Saturday at Sea

Today I am going to start off without saying “Today we…” I can’t believe it’s already Saturday. We are now 4 hours behind EST and will again lose an hour tonight. We are both ready to stop “springing forward” every night. It really cuts down on our night life J As usual, we had breakfast in our room, but have vowed to make it to the dining room one of these days. Without guilt, we both took a nap after our breakfast, but had to set an alarm since there were things we wanted to do. We ventured out around 11 and shocked our room steward who couldn’t believe we’d made it out before noon. We were out in time to hear the report from the bridge. The temperature here is staying about the same, but the seas have really increased – they are around 14 feet with swells near 20. The strange thing is that the ship seems so much more stable than yesterday and it made walking that much easier. The Commodore was also updating us on the weather in England where they have had snow and are expecting more over the next few days. As of this morning we were less than 800 nautical miles from Southampton.

We went down and enjoyed a cooking demonstration where they showed up how to make their version of crab cakes, a veal cutlet and chocolate fondants. By the end of the demonstration we were hungry due to the wonderful aromas coming from the stage, but I wanted to go to the dance class. Today’s class was the Jive and I think I’ve found my dance! I can honestly say I really enjoyed learning this one and you don’t really have to follow your partner. I’m surprised at what a work out it turned out to be. We went up for a late lunch and had the best lentil soup ever. It was actually quite late by this point, so we opted to skip formal tea and just have a bit after our lunch. We went back to the room and started watching The Little Mermaid (yes, what an exciting life we lead), but fell asleep near the beginning and woke up at the end. Since Mom had never seen it, we watched it through again, only awake this time. Dinner was formal, and for many it was the last big night of their voyage. It is easy for us to forget that we are not getting off at Southampton this trip. We dined with Jane again this evening, but unfortunately her mother has double pneumonia and is down in the infirmary. They have been on board over 3 weeks spending their holiday in the Caribbean and are on their way home, good thing. Dinner was nothing short of phenomenal. We both had same courses tonight – escargot followed by Beef Wellington and then Baked Alaska for dessert. YUM!

A Tradition, Baked Alaska

The string quartet was playing in the Grille Lounge, but we only made it there as they played the last note. We did join Bob and Marsha (who are seated on the other side of us in the dining room) for a chat. They are from the States and also on their way to Dubai.

Since tonight was the Ascot Ball, we went down to watch the spectacle in the Queen’s Room. Many had brought their hats, fascinators and others had improvised by making their version of a hat. They paraded around the ballroom and then it was time for the “horse race”. You had to be there, but I’ll say it was amusing. We were both full from dinner so we have come back up to get ready for bed. Mom just made the comment that she hopes this is the last time she has to move her watch forward for a while! Tomorrow is our last day before arriving in the UK. We are both looking forward to being able to call home after a whole week of radio silence.