Saturday – Cocktails At Sea
Today was our first sea-day after a marathon of port stops, which meant a bit of a lie-in… very welcome.
I spent most of the morning painting in the cabin, but we’d also both been asked to attend a pre-lunch cocktail party due to start at 11:15am. It was a special party organised for what Fred Olsen call their ‘Silver’ and ‘Gold’ members – accolades achieved by spending 30+ days, and 100+ days on board ship, respectively. All the entertainers, lecturers and tutors were asked to attend, and ‘mingle’ with what turned out to be over 400 passengers. The Captain was there to hand an award to a couple who had achieved a particularly high rating (not really sure how it all works, but it seems like quite a big deal amongst the ‘Oceans Club’; champagne and wine flowed freely (and it was free), and despite having to smarten up a bit (far too early in the day for me), it wasn’t half as bad as I feared it might be. I’m not really very good at mingling, but I think we did alright.
This afternoon’s workshop was a boat scene; the 7-day break showed, I thought, with pacing not being quite as it ought to have been, and found myself running out of time. Most people did okay with it, but it felt a little rushed near the end… ah well, it’s only two days before the next one, so it gives me a chance to pick up the momentum again, and get back into a more slick presentation.
Tonight has been a formal night, and Tracey’s last night on board; tomorrow, we arrive in Iraklion, in Crete, from where she’ll be flying home (it’s back to work on Monday)… it’s going to seem strange…..
