Blog for Friday 23rd October 2026

I rolled out of bed at just before seven o’clock this morning and opened the curtains at our verandah door to be greeted by a truly beautiful day, and although the sea was a little choppy it made no impact on this ship.

I went and sat outside – yes, it was not as cold as it has been – and just admired the view we have from our verandah. There was sea, sea and more sea to see!

I had my Quiet Time and then our breakfast arrived – Ken ordered the English breakfast, but I ordered a Continental one instead, as for me there is just so much food and I cannot eat it all. Even with the Continental breakfast I had a grapefruit half; a fruit platter (which I could not finish); cereal; a blueberry muffin (well two actually, but I only had the one); and hot-hot coffee!

Then Ken opted to go back to sleep after breakfast, but I showered and got dressed then went down to Deck 4 to take part in the Trivia morning, which was fun. I found a corner to sit in without being too out there and I loved the game. I knew diddley squat of the answers, but I was eager just to learn! It was a fairly difficult Trivia game (even the hostess said so) and the results proved it too. The highest score was only 14/20 and no, it was most definitely NOT my score!

From there I took myself off to the lounge on Deck 4 and had an Iced Green Mango Peach tea which was really lovely before coming back to our cabin. Ken was still fast asleep, so I settled down to listen to my audio book and relax a bit.

Today we are going to lunch at one of the really smart restaurants – where one has to pay to get in – and I am looking forward to that experience. Although the regular dining rooms are wonderful – we just wanted to attend at least one of the more upmarket restaurants too.

I think I will attend another Trivia match this afternoon at four o’clock – just for fun. I mean my general knowledge is pretty non-existent, but I enjoy learning something new every day!

Well, the restaurant was lovely and the food simply delicious. Both Ken and I had the mussels for our starters, and I have never tasted mussels done so well, they just melted in one’s mouth. Then Ken had a really tender and large piece of thick sirloin steak and I tried something a little different - wild mushrooms in flaky pastry – and I almost licked my plate they were so nice!

My yummy Wild Mushrooms in Flaky Pastry

From there we went back to the cabin and then at six o’clock we headed to The Theatre to get a good seat and order a drink from the bar in The Theatre. Ken had a beer and I had a coke as I was thirsty.

Ken and I had lovely seats, the only problem was we had to let people in to the rest of the row and so in the beginning it was an up and down action with people constantly standing on my toes!

The act tonight was done a young Irish guy – Stephen Barry – who was very good, funny and very entertaining. I loved his performance and his realness. He was so humble and was so grateful for his job and it showed. Apparently, in 2020 both he and his ‘Mam’ (his Mum) lost their jobs, and he ended up working on a horse farm shoveling manure, and she did something she always wanted to do – she was a teacher but had always wanted to write children’s books. So, that is what she did – she wrote her children’s books, and now, instead of him making albums of his songs et cetera to sell, he carries her children’s books to sell and promote them for her. Just a nice guy.

After the show I headed back to our cabin as I was tired, and Ken went to Deck 4 lounge and had another beer before coming back to our cabin.

We had had another perfect day at sea.

What lesson did I learn today? To relax and enjoy the journey!

What am I grateful for today? Another picture perfect day.

My saying for today is …