The laundrette does appear to bring out the worst in people. I returned, and had to wait another quarter of an hour before my wash cycle ended and I could put my washing into the drier. This was hampered by the fact that the drier, attached to the washer I was using, already had someone's washing in. Apparently, this is not an uncommon occurrence - even though you know roughly how long a procedure is going to take, it seems only good manners to return in good time in order to remove it so that someone else can dry their clothes. There are 8 washers and driers in all, in the laundrette, two of which are currently 'out of use'. I asked what I should do with the dried washing that was currently residing in my nearest drier (and had been, unattended, for the last 45 minutes at least) and was told simply to remove it and put it on any available surface to be collected by whomever it belonged to. The thing is this; everyone down there seems mega-stressed, and in need of a humour transplant. I tried to make light of the laundrette's shortcomings several times whilst in there and was met with stony stares! Also - apparently - and this is a good one - last year, two blokes got into a fight over laundry last year and were kicked off of the ship at the next port because of it! It's a hot, airless room where tempers get frayed very quickly, and of the half a dozen or so people I saw in there, not seemed very happy about being there - very uncomfortable, and I'm hoping not to have to return!!

This evening, after dinner, I opted for the cinema - they were showing 'It's a Wonderful Life'. A classic, I think you'll agree, but I struggled to keep my eyes open, and dozed through several scenes.

Rather worryingly, at dinner-time, an announcement was made, as we were leaving port, that we would be free-sailing (whatever that means) for a short while, in order to fix the stabilisers. Which led several people to wonder - where they broke? This has caused further anxiety this evening, as we've hit very windy conditions for most of the night, and extremely rough seas. As I sit writing this (at 1:25am), after a very rocky evening in The Preview Bar (when glasses actually slid the length of tables), the entire ship is once again swaying and creaking and the reassuring words of one seasoned passenger repeat themselves in my head; when I asked if it got any rougher than this was "oh yes, much rougher" - they'd been on ships where whole tables had slid to the opposite side of the room, and huge waves crashed over the sides of the ship.

Late night, but tomorrow I can have a bit of a lie-in as my tour isn't until after lunch.