Day 22 cakes

Due to the very late night we didn't get up till 11a.m.!! dreadful I know. So we had lunch/breakfast in the Dining Room. The sea swell is really causing me grief, so Roy gave me some wrist bands to try, the Avomine is ok but I fall asleep with that, not too good on holiday. Before we had lunch,we visited the Buffet to see the amazing display of cakes and gateaux, just beautiful. Tonight is formal night, again. There seems to be a lot more on this WC than last years. This is our 4th formal and we have only been at sea for 3 weeks. I am not complaining as we enjoy that but I seriously did not bring enough formal clothes. Ah well, there is always shopping in London,Paris,Rome and New York.

Day 21 late

Last nights sail away from Mumbai was suberb. We initially went for a stroll on top deck, after dinner, and bumped into several friends. So we all joined up and sat overlooking the beautiful sight of Mumbai at night. It was a very busy harbour, from warships to small boats everywhere. At 12.30 a.m., George and Roy had hunger pangs!! so down we went to the Horizon Court for a snack. Marg and I only had a hot drink, if they had breakfast available, George and Roy would have had that!.

 

 

Yes I survived the laundry and no fights!!

 

Day 21 Mumbai George on his own!

It could have been a combination of too much dancing and heat, (I did not have even 1 drink , I swear), but I think it was the large sea swell overnight which caused me to feel not too well this morning. So I decided not to go on the tour. Marg and Roy took care of George!! He said it was very  very good. Seeing the large communal outdoor laundry was amazing. They pride themselves in not losing a single item. He went to Ghandi's house, he wasn't home. He met a very friendly armed soldier, the automatic machine was there to protect us! Visited the Gateway to India and the Taj Mahal hotel then back to the ship with some duty free, not decanting as not problem getting booze on board. We had lunch and as I was feeling a bit better, Marg and Roy came with us to the terminal where some small stalls sold some stuff. George was the alcohol mule for Roy and Marg and did some browsing.

While I was having a coffee in the morning, I overheard,(it was loud) some American absolutely blasting the hell out of the Aussies onboard. They were appalled at the dress standards of the Aussies, it didn't match the gold encrusted jewel dress of this American lady and she said the Kiwis were even worse. They went on and on and I did not feel up to having a go, thanks goodness George and Roy were not there. I spent an hour or so in laundry and met the lovliest people from New York, who were having a great cruise and just loved the Australian laid back attitude. Yes I survived the laundry and no fights!!

Day 20 Party Night

What a great night we had!! The theme was Indian Heat/Tropical and we dressed accordingly. We were a bit miffed as not many people had dressed up at the Dining Room, but on the top deck later it was a good sight as many people had got into the spirit. Our group of friends had a ball. Roy and Marg, Brian and Jo, Ray and Jill and lots more all danced the night away. The buffet at midnight was amazing, I have never seen cakes that size before, chocolate coated strawberries, yum. It was very hot, even at that time of night. I had a touch of sea sickness earlier on, (the swell has been the problem) but a few tablets and I was right to go. I have never seen George dance like that before, ever!!

I must comment to future WC.....joining the CC group has been the best decision for us. Even though you meet lots of new people every day, and many have become firm friends, we have found that the CCers just gave us an instant connection, and we have great friendships from it. We now have an arrangement whereby any of us can turn up at 12.30 at the Dining Room for lunch and sit with friends. It was originally was Tuesday sea days but now its any day.

Day 19 Cochin, India

We were not really keen to even leave the ship here, India has never been on our to see list. However, we did disembark and glad we did. It was totally overwhelming, the traffic, the people and the sights we saw are images we will have forever. It is a city in chaos, a rubbish tip with people living around and with it. We visited St Francis Church, the oldest church in India, the fishing nets at the waterfront and we had limited time for shopping. This tour was not the best one I think as around 10 bus loads of people all travelling together in a very crowded city causes huge queues for everything. It was very steamy but bearable. Its amazing to see piles and piles of dirt and rubbish everywhere and then see shops selling ceramic tiles and washing machines. The rubbish is swept into piles and either just left or put over a wall.

 

Due to the long queues, we are re thinking many of our booked tours. Many people are doing their own thing, and apart from saving a huge amount of money, they see and do more.

After a nana nap, had dinner and then went to the Princess show. It was fantastic, the best we have seen. The entertainment has been disappointing, many second rate, over the hill "entertainers". The show last night was a great success and hopefully the applause it received will generate more classy acts. We are going to see the World Cup opening ceremony and 20 games so we are looking forward to that.

Day 19 more pics

 

Day 18 He said he would and he did!!

When we initially booked this cruise, George decided he wanted to wear a kilt on the formal nights. He had never had any inclination for this ever in his life. So he bought the complete outfit over 1 year ago and last night he wore it for dinner. He looked great and was the beau of the ball!! I could have turned up in a tracksuit, literally, as all eyes were on George. He enjoyed all the admiring looks and comments, and we had the professional photographs taken. The ladies in the pics are Sandra and Peggy, both are our dinner table companions and are fantastic people.

Day 17 Formal Night Tonight!

We have 4 formal nights this sector, second for us as we missed one due to the dreaded bug that's still going around.  The clocks have gone back an hour each day over the last few days and half an hour tonight.... at this rate we will be getting up when we go to bed. The seas are still rough  We braved the conditions and did our 4 laps of the ship. I forgot to mention the picture of the watermelon face in a previous post, the things the chefs can do with a melon are amazing. This particular one caught my eye as it reminded me of someone after a few drinks who is sharing my cabin!! It is very busy inside today as it is very blustery on deck, but there is plenty to occupy your time. You can choose to do lots or just read quietly. Today I intend to read my book. Yesterday when we had our first hit of rocking seas, many people had sea sickness. I had a queasy feeling, took some ginger tablets and hey presto I felt fine soon after. Its actually nice to feel that you are on a ship as opposed to being in a floating hotel.

Day 16 Ship Shuffle

Well we knew it could not last, the ship shuffle is here, let me explain... you take 3 steps quickly forward then 2 steps slowly forward with a step to the right followed by a shuffle to the left.  George seems to be handling it extremely well, as it is his normal way of walking around full of Drambuie on the ship LOL.

Just relaxing, staggering here and there, in fact if you time it right you can run up the stairs without much effort.

Another 3 days of this to go, nice to be rocked to sleep.  

 

 

Every day in the Princess Patter there is meeting arranged for different groups to catch up. Today it was the WA people. It was good to see so many from our home state. prob about 40 or so. Just good to meet some more new people, and have something in common. We spoke with people with Safety Bay and Busselton.

 

P.S. Joanne, message and photo delivered to Neville.

Day 15 Another Day in Paradise

This was a day to remember. Arrived in Langkawi around 8.30 a.m. and our tour was leaving at 9. We had chosen to do the Island Hopping tour. I am so happy we picked this one as it was fantastic. Into a little 8 person boat and off we sped, around several magical islands, saw the bats in the caves, and the Pregnant Maiden Island. Our boat driver was lovely and so eager to show us his homeland. First stop was at the lake, lots of steps to eventually reached the lake, it was a scene out of a movie, with hundreds of people dipping into the water, I just had a sense of a cleansing ceremony. The monkeys were abundant and very cheeky....we were with a lovely couple, John and Catherine who is vision impaired and the monkeys tried to grab her cane. George jumped into the lake to cool off and as it was fresh water he didn't just bob back up as he usually does!! Next stop was to see the eagles flying around in a sort of bay. Magnificent sight. Just being there and floating amongst all this was amazing. We had another stop for a bbq lunch, which we did not expect. and a swim in the beautiful beach. Free beer and soft drinks. How lucky we are!! Any future WC, this was one tour we thoroughly recommend. It was very steamy but the spray from the little boat was so cooling. Arrived back around 1.30, quick shower and off to the duty free booze shops.

Day 15 Georges's booze stop

Another port and another booze refill for George. The Drambuie is so cheap here, he just had to stock up. He now has the decanting down to a fine art,  the bottles don't even leave the bag now. In fact the local police walked past him and didn't even catch him. Once again I downed several Ice Tea bottles, this is the perfect colour match for his decanting. The cabin steward made a comment about how much we must like Iced Tea!! Other passengers said they knew where George had been after they saw 3 empty 1 litre bottles sticking out of the bin!! That should keep him going for a while, 6 litres in the stock pile. For those of you who don't know him, I can tell you that at home he hardly drinks. He is just having a ball. His liver may never be the same. At $24 for 1 litre. its so cheap.

Back onboard for sailaway, what a sight. Langkawi is a must see again place for us.

Day 14 Port Kelang

We did not have a tour organised as we have been here before and did the Towers visit. So Princess put on a shuttle bus to the local shopping centre, $7 each way per person which was ideal for us. About a 30 minutes drive and we were there. Lovely shops, cheap as chips for shoes, I was restrained and only bought 1 yes 1 pair. I could have gone crazy and brought enough back to open a shop but I have had enough of George calling me Imelda!!.Got back onboard around 2 p.m., relaxed and had dinner then went to a show. A mexican singer who really should have stayed in his nursing home. He was woeful, but that is just our opinion. We have a tour organised for Langkawi so had a reasonably early night, well 12.15 .a.m.