DAY 2 - 7th Jan 2022
We hit the sheets last night & both slept like a rock unaware that the ship had entered very rough waters and heavy swell. Welcome to the English Channel in January. We did remember to make a time change before we dropped off. The clocks went forward one hour to get us in sync for mainland Spain.
So the later sunrise means its not quite light when we do awake to a gentle knock on the door. A very extensive menu allows us a full breakfast in bed and it's delicious, if quite a challenge to eat under the weather conditions. Smoked salmon scrambled eggs and porridge.yogurt.toasts,honey,marmalade.-just enough to start off the day. Jack nearly gets to doze off a little longer until the ship decides to throw a glass of grapefruit juice all over her.
Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge makes an early unexpected announcement mainly to reassure everyone that the Elizabeth is more than capable of handling the weather we are experiencing and that the decks will remain closed until later. So after a fight with a shower curtain that seems determined to strangle me we head out to bounce around the walls.
Its not really too bad - just the odd roll and bang. After relaxing in the buffet just hypnotized by the ocean swell we explore a little more before lunch. We do have a pair of nature experts onboard and Emma Neave-Webb is giving a talk from the theatre this morning on the mammals we could hope to see during this part of the voyage. I suspect any dolphin or whale with an ounce of common sense is avoiding this area at the moment though. Just to make sure we dont add any pounds on and for exercise we climb up to the Commodore club. This and the smaller Yacht club once again shows the level of detail that has gone into this ships design. Beautiful rooms approached by corridors adorned with Elizabeth's inaugural memorabilia some of which are works of art.
We were both rather taken with the huge wooden paddle that had been presented from Tonga, little did we know at that point what was about to happen there. The beautiful figures from the various Japanese ports are fit for a museum.
We have now officially left the English Channel according to the officer of the watch and are entering the Bay of Biscay - setting a south westerly course towards Cape Finisterre and La Coruna The ship remains rather quiet today as most people seem to have retired back to their rooms to sleep through the swell. As we get closer to the coast we should see this swell subside but for now it shows no signs of easing.
Tonight is actually formal night so we have a very light lunch in the buffet. I use this time to battle my way through the Cunard onboard app - which is not an app at all. Its obviously in its beta stages and instead of just downloading an app as you usually would involves a little bit of faffing around with web pages and bookmarking. We get there in the end.
The movement of the sea does not stop people from gathering in the Queens Ballroom however to see the first of the main guests of this sailing - it does pay not to look out of the windows though as the horizon disappears behind the ocean every 10 seconds or so. Performing for most sea days here is Classical Flamenco guitarist Adam Westcott - this will be the first of four sessions throughout this cruise and he proved to be quite unmissable. He plays classical flamenco mixed in with just a few modern interpretations of songs including a rather beautiful Radiohead tune. Adam takes you on his own journey through how he came to learn the flamenco guitar and finally track down, meet and be mentored by one of the worlds most famous Spanish guitarists Manitas de Plata.
Tonight is formal night. If the Tuxedo level on Fred Olsen was at 90% I would say on Cunard we are somewhere near the 99% point. After a lovely moist salmon starter and a warming soup we choose the scallops for J and a Beef fillet Mignon for D with an oxtail accompaniment that really gives it something else. After dessert for some reason one of the petit fours served tonight is actually a tiny Christmas pudding (a brandy liqueur). It does however result in some chuckless from Ronald.
Tonight's entertainment is a young guest singer called Sophie Tehrani. Her show is called the 3 B,s as in Bassey, Streisand and Midler. I actually found her voice a little young and perhaps too sweet for the performance. Just lacking the depth and pure power for Shirley Bassey that Lorraine Brown provided was so good at on Fred a cpl of months ago. Sophies background is theatre and I think this shows in the theatrical songs she performs, she is much better at these especially when it comes to Streisand.
We then settle down with the recommended cocktails for tonight in the Queens room to watch Aida and Josh with the band and the dancers. Which reminds me - this time I must start ballroom lessons when we return - no excuses and no hiding behind a chair; otherwise I suspect Jacqueline will be taking the next cruises as a solo cruiser.
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