First full day at sea

Force 9 winds overnight (or 50mph to you landlubbers), so a bit of movement but not enough to put us off the first full stack of pancakes of the trip for breakfast. The waiter did seem a little bemused at the quantity of maple syrup I asked him to pour over them. Nothing so gross on board as having to pour your own maple syrup.

Then a wander on deck and check of the lifeboats. 22 of them, all pretty large.

The day’s itinerary needed close examination so we didn’t miss anything. In the morning there are usually 2 or 3 talks in one of the theatres, lasting about 3/4 of an hour each, which is what they must reckon is our attention span or possibly how long the average wrinkly can control his or her bladder.

Early lunch to fit it an afternoon talk. Useful time to digest the lunch and "rest the eyelids" as it were. Afternoon spent exploring the 13 decks, finishing off with an hour “power-walking” laps of the ship. Apparently 3 laps is 1.1 miles so each lap takes about 6 minutes.

Then scrubbed up for one of their formal nights, a Black and White Ball. I suspect the last time I wore a tie, except for a wedding or funeral, was at a similar occasion on this ship 6 years ago. Had a bit of trouble persuading the wine waiter that instead of a $50 bottle of wine we were going to stick to a $7.50 pint of lager for the lady and a glass of water for myself.

Finished the day with another wander along the deck.Read more