Tuesday 3/2/2015 Day 29 - 4 absolutely wonderful and fascinating weeks at sea

What a night, and a day. Even though the temperature outside has risen to 20C again, there are some very strong winds (ship’s info reports force 7 overnight and force 8 now, sea state rough, swell short and moderate) and really heavy rain. These have meant nobody is allowed out on the decks, doors are locked and we are advised to keep the balcony doors closed.  Everyone holding on to the rails when walking, and, for my yogi friends, standing postures all very unstable, nearly lost it in my wide leg forward folds, and my practice had to be split into two today.

There are going to be few doctor consultations for sea sickness I think. Not for me though I have three contingency arrangements.  If gazing at the horizon doesn’t work, I am going to try the one eye closed technique, and if that doesn’t do it the Stugeron will be out of its packet for the first time. An early night anyway as lying down and feeling the ship rock and roll feels lovely.

Last night was the Captain’s Gala dinner and we had the best dinner yet (five courses from Marco Pierre White’s menu, the main course of which consisted of the most delicious lobster EVER, and the puddings were extremely chocolatey and decadent). Photo opportunity with the Captain duly taken J.  Then we went to the Black Tie Ball and danced our three favourites – foxtrot, jive and waltz. Getting a little bit more brave by the day.

Because of the near gale force winds today there was no deck walking, so for tonight there’ll be no pudding for me! Enough said. There’s always the 10 flights of stairs, walking the corridors, potentially the jogging, rowing, cross training machines and lots of different exercise classes in the gym. Potentially I say, because apart from yoga and Pilates I don’t fancy anything else at the moment.  So instead I joined a craft class and came back to the cabin with a fabulous card making kit.  See what I mean about something for everyone all of the time.

At our dance class with Jeffrey and Brenda today we danced the waltz, in every direction with a lot of attention on posture, arms and transferring the weight more positively. I would go so far as saying we wouldn’t be worried at all if we were invited to dance this one without our teachers. As long as the lights are low, and nobody looks for too long!

Now today’s art was something else. A water colour of a whale’s tail above the sea, and its shadow on the sea’s surface. I cannot believe how life like mine looks. I showed it to my dinner mates tonight and they said it looked like a photo! Is this just a one off I wonder, or a turning point?  Khachik’s is wonderful as always, with a different interpretation of the sea state. We are both very happy.

KHACHIK'S

MINE

So, another 2 sea days to Hawaii, where rumour has it the temperature is 28C. We are assured this storm will have passed and we will all be feeling comfortable again soon.  

I will be back to confirm! x

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.