Author: Harry

Still grey and cold, so did not spend too much time outside.

Headed off to the morning Trivia, where our team scored higher than yesterday but still a few points behind the winners. Some silly mistakes, so will need to improve discipline and have a team talk before tomorrow’s event.

No Zumba class but it was replaced by Keep Fit. We managed to survive the full session and went on to Ballroom Dancing.

No problem with the cha-cha. Different starting steps this time and was able to slip in my forward left without opposition. We saw through the class with no arguments and completed the full routine – think this is a first.

Gala Night tonight, so put on our best frocks and set off for the Captain’s cocktail party. Joined the end of a long queue waiting to get in and after 15 minutes in line, I was seriously questioning just how much I would do for a free drink. Fortunately, we started to move forward and were greeted by the Captain and his senior officers. Most people rushed past and dashed towards the drinks. The waiters were overwhelmed and we had just about given up hope when a tray passed with a glass full of blue liquid. In desperation, I picked it up and found it was some sort of sweet soft drink – later told that it contained vodka. I left it on a nearby table and we went on to the dining room. I realised that the answer to my question was, in the words of Meatloaf – “I’ll do anything for drink but I won’t do that”.

After dinner we returned to the ballroom, where we sat with a Cornish couple, who we had met in the queue for the cocktail party. They had stayed on and managed to find enough drink to be a little worse for wear. 

Another day at sea tomorrow and hopefully, the weather will be better and we will be able to spend more time on deck.

Morning was cold and grey, so spent most of the day inside.

Had our first Trivia of the cruise but did not do too well. In our defence, it was quite hard – who would know the highest mountain in Vietnam, or Pol Pot’s real name. It seems that we have professionals aboard again, as someone knew the answers – looks like the Cunard T shirt is a long way off.

Moved on to the ballroom, where the Line Dancing class was in full swing, with some tights clad, slightly wizened, afficionadas, galloping furiously toward their last roundup.

Zumba came next and we decided to have a go, despite the fact that the instructor turned up dressed in shorts and T shirt, with a towel around his neck.

The class was good but as we were wearing in normal clothing, we dropped out as they moved on to the sweaty stuff. Probably try it again but will wear shorts and my Bjorn Borg sweatband.

Ballroom dancing class was next. The instructor was the same member of the entertainment staff who gave the classes in the first weeks of the last cruise. This time, he had a female partner, rather than the previous, snake hipped, male dancer – perhaps Cunard is becoming less Woke.
Think he is probably Polish and had quite a strong accent, very similar to the meerkat Sergei in the TV advertisement.

We started with the basic Waltz, which we have done many times before – Forward, Side, Close, Backward, Side, Close. The class begins with the men standing on one side of the ballroom and women on the other, with the instructor in the centre, demonstrating the steps – another change, as last time, we were referred to as “Leaders” and “Followers”, rather than “Men” and “Women”.

Each side tries the steps, before joining their partners and attempting to dance together.

That was where the problem began. I am not the most talented dancer but I can remember the rules – the man (leader😂) begins by stepping forward with his left foot, as the woman steps backward with her right. Some teachers emphasise this by saying “the woman is always right”. Unfortunately, my knowledge and leadership authority were called into question, as Lynne insisted and starting by stepping forward with her right foot.

We stayed on to practice the spin turn – no problem here – but decided to take an early lunch and resume tomorrow with the basic cha-cha. I have no idea which foot goes first here, so should not be a problem.

Had dinner in the specialty ($35 surcharge) Indian restaurant with friends we had made on our last cruise. The food was good and (unsurprisingly) the restaurant was empty. The Captain called at our table, to say hello but refused my offer to share an onion bahji.

We returned to our cabin, where there was an invitation to attend a cocktail party tomorrow – seems that our Gold status has benefits and can’t wait to see what riches our forthcoming upgrade to Platinum brings.

Spent yesterday wondering if I should have hired a car and driven to Southampton a day early, rather than taking the Cunard coach from Leeds. The snow was not moving and overnight temperatures were forecast to drop to minus 10.

Eventually, called the taxi company to ask them to pick up 15 minutes earlier.

6:30 am came around and the taxi tracking app said that the driver had arrived – but he was nowhere in sight. Fortunately, he had clicked his “arrival button” when he was approaching and turned up a couple of minutes later.

It was still well below zero and icy but the journey to the coach station went smoothly and we were here in half an hour, rather than the 75 minutes I had allowed.

The taxi driver was pleasant but his command of English was not great and not helped by his insistence on ending any statement with “init” (isn’t it?)

Despite having a bus pass, I have not used a bus for years and was unfamiliar with the layout and the area for coach pickups was not well signposted – until you knew where it was and then it was obvious. There was a Travel Advice office but that was closed. Gregg’s was open but there was a long queue, so I chose the adjacent newsagent’s for my enquiry. 

The attendant was a large, surly woman, who, if she had acting ambitions, could have made a good living playing “large surly woman” on TV, stage, or cinema. Her mumbled reply – my request for a repeat only made her more irate – indicated that my destination was through the door, at the side of her shop.

Just inside, there was a group of obvious “Cunarders” – all of a certain age, surrounded by baggage and discussing previous oceanic adventures.

The journey to Southampton was smooth and uneventful with two stops on the way. It took a total of six hours and we were deposited just outside the departure area. Boarding went smoothly, apart from two panics. We were told that we had to identify our luggage as it was taken off the coach but my suitcase was not there. It turned out that an over enthusiastic baggage handler had put it the conveyer before I got to it.

Check in started off well. The vaccination certificate was accepted without question but I was then asked for ESTA certificate for entry to the US. Of course, I had checked everything and we had valid certificates but previously, they showed up when the passport was scanned. On this occasion however, they wanted to see a physical copy. Quick thinking, as ever, I realised that I could download a copy to my phone and that would be sufficient. For some reason, the check in attendant was not impressed and neither was Lynne. Later, I had copied the travel documents to a memory stick but left it in my conveyor bound luggage.

No more mishaps and we were soon in the Cabin, then off to see the fireworks and on our way.