Monday 27^th April 2015 – Day at Sea.

It’s a busy day for Nesta!

After an early breakfast (9am!) we went to listen to Michael Howard giving his impression of the world in 2015. He is a very good public speaker (Captain: you could do worse than take some lessons!)

At 1pm Nesta went off to the “scarf folding seminar”! (She did, really…) She never realised there were so many things you could do with a square scarf – good job she was able to borrow one of Jenny’s as she hasn’t got one herself! (Yet)

There was an extra choir rehearsal at 2pm and we then managed a quick sandwich before Nesta was off again – this time to learn how to do some magic tricks! You should see what she can do now with an elastic band and a couple of paper clips!

After a performance of her newly found skills for “the gang” we nibbled in Kings Court again – as the evening entertainment wasn’t up to much.

Tomorrow we’ll be back on dry land!

 

Tuesday 28^th April 2015 – Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.

The predictive weather report was far too pessimistic. We had temperatures reaching 27 degrees and there was unbroken sunshine in the south of the island.

We went on a “two stops on your own” tour where a coach takes us to a town and we have a couple of hours to explore on our own. We thought this was a good way to see more of the island – and also it took us away from the cloudier northern part of the island.

Although we were expecting just a coach driver, we actually got a guide who told us all about the island and the places of interest we were passing. (We even managed to wave to Rob & Jenny’s second home on the way to Maspalomas and Puerto Mogan)

The sand dunes at Maspalomas were a bit underwhelming after Namibia – so we walked around the town and then had a drink in Paddy’s beach bar.

Puerto Mogan was very pretty in a quaint fishing village sort of way (even though it’s all been built in the last 20 years) but the scale of new development seems to be getting out of hand. Hope they don’t spoil it.

We then bought some very cheap booze for Adam and Lee to thank them for doing choir and some dirt cheap cigarettes for Nesta!

The sail away was good in the warm sunshine and we ended up eating Asian style food in Kings Court with Jenny, Dianne and Lewanne. We had Indonesian coconut chicken – which was a nice change after what’s been available for the last few weeks.

 

Wednesday 29^th April – Funchal, Madeira.

This is our second visit – as Voyager came here before it crossed the Atlantic. We parked at the same terminal as Voyager because the posher terminal has been demolished! Hopefully they are rebuilding it.

We did the sightseeing bus tour (it wasn’t really a hop on, hop off bus as it didn’t stop anywhere that looked interesting enough to get off!) The trip wasn’t helped by the fact that the driver hit a parked car – which caused a 20 minute delay and lots of loud talking in Portuguese! Unfortunately, the commentary wasn’t switched off, so when we re-started - we had no idea what we were seeing, where!

After getting off the bus, we walked through the old town and back through the main shopping street to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship. There were a lot more shops and restaurants open than when we last visited – although I suppose that was in December, so it would have been off-season.

We did “full-on” dancing during our last “sail away” party and were a bit sad, if we’re honest, because it has been an amazing trip.

We went to the art gallery for a glass of bubbly and to look at some new pictures before we went and ate in the Coriander Indian Restaurant. It was ok – but not as nice as the first time we went with Helen and Mike. Our desserts were so frozen that they flew off the plates when we tried to eat them. It was the funniest thing of the day!

 

Thursday 30^th April 2015 – Day at Sea.

Well, today was the day for our big/final choir performance in the actual theatre! We had a last rehearsal at 12 – which meant we couldn’t see Michael Howard’s final lecture – followed by a technical rehearsal. (How to walk on and off the stage, without falling into the audience!)

We gave Lee and Adam the presents we’d bought during the half hour free time we had before the performance. They seemed pleased.

The performance was ok but only lasted 20 minutes. The theatre was quite full and we did get a standing ovation! (No encores, though – which was just as well as we hadn’t learned one!)

Ed (Dumbo) the Assistant Entertainment Manager introduced us and thanked us after the show. As usual he demonstrated his lack of attention to detail by thanking Ben (the other male Cunard singer who has had nothing whatsoever to do with the choir) for all his hard work! Lee laughed it off and said he was used to it - but we thought it was terrible!

It was Adam’s birthday (he’s 24 today) so we got the whole audience to sing Happy Birthday to him. Nesta was standing next to his Mum (who is on board for this leg) and she had a tear in her eye!

Tonight was the night for our “all the way round” farewell dinner. 16 of us dined in an alcove downstairs in the Britannia Restaurant. Glen (the food and beverage manager) provided the wine and Anafisa (the World Voyage Concierge) Hazel (the lovely Events Manager) and Maria (the head of housekeeping) joined us, Gary, Jenny, Dianne, Lewanne, Andrew, Linda, Colin, Vanessa, Norah and Alan. Some of us dressed up to represent some of the places we visited. Gary dressed as an Arab, Nesta had her Namibia tee shirt on, Lewanne had her Madeira hat and jumper on and Ian went as “Southampton”!

Lots of photos were taken and we had a noisy, enjoyable evening. Even the food was hot and freshly cooked!

We didn’t finish eating until 10-15pm so there was just time for the smokers to get some “fresh air” before we went into the theatre to watch Roy Walker (of The Comedians and Catchphrase fame.) He was funny in a “gentle” sort of way and provided a nice end to a lovely evening.

Although we have two more nights on board after tonight, we all agreed that this was the “actual” last night of the cruise… There is one more formal evening (the 41^st!) but we’ve decided to pack away our formal gear and slum it from now on. After all, we’re not expecting the Bay of Biscay or the English Channel to be sunbathing or promenading weather!