This is the fourth day since we set out so there must be 100 left! So far so good. The sea is calm. Only the occasional white cap. Bruce’s comment is “like a mill pond”. I don’t know that he has lots of experience of mill ponds, but that’s a favourite saying when things are not rough. There’s quite a strong wind on deck. From the comfort of breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet on Deck 14 I can watch the girls out there with their long hair billowing and twisting around their faces. They are the intrepid ones.
We
are weaving our way through the islands of The Great Barrier Reef, and expect
to pass Cairns and Cooktown tomorrow afternoon. Yesterday we had a day in
Brisbane. Friends from the Sunshine Coast came down to meet us and drove us to Manly on the North Shore for
lunch and a very satisfying catch-up on life in both directions. It was very
cold for Brisbane. About 16 degrees max, and the wind a further chill factor. It
was trying to rain on and off all day. So much, we said, for “Beautiful one
day, perfect the next!”
Bruce
went to hear Ian McLaren, a comedian, in the Vista Lounge last night and
reported he was very good, and tonight after dinner we will go to The Princess
Theatre to hear Donna Campbell give us
“The Dolly Parton Experience” with songs and stories of Dolly’s life.
Every
day the Princess Patter News Sheet gives us the Doings of the Day. There are
early morning exercises, yoga and brain teasers, Enrichment Lectures in the
Theatre, Seminars by the Lotus Spa and Salon on things like reducing back pain,
Acupuncture, and Arthritis. All these are hopeful of attracting people to take
further treatments at the Salon for which fees apply. The Cruise Director’s
Staff run fun things like Trivia, Carpet Bowls, ‘Hole in One’ Putting Competitions,
and today there’s a Ballroom Blitz of Waltz lessons. There is music of various kinds, and people
reading in comfortable chairs, all around the ship a lot of the time. Open Air
Movies can be seen all day up on Deck 12 on the big screen, or in the theatre after
lunch. Speaking of lunch, you can get food (and drink) at any hour in different
parts of the ship – both early and late.
Tonight
is a “formal night” and everyone is expected to ‘dress up’ for dinner. The
staff photographers are busy taking formal photos they hope you will buy later.
At 7pm there’s a function encompassing the three floors around the Atrium where
staff build a “Champagne Waterfall” and glasses of ‘champagne’ (some sort of
‘bubbly’) are handed around. The Captain makes a welcoming speech. Even Bruce
reluctantly brushes up and looks pretty good.
As
they say : “It’s a hard life, and someone has to do it”.
That’s
a lot about a day’s Cruising for you.
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