Tuesday April 16th
At Sea
We have entered a low-pressure zone, and have finally hit really rough weather. The pressure is 996, winds are 11 on the Beaufort scale, and the sea is described as rough.
Captain Hashmi says we should be through this later today, but it has been fun to watch the waves from deck 2 where they are splashing against the windows.
Apparently the bad weather also affects the satellite internet connection, and getting on to the internet has been quite the challenge. No way to pay bills today. I did hear that they had planned to upgrade the internet band width while we were in Dubai, but they failed to send the right equipment, so it could not be done. The upgrade will now be performed on May 12th. Also, they will reduce the cost of the internet packages. We will see.
We had been hoping to get a window seat for lunch in the Golden Lion so we could watch the waves, but the pub was packed, and we had to settle for a table in the middle. Still lunch in the Golden Lion is always fun. My beef and mushroom suet pudding doesn’t look that appetizing, but believe me it was delicious.
Today was one of those great sea days spent going to lectures and quizzes. We managed to get 2 more stamps in our Activity Reward Card from the photo scavenger hunt, yay! However, we didn’t win any quizzes, but we had a great time participating.
My favorite lecture was given by Julian Woolford on “Behind the Mask: The Phantom of the Opera”. Phantom is one of my favorite musicals (the Lion King comes in first of course), and we really enjoyed his talk. Hmmmmm, it is time to see it again I think.
Next thing we knew it was time to meet up with the couple we met last night and have pre-dinner drinks at the Commodore Club. They like cruises, but prefer sailing their sailboat, and have done some amazing trips. It was fun talking to them. All of a sudden it was dinnertime, so we arranged to meet up again so we could continue the conversation. Then we headed off on the long walk from the front of the ship to near the back of the ship for dinner. Not easy in high heels at the best of time, and the ship’s movement makes it more of a challenge. It feels like to have to walk twice as far as you go up and down, and from side to side despite your best efforts to walk in a straight line. Of course it may not be the ship, could it be the effect of the bubbly I had been consuming? I think not.
Our dinner table companions are a lively bunch, so we had a very pleasant, if not noisy meal. We had all been to different quizzes, so we were quizzing each other. I think we may be nerds alas. However, it was fun. They are all well traveled, so I am as always looking for inspiration as to where we should go next. So many choices!
The evening’s entertainment was a comedian, Micky Zany. For no good reason, especially as we had had an extra hours sleep last night with the time change, we decided to give him a miss, and get an early night. The rocking motion of the waves, and our comfy bed were both too much for me to resist.
Thank you for the Lisbon tuk tuk tip. I already found several companies that do tours.
I was glad to hear there is a shuttle to the West Quay Mall in Southampton, I couldn’t remember if there was from our last trip. That will be good to know for next year.
I don’t understand the stampede for the laundry when people are getting off the ship! I do the opposite and stop doing laundry at the end. I’d rather do it at home in my own machines. Besides, it’s great to use dirty clothes as packing material for all our ‘treasures’. If they were freshly cleaned I’d have to pack them more carefully.
Enjoy the rough weather!
The rough weather continues, yay!