Monday 21st January 2013. Sea day.
I wake up feeling a bit hungry!! Wow! Who
would have thought? Deciding though that I’m not having a big breakfast, we head
for the Waterfront and are seated with a nice English couple and another Aussie
couple. No comedy this morning, just some good humoured conversation and a
light breakfast for me. The waitstaff seem very distracted this morning,
service is not up to the standard set so far. The toast is nearly inedible and
I am seriously concerned that I might break a tooth on it, so only eat a
little. It’s also difficult to get a cuppa. Very strange.
After breakfast I find a spot on a shady
bit of deck to read my book – the only thing I have to do this trip, as book
club is the week after we get back. It’s called “The Secret River” by Kate
Grenville, an Aussie author and I’m about half way through and enjoying it. I
really keen to see what happens next, so that’s a good sign. Before I know it,
it’s lunchtime………. More food! As tempting as it is to have dessert at every
meal, I decided last time to only have it at dinner, but as the lunch menu has
better choices so far, I may have to review that decision. I have chicken pho
and some poached salmon. The pho has more chilli in it than expected, but
edible. We’re used to a fairly plain broth to which you add whatever amount of
heat you want. The salmon is good and Trevor has the lime and pepper cali which
is also very tasty.
We are trivia winners again!! Already!!
Like seagulls on a hot chip, we team up with a couple we met at the wine
tasting, Jenny and Steve, and tie with another team for first place. There will be a sudden death
question. Jenny goes up to the stage for our team and she gets the answer
first. Yay! Winners!! Another P&O stubby cooler to add to the collection
which will actually be quite handy, I could have used one the other day when we
bought a beer from the pool bar. The bottle was so cold, I could barely hold
it.
A complimentary glass of champers is
included with the thermal suite pass, so not being ones to turn down a free
drink at sea where a glass of wine starts at about $9, we head up to Aqua, hand
over our cruise cards, which have been marked with the secret sign of the
thermal pass people, and head for the bar. We claim our bubbly then head into
the Relaxation Room, the only part of the suite we think we’ll use. It’s lovely
and quiet with padded deck chairs to stretch out on and read some more. We must
have got there at just the right time because the room was empty but within
half an hour or so, most of the seats were occupied. Everyone whispers and you
can see out the window to the ocean which has been remarkably calm so far. Our
cabin is midships, so any movement there is, is felt less in our cabin. The English couple from breakfast are there,
they only booked their cruise on Friday! More and more I see the value of
child-free zones on the ship. Being January, it’s school holidays and I know
there are many children on board because you do see them ocassionally, but it’s
nice to know that if ever their prescence got to be too much, there is an
escape other than your own cabin. And before anyone gets all precious, I am the
mother of 2 boys who were usually well behaved when required, but could also
tear around with the best of them! Having done the hard yards, it’s nice to
totally escape is all I’m saying…………..
Before we know it it’s time for dinner.
Again we eat at the Waterfront, it’s our form of portion control, although you
could order 2 of everything if you wanted. Aussies all round this time, a
couple from Melbourne and one from Sydney. P&O have this new idea on their
menu where there is a main designed to be shared by 4 – 6 people. Tonight is
slow baked lamb shoulder with all the trimmings of a baked dinner and I hear
the Melbourne couple talking about it but then realising it’s too big for them
by themselves. Trevor sounds keen as well, so we agree to share it between the
4 of us. Garlic snails for entrée and apple strudel for dessert rounds out the
meal. Seriously reviewing the ‘no dessert at lunch’ policy. The desserts
offered at dinner don’t really grab me again.
 |
| Top deck movie screen |
After a quick change into shorts and
t-shirt, I’m off upstairs to do the 6 laps of the deck which equate to 1km.
Trevor doesn’t see that it would do him any harm, so comes along too, but wants
to walk backwards on the port side so he can watch the movie on the big screen!
Once we finish our walk we find a couple of deck chairs and settle in to watch
the rest of the movie. I don’t think we missed much of the start. Cowboys &
Aliens starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. They’ll be doing zombie
apocalypse movies next!!
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