No rush to get up, but it is light at 5am! We rolled out at a more respectable time, but had to be aware of the time as we had something special on at 12 noon. But first things first. Back to a light cooked breakfast, then to the Live Studio on deck 7 for the 10am recording of tomorrow’s Wake Show. We arrived just after recording had started, with two little Welsh girls as guests. Maybe they should have renamed it the Welsh Show, as Cruise Director Sam is Welsh and the other featured guest was Welsh violinist, Chris Watkins. Once the Welsh kids and parents had left, there was space for us. To be truthful, there was only one other passenger in the audience!
If nothing else, our applause was audible, when it wasn’t supplemented by an applause track…
We then had to change into ‘casual but elegant’ attire, as we had the lunch for the most travelled passengers, hosted by Captain Bob Oliver. Earlier, we’d ascertained from Vivian from Brazil (Circle Host) that there were just 239 Elite passengers on board.
We had no idea what to expect, but we really did expect anything up to 200 passengers based on those figures. We arrived on time to find a fairly short queue to get in, but our names were ticked off on entry (it was an RSVP do) and we were presented to the Captain, for a photograph, then shown not just to our table, but to our places at the table, where there was a name card, and a personalised menu. Each table had 6 passengers plus a senior crew member. This was not at all what we expected as we found out that it was only the 40 most travelled passengers!
Our senior crew member was the very pleasant Dr Ismail Ryvat from South Africa and the other 4 guests were British passport holders, though one couple resided in Malta. I have never sat next to a bloke wearing sandals, a ponytail, a scarf and makeup before… He turned out to be OK to talk to, it was just the initial look that threw me.
Wine (complementary) was served and our first course (see pics) consisted of a seafood trio. Eat your hearts out Kiwi seafood lovers… “King Crab Tian, Marinated Shrimp, Lobster Tempura.”
There were two mains on offer, grilled sea bass filet, or our choice, slow roasted rack of veal served with morel mushroom sauce. You can see from the picture, the size of the veal. Absolutely delicious.
The killer dessert however, was an amazing ‘Belgium Chocolate “Otello” Delight Mousse with Soft Toffee Centre and Coffee Sauce’. Oh boy. This was amazing. A little rich maybe (too rich for Paula as she suffered later…) plus coffee and gourmandise – by which time, the photo department had returned with our complimentary photographs.
Thanks Princess and Captain Bob. That was amazing. We certainly won’t be getting into the top 40 on the Sun Princess next year!
We just had to relax the rest of the afternoon and although it was formal night, we skipped it. Paula wasn’t in a state to eat a full meal anyway. A first again, as we knew that the dining room would be having beef Wellington, but they also had it in the Horizon Court buffet. Paula was annoyed that she missed it, so I promised I’d do her a beef Wellington when we get back home - and we’ll even invite friends to share it. That is if I can remember how to cook.
Another production show ‘Sweet Soul Music’. Better than the previous show anyway, but apart from the last number ‘River Deep’, not really memorable.
On then to the Vista lounge, where we had hypnotist David Knight again. Although we know the show itself doesn’t change much, the fun is seeing people reacting under hypnosis. The end is always a laugh, as all participants are told to do certain things and that lasts for three minutes after the end of the show. Most eyes are on the guy who lost his name and has been renamed ‘Julie’, and who thinks his shoe is a cell-phone that keeps ringing.
Off then to bed about 11pm. Unlike the Round the World cruises, the ship is still pretty lively at that time of night and the nightclub DJ was kept going until 3am last night.
Our second of three Scottish ports tomorrow, as we start heading south, though at 15 degrees, it isn’t exactly going to be warm. Invergordon, for Inverness, but we are doing a half day Highlands coach tour. After that, just two more ports and back into Southampton.
Spare a thought for our friends on the Sea Princess. They arrived in New York early, at 5pm. They all then had to be fingerprinted/eye scanned etc., in batches, and every single passenger and crew had to go ashore and no-one was allowed back on until all had been processed. The last batch weren’t back on board until 1:30am.
I can see that some ports on a World Cruise are somewhat less appealing than others and the overall attraction of some round the world cruises, is now fading rapidly. But, as I have said more than once, ‘expect a 4% error rate/inconvenience rate and you should be OK’.
PS: Yes, they do have chocolate doughnuts on deck 5 on the Royal, but they seem to disappear quickly every morning.
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