Janet's Diary

Sorry folks, my diary may repeat some of what Dave has already blogged

Monday 1st September 2014

Our local taxi firm took us to Blackpool to the coach pickup point, where I instantly recognised one of our fellow passengers - a lady who goes to a coffee club which I occasionally attend.  I think Dave was afraid that we might not shut up for the whole journey.  But at 6am, even I'm not in the mood for chit chat.

The coach journey from Blackpool to Southampton was OK. We'd reluctantly decided to use P&O's linked provider rather than Eavesway, and were a little anxious that the service wouldn't be as good as we'd had previously.  It was in fact almost identical.  Our coach was almost brand new and just as uncomfortable as the ones we've been on in the past.  We arrived at Southampton soon after 2pm and were on the ship about twenty minutes later.  Unbelievable!

Our cabin is one we've had before - B253 - and is exactly what we expected, though definitely in need of the upcoming refit.  The carpets and soft furnishings are decidedly shabby now and the bathroom is well past its sell-by date.  But it's all clean and tidy, and we managed to unpack our three large suitcases and get it all stowed away before going to the Muster Drill and then on to the Sailaway party for free champagne.  They were doing a roaring trade at the bar - well, I expect almost everyone qualifies for the free drink that returning customers are entitled to.  The party was held on Aurora's beautiful tiered aft decks, from where we watched the Entertainments team singing along to classics like Yellow Submarine and We Are Sailing.  (Cringe cringe!). I waved a fond farewell to Fred Olsen's Balmoral as we passed her, and gave an envious wave to Silver Cloud, a tiny cruise ship which is way out of our price range.  As part of his entertainment the cruise director tried to find out the age of the youngest person watching the Sailaway party.  He started with "anyone here under 70?"  Then dropped to "65?", someone confessed to being 50 and it seemed like she might be the youngest, but then a 34 year old was found... So far we have seen NO children, but a couple we sat with at Muster Drill said they'd seen two small ones.  I can cope with that!

So tonight is a casual dress code, and we're dining in the Alexandria Restaurant at 8:30pm on a table for 6.  The final potential disaster for our cheap last-minute booking - will we get on with our fellow diners?

Later...

Had a pre-dinner drink in Champions Bar, listening to a really good singer - think her name is Lyn Fredrick?  I had the martini of the day - a Kangaroo Martini.  It was very nice though I have no idea why is was called that.

Dinner was good.  One couple from Essex and the other couple from Dorset.  We managed to keep the conversation going OK.  Both couples had done many cruises, they'd lost count, and the Essex ones had done two World Cruises, even though they've only recently retired.   The other couple were much quieter, but we're perfectly happy with our table... Phew!

Went up to the Crows Nest after dinner, but almost immediately decided it was a bad idea,we were just too tired, so sloped off to bed.  And slept well.

Tuesday, 2nd September

Woke soon after seven, to fairly calm seas.  Cloudy this morning, but by lunchtime the sun had broken through and was on our balcony for the afternoon.

We had breakfast in Cafe Bordeaux, which is our favourite place to start the day.  They serve a very limited menu, in small portions, and you can usually have a table for 2 so there's no need to be sociable.  I had a mixed berry smoothie, apricot compote with natural yoghurt and granola, plus ONE small croissant. A healthy start to the day. Dave had Eggs Benedict.

We'd  had good intentions of maintaining this level of non-indulgence all day, but I'm sorry to report that we didn't succeed.  Lunch was a cheese salad (with chips) followed by a white chocolate eclair, and afternoon tea was a bit of a pig out.  The scones are just irresistible, and it's so hard to decide whether too have plain ones or fruit/nut ones, that you end up having both.

We did walk 4 laps of the Promenade Deck this morning though (3.2 laps equals 1 mile) and haven't used the lifts at all - even last night when we climbed 7 decks from the dining room to the Crows Nest.  This morning we also took part in the organised Shuffleboard competition.  Neither of us has played before.  But although we both got knocked out in the first round we didn't disgrace ourselves, and it was quite good fun as the majority of the competitors didn't take it at all seriously.

This afternoon Dave stayed in the cabin to write a blog, whilst I went to the first Art Class of the cruise.  The teacher is Easa, who was in charge of the first Art Class I ever attended on a ship, many years ago. (Remember the chimpanzee painting Di?)  He's quite amusing, but the lesson moves along a bit too quickly and you can't always see what he's trying to demonstrate.  We painted penguins today.

Got to know our table companions a bit better tonight, and after dinner we went to the cinema to see a documentary movie called 'Tim's Vermeer'.  There were only 10 of us in the place, but it was an excellent film and we really enjoyed it.

We've had problems logging onto Blogger and editing what's posted - Dave is fretting that his last post doesn't have paragraph breaks, but until we can access cheaper connections it will have to stay as it is!

All for now
Janet xx