Thursday 26^th February – Day at Sea.

This morning we found a quiet spot to sit under the lifeboats – Ian in the shade and Nesta in a patch of sunshine – but we went inside at 11-30am as it was too hot even in the shade.

We had a light lunch and then went to choir practice. There are more men in this choir but only about six sopranos so Nesta has to sing loudly!

In the evening we had a pre-dinner drink in the Chart Room (in homage to Helen and Mike) and then went into the restaurant for the first time in a while. We ordered our favourite “Mullygrubber” from our new sommelier only to be told that it had run out again! Ian was not very impressed - as we had been told that new stocks were taken on board in Kuala Lumpur so they are actually either trying to manipulate us into buying even more expensive wine or they are incompetent. The Head Sommelier will talk to us tomorrow evening – allegedly!

After dinner we went to watch Benjamin Makisi perform. Ben is a tenor who hails from New Zealand via the South Pacific Islands but actually lives in Portishead! He had a superb voice and it was a pleasant way to spend an hour.