April 5^th

At Sea

Well we are certainly in the Mediterranean Sea in spring. We passed through the predicted low-pressure area, and experienced Force 8 winds and heavy seas. Looking outside you could see the angry storm around us, but you would not know it from the way the ship was calmly sailing along. There was hardly any pitching or rolling. You could forget you are at sea unless you look outside. There is really very little movement at all. Personally I prefer a bit more in the way of motion, but for those who experience seasickness it must be good.

Sea days are meant to be for relaxing, but it is hard to do so with so much going on.

I am way behind with my current craft project, but even with spending 2 hours in craft sessions I couldn’t catch up. I suppose I am just kind of slow at these things. Still, I am having great fun and enjoy talking to the other ladies as we all pursue perfection in our handiwork.

They all seem to be very talented and expound at length on their fancy sewing machines which seem to do everything except cut out your pattern for you, and some almost seem to do that. All this sewing machine technology has clearly passed me by. I still have my little Elna I received from my grandparents for my 18^th birthday. It just does straight stitching, and on a good day can be persuaded to do zig zag stitches. Still it made all of those floral cotton dresses that I wore as a student and early on in our marriage until the children came along and I no longer had the time to sew, nor could I fit into those dresses anymore. This was all probably for the best. I had failed to notice that no one else around me was still wearing floral cotton dresses with puffed sleeves. Oh well.

Choir practice is coming along very well, and I think we will sound very professional when we do our performance at the end of the segment. I am totally in love with Andrew’s arrangement of the Skye Boat Song, and sing away in our cabin at every opportunity. I hope I am not spoiling the surprise for our neighbors when they come to our performance.

We had another Formal (Gala) night tonight, which was preceded by the World Club party. There seem to be thousands of World Club members on board, and all were present at the party. There were no snacks, and I only managed to grab one glass of sparkling wine, as the waiters all seemed to disappear. Captain Hashmi gave a very amusing speech as usual, saying that he knows the name of the new Cunard ship and in the right circumstances could tell us. I am still hoping that it will be Queen Anne, but time will tell.

Again it was very pleasant to see that most passengers had adhered to the dress code for the evening, although there were fewer kilts than usual, which is a shame. The ship felt magical – there was a wonderful sense of grace and elegance. I wanted to stay up late and soak in the atmosphere. People have said that towards the end of a world cruise the passengers get grumpy and fed up with all of this formal palaver. I can’t sense that at all. There is still the thrill of wandering through this magnificent ship surrounded by other passengers who are having an equally magical experience. I love it!

Philip Browne was the singer tonight and he was excellent – he had one of those low Paul Robeson voices I could listen to all night. He was in the Lion King on the West End and did a couple of numbers from the show, which was fantastic.

Our whole day had been one of those days that you remember when you are back at work struggling with your outdated computer. You can stare out the window and know that somewhere out there, someone else is experiencing the Mary magic, and it makes you feel good. Well, not quite good, but at least a little bit better.