Monday 2 February 2015 – Sea Day 2 to Hawaii

There have now been several sightings of pods of dolphins playing in the wake of the ship, this never fails to make us smile.  I missed one of these yesterday but Khachik was there and said they were really close and obviously performing! Water temperature is coming up again, and the air is warming up again now 19C, bright sun.  The moon is looking stunning too. My Moon app says 1 day and 4 hours to full. Time for a lovely rest.

I forgot to say something on Saturday about our tour guide in San Francisco.  I can just about remember her name  - Barbara!   She said there were a lot of songs about San Francisco (I left my heart in SF, SF nights, Dock of the Bay, If you’re going to SF) and she promised to sing us those songs. Born and brought up in SF, in love with her city, full of enthusiasm and knowledge, but she said her husband refused to let her sing in the car.  She saved the reason why until we were returning to the ship in the coach, now we know why her husband wasn’t too keen. Flat and tuneless unfortunately, but on the plus side everyone joined in,  it was a relief to know our own voices weren’t too bad.

Remember yesterday I said that sometime on this cruise we just might try dancing without Jeffrey the dance teacher calling out the steps – we are really self-conscious and forgetful, but nevertheless we tried a proper dance in the Retreat last night without any assistance. We had a go at the Rhythm Foxtrot, Jive, Waltz and cha-cha-cha! What can I say! We felt brave, and it was a jolly good effort ;) I think it’s like anything else, there’s a way of getting by when you make a mistake without drawing too much attention, stay close, maintain great posture, don’t fall apart, and sway gently until you’re ready to count yourselves back in.

In San Francisco around 900 people left the ship to fly home or journey on another way, and 900 joined the ship, 500 from Australia travelling homeward, many fly cruisers from the UK and a good few from USA. All very interesting.  Did I say this is a ship for adults only, no children? We both notice that  only when we leave the ship for the ports we see whole families again, little ones running around and playing, babies in slings, babies feeding, little ones in prams. 

The average age of the cruise looks to have fallen a bit since SF, I think this must be because people flying long distance might be younger and more mobile (on the whole), whereas if you join the ship in Southampton and return to Southampton the trip is much more accessible for people with varying disabilities and frailties.

Back tomorrow. Bye for now.