Sunday, 26 January 2014
8:00 Shower curtain woes!
9:00 The queue for breakfast is so long today that it is wrapped around the length of the room and continues outside the breakfast hall. Luckily, there is an empty table right by the door. I sit down to reserve it while Gareth braves the masses.
9:30 Gareth returns with some toast and scrambled eggs. I refuse to join the queue, but I've heard rumours of another breakfast bar on the outside deck. I go to investigate.
9:40 The rumours were true. It's a flapjack station and there are only five people in line! I return to our table triumphantly.
9:50 Today is a sea-day, which means everyone on board is milling about in the halls. The duty-free shops are open and the hallways are lined with tables covered in clothes, jewellery and perfume at special prices. We feel suffocated by the crowds and decide to go to our "secret" lounge on deck 12.
10:00 We watch the waves of the open sea. It's overcast and cloudy, and the water is choppy. I don't feel that well - disoriented and almost like I'm coming down with the flu. I try to read my book, but it makes the seasickness worse. A rowdy group of people are playing Risk a few tables away from us. We ask them where we can get hold of a board game too, and they tell us they got theirs from Reception.
10:10 We make our way down to deck 5 again, but the lady at Reception tells us to go to deck 6 instead.
10:15 A small table with games is set up next to the Bingo salon. We squeeze through all the people hoping for lucky numbers, only to be disappointed to find that all the best games have already been booked out. Left with a choice of a deck of cards, Twister or Who Wants to be a Millionaire, we decide to see how good our general knowledge is.
10:30 Back at deck 12, we set up the game. We wonder how we're going to ask the audience or phone a friend when it's only the two of us. It's the British version of the game, and we keep on drawing cards about politicians or daytime soapies. We're not very good at it, and the highest either of us get to is £16,000. Bored, we give up and decide to return the game.
11:00 The crowds are still everywhere. We find my mother and her friend in one of the main lounges, watching a live cooking lesson from a celebrity chef. Gareth and I take the opportunity to browse through the wares on display. I buy a bottle of eau de toilet for half price and Gareth gets a name-brand aftershave on sale. We also find a fridge magnet of the boat to go with our collection from around the world.
11:40 I'm feeling extremely woozy and as Gareth goes to the smoking lounge, I return to our cabin to lie down for a bit.
12:45 Gareth sneaks into the cabin with a tray of pizza and some delicious fruit tartlets. We pig out on the bed while watching The Fast and the Furious 6 on TV.
13:00 Apart from our evening meals, this is the first time I've properly eaten since we came aboard. Satisfied, I fall asleep, waking every now and then to sounds from the new Man of Steel movie Gareth is watching.
18:00 I refuse to set foot in that ridiculously small shower again! The day's newsletter indicated that this evening would be casual wear, so we decide to go down to dinner dressed as-is in jeans and T-shirts.
18:15 We sit down in one of the lounges while waiting for the restaurant to open. A girl in an evening dress saunters past. I turn to Gareth, who shrugs. Maybe she didn't get the memo. Not long after a couple dressed in a tuxedo and ball gown walk past. We're worried now. Maybe the last night on board is fancier than the rest? We rush upstairs to go put on our dinner clothes.
18:32 Back at the restaurant, we realise that it was indeed casual night, as everyone else are dressed in their everyday clothes. We shrug it off and have a delicious meal that includes oysters, pumpkin soup and chicken schnitzel. No birthday cakes and champagne for us this evening, but we clap and sing along as someone else at another table blushes beetroot red.
20:45 After dinner, we head to the photo gallery to look at all the photos taken of us during the cruise. We only want the one on the Titanic grand staircase. It's overpriced, as these photos usually are, but we buy it anyway.
20:50 Back at the Cotton Club, we catch the last few minutes of Duo Majest's performance, followed by 15 minutes of Duo Moonshine.
21:15 Thoroughly enjoying ourselves, we're disappointed to hear them announce that an Oriental dancing lesson is about to take place where we will learn to move like Bollywood dancers. A women steps off the stage and takes my hand, trying to "volunteer" me onto the dance floor. I mumble an apology and we beat a hasty retreat back to our cabin.
22:00 Relieved that we would be returning to land tomorrow, I fall asleep with The Hobbit playing again in the background.
For more posts in the Anniversary Cruise 2014 trip, click here.
Labels: Africa, Anniversary Cruise 2014, South Africa
