En route to Malaga

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Sunday 22^nd April 2012:

The Mediterranean has definitely been looking its best today: it’s been a rich dark blue, with gentle waves topped with white horses under a clear blue sky. But it is noticeably cooler than it has been of late. Some passengers have clearly been diving back into their suitcases and bringing out anoraks and cardigans! We’re made of sterner stuff so we’ve still been prancing around in shorts and t-shirts but maybe that’s because our balcony is wonderfully sheltered and got full sun for most of the day.

This afternoon we went to a show called Strictly Ballroom, billed as Cunard’s answer to Strictly Come Dancing where guests performed their own favourite dances often to music they bring on board with them. Points get awarded for entertainment value rather than skill so it sounded well worth going to. Unfortunately, only 6 guests had put themselves up for dancing and then 2 of them dropped out. Fortunately 2 of the remaining 4 were assisted by the male dance ’companions’ that Cunard employ so we got to see 3 dances. Cunard’s resident professional dancers gave out some prizes but didn’t do a dance themselves which we thought was a shame.

Never mind … dinner loomed and tonight we’d booked ourselves into the Chef’s Galley where your meal is cooked in a TV style kitchen so that you can see the chef and learn how to prepare the dishes you are then served. But the camera was set up wrongly so all 4 TV screens showed the same thing, the American woman on the table next to us talked the entire time and was always the last person to finish anything which meant the rest of the diners all had to wait. They say allow 1½ hours for your dinner here but it ended up taking over 2½ hours. The food was yummy, though.

Now, this all may sound a bit downbeat, and some may say that’s because the end of our trip is looming ever-closer. Well, the end is in sight, it’s true, but this is still a helluva wonderful way to spend your time!

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