Into European Waters

Friday 6 April

Good Friday – this day seemed so far off when we set out last July – it’s very hard to realize it has arrived. We had set the alarm for 07.00 to ensure we were up in time to see the ship pass through the narrow Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. When I looked out from the balcony, I could already see small twinkling lights along sections of the Spanish coast, just a few miles away, across the black expanse of sea. We hurriedly dressed and made our way up to Deck 10 and the Horizons lounge where we could sit and peer out of the front windows of the ship, and watch the coasts of both Africa and Spain slowly pass by – the width of the straits at this point was just eight miles. Tangier, off to the right (starboard in boating terms!) was a blaze of lights as we rounded the point into the Mediterranean Sea, while ahead the sun began to show the first signs of light. We crept slowly along – although the Captain later said we were still doing 18 knots – and saw shoals of small grey dolphins leaping out of the water right in front of the ship! – I hope they could dive fast enough to get out of our way. In the dawn we could see that the shipping lanes were full of commercial vessels – tankers, container ships and fishing fleets – passing up and down the coastline, almost like rush hour traffic.

About 08.00 we had our first sighting of Gibraltar – a small rock peeking out from behind a bend in the coastline. It was much, much smaller that I had ever thought – I knew it was smaller than the Isle of Wight, but I think I expected it to be more the size of Guernsey or even the Isle of Man. It is hard to believe that such a tiny protrusion from the sea could have caused so much controversy since the 18th century when it was first claimed by the British, although I can understand why they would want to hold on to it. There seemed hardly enough room for a town, let alone an airport and military base. Apparently, as the barbary apes die, the British replenish the stocks so that the adage about them losing control when the apes have disappeared cannot come true. The island is triangular shaped and we sailed around two sides – the first side was craggy, with only stunted vegetation to see on the peaks at the top, and a few houses and roads along by the coast. The second side seemed to have a massive chunk of the rock, carved out of the hillside to become a flat slope covering at least half the length of the island, reaching almost to the top, and stopping nor far above the houses below – Colin thought it might be part of a rain-saving scheme. The main town appeared as a thin linear settlement stretching out on to the narrow isthmus where the port was situated – lots of boats were moored there. The third side faced the coast of Spain.

Breakfast was a little more crowded this morning as we steered a straight course up the east coast of Spain – although too far away now to see the mainland. The weather was a little bleary with the sun struggling to make an appearance, and the temperature had dropped considerably to the top teens C, so we had had to look out our warmer Tshirts and longer trousers for the first time in months. We attended another cookery demonstration later in the morning, this time making pasta – ravioli – which I am sure we will have a go at when we get home – and a foie gras dish – which I am sure we will not be attempting. Both dishes will appear on the menu tonight in Grand Dining – where we will not be eating. But the banter was great fun. From here it was time to eat, again, with an “Italian” theme today. Not being the greatest pasta fan, I chose an excellent cannelloni while Colin sampled a few of the different shapes on offer, the fresh tagliatelli being tops.

Bridge classes were about making “slams” or taking twelve or thirteen tricks – little hope with the hands I have been having. We played today with Ethel and Denis from British Columbia, Canada, who are staying on the ship to Athens. We played some interesting hands and felt we had got to grips with a lot more “messages” today and were beginning to understand the game a little more. It was another rush to get to Trivia to get a seat, but our team was depleted to nine today, so we were able to listen to each other’s answers and ended up tying for the lead with fifteen points. We had a disputed question over the number of breaths per minute in resuscitation, with some people quoting new regulations issued by the BMA last month, while others claimed to teach the process and had no idea about these new rules. In the end Rob had to step in and cancel the question completely. Question: what material is named from the French for velvet and a hook? We spent the next couple of hours still in the Martini bar, with Colin and Maureen and a few other guests dropping in on us. Before we knew it and a few martinis later, it was almost 20.00 – time to change for dinner – tonight John has promised us a table in the Polo Grill. Colin ate another delicious New York strip, while I chose a charred pork chop – which surprisingly I had not sampled before – it too was extremely tasty.

Tonight’s entertainment in the Insignia lounge was “Saluté” – a grand final cabaret by the entertainment team and orchestra, with commentary throughout by Rob. They sang an interesting repertoire of songs relating to “goodbye”, as this was being treated like the last night on board - many of the passengers are expected to spend tomorrow night in Barcelona. The show included a series of songs written to celebrate World War II, particularly the success of the Americans, and the national anthem of Canada (as there are so many Canadians aboard), which several people afterwards commented was in poor taste and likely to cause some embarrassment or bad feeling for some of the passengers. At the end of the show the Rob brought on the whole ships crew, from cleaning and maintentance, through kitchen staff and the chefs, up to the pilot and captain, who made a short speech, and presented an award to the employee of the cruise – a small Indonesian man who was Chief Fireman in charge of safety. The staff we had encountered on the entire cruise had all been exceptionally helpful and friendly and this feeling was obviously felt by all the passengers aboard with the thundering applause they received – all the comments had been exceptionally positive – I think we have been very lucky to have had this experience as our first cruise – any future cruises will find it hard to match. The orchestra continued to play 70’s music for a while after the show and we stayed to dance, but gradually all the “amateur jiggers” left the floor (including ourselves) to the Canadian professionals, who ballroomed around the dance area in serious style – but then they had expected this to be a “Dance cruise”. We spent the next hour in the Martinis Bar chatting to Alan and Kwan - Alan had not enjoyed his dinner tonight because the tuna was served only “seared” and he didn’t like “raw fish. The Maitre D and the head chef, Malcolm, had apparently pleaded with him to let them cook it some more, but Alan had refused. (We later heard it had all been rather embarrassing for at least two of the other three, who went to great lengths to apologize to everyone the following evening). So it was well after midnight when we finally returned to the room to sleep.

Tomorrow will be our last full day onboard, as we reach Barcelona late in the afternoon – the Trivia session has been brought forward to late morning and we should still get one more gathering for bridge, before we dock. We really are having to face the fact that we will soon be home.