March 25th

At Sea

On a Slow Boat to China

We woke up to a totally calm sea, and thick fog. It was surreal. From our balcony I could see fishing boats appear out of the fog, and then suddenly disappear again. I hoped the captain could see where we were going. I certainly couldn’t. I checked the bridge cam on the TV, and there was indeed extremely limited visibility. Luckily we were going very slowly, under 11 knots, so hopefully the little fishing boats out there would be able to avoid us.

The craft class today was creating a glass elephant painting. Being a huge elephant fan, I couldn’t miss this one. Luckily it was a simple project, and one I was able to achieve with the minimum degree of mess.

Feeling very pleased with myself I returned to our cabin to get ready for the Senior Officers’ Party in the Yacht Club. On our QV trip last year we were not invited to the Senior Officers’ Party, although we are entitled to go seeing as we are Diamond Members of the Cunard World Club. I wasn’t going to let this one occur without me, although Brian was grumbling about having to put on his smart clothes at 11:15 AM. I was very happy to get out a dress and put on high heels. A party is a party, and I hate to miss one.

The party turned out to be great fun, and I enjoyed the sparkling wine and canapés, and the sparkling conversation with other passengers. We met a delightful couple from Leipzig, who spoke very little English, but somehow we managed to communicate. We were talking about sports medicine (not something I know anything about), and it turned out that the wife is a swimmer, and had participated in the Mexico Olympics in 1968. She still enjoys swimming, so clearly I will need to get out of her way when she is doing laps in the Lido pool once the weather improves.

After the party we were feeling all dressed up with nowhere to go. I had a bright idea. Maybe we should see if we could get a table at the Verandah restaurant for lunch. They did indeed have availability, and we had a really excellent meal. It was very well worth the extra charge. We will certainly do this again.

After the sparkling wine at the party, and wine with my meal at lunch, I returned to the cabin in severe need of a nap. The next thing I knew, it was time to get ready for dinner, and we had missed the early show.

Despite the large lunch I was still able to devour my dinner. I had escargot and beef Wellington, both of which were cooked to perfection. They had baked Alaska for dessert, but I decided to give it a miss this time. It was the last night of a world cruise segment, and many passengers are disembarking tomorrow. So there was the inevitable parade of chefs, with the passengers waving their napkins and clapping. Brian says it’s tacky, but I like being able to acknowledge all of the good work the chefs and serving staff do. They really are the best!

As there was no late show tonight, and we have an early start tomorrow in Shanghai, we decided to get an early night instead of going to the Commodore Club. Just as we were going to bed our cruise cards for the next segment appeared under our door, as did a photocopy of our passports.

Although we are on the ship from Osaka to Cape Town, our booking is divided into 3 segments, the first being Osaka to Shanghai. I had forgotten that we would need new cards to get back on the ship tomorrow as our current ones expire in Shanghai. I am glad the Pursers office is on top of things. I am also so excited that tomorrow I will wake up in China. That doesn’t happen every day.