Once again, the clocks have gone back one hour, so here I am awake too early! With the sleep disruption I have had, it would have made more sense to have jet lag. But I can’t blame it on that! I am also not upset by the weather conditions we have been experiencing. The only thing I am upset about is not being able to access the NOAA website to see what tropical depression we are actually living through!
The captain came on unexpectedly last night, so we knew something was up. He announced that this depression would worsen and we could have up to 30 feet of swells by midnight. After waking up to gale force winds on the decks, the day had gotten busier and busier weather wise, so there were rumours that we were experiencing a hurricane. (this is certainly not hurricane weather, but it is very impressive, so if you had not ever seen hurricane weather, I can understand the assumption). The “motion discomfort” bags have discreetly made their reappearance, and I can safely say, this time I am ok! Whew!
With the ship being tossed about like a toy, Alan had thought (read hoped) dance class would be cancelled, but no such luck! Ballroom was ok, but line dancing was funnier than usual. Doing a grapevine sometimes causes you to not have any feet on the floor for a second or less. But when your foot does get back to floor level, the floor has moved. It is a very funny sensation!
These sea days are much longer than the ones on our last Princess cruise. Not only was the entertainment more spaced throughout the day, but you could also just sit out in the sun and relax. It is not the same when you have to get your jacket and hold onto your possessions when sitting outside, with no sun! On this cruise, we have to make a judgement whether to attend dance class or the occasional cooking demonstration, or other activity. Everything happens at 10 or 11. At one point yesterday, Alan and I were kneeling at the floor level window in the library on deck 4. The waves appeared to be as high or higher than we were. Not only were they very impressive, but it was also really fun to feel the motion and power of them! Of course, when you are a bit bored any form of entertainment will do. Never thought I would use the word bored when talking about a cruise!
We have also bitten the bullet and abandoned our first sitting dinner partners. We had opted for formal dining in order to meet people. Looking back, this did not work well on our last cruise and we bailed out and did “Anytime Dining”. We thought we could easily do this again if we wanted to, but have now learned there is a waiting list of either 100 or 1000 people wishing to do the same. We are at table 26 and it is supposed to seat 10, but there have never been more than 8, with 4 of them being a family that includes 2 toddlers and the other 2 a lovely, older and very quiet couple. There are nights when the young family is unable to make the seating time and the table is just so big and empty. As a result, we changed our seating time to 8:30, but at the same table. Last night was our first night and it was like the first day at school! We didn’t know where to sit and we had no idea who our new tablemates would be! The evening turned out to be a great success, with Alan and I being made to feel very welcome. More lively dinner conversation and more like an event to look forward to than a social obligation.
cruise ships leaving Madeira
This is the Costa ship leaving Madeira before our ship. Hard to imagine anything this big being tossed about the ocean by waves!
I would also like to make a correction. After rereading these blogs a number of times before sending them, I usually am happy with what I am saying. But it occurred to me the drunken men statement might have given the wrong impression. The little area of Camara des Lobos is very traditional feeling. The buildings are very close to each other and you can tell the people probably depended on fishing for their well being. On any other day, I think this area would have been crawling with tourists and it would never have been as pleasant as when we were there. The added bonus were the little bars where there were loads of local, relaxed and happy men. For some reason, it just felt right and I think that is not the impression I gave for this place.
“The best journeys are not always in straight lines.”
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