Saturday – Rocking and Rolling
The sea isn’t particularly rough (there are no white horses), but there has been quite a hefty swell for most of the day as we’ve headed due North, with the coastline of Portugal visible over to our starboard side. The Black Watch has rocked and rolled quite considerably; the sick bags have been out, lining the stairwells, and I suspect many people simply stayed in bed, where they’re less likely to fall over. It’s all very apt, really, because the dress code theme for this evening is ‘Rock & Roll’.
There have been several dolphin sightings during the course of the day; about twenty were spotted this morning, apparently, following the wake of the ship, and this afternoon, about a dozen were spotted out of the windows, right at the end of the watercolour class. I briefly saw about half a dozen of them along the edges of our bow wave, appearing and disappearing a couple of times before diving under the ship. One lady was quite annoyed that she didn’t see them, yet again; she’d even paid for the dolphin-spotting tour when we were in Gibraltar and still hadn’t seen a single dolphin…. I think I’d want my money back!
I’ve had them painting skies today; the penultimate session of the cruise. With only one more workshop to go before our grand exhibition, on Monday, I’ve asked people to start submitting their work, remembering to put their cabin numbers on the reverse; there’s quite a pile already…. I only hope we’ll have enough blu-tack.
Today’s ‘Believe it or not’s, from the Captain was: The first bullet-proof vest and windscreen wiper blades were invented by a woman (he didn’t say whether they were both invented by the same woman), and; cold weather makes finger nails grow faster….
We’ve gone into heading-home mode; passengers were invited to register today for a talent show due to take place tomorrow afternoon (tomorrow evening will be the Crew Show), and this morning’s highlight in the Lido Lounge was a demonstration of how to make unique and fascinating craft items from crisp packets (seriously). This afternoon was the Grand Tea Dance, along with Grand Tea and Cakes…. we’re gearing up for our Grand Exhibition….
Everything’s just…. grand!
Since the start of the cruise, we’ve had a ‘New Seeker’ on board. Marty Kristian, one of the original members of The New Seekers has been giving lectures about his time with the band and Rock n’ Roll stories and anecdotes from that era. Unfortunately, due to running my classes, I’ve not been able to listen in on any. However; this evening, after dinner, and before the Black Watch Show Company performed their high-energy tribute to Elvis, the Cruise Director interviewed Marty in a sort of Parkinson-esque show. It was an interesting watch, which finished with him singing a couple of songs with his guitar.
I didn’t see many winkle-pickers, although there were a few pairs of jeans on show, in acknowledgment of it being Rock n’ Roll night. There’s a Rock n’ Roll disco on tonight, but I don’t think they could handle my Rock n’ Roll Daddy-dancing!
