Today has been a relatively lazy one. The first of 6
non-stop days at sea really meant there was no major timetable we had to keep
to, so a lot of the time has been spent lazing on the bed, reading or just
looking out of the window, watching the ocean slip by the way a crouton must
feel in a never ending sea of soup.
There have been a couple of highlights however; first of
all we started our chocolate making workshop, which is hosted by a rambunctious
Jeremy Clarkson lookalike called Jerry – This first day consisted mainly of
eating different dark (and a couple of milk & white) chocolates and
learning about their provenance etc. The main gist of it all was – buy more
expensive chocolate as the producers, even as part of the Fair Trade deal, get
next to nothing for a huge amount of work and so are starting to change crops to
earn more money, meaning chocolate will become scarcer and then more expensive
– but a few “premium” chocolatiers are doing more to offset this trend and are
treating the farmers better…. There are a few holes in his theories, but at
least it means eating very nice chocolate!
After chocolating, we wandered about, got some lunch and
then decided to have a bash at table tennis before a tournament a little later
on (which we didn’t want to enter). We got up there and met Rex, a lovely old
boy who likes nothing more than playing a little ping-pong with anyone who
wants a game. The 3 of us played a couple of games and were just getting into
it when we suddenly realised we were surrounded by people and were apparently
part of the tournament.
I am very proud to say that I was knocked out (by Jo) in
the first round. She however made it to the Quarter Finals. Go Jo!
We left before the end of the tournament as it was the
fabled Captains Reception and Dinner. Not knowing what to expect, we went back
to the cabin, dressed ourselves up and went to meet the Master of the Thomson
Dream – Captain Hugh Maynard. When we got there, we found a long queue of
people ready to go into the Broadway lounge where the proceedings proceeded.
While in the queue we seemed to get our pictures taken just shy of a million
times – one set with the two of us looking lovely in front of a plain
background, another set with the two of us still looking lovely in front of the
‘Titanic Staircase’ backdrop (why? I mean, yes – it’s very grand but… We’re not
on the Titanic, and I can’t help but think that this is a good thing. Ahh well…).
Then we got up to the front to meet Captain Haddock, who very nicely said
hello, asked if we were having a nice time, and then assumed the position so we
could all be snapped together. Then we were whisked through into the lounge
where we took our seats for a very interesting/tedious (I’m still not sure
which) introduction to all the department heads (head house keeper, clap clap
clap; head waiter, clap clap clap; the bursar, clap clap clap etc. etc.) before
the main man himself walked on stage to say hello (clap clap clap). This was
all accompanied by a complimentary glass of wine (which didn’t mean as much to
us as we have the drinks package anyway). Then off we all trooped to the Orion
restaurant for the Gala Dinner (which was much the same as any other dinner,
only we all looked nicer than usual).
As soon as we could escape, we took our leave and made it
back to the cabin to change (my suit seems to have shrunk since I bought it a
few years ago…), and then went off for our usual appointment at the daily quiz
with the Manchesters. This quiz was about Celebs and we did ok – I think we
finished in the top 5 or so. While this was going on, the assistant cruise
director, Katy, came over and asked if we wanted to take part in tonight’s Game
Show called Time of Our Lives. As it was about the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 90’s
it wasn’t quite so much about my life as it was most of the other people about,
but what the hell – I put my hand up to be the 90’s team captain, not knowing
what that meant…
What it meant was I went up on stage with 3 other
contestants who each had been given a decade. The audience was then split into
4 parts – each part being given a decade/captain. Sadly, Jo was right over in
the 70’s, so I’d be getting support from strangers, but everyone is so friendly
it didn’t matter.
The idea was that we were asked a question relating to
each decade and we all had a small amount of time to go out to our teams to get
help with the answer – each decade was split into a theme, Music of the 60’s,
films of the 70’s, Smash Hit’s headlines of the 80’s and TV of the 90’s. It was
all a bit frantic and funny, involving lots of dashing about and some banter
between us all – but at the end (thanks to some help from a lady on the 80’s
team) I answered the final question correctly which made me win! That’s right -
I am the Thomson Dream’s Time of our Lives Champion of 2013!!!
The prize was a lovely
Thomson Cruise tote bag and a bottle of wine. Woo!
There’s not much else I could put that wouldn’t be a
downer after that triumph, so I’ll leave today there and say I AM THE
CHAMPION!!!
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