DAY 11 - SUNDAY 24TH AUGUST
I wake at 6.30 am, with the others rising quite a bit later. Room service arrives on the dot of 9am after a courtesy phone call to tell us it was on its way. We enjoy a selection of eggs benedict, croissants, ham and cheese omelette, toast, coffee and juice. We head up to the top deck for sunbathing and book reading until 12.50 when we head to the forward elevators on deck 9 for the “invitation only” bridge tour - we assume this is open to those that registered for the Connections party through cruise critic. There were around 25 to 30 people waiting and we were escorted onto the bridge where we had a very informative talk about how the ship steers, how the radar works, what shifts they have to do on look out etc. etc. There was a particularly funny moment when the first officer had a call from the captain asking why he had increased his speed. It turned out that one of our party had inadvertently moved the tiny joystick, which controlled the speed. The captain was on the bridge in a shot to rectify this error and to ask how it could have happened. As it was, although we were warned about not touching any of the controls, there were no barriers to stop anyone getting too near and we saw a number of people, both adults and children, blatantly ignoring these warnings and lounging around the controls. Their lack of regard for all the warnings was astounding - perhaps the children who weren't being adequately supervised could be forgiven as they are by nature very inquisitive, but the lady who had her elbow just millimetres from the controls had absolutely no excuses. The captain said they would have to look into this matter to avoid it happening again - perhaps they should just ensure they only invite people who can a. supervise their children adequately or b. understand simple instructions. The sign above Kev's head in the second picture below seems very apt
The view from the bridge was amazing and we felt very lucky to be able to have a look around and all questions were answered very well. We left the bridge at 1.45pm just in time to catch the Cosmopolitan Restaurant for a formal sit down lunch. As you can see they were ready for a wine tasting class straight afterwards
Starters included spring rolls or smoked fish salad, then pulled pork sandwich with chilli fries, mahi-mahi in a brochette with rice, followed by lychee and raspberry pavlova or bread and butter pudding with bourbon ice cream. All delicious and washed down with iced coffee for the girls and a beer for Kev. We had thoughts of retiring to the cabin to read on the balcony but it was in the shade and there was a cool breeze blowing so we found a good spot on the promenade deck on some lounger chairs. Later we went to the rear deck for a Long Island Tea cocktail of the day. Tonight is formal night so we doll ourselves up and Kev and I enjoy a lemon and apple martini before heading to the theatre for the show Encore. This was really enjoyable and very well executed with music from The Wiz, Les Miserables, We will Rock You, Titanic and various other shows complete with aerial artists and some very good sets. There was one hilarious part in the Wiz section where Dorothy had obviously dropped Toto and it was lying looking dead on the floor – I guess you had to be there to appreciate how hilarious this was. Mind you I guess the earlier cocktails had some influence on my perception. Dinner followed with sweetbreads on potato pancakes, shrimp cocktail or pheasant terrine, Caesar salad, sorbet, then for main either prime rib with a jacket potato, lobster tail with prawn, scallops and risotto and this was topped off with the baked alaska parade. The waiters carried the large baked alaskas on trays to the tables with sparklers in them and the lights dimmed whilst we all clapped appreciatively. The food was wonderful as usual and due to the extra parade it was pretty late by the time we tried to get into Michael’s Club – which was full so we headed to the Rendezvous lounge until midnight