The head cold is hanging on, along with an annoying cough, put down to not only to the constant air-conditioning, but also the varying temperatures in different sections of the ship. That is my explanation anyway. I had been stingy taking the Coldral capsules, but at the moment, they are available from the ship’s shop.
A sinusy start to the day but up to the buffet anyway and an even lighter breakfast. Just chopped apricot, a spoonful of plain yoghurt and some tinned peaches and a glass of V8 juice. (You have to ask for that, ditto cranberry) though apple juice and orange juice are available from the machine - at breakfast anyway.
The usual morning routine of losing at trivia followed by a coffee and a sit out in the shade to relax in the warmth. Up to the buffet about 1:25 – 5 minutes before the daily specials finished. Today, it was Sushi, not something I would ever class as a meal, more a buffet snack, but millions of others are obviously keen. I did grab a couple of pieces and some pickled ginger which I really do like, to go along with lightly curried meatballs and rice - and some fish, a weird mix maybe, but it was better than it sounds. We seem to be getting some sort of curry in the lunch buffet most days, which is a pleasant change from previous cruises, when it was a rarity. There were 4 massive trays of sushi taken away at 1:30 – meanwhile, many Australians were out on deck watching NSW beat Queensland. Lots of happy Sydney people around later.
Back in the cabin, we were so engrossed in working on the computer (me) or puzzles/reading, (Paula) that we almost missed the trivia. Fortunately we got there in time for question 2 and I was able to answer a question on Cockney rhyming slang, for question 1, that had the others stumped. A great team effort and we ended up with 18/20, getting Shakespeare’s birthdate wrong and one other. Much to our surprise, we were equal first, with just one other team, and Sarah, bless her, elected to give both teams prizes rather than have a play off. To say that we were ecstatic was an understatement and we were particularly pleased for John and Laura, our first time cruisers and USA contributors.
Paula and I opted to head for the small, sheltered Oasis pool but for some reason, this time, there were about 7 heavyweights in there, so it acquired the nickname “the elephant watering hole”. A bit naughty maybe, but no offence meant.
The early show was repeat comedian, Ivor Richards. His shows are mainly quickfire laughs, but one funny had me really rolling, as it appealed to my sense of humour and one I certainly hadn’t heard before. Whenever I think of or see ‘octopus’, I’ll remember his joke. His shows aren’t always 100% identical so those on the late show had some slightly different material from the first show.
Off to dinner, then to the second show by singer Philip Browne. Another fantastic show, but without the slides and stories of the earlier show. By special request, he did another Paul Robeson number and also by request, a repeat of Old Man River. What sets him apart from most other singers is his stagecraft. He is an extremely fit, muscular guy, but for Old Man River for example, he hunches down and shuffles around the stage.
THURSDAY June 18th
Yup, another sea day. The last before Aqaba. We were suitably relieved by the Captain’s assurance that the risk of snow was very low…
Oh dear. Paula now seems to be affected by my head cold etc., waking with a bit of a dodgy throat and head.
My lightest breakfast yet. Lemon, honey and hot water. Not as drastic as it sounds, as back home, my normal start to the day is cider vinegar and honey, saving the coffee and food until about 11:15am.
I managed to hold out until coffee time and grabbed a small pastry, then a roll from the deck 5 outlet. We look forward to the revamped Sun Princess next year, where we believe that deck 5 has been updated to an international food bar, rather than just a coffee/drinks bar, with a tray of pastries or lunchtime rolls.
The afternoon highlight was the “Celebrity Liar, Liar” game show, where the panel gets given a rare word and has to convince the audience that they are telling the truth. Teams then hand in a numbered paper to the person they thought was telling the truth. The panel this time was Deputy Cruise Director Dan, who has a real talent for one liners, the comedienne Jo Little, stand-up comic Ivor Richards and Cruise Director Peter.
A lot of fun and just like the other night when we failed to get any right, we continued our run of zeroes! Jo’s joke about aliens was well presented an ds expected, Ivor’s contribution was an extension to his act.
Afternoon Trivia was very relaxed, as we were resting on our laurels from yesterday’s historic win.
After some time out on deck, we headed for dinner where just beyond us, they had set up “The Chef’s Table”. For those not familiar, this a real food experience starting with canape’s and Champagne in the kitchen, followed by a multi course dinner with wines, a complimentary hardback cookbook (which is quite hefty!), photographs taken with the Maitre d’, Executive chef etc., and a printed scroll of the menu. A real experience. Larraine and Bert from our quiz team were on it and let’s just say that by the time we left the dining room, late, she was a very happy bunny! Apparently, you can elect for a cheaper night by foregoing the wine, which would be our choice. Having seen a pic of the main, which was a lobster tail, plus a nice looking piece of fillet steak AND a thick lamb chop, Paula shuddered at the very thought of such a feast as that was just one course. I think you’d need to starve for a day or two before, or have a prodigious appetite. I would like to give it a go sometime!
No late show that appealed (Jo Little) so we wandered through to the casino, where Paula had a voucher and she persuaded me to have a go at ’the vault’, where bundles of banknotes are on a rod and you have 30 seconds to line up a pneumatic cylinder that fires a key and if it is 100% lined up, it shoots a key through a gap that is exactly the same size and it pushes off the cash into the collection slot. I was just 1mm too high… May have to have another go sometime.
We then watched a bit of roulette and three card poker but weren’t tempted to join in.
Aqaba tomorrow, when many first timers are off to Petra and a fair few experienced cruisers and wheelie walkers are not. The forecast is for 42 degrees.
We’ll take our time and just take the ship’s shuttle to town again. As a Friday and also Ramadan, probably not the best time for tourism, so nothing much will be open until at least 1pm - if at all.
(No internet access at the moment, so no idea when this will have been posted…)
No comments:
Post a Comment