First Full Day on The Voyager

Today was our first sea-day, and the first of my watercolour workshops in the Lookout Lounge, located right at the front end of the ship. First workshops are always a little chaotic, and today was no exception. I was up against a lecture on the Eclipse and Northern lights, though, so numbers were inevitably a bit down. I’ve been allocated the 10:30am slot, with a 90-minute duration. By 12noon, I was finished and had the rest of the day to look forward to; I’ve been used to working through three workshops a day, taking up the whole of the afternoon, so this definitely felt like luxury… no complaints from me!

We spent the afternoon checking out the on-board wi-fi and dozing in Scott’s Lounge after a toasted sandwich from the pop-up sub sandwich bar and a beer.

This evening, it was Formal night. We gave the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail Party a miss, but dutifully dressed up in our best bib n’ tucker, and really enjoyed dinner in the Verandah Restaurant – the informal self-service restaurant at the rear of the ship (which is actually quite plush when compared to Scott’s Bar on the Marco Polo).

We’ve spent some time outside, which was nice, if a little breezy. Despite the cool temperature and occasionally sharp wind, the going has been extremely gentle, with remarkably smooth seas that surprised us, considering the fact that we’re heading North, up the East coast of Britain, through the North Sea, towards our first port-of-call, which will be The Faroe islands in two days time (followed, hopefully, by a spectacular celestial event).

First impressions are good. They do things differently here, which was to be expected, but all the personnel seem very likeable, and there’s a very friendly atmosphere to the ship, which always makes a difference. The Voyager is steadily growing on me… long may it continue.