First Day at Sea

This was our first day on board and it was a full day at sea, so plenty of time to explore our new surroundings.  We chose to eat breakfast in the Verandah, but you can also have breakfast in the other restaurants.  Every night when you come back to your cabin, you will find a magazine that describes the next day's events plus what the dress code will be, and tonight was to be a formal evening with a chance to meet the Captain if you so desired.  This would also be a chance to wear my new shoes, which would be the first time in high heels for a very long time!!

As the day wore on however, the slight swell on the sea was making me feel really queasy, but I felt that it wasn't bad enough to warrant getting sea sickness tablets from the reception.  The weather wasn't that good either, but at least it was dry and we were able to explore the ship quite well to get our bearings.  We also went to a lecture by Alan Crisp in which he told us about our destination and that was followed by another lecture and slide show which told us about the shore excursions that you could book if you hadn't already done so.  I was still not feeling 100% but then my husband noticed that one of the shops was selling 'seabands' which are wristbands that have a pressure point in them which is supposed to stop travel sickness.  I have tried these before and they did work for me but, as I have misplaced them in the house, I didn't have them with me!!  We bought the ones for sale on board and I tried them out - hey presto, within a short space of time I was feeling better!!  Now, I know that it may well have been a psychological reaction, but I don't care, I was feeling better and now looking forward to the evening.

My Seabands!!

The time came to get ready and I dressed in my posh frock and high heels and prayed that I wouldn't fall over!!  Hubby was dressed in his new dark suit, evening shirt and bow tie and I must say that I thought we scrubbed up pretty well indeed!!  We headed off down the corridor, swaying a bit with the boat and being very wary of these new shoes, but I made it to Coopers Bar where we were first in the queue to meet the Captain, Philip Rentell.  After meeting him, it was into the Britannia Lounge for drinks and canapes, which was just lovely.  I had taken my wristbands off for the official photos, but immediately got them back on again before going to the East to West restaurant for our meal.  Our meal was wonderful and afterwards we went back to the Britannia Lounge to listen to a group that was on board playing 60s music.  It was a good show, but not nearly long enough!  We then went back to Coopers Bar for a last drink before heading back to the cabin to get things ready for the morning - we'd be docking in Stavanger at 8 a.m.