Monday – At Sea
It’s been another glorious day at sea. I spent most of it (the morning, at least) in the cabin, working, though, and only surfaced at lunchtime. What struck me was how humid it was; very hot to be sure, but also very humid – a sticky heat…
After lunch, I spent a while at the front of the ship looking out to sea – there wasn’t much to see; not many boats, waves or islands, and certainly no signs of life… all-in-all a bit of a quiet day.
It got a little livelier when I went upstairs for this afternoon’s workshop. The trolley with the art stuff hadn’t turned up, and people were getting anxious; I don’t know why – the class doesn’t officially start until 4pm, yet many were there at just gone 3:30. I told them not to worry; it would turn up soon, but then a few of them started asking me if there was any chance that the classes could be made longer; it was all a bit full-on, actually – it seems one or two of them have been on the Black Watch before, and insisted that, in the past, the classes have run in parallel with the craft class (which was currently in progress on the opposite side of the restaurant). I explained that I have to work to the times given to me, ie. 4pm until 5pm – although setting up early wasn’t a problem because it didn’t interfere with the crafts. I’ve been given a microphone, so I don’t think it fair to make a proper start until 4pm, when the crafts class finishes. They insisted that other rooms were available on the ship, and that I should perhaps ask the Cruise Director for a change of venue, or a change of time… at which point the trolley turned up, and I politely recommended that they take their ideas to the Reception, and that I would be happy to go along with whatever was decided…. To back up my own stance on this, I should say that I spoke to Jane, the Crafts instructor later on who confirmed that she had actually been on the ship before when both the craft class and art class have been run in the same room at the same time, and that it was absolute bedlam. So we’ll see if anything changes after the disgruntled-ones have laid seige to the main reception desk…
This evening’s showtime was the Celloist (or is that ‘cellist’?) and Saxophonist who both Tracey and I enjoyed the other evening. Their show was billed as music from the movies, so I was sat in the Neptune Lounge looking forward to the show’s start, at 8:45pm. Unfortunately, I had to endure 30 minutes of ‘Strictly-style’ dancing from a young couple of ‘Ballroom Dancing Champions’ who joined the ship in Heraklion. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t mind a bit of ‘Strictly’ on a Saturday night, but I would rather have had a full show of the musical couple (just my personal preference, you understand – live ballroom dancing isn’t really my cup of tea).
Tonight, the clocks go back an hour, meaning we’ll only one hour behind UK tomorrow… and extra hour in bed – woo hooooooo!!!!!!!!
Workshop-time Update…..
Jackie, the Assistant Cruise Director has just asked me how I’d feel starting earlier. I’m fine with it, but am worried about the impact that might have on the Crafts session (they can’t start earlier, and I can’t finish later because the Restaurant guys need to set up for dinner)….. Jackie has said she’ll speak to Jane about it before a final decision is made… watch this space….
