Weather has continued to be fine, though fairly cloudy most of the time. Whenever the sun appears, the top deck has plenty of sun-worshippers grabbing a few rays, but very few are exposing vast areas of flesh. I now know that I should have followed my instincts and not bothered to pack a bathing costume.
As I write this, on Tuesday evening, the wind has come up and it's a little choppy - and it's raining! I might need my umbrella when we land in the Azores tomorrow.
This morning I did another painting class and I went to the Wii session in the afternoon. Today we played Wii Target Golf. Jane and Dave S. watch out, I'm getting one of these amazing machines and shall be looking for people to play with! You two are prime candidates. (Jane, you said you needed a new winter hobby, well this could be just the thing!) I also managed to fit in a brisk walk around the promenade deck - 5 laps, which is well over a mile.
We've seen lots of dolphins today and the Captain announced that he's ordered whales for later in the trip, but then I don't suppose you'll believe us when we tell you we've seen them?
All for now, xx
Janet
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A Bit of Excitement
Last week I finished painting the dining room. With the holiday approaching there was no point starting work on the basement swimming pool and so, one morning, I didn't have much to do. I reached across the breakfast table for the paper but Janet worries when I start reading the Daily Mail before my heart pills have kicked in. "Why don't you start your blog" she suggested "You make it up anyway."
Your nearest and dearest really know how to hurt you. I protested that, whilst I may occasionally spin a story or perhaps use slight exaggeration to emphasise a point, I would never unintentionally lie to blog followers.
We all got a bit of a shock when a giant octopus attacked the ship this morning. Captain Me Again (it makes a change from Captain Calling) told us over the PA that it probably only wanted to play and so he had sent the ship's entertainments officer to deal with it.
The octopus ate the entertainments officer to the sound of a lot of unseemly cheering from the regular Balmoral passengers. The captain announced that it might be a "gude ide-yar" (he's Norwegian) if we abandoned ship for a few "how-ars". He said that he was confident that anything with so many arms could not survive for long on a cruise ship without bacteriological hand washing gel.
Safely back on board I was glad that I had been able to get this photograph from the lifeboat. Without it, who would ever believe me.
Dave
Your nearest and dearest really know how to hurt you. I protested that, whilst I may occasionally spin a story or perhaps use slight exaggeration to emphasise a point, I would never unintentionally lie to blog followers.
We all got a bit of a shock when a giant octopus attacked the ship this morning. Captain Me Again (it makes a change from Captain Calling) told us over the PA that it probably only wanted to play and so he had sent the ship's entertainments officer to deal with it.
The octopus ate the entertainments officer to the sound of a lot of unseemly cheering from the regular Balmoral passengers. The captain announced that it might be a "gude ide-yar" (he's Norwegian) if we abandoned ship for a few "how-ars". He said that he was confident that anything with so many arms could not survive for long on a cruise ship without bacteriological hand washing gel.
Safely back on board I was glad that I had been able to get this photograph from the lifeboat. Without it, who would ever believe me.
Dave
Monday, 28th September
We gained an hour last night so, despite having stayed up until after midnight enjoying the ship's disco (!!!) , we managed to get up early enough to have breakfast in the restaurant. Until now, I've eaten very healthily, mostly fruit and vegetables, but I fell at the first hurdle today and opted for crispy fried bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and fried bread.
Harold, I wish you'd been here today. This morning I attended a painting class! Lovely instructor, but a huge class and we were copying a black and white photocopied picture, so my end result was far from a masterpiece. However, I had to buy the set of paints, so am now equipped to be creative on the balcony, should I ever have any spare time!
I dragged Dave along to the Wii session after lunch, just to watch me make a fool of myself, and later on attended a classical concert. I know nothing about music, as you all know, but could tell the pianist was good as he did lots of twiddly bits and kept crossing his hands over. He played Bach, Beethoven and Liszt. I liked the Liszt best as it was the twiddliest, and the shortest.
We're in the North Atlantic now, and the Captain described the seas as 'moderate to rough' this morning, but we have a tail-wind which means there's still virtually no movement onboard.
Semi-formal tonight. The LBD will make its first appearance!
More soon, if we can get a satellite signal - it's very flaky and has taken us 24 hours to be able to put this one up. (if indeed it goes...!)
Love
Janet
Harold, I wish you'd been here today. This morning I attended a painting class! Lovely instructor, but a huge class and we were copying a black and white photocopied picture, so my end result was far from a masterpiece. However, I had to buy the set of paints, so am now equipped to be creative on the balcony, should I ever have any spare time!
I dragged Dave along to the Wii session after lunch, just to watch me make a fool of myself, and later on attended a classical concert. I know nothing about music, as you all know, but could tell the pianist was good as he did lots of twiddly bits and kept crossing his hands over. He played Bach, Beethoven and Liszt. I liked the Liszt best as it was the twiddliest, and the shortest.
We're in the North Atlantic now, and the Captain described the seas as 'moderate to rough' this morning, but we have a tail-wind which means there's still virtually no movement onboard.
Semi-formal tonight. The LBD will make its first appearance!
More soon, if we can get a satellite signal - it's very flaky and has taken us 24 hours to be able to put this one up. (if indeed it goes...!)
Love
Janet
Come Dine With Me
They were already seated when we arrived in the dining room. The two grooves in the carpet showed where he had dragged his knuckles on the way to the table. She was the sort of person generally described as 'probably having a heart of gold' by people who have given up trying to find any other redeeming features. He spoke broadly and loudly above the sound of her clearing the phlegm from her 60 a day habit.
The other people who were supposed to be on our table did not turn up. They must have peeped through the door and then called room service. Still, you should not jump to conclusions and tomorrow may bring some (extremely well) hidden surprises.
Post Script
Tomorrow, which is now yesterday, did indeed bring surprises. The other couple on our table came out of hiding and proved to be perfectly normal. I had got rid of my coach lag, and got my blood alcohol up to cruising level, and we had a very enjoyable dinner. I wanted to delete the above post but Janet said I should leave it up as a penance. Apparently I'm turning into the grumpiest old man in the world. It's good to have an ambition.
Dave. (Monday)
The other people who were supposed to be on our table did not turn up. They must have peeped through the door and then called room service. Still, you should not jump to conclusions and tomorrow may bring some (extremely well) hidden surprises.
Post Script
Tomorrow, which is now yesterday, did indeed bring surprises. The other couple on our table came out of hiding and proved to be perfectly normal. I had got rid of my coach lag, and got my blood alcohol up to cruising level, and we had a very enjoyable dinner. I wanted to delete the above post but Janet said I should leave it up as a penance. Apparently I'm turning into the grumpiest old man in the world. It's good to have an ambition.
Dave. (Monday)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, 27th September 2009
Dinner last night was followed by a drink in the Observatory, which is Balmoral's equivalent to the Crow's Nest. It was a clear night, so we followed that moonbeam across a calm sea. What a perfect end to the first day of our adventure. (Though, Harold, Julie and Dave, we missed your company.)
The activities on offer on sea days are many and varied, and today I raced from one to another, barely finding time to eat in between all those that I wanted to sample.
Dave came with me to a lecture this morning, intended as an introduction to the parts of Canada we will be visiting, explaining the history and geography of the area. The theatre was full, but the lecture was disappointing and I don;t think we'll be rushing to hear Part 2 tomorrow!
As we left the theatre at noon, Balmoral entered the Bay of Biscay, but once again no need to worry, it's been very calm all day and we can feel hardly any movement wherever we are on the ship.
1pm found me in one of the lounges, with a motley group of fellow passengers, ready to sample the delights of the Nintendo Wii. Unfortunately I had arrived first (keen, you know!) so, despite being a total novice, was first 'up' to try ten pin bowling. I wasn't any good, but thoroughly enjoyed it; even watching the others play was good fun. I spent that hour chating to a couple from Rainow - she'd been to Shints, so knew Cheadle Hulme well!
Then, a quick salad (honest), and it was time to seek out the Arts and Crafts Room in the bowels of the ship for today's craft class, coiled clay pottery. All sorts of crafts will be available over the next few weeks for those making the 40 day trip, and all are paid for by Fred.
So that's it for now. Captains' Cocktail Party, and then we're off to dinner with the Royle family again. (See Dave's next blog).
Love to you all
Janet
xx
The activities on offer on sea days are many and varied, and today I raced from one to another, barely finding time to eat in between all those that I wanted to sample.
Dave came with me to a lecture this morning, intended as an introduction to the parts of Canada we will be visiting, explaining the history and geography of the area. The theatre was full, but the lecture was disappointing and I don;t think we'll be rushing to hear Part 2 tomorrow!
As we left the theatre at noon, Balmoral entered the Bay of Biscay, but once again no need to worry, it's been very calm all day and we can feel hardly any movement wherever we are on the ship.
1pm found me in one of the lounges, with a motley group of fellow passengers, ready to sample the delights of the Nintendo Wii. Unfortunately I had arrived first (keen, you know!) so, despite being a total novice, was first 'up' to try ten pin bowling. I wasn't any good, but thoroughly enjoyed it; even watching the others play was good fun. I spent that hour chating to a couple from Rainow - she'd been to Shints, so knew Cheadle Hulme well!
Then, a quick salad (honest), and it was time to seek out the Arts and Crafts Room in the bowels of the ship for today's craft class, coiled clay pottery. All sorts of crafts will be available over the next few weeks for those making the 40 day trip, and all are paid for by Fred.
So that's it for now. Captains' Cocktail Party, and then we're off to dinner with the Royle family again. (See Dave's next blog).
Love to you all
Janet
xx
The Journey
The alarm went off at 4:50. With some reluctance I levered myself out of the perfectly Dave shaped hole I'd made in our wonderful memory foam mattress. Janet was in excited and chatty mood. I don't really do excited about going on holiday. On a good day I can manage mild anticipation but never before noon.
I don't do chatty at any time. I listened with a mixture of admiration and horror as she added the taxi driver to our Christmas card list and then collected enough information for a couple of decent biographies whilst we waited for the coach.
The coach looked very swish although the carpeted ceiling was a bit odd. A stray note on a drawing and a carelessly placed arrow and it can easily happen. Like designers everywhere the coach builder had decided to pretend it was intentional and to brazen it out by carpeting the seats as well. If the seats were made of memory foam they had Alzheimer's and could only remember when they were very young slabs of plastic. Sleep was out of the question. Avoiding the loss of a leg by circulation failure and gangrene was a far more important objective.
From our seats at the back of the coach we could see the usual sea of grey hair with pink bits but this lot seemed a bit less decrepit than normal. Not so many ordinary people trying to look posh and more posh people trying to look ordinary. Some people were reading the Guardian - not in that sneaky 'I'm a bit ashamed of my liberal tendencies' way you get on P&O cruises but more full frontal and proud.
We are of course only doing the first two weeks of a 40 day cruise across the Atlantic and down the eastern seaboard of America. It's a bit out of the ordinary and so might attract some out of the ordinary people. Janet should have the chance to chat to some really interesting characters. I think I'm beginning to feel mild anticipation.
Dave.
Saturday evening.
I don't do chatty at any time. I listened with a mixture of admiration and horror as she added the taxi driver to our Christmas card list and then collected enough information for a couple of decent biographies whilst we waited for the coach.
The coach looked very swish although the carpeted ceiling was a bit odd. A stray note on a drawing and a carelessly placed arrow and it can easily happen. Like designers everywhere the coach builder had decided to pretend it was intentional and to brazen it out by carpeting the seats as well. If the seats were made of memory foam they had Alzheimer's and could only remember when they were very young slabs of plastic. Sleep was out of the question. Avoiding the loss of a leg by circulation failure and gangrene was a far more important objective.
From our seats at the back of the coach we could see the usual sea of grey hair with pink bits but this lot seemed a bit less decrepit than normal. Not so many ordinary people trying to look posh and more posh people trying to look ordinary. Some people were reading the Guardian - not in that sneaky 'I'm a bit ashamed of my liberal tendencies' way you get on P&O cruises but more full frontal and proud.
We are of course only doing the first two weeks of a 40 day cruise across the Atlantic and down the eastern seaboard of America. It's a bit out of the ordinary and so might attract some out of the ordinary people. Janet should have the chance to chat to some really interesting characters. I think I'm beginning to feel mild anticipation.
Dave.
Saturday evening.
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