Art and Craft Exhibition

Today was our last day at sea.

As is traditional for the last sea-day, I held a ‘drop-in centre’ for guests in the morning, who wished to finish off any paintings or ask art-related questions, and this afternoon we held our grand art and craft exhibition in La Vie en Rose (formerly known as The Supper Club).

It’s always exciting to see the exhibition come together, despite not having much time to do so. That said, there was no lunch being served in La Vie en Rose, so we actually had more time than usual. Once it was up, it looked fantastic, and lots of people came along to take a look.

Between 2pm and 3.30pm, folks mingled and visitors sang their praises. At 3.30pm, we started gathering the paintings together for collection, and by 3.45 it was like we’d never been there at all.

Which brings this cruise almost to an end.

I should mention that we had to take a small detour yesterday (the 27th of November) due to a medical emergency. The going had been a little rough, and breakfast was served in the Coast to Coast due to expected worsening conditions that never quite materialised. What was interesting was the fact that the captain was clearly cross in his lunchtime address at the few people who had criticised the decision to close the grill for breakfast, saying that not only are those decisions not taken lightly (it is always for the safety of the guests), but that once taken, because the kitchen and serving staff are then geared up for it, it cannot then be reversed on a whim.

The detour into Brest, in France, didn’t take long, and we were on our surprisingly quickly. The serious storm conditions didn’t materialise, much to everyone’s relief, making our final approach to Portsmouth a pleasant one.

In the immortal words of Bart Simpson and Mary Poppins; my work here is done. We’ll be back in the UK tomorrow, with a 5-6 hour drive North, back to our home in West Yorkshire. It won’t be for long, though. We have Christmas and the New Year to look forward to, and then we’ll be returning to the Spirit of Discovery in January, when we will be sailing to the Canary Islands and Cape Verde.

Bring it on…