Friday 20th July 2018
Part 12 - The afternoon and evening
After a light lunch and a rest, I finished reading my paperback book so took it to Reception. They were happy to have it for one of the crew; we all talked about the ship and its history and it was suggested that we come back and talk to the Chief Steward on duty later.
Later that afternoon we talked to the Chief Steward and then one of his colleagues. This colleague obtained some keys and we were all invited to go with him to see the locked-up Japanese Lounge and the Cinema.
I seem to remember that the Lounge was on Deck 9 and once some of the side curtains were opened we could look out at the sea. The lounge seemed vast and was in lovely condition considering it had been locked up for some time. There was a small stage, a beautiful wooden dance floor, lots of comfortable seating in various groups, tall mirrors and what had obviously been well-designed wallpaper. I imagine this room will be restored and put back into public use when there is time and money. What a treat that will be.
The Cinema was on Deck 7, behind the plain door above the semi-circular step we saw yesterday. We entered through another doorway on which was hung a deep-cushioned door, obviously to contain the noise from the cinema. The tiered seats were nicely raked, they looked comfortable, and photographs of various film-stars were on the walls. It looked almost ready for a new film show and audience - maybe one day...
We thanked the member of staff who had allowed us to see and photograph the locked Lounge and Cinema, and then went back to thank the Chief Steward.
That evening at dinner it was my turn to order and pay for the wine but the Chief Steward told the man on the till that we were not to pay for the bottle, as it was a gift from him. That was so kind and of course we went back to thank him once again.
The evening continued with me giving an illustrated talk, which was much easier than it might sound. My friends will not be able to come along to the October Ocean Liner Society meeting in London when I am to be the speaker, so I had all the pictures on a USB stick which we could put into a friend's lightweight computer to view, rather than through a projector. I had a paper copy of my notes and so as we sailed through the calm waters of the Adriatic Sea that evening I gave my upcoming 'Union-Castle Line Purserette' talk to a very small audience of two! They seemed fascinated, amazed and amused in all the right places; what a novel way to spend an evening at sea we thought.
Ships seen: Asterion II, Olympic Champion, Kerkyra Express, 2 cruise ships in Corfu but too far off to identify, Hellenic Spirit of ANEK with whom we exchanged whistles as we passed, Rigel I, Cruise Olympia of Minoan Line
To be continued...