Tuesday, 17^th to Monday, 23^rd October, 2017

Ok, here we go again. You must have thought Val and had been lost overboard or marooned on some tropical island with no internet and just a stack of records for company, but panic not, it has been a simple case of enjoying our time too much for me to find time to write up this magnus opus that is aka the blog. Indeed, as you will have noticed, I have only just caught up with the USA road trip, so there is a good chance you will get this by Christmas.

Well, we left you last at our port of call in Bilbao. We set off from there for our next destination, Bermuda, by going straight along the north coast of Spain heading due west. I thought it would be fairly sheltered, but I was very wrong and we encountered our first real bit of ‘weather’. It seems I am quite a good sailor (one never quite knows until it happens), but Val sadly confirmed her status as a landlubber and started to feel the effects of the pitching ship. At least they do have stabilisers on these ships these days which help to prevent the ship rolling, but they cannot help with the front and back ends. Val did try some acupuncture but that did not help and eventually she tried some seasick pills (well, anti-seasick pills, more accurately), which definitely did help and happily did not seem to interfere with the myriad Parkinson’s pills she also takes.

The Captain set a course to avoid the worst of the weather, which was the tail ends of various hurricanes and that helped, though it did make the journey somewhat longer. This meant we had a fairly unprecedented 8 sea days, which many veterans of trans-Atlantic crossings on board felt was too long. I am not sure what they thought the Captain could do about it and Val and I thoroughly enjoyed them, even when the going got rough (the rough get going?). Whilst the view did not change a great deal….

There is plenty to do even on such a small ship. So let me give you an overview of life on board. I have mentioned our cabin, which has a balcony and is air-conditioned and whilst necessarily a bit cramped, is comfortable and works well. If you are keen, you can get to the gym at 0700 and exercise or, like us, you can sleep in a bit later and make your way to breakfast either in the dining room where you are served by waiters or you can go to the self-service restaurant and do it yourself. We tended to opt for the former as it just felt a bit bit more civilised. The form is that you are seated at the first available table and then other passengers join you as they come in, which means you do end up chatting to more people, which is good (provided you are up to it at that time of the day!). Most talk is of the voyage, cruising in general, the next port of call and where one lives. Most of our shipmates are serial cruisers and many have been to the Caribbean before, so are useful sources of information. Val and I eat a hearty breakfast, which for me consists of orange juice, porridge, omelette, bacon and sausage plus toast, washed down by a number of cups of coffee. In case you are thinking this is a lot, John, are you sure you should be eating that much, let me add that we skip lunch and go to the gym and there is always the eternal table tennis. Swimming is not going to work off the pounds as you can tell from the photo below!

There are a number of things to do on a sea day from lectures on dolphins or trans-Atlantic airplane flights through reading, bridge, whist, line dancing, quizzes, craft making, a choir, classical concerts to the many physical pursuits such at TT, deck quoits, shuffleboard or walking round the track on deck. And, of course there is the spa (VERY, VERY overpriced) or a class at the gym. Alternatively you can exercise at your own pace in the gym. As most of you will be aware, Val is superb in the latter, but I too have now got into the swing of it and am usually found on a bike doing a good 20 to 30 kilometres. The good thing is that I can both listen to my music and read my book whilst pedalling my way to fitness. They even have sudoku games you can do on the machine.

Val and I usually take part in the table tennis competition every day at 1600 where we and our fellow players became a very happy, though quite competitive band of brothers and sisters. It is outside, but quite sheltered though it was certainly challenging when the ship was going up and down and a storm was blowing, but we carried on regardless. It made for a good excuse when you hit a bad shot.

Of course, if you want to take it somewhat easier, you can always lounge by the pool soaking up the sun (yes, we have had some sun!), reading your book/iPad/Kindle, though Val and I have never really been sun-worshippers – let’s face it, Val does not really need it and I generally just turn red. There are plenty of people broiling themselves – I can see them from where I am typing this, in the shade. I hate to think what the skin cancer bill will be, but I think it may be a race for many between that and the heart disease and diabetes. Not a pretty sight, sadly, for probably the majority on board and a sad indictment of modern life. Their choice I suppose…..

They do have an excellent library on board, very well stocked and quiet and comfortable and much frequented by those on board. There are also shops selling a range of goods and endless food and drink. No wifi though unless you are feeling well-heeled enough to pay for it. Most seem to wait for a port and find a free connection.

Evenings are split into two sittings in the restaurant with ours being the first, at 6.30pm. As I think I mentioned in the first post of this blog, we are on a table of eight which means there is plenty of varied conversation, albeit in a strong (to us) Scottish accent for the first three weeks. I get the feeling that Brits are slow to warm up, but we did become a very happy table, with lots of banter, jokes and chat – for which my thanks to our fellow-diners should they ever read this. I feel we have done much to improve Anglo-Scottish relations! I would add that the food is first class with a lot of choice and thankfully sensible proportions. Dress is either smart casual or black tie (on specific evenings), so all very civilised. This is a photo, first of the dining room without diners and then of the help-yourself buffet.

After dinner, we would repair to the theatre (the Curzon Lounge) for the evening’s entertainment. This varies from the on-board artistes (the Adonia Theatre Company) to one-night performers who join the ship at various points on the voyage. Of the latter we have had comedians (some excellent, some a little less so), a ventriloquist (good ventriloquism, less so on the comedy), two magicians (both excellent and very funny), a number of singers from the Opera Boys to tribute acts to Tom Jones and Adele and even the current lead singer of the Hollies (yes, they are still performing, though obviously not with the full original line up) to a classical guitarist.

The ship’s entertainers are certainly versatile and extremely keen and put a great deal of enthusiastic professionalism into their performances, which range from song and dance routines to a couple of plays. Ok, the singing could be a bit better, but they carry you along with their dedication and joi de vivre as well as a suitably picked repertoire suited to a passenger company whose average age must be at least the upper sixties.

And finally we would retire to the Crow’s Nest for a quiz/game show (worth a bottle of wine if you win….oooohhhh!) and/or more music and dancing. I even had a go at some karaoke without emptying the room.

Some nights we have repaired to the bar, where there is also music and we have had some entertaining games of Crazy Whist.

So that gives you some idea of the trials and tribulations we have been struggling with. It has, for the most part been warm and sunny, though with a few days where it has been a bit grey. And for those of you wondering how we have survived with one suitcase each, there is a launderette on board in which I have become an expert and have even been able to impart advice to fellow passengers. One lady asked me if I had been in the military as I scrupulously ironed a shirt! I can’t say I have seen many other men in there!

Ok, time to post this (I am actually back in Blighty!) and to set to on the next thrilling instalment – the beautiful island of Bermuda, our first brush with the Caribbean (though technically not actually in it). Back soon.