At Sea

We are back in the Tasman Sea again, but although we are heading into the “roaring forties”, it is not that stormy. However it is still too windy to sit comfortably out on deck. We spent the day inside.

This gave me the opportunity to finish off the velvet evening bag I was making in the craft class. The bag had it’s first outing tonight, and it is a huge success. Not because I was stopped by strangers commenting on the quality of the workmanship, but because I held on to it the whole evening, and we didn’t have to stop by the Pursers Office to enquire if my bag had shown up in the lost and found. So no more looking for lost purses at the Pursers.

As we are now heading east, instead of gaining an hour a day, we are losing one. This is done at noon. The Commodore made his noon announcement, and then it was suddenly 1:05 PM ship’s time. I had heard that this was what was done on eastbound Transatlantics and had initially thought it was a strange idea, but I now agree it is easier to lose an hour during the day than to lose an hour’s sleep, although it really does come to the same thing. It just means that the Lido is more crowded at lunchtime.

The formal nights seem to be coming fast and furiously on this segment, and tonight was the Australian Ball. When I had consulted my Facebook friends for suggestions as to what to wear for such an occasion, they had rudely replied “shoes”, “a clean pair of shorts”, “clothes”, and made some unrepeatable comments. And they are Australians! Brian ended up purchasing an Australian flag bow tie for the occasion, and I bought a beautiful aboriginal print scarf on eBay.

We then became concerned, especially with Australian tablemates, that it might appear inappropriate to wear the bow tie, and our usual amount of obsessing set in. I consulted my friend, Australian Val, who made the same comment about wearing shoes and burst out laughing. We then decided that our tablemates looked like good sports, so thought why not? Well the tie was a huge success, and people seemed to appreciate it rather than be offended by it. We didn’t see anyone else in Australian get up, although Deidre was planning on wearing a gold dress for the occasion. No hats with corks or boomerangs in sight. We were handed little Australian flags when we went by the Queens Room after dinner. Ours will be added to our collection of flags and tacky items in a glass on our desk.

There was the World Club cocktail party tonight. Deidre and our tablemate Rita, who has been on board since Southampton, were invited. Once more we were not. When I had asked this morning why they didn’t invite all the Platinum members, I was told that it was because of the need for “crowd control”, and they were horrified at my suggestion that it might be a cost saving matter. I agree that the parties are quite crowded, and there isn’t much room for dancing, but they are a great source of information and gossip. How can you be a reporter on the spot when you don’t have access to the facts? We made do with pre dinner drinks in the cabin, and I said my champagne is better than their champagne, and headed off to dinner in good spirits.

The show tonight was another 4 boy singing group, Troubadour. This was the 4th such group so far on the cruise, but they were quite good and had us clapping and singing along, so I didn’t mind. It must be hard to provide variety for passengers who will be on the ship for 120 days.

When we returned to the cabin there was a satisfaction survey waiting for us. I filled it in, and everything was excellent except for 2 issues. Firstly there has been not one single item in the shops commemorating Queen Victoria’s 2017 World Voyage – not even a tea towel. The few items they have just say World Cruise 2017, so they could have been from any of the 3 ships. It is simply not good enough. Besides which, there is not a scarf in sight. A very poor show. Secondly I saw this as an opportunity to once again complain about the World Club party invitations. They say that the parties are to acknowledge passengers loyalty to Cunard. I have been traveling on Cunard since 1962, so I think that should demonstrate at least a modicum of loyalty. I realize that there will not be any more parties scheduled until we disembark in Los Angeles, but I am just trying to pave the way for those who come after us, lest they also continue to be excluded from the parties.