July 12th, 2018

At Sea

Last Sea Day ☹

Yet another smooth night, and calm, sunny day. So much for hurricanes and rough crossings. This one has been exceptionally smooth. Unless you look out of a window, or go out on deck, it is hard to believe that we are actually on a ship in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is so calm out there. I had really hoped for some wave action, but it simply does not look like I am going to be lucky enough on this crossing.

It also doesn’t seem like I am going to see a whale or dolphin. Someone was on his balcony and heard a noise, and there was a breaching whale! That would be simply fantastic to see, but I think we are out of good whale watching waters now. Gordon saw some dolphins, but all I have seen is a lonely seagull.

The passenger mood in quite somber on the ship today. There must be a lot of England football supporters on board. However, the Croatian staff members are very happy, so I am glad for them.

The first talk today was by Richard Stirling on Princess Margaret. I presented a bouquet of flowers to her many years ago, and I remember thinking that she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. The years weren’t good to her, but that’s what I see when I think of her. A beautiful smiling real life princess whoose eyes lit up at the sight of the flowers.

Next I went to listen to the Entertainment Director, Amanda Reid, interview Nigel Lawson, and then he answered audience questions. Most of the questions yet again focused on Brexit and British leadership. I’m still not sure I understand what is going on, even though he has talked at length about it. There were also questions and comments about President Trump, and some one inaccurately describing what the US Senate does (in comparison to the House of Lords), so the Americans were clearly in the audience too.

After our last choir practice I went to listen to Rob Bayly talk about Radio Caroline and the 1960’s Pop Pirates. As an avid listener to pirate radio in my teens, it was good to think about my days at boarding school listening to Radio North Sea International on my little transistor radio under the blankets so our matron wouldn’t know about it. I wonder if they still make those little transistor radios.

I noticed that there was a Queen Elizabeth get together on the schedule. I thought this might be a get together of passengers who had been on the 3 Cunard Queen Elizabeth ships, but it was actually a talk for passengers who will be transferring to Queen Elizabeth tomorrow. I often see questions on internet forums about how on earth you do transfer from one ship to another, so it was great that they were taking the time to explain the process to the passengers involved. I do wish that Brian was joining me in Southampton tomorrow, and we would then transfer to Queen Elizabeth. I don’t know where she is going, but that doesn’t matter, it would be great to go on another voyage right now.

But I’m not going on another voyage just yet, so I had to go and pack. We will soon no longer be in the North Atlantic Ocean. We will be in the Celtic Sea off the coast of Ireland. The end is near………….

The choir performance was held this afternoon on deck 2 of the Grand Lobby. Previously the singers had been standing on the staircase, but due to the health and safety concern that someone may lurch on the stairs and cause everyone to all fall down, the choir is now positioned safe and sound on the lower deck, with the audience standing unsafely on the stairs.

One of the photographers came by and took a group photo of the choir. Is it free? A token of appreciation for all of the hard work we have put into rehearsing? Payment for entertaining the guests? No, it costs $24.95. I don’t think I will get a copy then.

Mary Ann and Gordon were there to watch the performance, and I really appreciated that. I have been very lucky to be seated with interesting people on many trips, but my tablemates on this crossing are exceptionally wonderful. I was getting quite teary-eyed thinking that tonight is probably the last time I will see them, and how much I will miss their company.

However, the show must go on. Try as I may, I failed to channel my inner Ethel Merman, but I did belt out “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with all the verve and energy I could muster. Wow, the acoustics are great in the Grand Lobby, I think we sounded amazing. And yay! The audience is clapping!

Next we changed the tempo a bit, and did “Over The Rainbow”. We were not asked to channel Judy Garland, or that interesting Hawaiian singer, but just to be ourselves. As I was singing it, I realized that maybe I was over the rainbow. All of the dreams I had dreamed had come true. What a wonderful feeling ☺

Well maybe not all of my dreams. I used to play my Sound Of Music LP over and over on my little battery record player, singing away to the songs, wishing I could sound like Julie Andrews. I don’t. But when we sang our next song, Do Re Mi, it was clear that I still don’t sound like Julie Andrews, and despite my efforts to channel her, I sound just like me, a little flat and off key. Still, it was a fun song to sing, and again, the audience seemed to love it.

Next was “Do You Hear The Sound?” Nicole and Victor had told us to “punch it out”, and we did. I could almost see us climbing up the barricade. It is a great piece of music.

At university I had been in a musical called “La Revolution Francaise”, same theme, same writers. We, the peasants, had sung our hearts out from the rickety scaffolding (it was performed in the round with minimal props). I had long, straight, stringy, unkempt hair in those days. Just before the production I decided that I needed more sophistication in my life (I had met Brian), and went and had my long stringy locks cut short, replacing them with a wavy perm and highlights. Margarita, the director, was furious. I discovered, much to my disappointment, that she had cast me in the musical for my genuine peasant looks rather than my tuneful voice and acting skills. We solved the situation by me wearing a white bath cap, that looked acceptably peasant like, and the show went on until it was banned by the censorship bureau, but that’s another story.

Our final song was that great Neil Diamond hit, “Sweet Caroline”. Is it really about Caroline Kennedy as the tabloids say? Anyway, I love the song, and it made for the perfect finale, although I do wish the audience had been a bit more engaged with singing along and waving their arms. I always do that when I hear it. I’m never really sure whether the singers are happy with that show of exuberance or not.

Then suddenly the show was over. We thanked Nicole, Victor, and Drew (the pianist), and said our farewells to the rest of the choir. Out of nowhere the photographer arrived with the 8 X 10 glossy photos. I had been determined NOT to buy one, but then, overcome with nostalgia, all of a sudden I was the proud owner of the photo of the choir, and my on board account soared to new heights.

I had achieved one solitary stamp as a result of winning a quiz, and it was now redemption time. I headed down to the redemption center in the bowels of the ship to see what delights I could take home with me. There were people getting tote bags, binoculars, memory sticks and all manner of exciting prizes. However, with one stamp I was relegated to the options of either a black or red pencil, that didn’t even have an eraser at the end.

I opted for the red one, and proudly retreated to the Golden Lion to hear the next installment of the history of the electric guitar – riff writers. Paul Garthwaite did a splendid job as usual, showing how there is a long history to the similarity of the riffs that we have enjoyed over the years. He is am amazing guitar player. It has been so wonderful to listen to him play rock music, and to Mark Ashford playing classical guitar. Basically the same instrument, but making such a different sound.

I met up with Deidre to have one last Milky Way martini before dinner. The Commodore Club was packed, and it was actually quite hard to find seats.

I had exchanged my bottle of red wine that I received from the Guest Relations department on embarkation for a bottle of Prosecco, which I shared with the table. We had yet another fun meal, and were again the last table to leave the restaurant. Jessie, Gordon, Suzanne and Mary Ann left to have an earlyish night and as I was involved in saying goodbye to our waiters, Rose and Rommel at the time, I never got to say a proper goodbye, or tell them what a pleasure it had been sharing this crossing with them.

Linda and I went to the Queens Room to participate in the party night with the band Topaz, and Deidre and Hugh joined us later. I tried so hard to get Hugh to dance, but even with the temptation of ABBA music, he remained steadfast in his refusal.

Then it was almost midnight, and time to say goodbye to everyone and get my beautiful red suitcase out into the corridor before the clock struck twelve.