At Sea

Shrove Tuesday AKA Pancake Day

Back to calm seas and lazy days in the sun. There is a bit more movement on the ship, possibly because we are going faster than usual. Anyway, the movement is minimal, but at least it lets you know you are at sea.

At the noon announcement the first officer talked about how bright the stars are at the moment due to the phase of the moon, and that tonight would be a good night for looking for the Southern Cross after 9:00 PM. We had failed with our mission to see the Southern Cross so far as the lights on deck are so bright, but we were excited to think that maybe we could see it tonight.

We went to the Lido for lunch as I was hoping that they would have pancakes. They did indeed; one of the chefs was there with his frying pan and batter, producing the most amazing crepes. They were so thin I am sure they had no calories at all, and they were totally delicious. Deirdre had also discovered them, so we joined them for a pancake feast. Maybe not the most nutritious meal, but I did have them with sugar (for energy) and lemon juice (to prevent scurvy, we are at sea), so there was some balance there.

In the afternoon there was a pancake race at the Pavilion Pool, with several teams of crewmembers participating. There were 4 members on each team, and it was a relay race. Each team member had to put on an apron, run to the end of the pool, toss an ever increasing number of pancakes, run back to the start, give the apron to the next runner and toss the pancakes to them, and the next team member then set off running. Each team had a great name – such as the staff from the tour office were the “Tourists”, and were dressed for the part with selfie sticks, ultra short shorts, cameras, and large sun hats. It was good fun, and it was great that there were a lot of crewmembers watching and cheering their work mates on. The dancers’ team won in a close final, and were awarded the “Golden Pan”, before they all jumped in the pool. It was fun to watch.

Later we went to see the world cruise concierge, Jacqueline. She said that the dancers win the pancake race every year, they certainly do have the balance and agility, but I had really hoped that the Britannia staff would win. They had such style.

Jacqueline had been asked to look for people who had not already been at a hosted table for dinner, and would like to join one. We had to be honest and say that we had already been at the doctor’s table, so alas that rendered us ineligible. I suppose honesty is the best policy, but it would have been totally splendid to be asked to be at the Commodore’s table.

Brian headed off to the pool, and I joined him later. When I got there a sort of water polo match was under way in the pool, and Roscoe was in the middle of it, looking ultra cool in his shades. They had dispensed with the net, and it looked a bit like a free for all, but everyone was having fun, as were the spectators. Cunard really seem to have found the perfect balance between having fun and games, and the obnoxious poolside activities which we have observed on other cruise lines. No wet T-shirt or belly flop competitions thank goodness.

Another formal night – and the Neptune Ball. Maybe it was a coincidence, but a lot of ladies were in long blue dresses looking quite aquatic. Brian wore his white tuxedo jacket and blue bow tie, I was in my long blue dress, and had a shawl with star fish and sea horses on it. We thought that it would not go well to bring a trident to dinner.

After dinner we headed outside to look at the stars. Just our luck, no stars, it was overcast, and we could see lightening in the distance. We abandoned the stargazing and went to see the Barricade Boys. They are the third 4-member boy group we have heard since Southampton, and were very similar to the previous groups. However, they were very good, with lovely voices, so it was a very pleasant way to end the evening.

We will be crossing the International Dateline. Tonight we were instructed to turn our watches forward by 24 hours, thus March 1^st will be omitted and we will wake up on March 2^nd. No St David’s Day this year L. I’m not sure they have any daffodils on board anyway, but maybe we will have leeks for dinner tomorrow, even if it’s March 2^nd. Maybe I can go to the kitchen to get a leek to wear in my hair.

There is a man on board who was born on February 29^th, so this year not only will he miss his birthday, he will miss the next day too! I hope he gets to have a great celebration tomorrow