April 1st

At Sea

Can you believe there is no chocolate syrup on this ship??????

After 2 hectic days in Hong Kong we had a much needed sea day. It was sunny, and the water very calm, so Brian headed to the pool. I am currently obsessed with getting craft projects done before Jill, the instructor, disembarks in Singapore, so I opted for glue and sparkles. Apart from getting glue in my hair and a bead stuck to my glasses, I would call the morning a success. There were several Japanese women there again, and they all seemed to be very eager to learn western crafts. I noted that they all did things perfectly the first time with minimal mess and hysterics. I bet none of them got ink all over their school uniforms on a daily basis when they were in high school.

After the craft session I went to hear Jane Corbin’s talk on “North Korea’s Nuclear Trump Card”. It was very depressing so I decided we should have lunch in the Golden Lion, and forget about the calories involved in fish and chips with a cider as we are all going to be annihilated soon anyway. I did feel better after lunch, especially as when we got back to the cabin, there were little chocolate bunnies on the bed. Happy Easter!

We spent the afternoon in the Commodore Club working on our computers and enjoying the view of the waves below us. Apart from one relatively rough day it has been smooth sailing all the way. I must admit, I would like to see some action soon. Maybe that will happen in the Indian Ocean.

After dinner we headed up to the Lido to see and consume the Chocolate Easter Buffet. The whole rest of the ship was there too, so we decided not to deal with the crowds and to retreat to the quiet of the Commodore Club to meet up with Dan and Irene.

Dan and Irene were on the world cruise on QV with us last year. They had just embarked in Hong Kong, and are staying on board until Southampton, and then switching to QM2 to get back to New York. A great way to get home and avoid a long flight, especially if you live on the East Coast. Irene and I commiserated about the lack of Veuve Clicquot on board. This really is not good, thank goodness for my own supply. Having abandoned the Chocolate Easter Buffet I felt in the mood for a Milky Way martini. They do not make Milky Way martinis on board any more, and have switched to something called a Chocolate Affair. This is NOT a substitute. Armed with my MWM recipe from the QM2 I requested that the barman make me one. Initially there were several excuses about not having the right vodka, but that it could be obtained at an extra expense from another bar. I said fine, go ahead and make it. Then came the shock. They have no chocolate syrup on board, and essential ingredient. A ship with no chocolate syrup is like a pub with no beer. It just doesn’t make sense at all. Maybe it was some kind of cruel April Fools joke, but it was not. It was reality. How can you make a chocolate flavored martini without a chocolate swirl on the glass? Not wanting to make too much of a fuss, I asked them to do their best, and I must admit that the result tasted pretty good, and they did add chocolate shavings on top. Not as visually stunning as a chocolate swirl, but in terms of chocolate taste, quite adequate.

Talking about April Fools jokes, there was a good one in the Daily Programme today. Under the very acceptable heading of “Cunard Goes Green”, there was a description of the new environmental measures that were to be introduced on board the ship. The windows in the bridge were going to be replaced with specially designed solar panels. Well I suppose that could happen. Then they added that engineers were going to be on the Lido Pool deck to make preparations for the installation of wind turbines. This sounded a little farfetched, but could happen. However, they then added that the funnel would be painted a new shade of green. No way, I thought. Finally it said that volunteers were welcome to complete this paint job, brushes would be provided. Ha ha! Very funny!