Day 10 - At Sea

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Geo: 32.5985, -37.4388

Its quite hard to blog about sea days as after a few they tend to merge into one. As at home we tend to develop certain routines and habits. We always venture out onto the balcony first thing and Peter brings the coffees which is very nice. We shave, shower and decide what to wear. Forecast for today is partly cloudy skies and a temperature of 22c (75f) degrees which is still very pleasant for us British folk.

We have breakfast in the main dining room again before heading to the Imperial Lounge for the Trivia. We do ok. We surprise ourselves by getting some of the more obscure questions correct but kick ourselves for missing some of the easier/obvious ones. The main thing its all good fun and we learn a thing or two along the way.

I return to the cabin to write my blog (need to get it down fairly early before I forget what happened) and gaze out at the ocean. After that we head for the pool deck for a couple of hours. It's very crowded here. Normally we would find a quieter spot up on the St Tropez deck but as we access to the suite loungers we feel we may as well make use of them. It's a good location.

For the 4th time we move our clocks/watches on an hour so we are now just one hour behind the UK. We wont move the clocks on again now until after the Azores and as we near Southampton. The best thing about cruising back to the UK is that we will suffer no jet-lag as we have gradually made up the time difference rather than overnight on a transatlantic flight. A much more civilised way to travel also.

We lunch in the Windjammer before Peter heads off for his daily visit to the gym. I spend the afternoon reading my Kindle and some of the magazines I brought with me. I then spend some time taking ships photos. I intend to put together a photo book on my return and some of the more obscure photos will be used as backdrops and wallpapers in the book. Peter is always a little bemused when I start taking pictures of clocks and vases.

We have a table booked at Giovanni's tonight with Sue and Malcolm. As with our last visit the food is excellent. I have Mozzarella wrapped in Prosciutto, Caesar Salad and a delicious chicken dish for my main. The wine is so good we order a 2nd bottle. Perhaps a sore head in the morning? We are the very last table to leave. We can't resist taking a snap on the Vespa that is parked outside the restaurant.

The casino beckons afterwards (see what I mean about routines and habits). We both lose out this time but as we had not spent much we don't really worry about it. For some reason we think its a good idea to head to Jesters, the nightclub. Its our first visit on this cruise so we don't know what to expect. Its dead. It's 11.30, are we too early or too late? From previous experience though the clubs on these ships (unless they are in the Med) are always lifeless. I guess on those cruises the guests tend to be a little younger and more up for a party, especially on the shorter cruises.

We leave Jesters and go to the Schooner Bar where there is a very good Piano Player/Vocalist playing. He is no Matt Yea though, who we were first introduced to on our maiden cruise on Mariner and who is the best and funniest we've seen in the Schooner Bar. We make our way back to the cabin via the outside promenade on deck 4. Slight panic after getting to the room when I think I have left my phone in the last bar. Half way down the lift I realise that it must be in the cabin as I took some pics on they way back. Sure enough it is.

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