Friday April 12^th

At Sea

Today turned out to be another ridiculously busy day. Brian had to make up a schedule for us on the back of a used envelope to ensure that we were in the right place at the right time.

First there was my craft class while Brian was at a lecture. Then we had to come back to the cabin to change into our smart attire so we could attend the Senior Officer’s Cocktail party at 11:15. I must say I much preferred it when the party was held before dinner on a formal night, somehow getting dressed up during the day doesn’t work for me.

There were actually very few senior officers there, and most of the passengers talked among themselves. We got chatting to some interesting people. One of them, a lovely literary French lady named Regine, had written a poem after her visit to Zimbabwe, so we exchanged email addresses as we would love to read the poem. I hope my ‘O’ level French is still good enough to translate it; otherwise the unreliable Google Translate will have to do the job.

We also learned that there is a gentleman from Scotland Yard on board, who has investigated one of the speakers, and he is apparently not who he says he is. We think we know whom he means. Very intriguing indeed!

I was having such a good time drinking champagne and chatting that I didn’t realize that it was already 12:15 and I had to dash off to the Royal Court Theater for our final choir rehearsal. We received a lecture from one of the stage hands on the health and safety issues of standing on a stage (mostly don’t stand too close to the edge or you may fall off), and then safe in the knowledge that we knew how to act right when on a stage, Andrew directed us to stand in the positions that we would be in for our performance.

Somehow I was towards the back again, which is OK I suppose. Then the lady standing next to me, who was at the end of the row, must have taken the health and safety instructions to heart, and asked me to swap places with her, I suppose so I could fall off the stage rather than her. I did oblige, but then thought this may not be a wise decision as I had just drank 2 glasses of champagne on an empty stomach, and I would be wearing high heels and a dress which often trips me up even on flat surfaces. I was wearing a similar dress when I took my famous tumble down the stairs in the Britannia restaurant a few years ago.

Not to worry, the champagne had clouded my judgment and I willingly agreed to swap.

After our rehearsal we had to change in to our black and white finery, and there really wasn’t time for lunch before the performance. I decided that I really did need to eat something, so I went to the Carinthia Lounge and downed a flat bread in seconds flat. The next issue was, could I sing when I had suddenly developed severe heartburn?

I then rushed back to the cabin, attempted to do my hair, and changed into my black dress with my white sparkly top that spreads glitter wherever I go.

We all met up on deck 2 outside of Connexions and were given our flags to wave and off we went up the back stage steps to the stage, where our audience was eagerly awaiting the Queen Mary 2 Guest Choir Performance of the “Last Night of the Proms”.

I can’t say there was a packed house, but there was a fairly good turn out, especially as we were up against social bridge and whist, the craft session (which I really needed to be at), the Planetarium show “Wildest Weather in the Solar System”, Quizzical corner in the Chart Room, the water color art class, the lecture on “why do people spend millions on art” (good question), and the duplicate bridge tournament. Not to mention you would also miss the game show, ”less is more”, doubles shuffleboard tournament, and chairobics. Phew, it’s a miracle anyone was there at all. Maybe the audience just consisted of friends and family. I mean Brian and our tablemates were there. They are all good people. Brian took a photo – it’s not the best, but you can see what the stage looked like.

I think the performance went quite well, yes there were a few errors, but everyone seemed to be having a good time. Well, we were having fun singing away. Brian enjoyed it, but pointed out that we did not sing “Land of Hope and Glory”. Hey Jerusalem is good enough for me, and I think we did an exceptional job singing “Rule Britannia” without the help of a large, horned Britannia draped in the flag to sing the difficult parts for us.

After the performance, and still wearing my long black dress and sparkly top that spreads glitter everywhere, and waving my flag, we went to show our passports at the UK immigration inspection. I think it is so great that we can do immigration whilst we are on board. Although we have been in the EU for a week, and I’m not sure why we do have to do it again to enter the UK. Maybe Brexit quietly got sorted out while we were blissfully sailing around the Med.

Anyhow, we showed our passports to the rather glum, foreign sounding, immigration officer, who stamped our passports and made a comment about us getting around a lot. She did not seem to be at all fazed by my formal get up, glittering sandals, and the flag I was waving. Maybe that’s what a British stiff upper lip is all about, only I think I’m more British than she is.

I changed out of my long dress and back into my casual clothes, only to realize that it was nearly time to get ready for the Roaring Twenties Gala night.

This is my favorite formal night. Loads of people get into the spirit of the evening, and there are those elegant ladies and smart gents parading around the ship. You can tell it’s the Roaring Twenties night by all of the little black feathers littering the corridors. I used to be one of those ladies who had a shedding black feather boa, but no, not any more. I ordered a synthetic boa on Amazon (who would have known such a thing existed?), my feather one made me sneeze, and feather shedding is a thing of the past. I also think it looks rather good. Alas, we didn’t take any photos.

Going in to dinner wearing my long satin black gloves is a problem. Every time I wear them the friendly waiter at the entrance to the dining room who is offering diners a squeeze of hand sanitizers, looks at me in bewilderment as he is not sure how to complete his task.

Tonight’s Featured Entertainment was the group the Rewind Project. Members of the group had previously played with an assortment of other groups including 10cc, the Moody Blues (one of my favorites), and they were great. They played those 60s hits that us old timers love (well who cannot love the Hollies?), and soon everyone was up and dancing, not something we had really seen before. It was great!

Yes this ship can rock and roll, even in calm seas.