Day 35 13th February 2011

Talking to Peter and Edward

We are now seven hours behind UK time and the continuing loss of an hour each night affects me in a similar way to jet lag. There is a feeling of disorientation that is quite mild but apparent. I wonder if it will be the same when we start to gain hours.

It has been a lovely day with calm seas and a temperature of about 80F. We have spent a large part of the day on the balcony reading and watching the sea. The water is still royal blue in colour. It is still empty of other ships and the only animal life has been an occasional flying fish skimming the tops of the waves. These are different from the ones we saw in the Atlantic in that they are solitary and skim the waves for very much longer distances – 50 yards is no exaggeration. The sky is not clear and there are many clouds. Last night we looked at the sky but the clouds obscured most of the stars but we could see Orion. It was almost overhead in a strange part of the sky to those, use to the Northern Hemisphere. The moon was bright and you could see its reflection in the ocean.

The sunshine and warmth have brought many people out on the promenade deck so as I walked around lots of people were using the sun lounges and chairs to sit or lie in the sun. The temperature made walking more tiring and a greater effort was needed to complete the customary 13 laps or 4 miles today.

We have a show tonight from the ships theatre company called “Blame it on the Boogie” which I am sure we have seen before on other cruises but they are an excellent troupe so worth seeing again. It is my birthday today so this morning I got a card signed from the Captain and this evening the waiters will sing Happy Birthday to me. There are balloons on the cabin door. Peter and Edward telephoned me and it was lovely to hear their voices after an interval of over a month.