Days 9 & 10

Saturday 9^{t h} Penultimate Sea Day

We were out of breakfast by around 9.45 this morning and straight up to the sun deck, only to find that we had been invaded by Gerry again as there were no sun beds available due to the number of towels strewn over them.  The only thing that cheered us up was that whilst we were at breakfast it must have rained really hard for a short while as the sun beds plus exposed towels, books etc were all soaking wet.  That’ll teach them for reserving sun beds -something that is apparently not allowed but never policed. However, quite by chance we went up to the topmost sun deck only to find a couple of spare beds, but not next to each other.  There was a reasonable breeze blowing, so it was quite comfortable.  So much so, we spent the whole day there till about 3.30, after which Maureen and I respectively retired for a nap and spent an hour or so reading on the promenade deck.

We were Billy no mates at dinner, as our Welsh companions had obviously dined elsewhere.  We cannot imagine Glyn going without food! 

After dinner we went to the theatre to watch a comedian who was excellent.  He didn’t swear once and his humour was a little like Peter Kay in that he simply related to everyday events and situations, such as piles!

Another late night before getting into bed and no extra hours sleep tonight.

 

Day 10 Last Sea Day

Sunday 11^th started bright and early as we were determined to get into breakfast early to beat the buggers reserving the sun beds.  All was in vain as the weather was not looking good.  Grey ominous clouds and a foreboding looking sea, coupled with a howling gale probably meant that there would be no problem with the sun beds today.  Instead of adopting the now customary horizontal position, we opted for three revolutions of the promenade deck.  There was a distinct break in the clouds and it was heading our way, so we braved the gale force winds and settled into a couple of beds facing the right direction for when the sun would materialise.  Trying to read was almost impossible as the wind almost took the book straight out of your hands and the anemometer on the top of the ship was dam near taking off.  However, the cloud soon broke up and we were facing the sun as predicted.  At 11.00 I had to go and book our seats for the return flight to Gatwick, which also coincided with the 2 mins silence that the ship remembered.  It took almost an hour to queue and get the seats sorted out and I wouldn’t mind but it also cost us £30 for the privilege.

The wind has been positively ferocious up until about 3.00 pm and it has now abated to just a measly 16 knots.  If this had been the North Sea we would have endured a very rough ride this morning, but in the deep ocean it can take a good day or more to work itself up and equally as long to die down.  But that shouldn’t worry us as we will be in Tortola early in the morning.

At 6.20 pm we have travelled some 2444 nm from Madeira and have just 270 nm to reach Road Town Tortola.  The wind is just a moderate breeze of 16 knots and we are enjoying a comfortable 28 deg C on a slight/moderate swell.

Tonight is our fourth formal evening of the cruise and the last before we ditch the cheapskates in Barbados, who are only with us for two weeks.  There will then be a further two before we return to Barbados again.

We had pre dinner drinks with our Welsh table partners this evening in the Ramblas bar, so to keep up the pretence I settled for a San Miguel and we all sat and watched the world go by, just like in Barcelona.  The choice for dinner this evening was superb and as a Sunday special it was 6 courses. We both settled for Atlantic prawns for starters followed by chicken consumé, then Champagne sorbet.  For main course we had a good size portion of beef Wellington and for desert, flambé baked Alaska.  Just to make the waiter’s job worthwhile I finished with cheese & biscuits followed by coffee.

We were a little concerned about Glyn tonight as the Welsh eating machine left a couple of potatoes on his diner plate and passed on the cheese board tonight.  Still I’m sure he’ll be better by tomorrow.

After dinner it was into the main theatre to watch the song and dance troupe pay tribute to the movies.  As always, an excellent and energetic performance by all of them.

Clocks go back again tonight so an extra hour in bed before we berth in Tortola at 08.00.  This is our first visit to this island, so we’ll be taking a trip round just to get a feel for the place.