Friday, 13 September 2013

Days 62 & 63 - At sea relaxing, plus the cut tie mystery. Sept 11th & 12th

This is now back to the relaxing part of the cruise, with just six ports before Sydney – and one of those we are not going ashore anyway!  So no alarm clocks and leisurely starts to the days.  With a 9:15 quiz, for Wednesday we had a slightly different team structure but even with the combined knowledge of Alex’s ex-service buddies, we only managed 12½ - definitely not enough to win.  Our partners fared no better.

Up to HC for a later breakfast – a bacon and sausage roll - before retiring to the cabin to try and catch up with the blog, before a pleasant atrium coffee.  Fir future cruisers, we have found that it pays to use the same coffee outlet if you are at all fussy about your coffee, as the staff are very obliging and are always keen to ensure you get satisfaction.  A casual observation, but I have rarely seen a coffee returned.

Paula opted for Bernie’s popular zumba class and I went to a casual meeting of classic car enthusiasts.  The crew will always do their best to make a venue available for any passenger requested group meetings, and publicise them in the Patter.

It wasn’t to be our winning day for the afternoon quiz either.

We opted out of formal night and relocated our table group to the pizzeria – which seemed a popular move as a fair few others obviously thought the same.  By the time we were half way through eating, we were just about the only ones left.  Moral.  Go a bit later on formal night.

Just for a change, we all piled into Ros and Arnold’s cabin for a chocolate, or cheese and biscuits and a glass of port!

Some of us left to go and see the comedy magician Phil Cass, in the Vista lounge at 10pm.   Billed as Phil “trust me” Cass, it wasn’t difficult to see why.  The star turn was grabbing Dominic from the audience and subjecting him not only to the electric chair, but Phil also took to his (one and only) tie, with a pair of scissors!  A decidedly subdued Dominic returned to his seat clutching two parts of his tie, contemplating how on earth they could be repaired.

A bit later, he was called back on stage and the tie miraculously was repaired.  A very good show.  A worthy 9/10 and we look forward to his next show!

No late night coffee this time…

Thursday

As yesterday, no rush, but the morning disruption was the all-important Pirate Drill at 9:45am.  An opportunity to catch up again with the blog.  (Will I ever manage it?)

We didn’t win morning trivia, but did enjoy a quick coffee before the early Dawn Nomad’s lunch, where the Princess Master Chef, Commendatore Alfredo Marzi, ably assisted by Amadeo Scarin, the ship’s executive chef and the Maitre D’ Guiseppe, served the Dawn Nomads with an exclusive, special pasta dish.  We sat with last night’s star, Dominic and he and his wife are still totally baffled as to what went on.

My main was an impressive turkey and beef sandwich, so bang goes an eating light whilst at sea day…

At about 3pm, we were supposed to be at Rock ‘n Roll Linda’s birthday drink back out at the rear, Ocean’s bar.  Unfortunately, this is one of just three smoking locations on the ship and it was steaming hot, the smoke was invasive even though none of the ‘guests’ were smoking, so we hopped it.  I had seen fitness trainer Thomas in the aerobic’s studio as I went back for my sun glasses, so asked him about the body analysis they did on board.  $39 for 1, $60 for 2, so Paula and I are booked in tomorrow at 5pm.  We are not taking bets on whether or not we’ll be changing diet, lifestyle or exercise regimes.

After a dining room dinner, we had our atrium coffees then spent a bit of time out on deck as the ship moved towards the entry to the Suez Canal.

A reasonable 11pm retire time, with tomorrow a day at sea, but most of it in transit through the canal.  This time, our port side cabin means we get the desert view, but we have seen both sides anyway, so nothing really new.  I think there will be a huge sigh of relief once we are safely through.

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