Fashion frenzy

Gabrielle's outfit for the Fashion Show - not her choice but she made it work

We decided that we needed a night in with room service because we were tired and wanted a night off the sauce too. This even though there is half a bottle of pop in the fridge and the remnants of the previous night’s red wine too. Tomorrow’s another day, was our reasoning. Once Gabrielle returned from her rehearsal for the fashion show we ordered two mushroom and cheese omelettes with a side order of fries. And it was delicious. The room service food is top rate and worth having. And a good part of the menu can be ordered at any time, day or night. 

Perfecting my pout and strut

Practice glamour for the fashion show?

Late afternoon yesterday, I got the phone call from my new agent, Monica, checking in with me that I was still ok for my starring role in the fashion show. Oh Lord, I don’t think Sindhu does a “healthy version” curry. Oh well, my claim at being small to medium in size might have to change to XXL.

Entertaining ourselves and being entertained. Or not.

Gabrielle with the lovely Janice

We’d been without Internet all day day-before-yesterday and yesterday and it became something of an inconvenience. Apart from the fact that we were unable to post our blogs, we lost touch with the UK at a time of political uncertainty (Brexit and Partygate, again) and in circumstances where we were unable to let anyone know why nothing was happening. And so, there we sat, heading into the North Atlantic and adrift, Internet-less. We couldn’t even check our Premium Bonds!

First of six days at sea

Sunset  as we left St Maarten

It was lovely once the other two cruise ships had left St Maarten last night, leaving us the last to leave. If the truth be told, I wasn’t fussed about going out last night. We had been informed slightly late in the day that there was a change of schedule for our departure from St Maarten and we would be leaving 3 hours later than published. This was due to the issues with docking and re-berthing that the ship had to do and quite a lot of people had been stranded on the ship and were therefore late getting off. I thought it might be nice to simply reflect on an amazing day and get a simple room service in. Nope, Nick wanted to be entertained. So recognising that the key to a successful marriage is compromise, we did as Nick wanted! We’d checked out the dinner menu on our way back from our trip and felt it looked ok. And ok it was. This is now the fourth decent meal on the trot in the restaurant. What’s going on? Long may it last.

Villainy on the high seas

Sunrise over the Aida

48 hours without Internet - sorry for the hiatus, but nothing we could do. Warning! There are images of drinking and of elderly people leaping around like lambkins in a high-speed racing yacht in this article. 

We made the mistake of going into the Glass House last night for a glass before dinner. A mistake? Well, because we are so well known there, (can’t think why) all the staff want to talk to us: How was your day? What did you do? Are you going out tomorrow? And of course, we respond with: Did you manage to get some shore leave? How was it? Are you getting off in St Maarten? By the time you’ve done this with half a dozen of the lovely team there, your drink has become warm and you’re thinking you better get to dinner before it congeals! It’s lovely to have that level of attention and they are so friendly that you don’t want to stop that chat happening - it becomes part of the evening’s socialising. 

Shaken and stirred in Antigua

The view that lasted only about 2 minutes this morning

As we set sail from St Lucia yesterday evening there started a little playful banter between the two P&O ships in port. The mighty Arvia versus the mini Aurora. As we were leaving port, tradition is that we sound our horn (sorry, whistle…though it sounds like a horn). Then, not wishing to be left out, Arvia joined in, only it was 10 octaves deeper and certainly resonated throughout Castries. I reckon Arvia’s captain then got everyone worked up because the whole ship turned out to watch our departure. Pretty much the whole capacity of passengers and crew. It started getting a bit rowdy with Oggi, Oggi, Oggi being shouted on Arvia, with the responding Oi, Oi, Oi. Perleasssssseeeee! We’re not in Benidorm guys. When we spoke to Steevan later in the evening, he informed us Arvia was at 94% capacity. It looked like a medium-sized town on the water. I wouldn’t go on it, literally if you paid me. It looked absolutely chocker and certainly not my idea of a fun holiday.

St Lucia by land and sea

Exotic flora in the Botanical Gardens

Last night’s Caribbean menu included Baked Banana Wrapped in Bacon with Rum Sauce and a Chilled Pina Colada Soup with Citrus Biscuit. They really were going for it and, on balance, the meal was good - that’s the second in a row! It was topped off with half of a nice bottle of Campo Viejo (the rest tonight, methinks).