A night and a morning

Those dreamy illusions of sipping cocktails as the ship glides across the glassy sea were rudely shattered by rough seas as soon as we rounded Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. All night the boat has pitched and tossed its way to the west coast of France and is even now heaving its way South.

Not that that stopped your intrepid travellers from heading for breakfast - a good buffet - or from going to see our first speaker - Cheryl Baker from Bucks Fizz. Remember her - still totally recognisable, even as she heads towards 70. The theatre at the front of the boat was fairly busy, but everyone was feeling the impact of the waves and Cheryl clung to a microphone stand to maintain her balance, while the curtains behind her danced as if they were in a gale!

The other issue has been that Gabrielle has failed to sleep more than hour or so and is quite exhausted. Both of us are suffering from the lingering after-effects of a cold and, all in all, we're feeling a bit sorry for ourselves! Nonetheless, we had a lovely meal last night, after the fireworks sail-away, with a glass or two of red and we shall look forward to similar tonight.

Aurora is a beautiful ship - yes, just as you said, Joyce! - and its facilities, those we have managed to see, are really good. Our room is beautiful, we have each other and the weather is out there while we are in here!