Certificates

It was a non-alcohol night last night. Yes, this is worthy of note. We were both really tired and just wanted to have our evening meal and collapse in a heap. Why so tired? We’d not exactly done much. OK, a workout (for me), walking the deck as usual and going on a trip which involved a fair amount of sitting on a coach. However, the humidity and heat of Recife were quite draining. The best we managed after dinner was a stroll on the top deck to catch the breeze. None of the evening entertainment particularly appealed.

This morning I double-checked and indeed triple-checked that today was the Trek the Deck day. Given my previous lack of reading the small print. Yes, it certainly was and we were not alone. I’d reckon at least a hundred taking part. On the button of 11, the Captain announced the off. It was more Amble the Deck rather than Trek the Deck as we ‘set’ off. There were a few with walking sticks, a couple holding hands, some biddies who’ve not drawn breath since boarding the ship, insisting they carry on their conversation. There are areas of the ship where there are bottlenecks, but at the points where it widens, that’s the trigger for the elbows to come out and the proper walking starts. The idea was to do 9 laps of the promenade deck, which represents 3 miles/5 KM. 

There was a water station halfway around, bins for the used cups and lots of support from the staff. All very organised. The rest of the passengers looked on with mild bemusement. What was encouraging though was we evidently instilled a sense of guilt in them and each time we did a lap, I noticed yet more people donating to the Teenage Cancer Trust at the registration station.

We are now the proud owners of two certificates. One for crossing the line and one for our walk today. The Trek raised £1,912 in total!

Since we left Recife last night at 6pm to mid-day today, we have travelled 301 nautical miles at an average speed of 17 knots. We have a further 730 nautical miles to go to our next destination, Cabo Frio, on Friday. We had a couple of showers this morning, but it’s been a fairly muggy 29 degrees and sunny for the rest of the day. We’re currently in the South Atlantic Gyre. For the uninitiated, this is a circulation system going anticlockwise between Africa and South America. One component of which is the Brazil current which travels down the coast in a southerly direction and we are benefitting currently from its drive.

As we approach the second complete week of our adventure, we’ve noticed a number of changes since we were last on a P&O cruise three years ago. Some for the better and some have sadly, deteriorated. The food so far is OK. We’ve learnt now not to have pastry, they haven’t mastered it, not even a little and some fish dishes can be predictably overcooked. We’ve also noticed a reduction in the variety and quality of food. No doubt COVID and lack of staff are to blame. However, one area which is a vast improvement is the staff in the restaurant who seem so much calmer and organised. The evening meal system is also hugely improved. Now, from the comfort of wherever you are, you join a virtual queue for the restaurant of your choice, from the P&O App. You can see how many people are in front of you. You then get an alert when your table is free and are given 15 minutes to get to the restaurant. Genius. So much better than the previous system of being given a pager if there were no tables free. 

We’ve also noticed certain activities have changed. What? No Knit and Natter (or Stitch and Bitch), not that this would be of interest. There is also no onboard photographer, which is a definite plus. The bathroom towels are enormous and wrap around me twice.

We have decided to try one of the other restaurants this evening, The Glasshouse. Tonight will not be a non-alcoholic night, as they specialise in wine. We’ll be off to the show tonight also. For those from the Stoke area, you will be well acquainted with Stoke’s celebrity, Jonathan Wilkes. He, along with Stephen Mulhern have created the show Astonishing. We’ve seen it before, but worth seeing again.