Friday
12th
February It's
been
scorching
today
as
we sail The
sun
has
been
so
vicious that we abandoned the sun deck at was
a
touch
too
formal
to be massively enjoyable, and most of the delicacies on offer
would
have been available in the self-service buffet restaurants on the top
deck.
We've now ( I
haven't seen
Dolores in the Pasticceria today, but yesterday when she was serving me
with a
couple of 'cookies' she confided conspiratorially that earlier that
afternoon,
with only one cookie available on display, two passengers had come to
blows
over who should have it and the cookie had been thrown across the ship!
I
asked, cheekily, "Were they Americans?" but she put her finger to her
lips having seen two other customers waiting to be served. I took that
as
confirmation and grinned. But, to be fair, this has been
a very
calm and relaxing cruise, with virtually no negatives at all. Gill
and
I
have
been
talking about our impressions of the ports of call. Some of them
offered
little in terms of conventional tourist attractions, but you'd have to
say that
they make the most of what they have. The bits that really count are
the beauty
of these tropical islands, the cheerfulness and friendliness of the
locals and
the gorgeous weather. The
ship
is
stunning,
even
though it's eight years old and has quite a few miles on
the
clock. It's kept spotlessly clean in absolutely all locations, the
cabin has
been perfect, with a deliciously comfortable bed, a choice of four
grades of
pillow and towels and face cloths changed twice a day. The theatre can
seat 900
people and even has a balcony - frankly, it's equipped to |
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The
main
evening
entertainment
on
cruise ships is always a bit hit and miss, depending on which
nationality
it's
aimed at. On Italian ships you notice that they have an odd, even
childlike, sense of humour and American ships seem to cater only to
their own
nationals on the basis that their culture will surely be good enough
for
everyone else. On this cruise there's been a homophobic, ageist, sexist
magician - that wasn't his billing, by the way - and, lamentably, large
sections of
the audience clearly loved his material. There was a pleasant enough
impressionist
who
could
only
manage impressions of American stars, most of
whom we hadn't heard of so couldn't
judge how good he was. But
there
have
been
a
couple of genuinely good acts. There was an earnest young American
musician
called
David
Mayer who plays what he calls a 'Xylosynth' - pretty much an
electronic
xylophone. His instrument limits his range, but he played a selection
of music
including classical in electrifying style - his hands were a blur.
Also,
there's been a young Canadian vocal impressionist called Karen Granger,
who had
the sense to feature internationally-known singers and thereby also
appeal to
nationalities in the audience other than Americans. These
appear
on
one
or
two nights during the fortnight, but there are other musicians
performing
every day, and in the main they're stunningly good. There's been an
excellent
string quartet with its own devotees, a guitarist who seems to be able
to
effortlessly imitate James Taylor, John Denver and others, and a
pianist who
plays easy listening material right through the evening and into the
night. And
for those who like that sort of thing there's an A Capella quartet of
young
lads who pop up in itinerant fashion around the ship,
even
when you
think you're safely out of their way, and a Country & Western
quartet
that's easier to avoid as they're always in the same bar ;o) But,
best
of
all,
you
can pick and choose what suits you, from music to language classes
to films
shown in the little cinema to quizzes and lectures. On the Azamara
Quest last
August we attended two lectures, one on the history and mosaics of |
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