February
2022
Hants
U.K.
at 5:45
February
2022
Sao Miguel
Azores
Tour
February
2022
Faial
Azores
Evacuation
March
2022
Faial
Azores
Centre
Tour
March
2022
Hampshire
England
by 11:35
| Flag: | Date: | Port: | Comment: |
|---|---|---|---|
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22nd February 2022 |
SoToN Hants U.K. |
Aboard at 5:45 |
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26th February 2022 |
Ponta Delgada Sao Miguel Azores |
Panoramic Tour |
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28th February 2022 |
Horta Faial Azores |
Medical Evacuation |
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5th March 2022 |
Horta Faial Azores |
Volcano Centre Tour |
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9th March 2022 |
SoToN Hampshire England |
Home by 11:35 |
| Flag: | Date: | Port: | Comment: |
I awoke at 7 o'clock and I broke my fast with two Boots sarnies. After visiting Rogers warehouse and the Iceland food warehouse, I booked my annual car service and MoT at the local Hyundai dealer. I had an early lunch of smoked salmon, sausage and fragrant rice, before dozing for one hour. I finished my packing and awaited my taxi. After half an hour of waiting, I phoned Julian in Saga Transport in Crawley, who promised to chase them up. Five minutes later my taxi arrived, but it took an hour to get to SoToN in the early evening rush hour.
Lateral Flow AND PCR testing took half an hour alongside a P&O ship. We then drove passed an MSC ship at the new terminal to get to the City terminal where SofA was berthed. It took half an hour of queuing to get through security and check in. I was finally on board at 6:15.
I touched base with Tony & Rolando in the cruise office, before dining in the Grill. I was sat with 88 year old Merv from Plymouth and Ivy & Brian Partridge the ukelele teachers from North Queensferry (Gordon Brown's village). I began with the leek soup, continued with the Caesar salad and main coursed on the prime rib of beef. I finished with the almond ripple ice cream washed down by two glasses of the red wine. At the end of the meal Ian and Kathie Hocking came over to chat. I had only cruised with them once before, eleven years ago on the lovely Saggy Booby!
Back in my cabin, I found some bags belonging to another guest called Lee including an expensive camera. I took two of them to the indicated cabin number, but it wasn't theirs, so I took them down to reception and told them I had some more bags in my cabin. I placed these outside my suite so that they might be returned to their rightful owner. I then started work on this blog.
At 9:30 we had the emergency drill by walking around the Living Room. I climbed up the outside stair case at the back of the ship to get to the top decks, before going to bed at 10 o'clock. I had done eight thousand steps equal to over three miles of walking during the day. We didn't sail until 1 am due to sea traffic in the dark Solent.
I awoke at 6:35 to the dawn as I had left my curtains open, having slept for over eight hours. I then made my first decaff coffee in the cabin of this cruise. After my ablutions, I updated this blog and submitted my laundry bag. At 7:30 I broke my fast with two glasses of tomato juice and two eggs Benedict in the Grill, watching several aircraft con trails heading south. At 9 o'clock I touched base with Standley as newly arrived chief Ioana was in quarantine.
At 10 o'clock I went to Chris Whittle's interesting talk on cetaceans. At 11 o'clock Jordyn and another dancer took 50 minutes to teach just two line dances, the Electric Slide and one done to the Boot Scootin' Boogie song. Interestingly they began with a Zumba style warm up and had an interval half way through! This meant that I missed Tony McHale's first History of Television lecture, which I hoped to watch in the video on demand catch up service in my cabin at a later date.
At noon the Captain announced that we were all CoViD negative according to the rapid lateral flow tests we had had yesterday. He would get the results of our PCR tests later this afternoon, but some 11 crew members were still positive although mostly asymtomatic! I then lunched on the Spanish ham, chips and mushy peas sat in the Entertainers' area of the Grill. Back in the cabin, I listened to Rina Tillinger's lecture on American actresses as I updated this blog.
At 1:30 I met up with Marlon my favourite stage manager, but my laptop had interference on the screen, so I had to use his lap top instead. At 2 o'clock I gave my 40 minute talk on Ponta Delgada: Capital of the Azores. I had problems at the start switching from my rolling photo album to my actual presentation, but Marlon leapt up on to the stage to get me going.
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Back in my cabin, I had to send Rolando my photo and biography, before sleeping for two hours interrupted by a code alpha broadcast. I then had my second decaff coffee of the cruise, before going to the Britannia lounge for the ballroom dance set at six o'clock. Here I chatted to Ian & Kathy Hocking and we did one line cha cha to the recorded music. Apparently one of the drummers had gone home from SoToN and so the only complete band on board were getting ready for Peter Howarth's early show time. I snuck in to the latter at 6:25 and enjoyed his rock and roll music, particularly the Roy Orbison numbers. Unfortunately the audience was very thin, so he had trouble building any atmosphere.
At 7:15 I dined on the cullen skink (killing skunk?) soup, the Caesar salad, two small beef medallions and the toffee ice cream. I was sat with musician guest Dave from Leamington, who had stumbled in to the Entertainers' dining area by mistake. His dancing partner Shirley was lying down with sea sickness! Later we were joined by Helen and Jim Whelan the latter being one of several TV actors on board. Back in my cabin I updated this blog, before returning to the Playhouse to hear Peter Howarth of the Hollies second show time, which was even better the second time with a nearly full house. I went to bed at 10:30 having done only six and a half thousand steps, equal to about two and a half miles of walking during the day.
I awoke to the dawn at 6:30, but we had gained an hour going west during the night, so I dozed for another half an hour. Having abluted (is that an ablative absolute and is this an alliteration?), I updated this blog and worked on my next presentation. At nine o'clock I touched base with Standley, before meeting Marlon in the theatre at 9:30. At 10 o'clock I gave my 40 minute talk on St John's: Capital of Antigua.
At 11 o'clock I went to Tony McHale's second talk on the history of UK TV dramas which lasted 53 minutes and rushed over the last few slides. He showed some classic clips for shows he was involved with as either an actor or as a writer. At noon I lunched on chicken Kiev on the very day that Russia invaded Ukraine. At the end, I was joined by the Rev Alistair Davies from Malmesbury. I had sailed with him and his wife Helen back in 2018 around the Irish Sea.
Back in my cabin, I watched my first port talk on Ponta Delgada, before sleeping for two hours. I then had my afternoon decaff coffee, whilst updating this blog. At 4:15 I went to the indoor spa pool where I chatted to Ian Hocking.
At six o'clock the Captain announced that one newly embarked guest, three back to back (B2B) guests and sixteen crew had tested positive and so were in isolation. I then sat with Ian and Kathy in the Britannia Lounge listening to the trio play ballroom dance music. At seven o'clock I moved to the Grill where I had the parsnip soup, Caesar salad, rib eye steak and sea salt caramel ice cream.
Back in my cabin, I watched David Pybus's interesting talk on the 31 sea areas around the British Isles on my TV. At 9:30 I went to the Ukrainian Excelsior piano quartet's 40 minute Amadeus classical concert. At the start they had a standing ovation and Maksym weld up so that his wife had to do the introductions. They played the Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, A Little Night Music, the Turkish March and the first movement of the 40th symphony, all composed by Mozart. I only nodded off once during Eine Kleine Nachtmusik! Back in my cabin again, I was asleep by 10:30.
I awoke to the dawn at 6:15 and got up at 6:35 to update this blog. At 7:35 I had one egg Florentine with a banana & strawberry smoothie to break my fast. I did two and half circuits, over half a mile, of the promenade, before attending the ten o'clock session with cruise director Tony and the Spirit Show Company. This consisted of interviews with the seven girls and five boys of the troupe.
I then did another two and half circuits, over half a mile, of the promenade, before attending the 45 minute lecture by Jim Whelan. He showed clips with him appearing as a vicar at various weddings and funerals in Coronation Street. He had to skip over some other clips from other soap operas like Hollyoaks.
At noon I went to the Actors at Sea writing workshop, but after a 25 minute lecture by Tony McHale and with no workshop in sight I slipped out. After saying hello to Kath Batten, I lunched on a huge veal chop with chips & veg.
At 13:30 I descended to the Playhouse to get set up with Marlon. At 2 o'clock I gave my 40 minute talk on Road Town, Tortola, capital of the British Virgin Islands.
I then had my complimentary rapid lateral flow test, followed by an hour's dozing. This was interrupted with the negative results being phoned back to me within twenty minutes and with the cancellation of afternoon tea due to staff shortages. At five o'clock I spent ten minutes in the spa pool, before getting in to my formal rig. At six o'clock I danced with Chris from BoMoH to recorded music for 45 minutes sat with Ian & Kathy Hocking.
At seven o'clock I dined on a whole Cornish dressed crab, Stilton & broccoli soup, fillet steak and blueberry crumble ice cream, washed down with a bottle of cider. Half way through I was joined by the Rev Alastair Davies and towards the end by the young Spanish magician Albert Llorens. Back in my cabin I watched Tony McHale's first lecture on the early history of TV drama in Britain, unfortunately he talked over the sound tracks of his clips. I also had to work on some more Saga cruise bids.
At 9:30 I adjourned to the Playhouse to hear Clare Langan's excellent first flute concert. She began with the Can Can and the overture to Carmen, included the Lord of the Dance and finished with You'll Never Walk Alone from the musical Carousel! I went to sleep at 11 o'clock, having done 7,371 steps equal to nearly three miles of walking during the day.
I awoke to the dawn at 6:30 and broke my fast at 7:30 with the special: a fried egg on top of avocado and mango chutney on a pancake. Unfortunately I ate just one very hot chilli jalopeno pepper without realising it and so suffered a short bout of heart burn at nine o'clock, cured by a glass of soda water that I had brought from home just in case. In between, I did four circuits of the promenade deck, equal to one mile of walking.
At nine o'clock I touched base with Ioana the Explore Ashore manager from Roumania who had been released from isolation. When Noeh came to service the cabin at 10:10, I did two more circuits, equal to another half mile, as the island of Sao Miguel hove into view. I saw a couple of two tone dolphins for just a few seconds. I then went up to the top deck, where the ORCA observers were stationed. I squandered the morning as there were no highlighted activities like lectures on then. I did sit out on my balcony for the first time this cruise as we sailed in to Ponta Delgada's harbour and turned around.
At 11:30 I had an early lunch of white bean soup, salmon en croute and sugar free Swiss roll. At noon I went to the steel band concert in the Britannia lounge. Here I danced one party samba on my own and chatted to the Rev Alastair.
At one o'clock I moved to the North Cape Bar to wait for my tour departure. We didn't get away until two o'clock with a drive to the Seven Cities (Sete Cidades) crater lakes. The clouds cleared as we arrived and the sun came out for our photographs. We had one other photo stop getting back to the ship at 3:45.
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I immediately headed off into the town taking lots of pictures with my new Nokia G50 smart phone in the bright sun shine. Fortunately the tourist office was open, but only one of the churches. I bumped into Mary & Martin Sixsmith and had an interesting off the record chat.
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Back at the ship, I had a quick shower and headed for the ballroom dancing session to dance with Chris. At seven o'clock I dined on the leek soup, the Caesar salad, the sirloin steak and the praline pecan ice cream, washed down with a bottle of cider. Towards the end, I was joined by the Chaplain who regaled me with his exploits. The most amusing was when he was required to wear rubber gloves during a noro virus out break to conduct a service!
At 9:30 I went to Dr Simon Fricker's piano concert at sea where he played mainly musical theatre songs. Unfortunately not having had an afternoon siesta, I kept falling asleep. I went to bed at 10:45 having done over fifteen thousand steps, equal to six miles of walking, during the day.
I awoke at 6:15 to the dawn and got up at 6:45 for my decaff coffee. At 7:30 I broke my fast with the full English together with a large tomato juice and a small papaya & ginger smoothie. I then did four laps of the promenade deck equal to just over one mile of walking. Back in my cabin, I updated this blog and worked on my presentations. At nine o'clock I touched base with Ioana the Shorex manageress. At 9:30 I saw Marlon to load my slides on to his lap top.
At ten o'clock I listened to David's very interesting talk on his Titanic perfume. He trained as a chemist and became an aromancer (not a perfumier, he hasn't got the nose for it)! A perfume travelling salesman sailing in first class was saved from the Titanic, but his bag of samples went to the bottom. When this was recently retrieved by the French submersible, David went to America to sample the perfumes. He then designed his own version which was funded to the tune of £80,000 by two of the Dragon's Den enterpreneurs. However this was not enough to be commercially viable!
He finished in good time for me to get loaded, but then Ioana appeared on the stage to nag me. Apparently the previous SofD Caribbean cruise had been beset by complaints about the tours, so I was told I had to keep re-iterating the problems of these excursions to forestall any future complaints! My 40 minute talk on Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, BVI went well, except for one tannoy announcement. At the end Canadian Pam from BoMoH asked if I was a Virgo like her, to which I replied in the affirmative! Later Ioana also came out to me as a fellow Virgo!
At noon I lunched with the chaplain. I began with the corn and shrimp chowder followed by the enormous leg of beef. While we were eating, the Captain came on to the blower to say that the number of positive guests had doubled. I then slept for over an hour and a half interrupted by the cabin steward and another tannoy announcement.
At four o'clock I spent fifteen minutes in the two jacuzzis. The sun was shining, but the wind was cold, as was the pool itself. Back in my cabin, I watched my Virgin Gorda talk on the telly.
At six o'clock I danced with Chris to the recorded music, but we were the only couple dancing. She then joined me for dinner in the Entertainers' section of the Grill. I had the cauliflower soup, the Caesar salad, the roast lamb and the rum & raisin ice cream, washed down with just one glass of red wine.
At 9:30 I went to the excellent We Are The Champions production show, which I have seen several times before on various cruise ships! Afterwards, I watched my Virgin Gorda talk for a second time, going to bed at 11 o'clock, having done only seven thousand steps, just less than three miles of walking, during the day.
I awoke at 6:45, but we had gained an hour in the night, so I dozed until 7 o'clock in the new time zone. At 7:30 I broke my fast with the special avocado soldiers wrapped in bacon with scrambled egg. Towards the end we saw half a dozen common dolphins swimming towards the ship. Coming out of the restaurant Kath said that we had turned around and were heading back to the Azores. Five minutes later, back in my cabin, the Captain explained that we had a medical emergency so were heading to Horta on Faial. He said he would come back to us to explain the knock on effects of the delays to our Caribbean ports. At 9 o'clock I touched base with Ioana, who likes my slides.
At 10 am I went to an audience with Martin Sixsmith the former Moscow correspondent of the BBC. He said that Putin may have cancer or Parkinson's disease! If Ukraine falls then Moldova, also not in NATO, might be next! He pointed out that Russia had been invaded by the French under Napoleon, by the British & French during the Crimean war and by the Germans under Hitler, so no wonder they were wary of NATO! A member of the audience said that ironically Vladimir means Prince of Peace!
At 11 am I listened to David's talk on Jack the Ripper when he spoke of an establishment cover up of James Kenneth Stephen, who he said had had a homosexual relationship with Prince Albert Victor! At noon we were arriving in to Horta on Faial one of the Azores to do a medical evacuation. I then lunched on the ham, mushy peas and chips sat with Alastair the Chaplain. As we left Horta again, I rushed back to my cabin to take a picture of the huge volcano on the neighbouring island of Pico which means Peak!
At 1:30 I went to the Playhouse theatre to set up my next lecture. At 2 o'clock I spoke for 40 minutes on Basseterre: Capital of St Kitts interrupted by the Captain's annoucement. He said we would be one day late getting to Antigua. I then dozed for three quarters of an hour, before having my in-cabin decaff coffee and updating this blog.
I spent fifteen minutes in one of the jacuzzis in the sun shine, but with a cold wind. At six o'clock Ian Hocking took over the running of the ballroom dance session with a much better selection of music. I danced with Chris including the Rumba (Number) One, Square Tango, Catherine Waltz, Mayfair Quickstep & Sally Ann Cha Cha.
We then had dinner in the Grill together. I began with the rather thin tomato consomme, the mixed grill (minus a lamb chop) and the sea salted caramel ice cream. We both had bottles of cider to drink. Back in my cabin, I updated this blog and watched my Basseterre talk on the telly.
At 9:30 I went to Albert's magic show which was just end less card tricks which I mostly slept through! On the way in, CD Tony congratulated me on my lectures! At 10:30 I went to Lucy's excellent Diva cabaret: Alexandra, Bonnie, Celine, Cilla, Dolly, Donna, Tina (twice) & Whitney. No need for surnames here! I went to sleep at 11:45.
I awoke to the dawn at 6:40, ready for my first decaff coffee of the day. At 7:30 I had TWO eggs royale, my favourite break fast with smoked salmon! At nine o'clock I touched base with Ioana, however the new itinerary had not yet been decided, but it looked likely that we would be losing Virgin Gorda. If that did happen, she said she would offer a day trip there from Road Town on Tortola instead. At 9:30 I met up with SM Marlon for my next port talk: 35 minutes on Castries: Capital of St Lucia at ten o'clock.
At 11 o'clock I enjoyed Martin Sixsmith's biographical lecture with two video clips, but no slides. I then did five circuits which is over one mile of the promenade deck. At noon I lunched on the sweet potato soup and the roast lamb sat with flautist Clare Langan and singer Peter Howarth. I sat chatting to the latter until 13:15, when I slept for an hour and three quarters.
I frittered the afternoon away, before spending fifteen minutes in one of the jacuzzis at 4:45. The sun was bright, but the wind was still cold! I copied part of Chris's blog to my FaceBook feed only to have Kathy Hocking say that they had tested positive for CoViD! At six o'clock I danced with Chris, but back to listening to the one CD that the ship had got.
At 6:45 we adjourned to the Entertainers' end of the Grill, but one of the supervisors asked Chris to leave, so I had to dine with the Reverend Alastair instead. I had the mushroom soup, the Caesar salad, the rib eye steak and the egg custard tart with clotted cream ice cream (not Pastel de Nata)! Back in my cabin, I updated this blog. At 9:30 I went to Peter Howarth's second show time, which I felt wasn't quite as good as his first. He did several Hollies and Orbison songs, finishing with the classic He ain't heavy, he's my brother. I went to sleep at eleven o'clock.
I awoke early to the dawn, but we had gained another hour. I was coughing, so at 6:30 I phoned reception on 999. I heard nothing for over two hours, so at 8:45 I phoned the medical centre on 998. A nurse arrived quickly and swabbed both my nostrils at 8:50 and told me to wait one hour for the result. Ten minutes later I got a garbled message that I was positive, so I bunkered down in to isolation. I notified the cruise office that I couldn't give my afternoon lecture and told Chris the bad news. After one hour, I got another message saying that I was negative after all, so I had to visit the cruise office and phone Chris with the good news!
Just after ten, I popped in to the back of the theatre to check on Rustie Lee's (no relation, her actual surname is Lees!) cooking demo, but didn't stay. I then did four circuits equal to one mile of the promenade deck in the bright, warm sun shine. I had a proper decaff cappucchino in the Living Room for my elevenses and a chat with Martin Sixsmith in the Library. I took him to task for calling Kaliningrad an enclave when it is in fact an exclave!
At 11:30 I went to Jim's continuing talk on his acting career, including Brookside, Emmerdale and the Royle Family. At 12:15 I lunched on the mulligatawny soup, the shepherd's pie with goat's cheese risotto and green beans, followed by some cheese and biscuits, sat with the Chaplain. At 1:30 I met up with SM Marlon to set up for my next port talk. At two o'clock I rushed through my 35 minute lecture on Bridgetown, Barbados.
I then slept for three quarters of any hour, interrupted by the Captain's announcement that due to CoViD we would be turning back and then by a phone call from CD Tony to confirm my next few talks. He said I could have the next day off, before giving my Horta lecture. He asked what other topics I had to hand and I said The Story of the Atlantic and Hitler & Putin: A Tale of Four Cities. He accepted the former, but declined the latter!
At five o'clock I spent 3 x 3 = 9 minutes in one of the jacuzzis, but the wind was cold again. At six o'clock I danced with Chris to the recorded music in the Britannia lounge with two other couples. At 6:45 I dined on the tomato soup, the Caesar salad, the sirloin steak and the sugar free profiteroles. After dinner, I went to the Supper Club which was wasn't operating as a restaurant due to staff shortages, but did have Coral & Sam the duo playing a guitar and singing.
At 9:30 I went to Clare's excellent second show, which was even better than her first! She began with John Denver's Annie's Song and ended with Time To Say Goodbye. In between were lots of lovely well known classical numbers like Mozart's Turkish March and Strauss's Radetsky March. I went to bed at 10:45.
I awoke to the dawn at six o'clock and had my usual decaff coffee in the cabin. I do love having tea and coffee making facilities to hand first thing in the morning! At 7:30 I had my favourite egg royale with a pina colada buck's fizz (pineapple and coconut smootie topped up with bubbly)! I sat and chatted to the lovely Clare Langan. I then did four circuits of the promenade deck in the hot sun, equal to one mile of walking. At 10 o'clock I sat at the back of the Playhouse to listen to the choir practice. This began with physical warm up exercises followed by extensive vocal warm ups.
At 11 o'clock I went to Martin Sixsmith's Philomena talk. Back in 2013 I wrote: "In the evening I fore went Martin Sixsmith's lecture to enjoy the scenery before dining." I had first heard this lecture back in 2014 when I wrote: "The latter was about his book which had been made into a feature film by director Stephen Frears starring Dame Judi Dench & Steve Coogan. He showed a short video about the making of the feature film which moved me to tears!" This time I also nearly cried. He added updates about the visit of Philomena Lee to see Pope Francis in Rome and the white wash of the official Irish enquiry.
At 11:45 I went up to the Lido deck to hear the end of Rustie Lee's interview with CD Tony, but she was shouting in to the microphone. At noon I lunched on the cream soup, the roast leg of veal and the Eton mess dessert, all washed down with a sweet cocktail drink. I then slept for one and three quarter hours, interrupted by the Captain's late announcement. At 3:30 I chatted to June Snowden about the Saga Charitable Trust and her proposed move from Ely to Yorkshire. I then did four circuits, one mile, of the promenade deck.
At 4:15 I got Martin Sixsmith to go over my Hitler & Putin slide show. He told me about the Konigsberg German refugee ship sunk by the Soviets and the little green men who infiltrated in to Crimea. He later wrote a propos my Hitler & Putin lecture: "There were a lot of interesting comparions in your lecture, of which I can recall only a small percentage and which I would like to have a further think about." So I sent him a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and also a link to my AKC essay on Putin! To which he replied: "The slides and the essay are very interesting."
At five o'clock I did 4 x 3 = 12 minutes in one of the jacuzzis and for the first time this cruise there was no cold wind! I then got in to my black formal rig for the evening. At six o'clock I danced with Chris to the recorded music in the Britannia Lounge.
At 6:45 I dined on the sweet potato soup, the Caesar salad, the beef Wellington and the sugar free panna cotta, accompanied by a bottle of cider. When I got back to my cabin, I found that they had left my Horta talk out of the next day's programme! At 9:45 I went to the 40 minute Magic Telescope production show, but I couldn't follow the science fiction fantasy plot. It did however have some great tunes, like Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell! I went to bed at 10:30 having exceeded my daily target of ten thousand steps, equal to four miles of walking, for only the second time this cruise.
I awoke to the dawn at 5:30, but it was now 6:30 getting back towards Azorean time. I had my in-cabin decaff coffee, whilst updating this blog. At 7:30 I didn't fancy the apple fritter special, so I had the full English break fast. I then did four circuits, one mile, of the promenade deck. At 10 o'clock I went to Jim's talk including his working with Samantha Bond and David Morrissey.
At 11 o'clock I listened to Peter Howarth's audience with CD Tony. He has done a lot of work with Sir Cliff Richard, written the musical Robin about Robin Hood, appeared as Roy Orbison in the juke box musical Only The Lonely and worked as the lead singer of the Hollies pop group.
At noon I lunched al fresco on steak Diane with chips and peas sat with Chris on the Verandah. At one o'clock I slept for an hour and a quarter, before having my mug of decaff coffee. During the afternoon, I worked on my Salerno and Horta presentations.
At five o'clock I spent fifteen minutes in the hydrotherapy pool and five minutes on one of the heated loungers. At six o'clock I danced with Chris to the recorded music in the Britannia Lounge. She gave me a bottle of bubbly which I can give to my next door neighbours.
At 6:45 I dined on the white onion soup, the Caesar salad, the rack of lamb and the almond caramel ice cream, sat with Alastair, Jill and Colin, one of the two artists on board. At 9:30 I went to the excellent variety show of Clare & Peter. At 10:30 I adjourned to the Britannia Lounge for Mandy's excellent ABBA tribute set. We were all singing along to these classic songs. I went to sleep at 11:15.
I got up to the dawn at 6:50 and broke my fast with the special patatas brava. I did just one circuit of the promenade deck, as it was drizzling. The spicy potatoes gave me a bout of heart burn, but a dose of Gaviscon did the trick.
At 9:30 I got stickered in the North Cape Bar by Tyrone and proceeded to do another two circuits of the promenade deck. My coach departed at 10 o'clock on the complimentary Capelinhos Volcano Centre tour, normally £54. We drove around the north coast to the furthest westernmost point of the island of Faial. The subterranean exhibition was impressive with good geological specimens and audio-visual displays. I climbed up to the top of the old light house, but the windows were mucky. We then had a photo stop just down the hill from the centre on the old whaling quay.
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Back in Horta, we had our refreshments in the four star Hotel do Canal at one o'clock. I had a one ham sandwich, two tuna sandwiches, three little cakes and one biscuit with my two glasses of orange juice. I made my excuses to the guide and to Harold the escort and made my own way back to the ship, taking three hours to photograph all the important sights in Horta (pronounced Orta or even Arthur)!
The old whaling factory museum and the aquarium were closed, but the birth place of one of Portugal's premiers was open. I went in a couple of churches, before getting back to the ship at 4 o'clock. Having run out of decaff coffee sachets, I made do with a decaff tea bag for my mid-afternoon drink. I then dozed for an hour interrupted by the Captain's departure annoucement. At six o'clock I danced with Chris to the recorded music in the Britannia lounge.
At 6:45 I dined on the hot green soup (caldo verde), Caesar salad, fillet steak, pistachio ice cream and THREE petit fours, washed down with a bottle of cider. Back in my cabin, I watched Commodore Inga Kennedy's talk on her career as a nurse in the Royal Navy, culminating in her becoming the god mother of the Spirit of Adventure. I watched the start of magician Albert's second show on the telly, but when he started doing more card tricks I switched off. I went to sleep just after ten o'clock, having done over twenty one thousand steps, equal to over eight miles of walking during the day!
I awoke to the dawn at seven o'clock ready for my mug of decaff tea in the cabin. At 7:35 I broke my fast with TWO eggs Benedict brought on TWO plates! I then did four circuits of the promenade deck equal to one mile of walking. I worked on my Horta photographs from yesterday, until Noeh came to service the cabin, when I did six and a half circuits, one mile, of the top deck obstacle course.
At 10 o'clock I went to hear the Inside Soaps former editor Steven Murphy interview Coronation Star Connor McIntyre. I then chatted to David Wright from Bishops Stortford. At 11 o'clock I listened to Sheila Carter talk about her career as a Tiller Girl and a Vernon Girl. I had heard her, billed as Sheila Parker, give this talk on the Holy Land cruise in 2014.
At noon I lunched on the roast beef al fresco on the verandah. Later I joined Chris on the other side of the ship for my Stilton cheese on brown bread second course. I then slept for one hour, before having my decaff coffee in my cabin. I continued updating my Horta presentation, which I had not actually given this cruise! At four o'clock I spent ten minutes in the hydrotheraphy pool and dried off in the warm infra red sauna.
At six o'clock I danced with Chris to the recorded music in the Britannia lounge. At 6:45 I dined with ex-WPC Karen who is one of the ORCA whale watchers and with Chaplain Alastair. I had the corn chowder soup, the Caesar salad, the roast lamb and the blueberry crumble ice cream.
At 9:30 I went to the Saga Sings show time. CD Tony began by singing the Lady is a Tramp followed by some jokes. The next singer was Coral, half of the Supper Club duo, who sang some funky numbers. The final singer was Mandy, lead vocalist of the JJ Britannia Band, who had been in isolation for most of the cruise. I went to bed at 10:30.
I awoke just before six o'clock, but it was now seven on GMT. Just after 7:30 I had the full English break fast. Only one side of the promenade deck was open and that was a bit breezy, so I walked around the public rooms on decks 5,6 and 7 instead.
At 10 o'clock I went to the Audience with Captain Darin Bowland in the Playhouse. I was disturbed to hear that the ship runs partly on sulphurous heavy fuel oil. Hopefully the scrubbers in the funnel remove most of the sulphur, if not the smuts! I do like a smutty scrubber! He showed some slides and talked for 70 minutes.
At 11:15 I went to Laura's line dance class with six guests. She taught Electric Slide, Little Red Book, Red Hot Salsa and Country Walkin' to Tell Me Ma! At noon I lunched on the broccoli and blue cheese soup and just one slice of the Napoli pizza. I then slept for nearly two hours, before having my mid-afternoon decaff coffee.
At 4 o'clock I spent 10 minutes in the hydrotheraphy pool, 5 minutes in the infra red sauna and 10 minutes on one of the heated loungers. Unfortunately the tubular metal beds in the pool and the heated ones on the side are just uncomfortable! At six o'clock I danced with Chris, as Ian & Kathy Hocking were released from isolation.
At 6:45 I dined on the parsnip soup, the surf & turf (prawns and fillet steak) and crepes suzette. Back in my cabin I had trouble keeping awake until the Cruising for Murder passenger play started at 9:30. This began with three songs led by Ivy and her ukelele players. When the radio play started it was very amateur, so I turned it off and went to sleep at 10 o'clock.
I awoke to the dawn at 6:40 ready for TWO mugs of tea. At 7:30 I had the kedgeree with a tomato juice for break fast. I then did four circuits, equal to one mile, of the promenade deck.
When Grace came to service the cabin, I sat in the Library. I then watched Debbie Arnold interviewed by Steven Murphy on the TV recorded yesterday. At 11 o'clock I listened to Martin Sixsmith's talk on Sergei Yesenin the Russian poet.
At noon I lunched al fresco with Chris on the Verandah. I had the cream soup, the beef Wellington and the syllabub. I then slept for 80 minutes.
At 2 o'clock I listened to Chief Officer Adam's talk about the navigational bridge. At 3 o'clock I watched Steven Murphy's interview with actor Michael Howe. At 4 o'clock I spent ten minutes in the hydrotheraphy pool, ten minutes in the infra red sauna and five minutes on one of the heated beds. I then packed ready to go home the next day.
At 5:45 I called by at reception to get a baggage tag, but no UK locator forms or disembarkation letters were available. I was told to write "NPPR" on my tag. Martin Sixsmith later told me it stood for "Non Paying Passenger Returning"! CD Tony passing by, thanked me for all my lectures. At six o'clock I danced with Chris to the JJ band in the Britannia lounge with singer Mandy for the first time this entire cruise! At 6:45 I dined on the spinach soup, the Caesar salad, the roast lamb and the double chocolate ice cream.
Back in my cabin I tried to complete a UK locator form, but they wanted to send me a text message and I had no signal in the middle of the English Channel! At 9:30 I watched the Ukrainian Excelsior piano quartet play great film scores. Their pianist was still in isolation, so the cocktail pianist, also Ukrainian, stepped forward. I went to sleep soon after 10:30.
I awoke at 6:20 to the dawn from my open curtains. I had my last decaff coffee in the cabin, before abluting. I finally managed to submit my UK locator form as I now had a mobile phone signal. Just after seven o'clock I had my last egg Benedict in the Grill buffet.
Back in my cabin, I updated this blog. At 9:30 I adjourned to the Living room where shore side manager Carol phoned my details ashore. I had to wait half an hour in the shore side waiting room, sat beside the Sixsmiths, for one of the stand by taxis to take me to the station. Here I caught the train to BoMoH and then a taxi got me home at 11:35. Before I had got home, I had received another offer from Saga for cruise SD066 to the Western Med, so they must have been pleased with my performance under difficult circumstances! At home, I immediately did a rapid lateral flow test which was positive, so I entered in to isolation!
Chris wrote in her blog:
"A big thank you to Martin for agreeing to dance with me and you will get the feeling in your toes back soon. Anyway you do have 10 of them!"
"Great music to dance to and plenty of exercise for both brain and body particularly when I had to attempt the Mayfair Quickstep. Luckily Martin knew it and I just followed. Despite not knowing the steps and making a sufficient number of mistakes I got through it. Same goes for the Sally Ann cha cha, although I have done that one before. 45 minutes goes quickly when you are having fun. I am so grateful to Martin for agreeing to dance with me as I just love dancing."
Martin Sixsmith later wrote: "I just read your report on our Saga cruise to nowhere (except the Azores) and I must say you were very charitable in your description of it!"
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15 Night cruise 14 Day cruise 12 Sea days 7 Lectures given (PD, SJ, RT, VG, BK, CL & BT) 5 Lectures not given (WC, PR, PP, KW & HF) 2 Port days with tours (PD & HF) 1 Lunch out (HF)
10 Cruise Lines:
√ Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines √ Saga Shipping Company √ Voyages of Discovery √ Seabourn (Carnival) √ Princess (Carnival) √ Cunard (Carnival) √ P&O (Carnival) √ Celebrity (RCCL) √ Silversea (RCCL) √ CrystalThirty Four Cruise Ships:
Silver Wind Silver Muse Silver Moon Silver Spirit Silver Whisper Celebrity Silhouette Celebrity Solstice Celebrity Eclipse Celebrity Edge Celebrity Apex Black Prince Black Watch Balmoral Boudicca Braemar Saga Rose Saga Ruby Saga Sapphire Saga Pearl II Quest for Adventure Spirit of Adventure (old SofA) Spirit of Adventure (new SofA) Spirit of Discovery Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) Queen Elizabeth (QE) Queen Victoria (QV) Queen Mary 2 (QM2) Crystal Symphony Crystal Serenity Seabourn Odyssey Seabourn Sojourn Sapphire Princess VoD Discovery P&O Oriana