Oceana was moving quite a lot in the night with various crashed and creaks so I decided to lie in until around noon, that is I got dressed but didn’t bother to go anywhere. I had lunch in the Plaza and then as it didn’t seem quite so bouncy, sat out on deck for an hour to get some fresh air. The afternoon was equally lazy, having a toasted teacake at teatime. It was chocoholics afternoon and the seas didn’t seem to have reduced the usual queues. Chatted to Avril for a bit before changing for our last formal night. This was interesting as the seas were getting quite rough again now, as predicted, although one side of the promenade deck is still open.
My drawers keep crashing open and shut and when I popped back to the cabin to collect something, I found everything in the bathroom had crashed off the railed shelves on to the floor. At the show in Starlight’s, even the grand piano began to slide, so they had to lower the up and down stage section and wheel it off to one side to secure it better. I only just saved my glass of G&T. At dinner quite a few plates and glasses were broken. We got some great photos of our wine glasses with the contents at a funny angle!
I have now come to bed as my knees are starting to feel the strain. I didn’t dare wear heels, even though it was formal!
Wednesday 14 December – at sea
I don’t mind rough seas at night as, in bed, it is quite a nice feeling being rocked to sleep however…… although I thought I had secured everything loose, all through the night something else woke me up by crashing to the floor. Now the only thing left on any surface is the kettle and hospitality tray. Everything else is in a drawer or on the floor. It is starting to get a bit wearing now, although Oceana is handling it better than I thought she might, having been built for Caribbean cruising.
I will leave any final packing until much later as hopefully the seas might have subsided a little by then. On the plus side the wind is behind us pushing us home so the expectation at the moment is that we shall berth roughly on time.
After breakfast in the Plaza ( it was very funny watching people, concentrating intensively, clutching trays and trying to time their walking with the troughs and swells) I went to the last Travelling Alone meet. My empty cup and saucer flew off the glass table, and later so did Olive’s and Stuart’s full cups! I was watching the seas from the window on the prom. deck and saw two lone dolphins leaping through the water. I had lunch with Jane and as we had a window table, saw the squalls sweeping across, with lightning and rainbows. It was amazing. I’m now in the cabin doing final packing and having a siesta as it’s exhausting trying to pack in these conditions.
After packing I went and sat in Tiffanys and chatted with Stuart and Olive and then went to collect the table photos. The early Headliners show was a brand new production – Breakdown Blues – which I thought very good. Dinner was wonderful and ours and the table next door, with Mick and Janet, broke into spontaneous carol singing – silent night and the twelve days of Christmas. When we got to the line – Sleep in heavenly peace, the misery behinds us said in a loud voice – Peace, that would be nice! Jenny also told us that the divers that went to check the prop at Valencia found quite a lot of damage and we had been running jury-rigged. The stormy seas broke the jury rigging and the possibility had been that we arrived home a day late. That may have been the weird jolting to and fro motion we experienced a couple of times on Tuesday night. As it is the next cruise will be late leaving while repairs are carried out.
Tomorrow I will be driving home. It has been the most amazing cruise and i think will take a while to mentally process everything I have seen. I woul love to return to Israel one day, knowing more than I did on this visit. Perhaps 2013?? We will have to wait and see.
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