, immediately before Ace McDermott’s show. It was hot dancing wearing a jacket.
Magic, illusion and as last year, Ace did the slowing of the pulse and then walking across broken glass in bare feet. He also lay down and had a member of the audience stand on his back and side of his face, which was laying on the broken glass. Although the act still entertaining, it was essentially the same as last year, so I am only giving it a 7/10.
We then headed up to the casino where Darryl and Sue were taking it in turns to play Blackjack. They finished up about $5 ahead after an hour’s play. I watched the roulette table.
Another day at sea tomorrow and at night, Ace is holding a card show - in the casino!
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