Day Twelve–An Eventful Day at Sea.

It started just the same as every other day, the early morning sun breaking through the open curtain. As usual I got up around 7.00 and opened the balcony doors to let the fresh air into the cabin. The weather didn’t look very promising with both the sky and the sea having a rather dull grey colour. I went back to bed to watch the early news on the TV and it was then that the first strange event of the day occurred. A small sparrow-like bird suddenly flew from the bathroom area and perched itself on the back of a chair momentarily before flying out of the balcony door. Sylvia and I both just looked at each other with a sense of disbelief as we had not seen the bird fly in at all, although we assume that it did. Perhaps it was an omen.

The weather lived up to it’s early promise with the grey skies slowly growing darker and the rainfall more persistent. The lounges inside the ship slowly filled as fellow passengers realised that there would be no sun bathing today. Luckily there were enough vacant seats in Brodie’s for the TV show quiz as we went for our hat-trick of wins. Half way through the quiz was interrupted by a message from the Captain: a medical emergency had forced a detour from our route to Sicilian waters and this would delay our arrival in Malaga. After the quiz [Yes we did win it.] the ship stopped for around an hour to allow the medical teams to get the patient safety ashore. Our course was altered, and we proceeded through the Straits of Messina in order to reduce our travelling time.

Afternoon tea today featured the famous chocoholics spread, with many cakes , pastries and a centrepiece of a chocolate fountain. We were unable to obtain a picture of Oliver’s plate as he made it to the buffet way before the rest of us, but this should give you an idea of the goods on offer.

We took Joey with us and he had a look of anticipation on his face when he started….

…but by the time he had finished it was difficult to see any of his face!!!!!

The yellow on his face was a pirate face painting as he had just come from a pirate’s party in Kid’s Club.

Tonight was formal night another opportunity for all of us to dress up in our finery, with Poppy choosing a beautiful white number…

…while Victoria and Oliver stuck closely to the “Black & White” theme as they glided down the Atrium stairs.

Dinner followed where we were joined at our table by two sisters from Yorkshire and their husbands. A very enjoyable, eventful day at sea.