The Cruise and Duty Free
I never bother with duty-free, as I don’t smoke and don’t want to carry heavy bottles of booze that I might break. I did once drop a bottle of Bell’s on the floor at Dulles Airport in Washington. And it broke!
But when duty-free sales were announced on the Tannoy on Oriana, I was very surprised at the rush.
Why Have I Gone All Tidy?
It’s strange, but over the last week or so, I’ve started to tidy where I work, cook and sleep.
I was particularly tidy on the Oriana. As this post shows.
I’ve never done this at any other time in my life.
Perhaps, it’s because I’d like a girl-friend and I don’t want to invite them home to a load of chaos and mess.
The Awareness Of Coeliac Disease
According to the Restaurant Manager, there were twenty-four people on a gluten-free diet out of a total of 1,800 passengers.
But what surprised me was the number of passengers, who on seeing my bread or asking, why I declined a roll and hearing the answer, said that they knew of a coeliac or had one in the family.
Without doubt, the awareness of coeliac disease is increasing and this can only be a good thing!
Three Images Sum Up The Cruise
As I got off the Oriana, three images sum up the cruise.
The first was a good one and it was the nameplate of my steward with a tip underneath.
Mary Did Well
Mary deserves all she receives and I hope she does well in the future.
The second image shows the litter bin containing some of the many tissues, that I used to stem my rhinitis and quite a few tea-bags, as I drank tea incessantly on the cruise.
Tissues And Tea Bags
The third image is only in my mind, but it consists of a queue of glum people wanting to get off the Oriana, as like me, the main thing they came for was a bit of sun, and the weather didn’t deliver.
If I go on a cruise again, I’ll go somewhere, where the weather is guaranteed to be better.
Perhaps though, P&O should pay me to stay away, as it seems I’m always the one, who gets the bad weather.
Ice On The Deck
On the last day of the cruise; March 28th, I got up early and went for a walk on deck.
I nearly fell over, as there were sheets of ice on the floor.
Ice On The Deck
But my balance is good these days, and in some ways, I was very pleased, I didn’t fall over.
My Unused Sunhat
I took a sunhat with me and it wasn’t used.
My Unused Sunhat
It really wasn’t expected that I would have ten days holiday, with only a few minutes of strong sun.
My Unused Balcony
Except for taking a few pictures, the nice balcony was unused.
My Unused Balcony
It would have been an ideal place to share a drink.
It may look enticing, but I suspect that the temperature was one or two degrees at most.
Promenading On Deck
on the second sea day returning to Southampton, there was an hour or so of sun and I took the opportunity like many others to walk the deck.
Promenading On Deck
I suppose though in the ten days of the cruise, we probably had about three hours of sun.
The Things I Forgot To Bring
I didn’t bring everything I needed on the cruise.
The main omission on my part, was not to bring a thick coat and plenty of cold weather clothing. But at least the jacket I did bring was very waterproof.
I also forgot my temperature and humidity meter from Maplin. It would have enabled me to do some experiments to find the atmosphere that is best for my health.
I also forgot to bring a pack of cards, which I was able to borrow on board. So I spent the last day at sea, playing Canfield.
Playing Canfield
And as always, I beat the bank. But then Mr. Canfield in Saratoga Springs made a fortune, as there were more mugs than people like me.
Incidentally, the rules I use, were from an old edition of Hoyle’s Games given to me at about eleven and are tougher than those generally used or indeed given in Wikipedia.
So this might be why, Mr. Canfield made a fortune.
I don’t gamble on cards, but if any casino decided to allow punters to play Canfield, I’d certainly check them out!
I think the only other thing I forgot was a shoehorn.
The Only Sun On March 26th
I did find a bit of sun on March 26th, as we came back from Lisbon to Southampton.
The Only Sun On March 26th
But as you see it wasn’t very strong.
