At sea
We have just the one sea day on this itinerary, with a port visit on every one of the other days. We know from our own experience how exhausting that can be, so are taking it easy whilst we have the chance! We had the luxury of an extra hour last night too, or rather, we would have had, if I hadn’t neglected to change my own little bedside clock! Of course, the staff had changed the ship’s clock in our room, but as that’s not on my side of the bed, I awoke in a different time zone. Oh dear…
Thankfully it was a beautiful morning. There was a clear sky and hardly a breath of wind. When we sat down for breakfast, we did so outside in the sunshine, amazed that we could do this in the middle of the North Sea.
I grew up on the North Sea coast and spent my childhood playing at the seaside and swimming in the sea there. Believe me, I never remember it being this colour!
It’s so calm and there’s not another ship in sight. We stood peering into the distance, for surely there must be something to see?
Well, yes. When I zoomed in as far as I could with my camera, I spotted a platform - not sure if it’s oil or gas - on the horizon.
This morning, we’ve attended a lecture given by Adam Tanner, about the British Empire. Though factually correct, it was a little judgemental and lacked historical balance, but it was professionally delivered and clearly well researched. A few hours free time gave us chance to catch up with friends, to potter about a little and go to the future cruise presentation as well. Sadly, we didn’t win the prize draw!
For lunch, we decided to dine in Chartreuse, where we were seated at a wonderful table overlooking the stern of the ship. A plate of charcuterie and a glass of Sancerre was a great start.
I was glad to see my favourite Quiche Flamiche on the menu too! A perfect lunch.
An hour or so in our lovely suite, listening to the waves gave us chance to exercise the grey matter and puzzle over today’s Mensa quiz sheet before we went our separate ways: my Hero went to listen to Adam Tanner’s afternoon lecture and I chose to join in the gossip session that goes under the disguise of a needlepoint group!
In the next hour I chatted to the ladies as we began our new needlepoint projects, but with just the one sea day for a while, progress will be slow.
At four o’clock I spotted the first of our lovely Trivia team arriving, so the needlepoint was packed away and I went over to join our friends. Many of our Trivia teams on previous cruises have been the stuff of legends and we count some of our dearest friends amongst the members of them. This one too is pretty amazing - we joined four funny, clever people and have laughed our way through the sessions so far.
Once again, we did our best with the answers, gently teasing out those bits of useless information we all have stored in our brains somewhere. In between, there’s quite a bit of the craic!
And yesterday, in spite of not knowing that Canada was the only host of the Summer Olympics not to win a Gold medal, nor that it was the pole vault that involved the five or six specific stages that were listed, we were winners once again. Our luck with the guessed answers will surely run out soon.
Trivia over, we hurried back to our rooms. “See you for cocktails” - because we were all invited to the event in the theatre. Time for a bit of Mumbai sparkle on the feet, I think!
We took the route across the deck afterwards, with time for an aperitif before our restaurant booking. The North Sea skies were still clear and blue in the early evening - quite unbelievable.
A martini for me and a margarita for him. We were dining à deux this evening in our favourite Pacific Rim, the pan Asian restaurant and were very much looking forward to that.
The menu is filled with possibilities and it’s always hard to choose, but with the assistance of the welcome cocktail, a decision is soon made.
A little amuse bouche helps too.
Once again, I choose to begin with sashimi and my Hero with sushi.
We’d asked Diana’s advice about the best accompaniment for our starter and found her recommendation of a clear sake to hit the spot perfectly.
We were still working our way through the cocktails as well!
The evening was lovely. Our servers were delightful - all women in Pacific Rim - and there’s a special kind of atmosphere here. Maitre D’ Valentyna leads a terrific team.
We chose more favourites for our mains, though my Miso Black Cod and my Hero’s Lobster Tempura didn’t linger on the plates long enough for a photo! Diana served a cloudy sake to accompany my cod and another clear one for the tempura.
By the time our desserts arrived, I had totally forgotten to take a photo! A small serving of sorbet ended our meal beautifully however.
There was no doubt that we’d go to the theatre for the show this evening, either. The last performance from Isabel Commandeur, an excellent singer from the Netherlands who we’d heard before and very much enjoyed. She’s going home from Scotland, so there will be someone else on the programme tomorrow.
Once again, the theatre was full and she put on a terrific performance. What a great end to the evening!
We didn’t go to the karaoke in the bar and neither did we go dancing but went to our suite where the comfiest bed awaited us. Oh, and in the wardrobe there was a hanger with all our laundry returned fresh and clean, perfectly ironed too! Having the laundry service included is the best; really the best of all!
And so it was, the end of the sea day.
There’s an unopened bottle of Tanqueray gin in our room, slices of lime and ice in the fridge together with plenty of tonic. There’s an unopened bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc too and Glen, our charming butler keeps asking why we haven’t started them yet. When would we have the time?
