Saturday – Timing issues
This morning we woke late, after another full evening’s quizzing and socialising in Scott’s Bar, and being entertained by Mel Harvey’s comedy/magic act in the Marco Polo Lounge, which we enjoyed very much.
Because we were late up, we missed breakfast, settling for cups of tea and coffee and a stroll around the ship. Conditions have now improved to the point that people have actually been seen relaxing on decks in encouraging numbers, reading and soaking up the fresh air (not a lot of sun to soak up yet, sadly, but it’s looking good…). The sea has been much steadier, although it did seem to suffer a bit of a relapse around midday for a mildly turbulent hour or so.
At just gone 12 o’clock, we were starving, so we went and found ourselves a seat in Marco’s Bistro ready for lunch, which would start at 12:30.
Over the last three days, the timing hasn’t been very good for us. My first class starts at 1:30pm, so we’ve been heading for Marco’s at around 12:30 to 12:40, in the hopes of grabbing a quick lunch before setting up the room. Unfortunately, every day has been the same; we’ve entered Marco’s only to find it packed out with hungry, queuing passengers, and have gone to set the room up first, returning to the bistro with only enough time left for a very quick soup and a roll.
By being there at12 noon, we figured we’d have a good chance of being first in the queue when lunch was served.
Imagine our confusion, then, when 12:30 came and went, and no lunch appeared. By 12:45, we were starting to worry that the same thing would happen yet again… but was confused by the apparent lack of concern shown by the other passengers who were sat around the bistro… were they running late? Did folks usually bag tables and hang around waiting for lunch for this long?…
Tracey went to Reception and came back with a knowing grin on her face. It turns out that we were supposed to have put our clocks back an hour last night (putting us back in line with the UK), meaning that when we thought we’d woke up late and missed breakfast, actually we hadn’t, and when we thought it was 12:45, it was actually 11:45, so WE HAD ANOTHER 45 MINUTES TO WAIT UNTIL LUNCH!!
It does seem that everyone wants to eat lunch in the Bistro at the same time, every day, and we can’t quite figure out why no-one’s opting for lunch in the Waldorf Restaurant downstairs (‘appen we’ll probably find out next time we’re encountering long queues in Marco’s… I think we’ll probably go and have lunch in The Waldorf ourselves…).
Our poor time-keeping didn’t improve as the day wore on. We were late to dinner, and late getting to Scott’s Bar for the quiz (we’d decided not to bother with the show, since we’d seen it before). By the time we arrived, however, every seat was taken, so we headed for The Captain’s Club for a quiet drink, where we decided to go and watch the late show in the Marco Polo Lounge, after all; ‘We Will Rock You’, featuring the music of Queen (very enjoyable).
Tomorrow, we are due to arrive in Tenerife, the first of three port stops… here’s hoping for good weather…
