Saturday, 13 December 2014

Eight-metre waves

Wednesday 10th December

I was awake by 11am, a sign that I am at last catching up on my sleep, but did not get up until 11:30. I met up with friends for lunch in the King’s Court. 

During the Captain’s noon announcement we were warned that we would be on the outskirts of a gale that evening. By midnight we could expect 8-metre waves! However, the QM2 is built for oceans and would be fine.


I spent the afternoon resting and reading. I’d borrowed a book from the library and I knew I had to finish it before leaving the ship. I found time to take a few photos. Supposedly the ship was battening down for the storm and we were asked not to go out on the decks that were closed. They must have forgotten to put a barrier in place as I went out with no problems, assuming that the decks were not closed. Everything was empty, with sunbeds tied down. There was enough of a swell for waves in the swimming pool, though I've seen much larger ones. The sun was shining but clouds were visible in the distance. It was only when I tried to get back inside that I found a barrier on a door and had to duck under the tape!

Vi and I had not gone to the restaurant very often for dinner, so we thought we should go for one last evening, to catch up with our fellow table-mates. Vi and I had decided to go to the restaurant for a last dinner, to see our fellow table-mates one last time. It was a bit of a rush as service was slow and we were meant to be at the Senior Officers’ Cocktail Party at 7:45. By the time we got out of the restaurant we could see long queues waiting to get in for the party. We took our time and went down after the queues had gone. Vi and I found some seats in the corner while Jenny and Judith mingled with the other guests and spoke to the Navigator.

Being the Masquerade Ball, the Queen’s Room was crowded. I managed to find a seat with Vivien and Anne. Dancing was somewhat difficult with the floor tilting. Constantino managed beautifully and I could quickstep and waltz with him and even jive. The others struggled, and so their partners struggled. Balance is never good for me anyway. The professional couple danced. I think we were all concerned for them and saw a couple of almost-stumbles but they always got back on track until the very end where she needed to fall back into his arms, and she stumbled. They got a fantastic round of applause, because we could all see what a wonderful job they had done in trying circumstances. This evening Judith got her turn dancing with Brian.

I enjoy sleeping in high waves. I like the rocking motion. It did not worry me to feel the ship moving.










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