The spirits must be unhappy as they prepare for tonight's party as the sea did not calm down at all during the night. We both managed to sleep through it though so its still smoother than the overnight service on Amtrak (think of a wild mouse rollercoaster on a top bunk whilst someone blasts an air horn in your ear all night if you want to recreate the City of New Orleans Service).
At 10am Captain Michael gives us his update that we should clear the storm by tonight - all the top decks are still open but the Captain does announce that hes closing off the lower promenade deck for safety reasons.
D heads out for emergency cabin supplies of hot breakfast muffins, butter and marmalade then we head out to the upper decks; It has to be pointed out that as we type this up we are sat outside on deck 14 lying in a giant hammock which swings around with the motion of the ship like a fairground ride so all typos are not my fault.
Lunch time we decide to dine in the MDR.. Its lower and in a more "stable" position and the thought of serving yourself at the buffets then playing dodge the guests with hot food as the floor drops from under your feet doesn't seem good. J orders all the starters on the menu instead of a main which confuses the waiters sense of order. By coincidence her last starter (a sml garden salad) happens to be served at the same time as my main course causing the busboy to ask why Madam has started her diet so early on the cruise.
One of the chefs from Sushi on 5 is spending the afternoon in the main Atrium doing a pumpkin carving demo.
We visit the Solarium indoor pool area and relax on a sunbed in the warm greenhouse. The pool is still full of water - though the net has just been installed. If you take a sunbed close to the waters edge you can play a soaked or dry version of Russian roulette, as the pool has become a giant tidal wave throwing water about with the motion of the ship. The clocks have gone back twice now since we left Southampton but as we travel further into the west our sunsets are getting later from around 5pm when we left to 7pm tonight.
The swell does seem to be lessening a little so we decide to pay a visit to the Tuscan Grill restaurant with its superb outlook (when it's daylight) through the picture windows at the rear. We did an earlier stability check to make sure the rear end of the ship wasn't bouncing around like a big dipper so hopefully it should be fine when we eat there.
Oscar is our bouncy exuberant waiter regardless of what the sea is doing and after hes done a little gardening with some freshly grown micro herbs and a dish of olive oil we order. Calamari to start for D and Crab Cake for J. The Calamari was excellent , the crab cake had a rather odd texture and lacked any deep flavour (probably not enough brown meat in the mix). We then shared a super thin flat bread - gorgeous.. For the main course D had the beef skirt which was tender, full of flavour but could have fed an entire table of four. J had the sea bass - nicely cooked, though the papillote method of cooking didn't seem to have infused the flavours in the way you would have expected. Desserts were pistachio creme brulee and zabaglione washed down with a glass of Limoncello.
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| Spot the Witches Hat |
As we left we passed Qsine where we will dine in a cpl of days. The lovely Maitre d' invited us inside to check out how it worked which was a good introduction. Sounds and looks very interesting. With unplanned but great timing as we sit down in the Ensemble lounge for an aperitif Jessica and Luke, the ships acoustic Duo, were just setting up. Jessica has a lovely soft voice and their acoustic interpretations of songs are perfect for the lounge's atmosphere. There are some fantastic Halloween outfits being flaunted around tonight - some are so professional looking we wonder how on earth they found the space to pack.
We climb up to the crows nest club (which is called Sky Lounge on the Eclipse) for the Halloween party where ghosts and ghouls from every tomb are closing in to Party! After we all attempt a rather ramshackle "Thriller" dance routine "The Trends" step in to do an excellent live set.
As they go for a break the DJ promptly empties the dancefloor with Dexys Midnight Runners.
Click here for day 4
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