Thursday – Cling Film and Comedians

At the Assistant Cruise Directors’ meeting last night, a couple of things were quickly established. Firstly, that I am the only art/craft instructor on board. This is significant for a couple of reasons; mostly, because I have the craft room to myself. On all previous cruises on the Marco Polo, I’ve had to share the room; either sandwiched between craft classes in a morning and late afternoon, or, on the last cruise, I’d have it just for the afternoon.

Prior to getting on board, the programme for the first day at sea had already been set; my classes being down in the programme for 10am and 2pm. Being a shorter cruise, we had no idea if two classes was going to be enough; turns out, there weren’t…

On previous cruises, we’ve held a display in the reception area, where art and craft tutors have been able to show what they have on offer, and gather a list of names, like a sort of ‘induction’ day (that way, we’d know exactly how many folks wanted to partake in the different events, and the time-slots could then be divvied up accordingly). Because we only have 4 sea days on this cruise (remember; we’re on for two back-to-back cruises), that wasn’t possible, so it was simply a case of running two classes and see how many people turned up. Needless to say; not only were the two classes full to bursting, but we had to lay on a third class (at 4pm), to cater for the overspill. In hindsight, it might have been better to advertise three classes from the off, with the option to cancel the last class if no-one turned up. On future sea-days, I’ve said we’ll run three classes (10am, 1pm and 3pm).

Last night, in preparation for today’s classes, we went into the conference room, reorganised the tables and set the art materials and boards out; this was after our preliminary meeting and before dinner. Later, after watching the first show of the cruise (‘Abba’), we were surprised to discover that someone had been into the room and covered the floor in a sort of heavy-duty cling film (the same stuff they use for refurbishments when the ship is in dry-dock, apparently). Turns out, a previous artist had made a right old mess in there, getting paint in the carpet, which had took them three expensive, and time-consuming, deep-cleans to remove.

Being able to space the classes out, and have the run of the conference room meant I was able to enjoy lunch and get some time out on deck at lunchtime. The sea has been like a mill pond all day, with only the occasional slight tip to remind us that we’re out at sea – all very unusual, and something I’m not used to at all. Despite having come armed with tons of warm clothes and winter coats, we were sat out on deck in t-shirts and sunglasses (who’d have thought it!)

So; I’m pleased to report that the classes (‘The Building Blocks of Watercolour’ – an introduction the Basic Washes) was very well received. The last class was cut a little short due to the fact that it’s Formal Night tonight (deep joy), so folks who are on the early sitting in the Restaurant wanted to get away early to glam themselves up. This shouldn’t be a problem for other classes, as the last one will be changed to 3pm.

Although there are no other crafters on board, there are lots of things to entertain the passengers. This cruise has been billed as ‘Comedy Legends’. As such, we’ve been joined by some emminent comedy actors of stage and screen; Authur Bostrom (Crabtree in ‘Allo Allo’), Melvyn Hayes (‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’), Jeffrey Holland (Spike in ‘Hi De Hi’), Nikki Kelly (Sylvia in ‘Hi De Hi’) and Frank Williams (The Vicar in ‘Dad’s Army’), all of whom will be giving talks and interviews throughout he cruise.

Three classes has taken its toll on my voice, and I’m currently croaking like a croaky thing as we prepare for dinner and a ‘Broadway’ show.

Tomorrow, we are due to arrive in Copennhagen.