Strap Yourselves In…

Today was the final leg of our journey home. It was also the day of our art exhibition.

We’d been advised the night before that we should make sure everything was stashed away as safely as possible to avoid damage to personal belongings. Sure enough, the ship rocked and rolled violently all night as the Captain fought to try and avoid the worse of the swells.

We always know it’s bad when they close Marco’s Bistro and announce that breakfast will only be served in the Waldorf Restaurant. Needless to say, we opted to skip breakfast altogether and remain in the cabin. Around mid-morning, I emerged to go to the Entertainments Office to see if the exhibition should go ahead, and was told that, yes, the show must go on!

It was announced that both lunch and dinner, would only be served in the restaurant and that Marco’s would remain closed for the rest of the day. Sandwiches were available in the Captain’s Club around lunchtime, however, so I grabbed a handful and took them downstairs.

The exhibition did indeed go ahead. At first, it looked like I would have to put all the paintings up by myself, but gradually, folks turned up and helped. By 2pm, the corridor outside the Conference Room looked fantastic, with everyone’s work proudly displayed for all to see.

Sadly, it wasn’t quite the hubbub of activity that the event normally invokes. With all activities taking place in the Captain’s Club, the adjacent Columbus Lounge cleared of all furniture and access to Marco’s Bistro closed, it was pretty quiet. Jenny held her craft display inside the Conference Room, but things remained quiet for most of the afternoon until we agreed it was time to take it all down again.

It was during this time that the Captain made an announcement regarding our progress. He explained that, due to our reduced speed and the constant re-adjustment of our course to try and avoid the worst of the swells, we would be unable to reach our intended destination, Bristol Avonmouth, within the required tidal window, and that we would head, instead, for Southampton, where a berth was available for us.

Naturally, this information wasn’t received well, but in the absence of any other suitable alternatives, there wasn’t anything anybody could do about it. The sea charts posted in Reception told the whole story.

For the one and only time on this trip, Tracey and I ate dinner in the Waldorf Restaurant (because we’d only had a couple of sandwiches for lunch and all our stash of chocolate had gone). I don’t mind it too much, but I prefer to eat in Marco’s which is far less formal; the portions are as big as you want them to be (a single scoop of mashed potato just doesn’t cut it as far as I’m concerned), and you don’t have to wait for others to finish a course until you move on to the next. On the plus side, complementary wine was being served as a thank you to everyone for their understanding and patience.

The final show was ‘Around The World’, a spectacular showcase of internationally-flavoured music and dances from all parts of the globe. This was followed by a final cabaret by all the singers, also in the Show Lounge, where we remained and had a final drink before heading downstairs. We didn’t stay up for the Karaoke.