Re-entry

Coming home after 2 two weeks away feels like a fairly abrupt re-entry into our everyday life. In the morning we breakfast , clear our cabin, wait to be called to collect our luggage then home by teatime. A complete change of lifestyle with just the journey to allow readjustment.  The minibus journey back from Southampton was miserable. Rained all the way, A34  blocked by accident so slow queue by alternative route. Our fellow passengers were in Dudley and we arrived just as the schools were turning out which made for mayhem with cars parked everywhere or slowly making their way back. Our driver then did a short fast stint on the M6 toll road and we had a fast journey from Dudley, much quicker than I expected.

We have been on a Saga cruise to the Canaries via Madeira on the way and Portugal on the return. The Portugal stop was by Opporto and we had a port wine bodega tour. We succumbed to buying some port to bring back. I hadn’t realised that so many types existed.

Saga specialise in older folks. I’m now used to all the restrictions of my 76 years. But I was surprised and quite pleased that I was relatively fit. There were many wheelchairs and wheeled walkers around. I reckon I probably ranked about a third of the way up from the least fit.  My big problem apart from lack of stamina is lack of balance. Despite the ship movement I managed OK. Clearly the captain is very aware of the ships motion and he stayed an extra day in Madeira to avoid a high swell. This did mean we missed one island but I for one wasn’t complaining.

It is customary on  cruise ships to provide some entertainment every night. I  mean the major nightly show not the live music at various venues about the ship. The singer I rather disliked feeling his performance was poor and his jokes weak was taken ill losing his voice through laryngitis. I regarded this as a blessing as we had two alternative shows. One was from the resident troupe ( three singers, 4 dancers ) which was in rehearsal for the future and the final one was a triumphant throwing in of everyone available. This included Graham Cole (  Tony Stamp from the Bill ) who proved to be a fine singer and amusing comic. This ended with the entertainments director singing and doing a fine job of engaging the audience.

The entertainments director ( JoBo ) used the rather good idea of seeking jokes from the audience ( written beforehand ) to be read out at her introduction to the show. My joke got a modest laugh ( a bear walks into a pub…) but it was the raunchy ones which went down best.

Lack of balance is one of the residual effects of stroke for me. Over the years I have adjusted a bit and I don’t fall over as much. I have to be careful of rapidly turning. I also need to be careful in restricted spaces as I need to maintain a wide stance. On board a moving ship I’m not at too much of a disadvantage. I’m used to holding on to hand rails. As the Captain kept reminding us, one hand for the ship and one hand for yourself. I found my walking stick no benefit around ship and I just used it ashore.

It is curious what an enclosed life a cruise ship maintains. With meals and activities there is not too much time except for excursions in port. I’m rather surprised to recall the only time I went on the main deck was for the compulsory evacuation drill. Having said that we did have one meal outdoors on the veranda deck and would have taken another except we couldn’t find a free table.

Talking of tables leads naturally onto food. Frankly cruise ships are an invitation to gluttony. As if three full meals a day were not enough there is the option of afternoon tea  and supper while drinks and cake is available all day. The food was good although far too pretentious for my simple tastes. I generally had a roast potato and salmon or chicken for both lunch and dinner. Their was a surprising lack of vegetables and what we had were strange and dressed up in some quite unnecessary way.

I teased about my shipboard joke. Here in full

A smartly dressed bear walks into a pub and in a plummy voice asks for a pint of best bitter. The barman is absolute amazed and just asks the first sum that comes into his head, £25. The bear looks slightly puzzled but pays up.
The next day the same thing occurs and the barman seeking to be consistent charges the same £25.
On the third day the bear again comes in. The barman seeking to start a conversation ventures “ We don’t get many bears in here”
The bear replies “I’m not surprised at these prices”