April 17^th, 2023

At Sea

The arrangement in the lobby this morning was a beautiful display of ostrich feathers. Could this be because it’s the Roaring Twenties gala ball tonight? It certainly looks beautiful; they always do such a good job with the ever-changing displays.

Captain Hall stopped by the Commodore Club again this morning. He made a joke about the quality of the internet. Actually, I have no complaints about the signal that we have been getting, just that it keeps on coming and going. This is quite annoying if you are downloading or uploading. Apparently the repeater or something is malfunctioning on our deck, which is why you can’t get internet in our staterooms.

I forgot to thank Captain Hall  for signing my log book, which was returned to me this morning. It really is one of my treasured possessions.

Today was the much-anticipated talk on Queen Mary 2 by Stephen Payne. Correctly expecting big crowds, the talk was given in the Royal Court Theatre as it has a larger capacity than Illuminations where most of the insight lectures are given. I had heard this talk before, but it is always great to hear the story of Queen Mary 2 again, and to watch Stephen Payne’s enthusiasm when he talks about his liner. Maybe it will be the last great liner ever built, but you never know. Perhaps someone will find the funding to construct another ocean liner.

As we emerged from the Royal Court Theater, the noon bell was being rung. I love that they maintain the tradition of 8 bells at midday.

In the afternoon it was time for the guest talent show held in the Queens Room, which was all decorated for the Roaring Twenties ball tonight.

I never miss the guest talent show. I do want to give support to those brave, and sometimes clueless, folks who get up and show off their talents or lack thereof. On one cruise there was a comedienne who was actually quite good, but her performance was excessively smutty and we were all squirming, especially as there were several children in the audience. I don’t know what Neil Kelly must have been thinking to allow her to perform. Still, it did give us all something to talk about at our table during dinner that night.

Todays’ performers were all very tasteful, with varying degrees of talent. My favorites were an American couple who sang a medley of rock and roll songs. They were really great, and I think we would have all got up and danced if the Queens Room hadn’t been so full.

Another excellent performance was given by a troupe of tap dancers. Did they learn to tap dance on the cruise, or were they proficient beforehand? I have a vague recollection reading Maggie Mou’s book about her world voyage, and her coming to grief while tap dancing somewhere south of South America. Was it in tap dancing class? Not that I personally have any desire to learn to tap dance, learning to waltz would be more my style, but it would be interesting to know if this was something that was offered during world voyages.

Other performers included an improvised piano recital, poetry readings, a singer, and a magician. From where I was sitting I couldn’t see the magician, but the audience who could see him seemed to be impressed.

There is also often a crew talent show. I hope they have one this segment. We usually find that the crew are actually more accomplished performers than some of the invited entertainers.

It was time to head for the pool again. I love going to the pool. It gives me the opportunity to wear the beautiful bright pink pool coverup that Brian bought me for my birthday. It is specifically for going between our stateroom and the pool when we are on board.

Also, I try to swim every day, it’s one of the joys of being at sea. The weather continues to be hot and humid, and rather windy. I hope it continues this way as we make our way north and out of the tropics.

Lying by the pool also gives me the opportunity to read the book written by one of my school mates in Kenya, “Leap into the Light”. She is very fortunate that her family kept all of the letters and photos from her childhood, so she has been able to write a wonderful memoir using these and her own memories about her very interesting upbringing.

My grandparents and parents did keep some letters, but these had disappeared by the time I emptied out their homes. I am left with many albums of fading black and white photos, including some taken in the trenches during the first world war. But who are these people in the photos? What did they mean to my family members? When and where are they? The answers are lost forever.

We simply don’t write letters any more, and our communications are though Facetime calls, and brief emails. Neither will leave our children and grandchildren with a true sense of who their parents and grandparents were.

As for our thousands of digital photos, I already can’t remember the relevance of many of them. However, one of our projects before we return home is to use our sea days to go through Brian’s photos, and my videos. Once we return home we never seem to have the luxury of pursuing these tasks.

I am so excited that tonight is Roaring Twenties night. I love all of the current theme nights on Cunard, but this is my favorite. It is also a whole lot more bearable since I ditched my black feather boa that made me sneeze, and deposited little black feathers around the ship all evening. My synthetic boa, although not authentic, works much better. Thank you Mr. Amazon.

The only issue is that over the years I have bought several head pieces, to complete the outfit. They have all been huge failures. I am now regretting that I didn’t donate them to the Country Fayre. At least some lucky lady with a more desirable head of hair, or shape of head could enjoy them. Well, maybe I’ll remember next time. If there is a next time.

Most guests on the ship seemed to get into the spirit of the Roaring Twenties, and they looked great. Stunning head pieces and feather boas were in abundance, it really did give the ship an air of classical elegance. There was one couple who had a fake Tommy gun, which I am not sure was the most appropriate accessory of the evening, but in general there was a high degree of sophistication, exactly what makes Cunard special on these nights.

I did not want the evening to end, we stayed in the Commodore Club until we were almost the last people there. Not wishing to over stay our welcome,  in the early hours of the morning we reluctantly bade our waiters good night and retreated to our staterooms.