Saturday 3rd June 2017
The day started with a leisurely breakfast up in the Deck 12 Garden Cafe, as we sailed along in the increasing sunshine. Visibility was about 3 miles, but the speed was shown as 17/18 knots, with 3-4 feet wave height. At coffee time we went to the Deck 7 Java Cafe in the mid-ships atrium, before heading out on deck to consider sitting in the sunshine.
That proved too much of a breezy challenge but the social Spinnaker Bar was the ideal place to be for many of us.
I could have participated in so many things today on board, including games and sports, jewellery sales, body sculpt boot camp, introduction to acupuncture, trivia quiz, art sales, bridge play, wrinkle remedies, origami paper boxes to be made, increase your metabolism, and a cooking demonstration of bouillabaisse. This was all in the morning; the afternoon's choices offered digital photo seminar, genealogy social group, extreme bean bag toss, charades, binocular seminar, trivia quiz on beers of the world, satellite Texas hold'em tournament, champagne art auction preview, chocolate & wine pairing, look 10 years younger group, improve your posture, goofy golf, veterans social, classic car enthusiasts social, family balloon twisting and many many other things.
Late lunch was good at the Irish O'Sheehan's pub, with slightly misty views out to sea during the meal. The Daily Programme told us about a Quiz to be held after the quiet time so we headed back to the oh-so-comfortable Spinnaker Lounge for the views out to the almost completely calm sea. We read that the wave height was now only 1 foot, just the way the North Sea should be in an ideal situation, to my mind. We joined people sitting nearby for the quiz and soon realised that the questions were mainly aimed at an American audience. I think someone forgot that on this trip the passengers were mostly British, having embarked in Southampton. We did our best and enjoyed it, although we didn't win.
After that I decided to go and see the Bridge Viewing Area, which is always available so passengers can watch through huge glass panels what is being done on the Bridge by the Deck officers on watch. There were some duplicate radar screens in this Area, which were interesting too. I enjoyed seeing the original flag of the PRIDE OF HAWAII, displayed safely in a glass case, with another display explaining what I was looking at.
I headed for the End of the World stern cafe, which is beyond the Garden Cafe, for a cup of tea, and realised I was walking along the famous 'fishes forward' carpet motif, although I was the red fish heading the wrong way!
Pre-dinner drinks in another of the atrium bars later then led on to dinner in the Grand Pacific Restaurant again. I enjoyed the food and the choice of dishes, and remember choosing Volcano pudding (chocolate soufflé with ice cream and strawberry sauce).
The evening 'Showdown' entertainment was loud and good and the music and dancing in the Spinnaker Bar this evening was to disco music of the 50s and 60s - good fun.
By this time we had arrived near the North Sea entrance to the River Elbe and the Pilot, but had to wait in the darkness. Nearby were the lights of many vessels which I couldn't recognise, but I was reliably informed what they were, so they are my Ships Seen list for today!
Ships seen: Agath, Mol Emissary, Barents, BBC Spring, Genko Pyrenees, Komet 3, Marielist, Iduna, Hermes Leader, Maersk Nijmetun, Pegasus, IBS Shipra, Barbara, Martin Island, Baltimore Highway, Star Hyperion, Barmbeck, Morningcello, BF Esperanzo, Hilge, Hanni, Jolyn, and the Grimaldi RORO Grande Dakar which I did see
To be concluded...