Day 1 at sea.

Was a lovely quiet night on calm seas until the wee hours when an announcement went over the speakers, calling for the medical team. So either it was a heart attack or too late for one passenger, we reckon. More sleep followed until a few hours later a nearby screaming small child woke me up and that was it for sleep. Time for a shower and then leisurely breakfast served in our cabin. We'd ordered croissants but apparently they didn't have any, and they didn't have any Special K even though both were on the menu so we may not bother with room service breakfasts again but will have to get ourselves off to the main dining rooms in future. I know it's a first world problem but I'm surprised that what is being offered isn't available, especially when it was ordered the night before. As we have nothing in particular planned for the day we decide to spend the morning exploring and trying to familiarise ourselves with the ship's layout. There are 14 decks but not all of them have passageways that go end to end of the ship. We are on deck 10 and to get to the main dining room on deck 7 we can get close to it, but then have to down the mid ship stairs and then back up the next stairs to be able to access it. There's no worry that we eont get our steps up every day! We had a wander through the few shops on board and typically everything is over priced and not much choice so can't see us doing much damage to the credit cards. We decided it was time fora cuppa but finding a spare seateas a problem until we spied a couple of spare seats at a table for 4 where a sole man was seated.His wife was doing the laundry, but 2 seats were available so we plonked ourselves there and watched the world go by for a time. Ordering our coffees was a saga but they eventually arrived. Not keen on the long life milk so will likely go back to tea in future. Had a nice hour with the New Zealand fellow and his wife. They are getting off the ship tomorrow in Melbourne. James gave us some good pointers on using the medallion but I still dont have much faith in its reliability. As it was now lunch time, we headed off to the main dining room, saying our farewells to the NZ couple, saying we might bump into them again before they get off the ship tomorrow, but if not, wishing them safe travels. We eventually find our way tothe dining room again, and ask to be seated at a table for 2 but are told we have to share, so are led to a table for 6 but are the first ones there. The dining room is filling up and soon after 2 women are seated with us. Not a few minutes later and the NZ couple are brought to our table to sit with us. What are the odds? A very pleasant lunch followed. I had Thai spring roll entree and the spaghetti with prawns main. No room for dessert. We then head to the Fusions bar at the rear (aft) of the ship to watch the end of the line dancing class. I'll have to check out the time if the next class as it eas very popular and loked fun. A further wander around the ship to check out what is on higher decks-mainly pool areas and spas. Then it was time for afternoon tea so we waddled to the dining room and stuffed ourselves again. Time now for a sit down and blog catch while we are entertained by 2 classical violinists playing the likes of Bach. Very sophisticated!

Julie had bumped into friends who were also on the same cruise and we tried to help them out with the medallion but it really was the blind leading the blind. Back to the room to change for dinner and then to the Crooners bar for a cocktail. Once again the sexism was rampant and we were ignored, but eventually served our dry Martinis. They were worth the wait but I continue to be amazed, disappointed and pissed off with the blatant sexism displayed against women seeking service if there isn't a male with them! Anyway we then headed to dinner at the Savoy dining room and were seated with 6 others who we provided most of the entertainment to. The meals were excellent. I had prawn cocktail and then a chicken tandoori. once again, we couldn't fit in dessert. Time to head to the Fusion bar for karaoke.

Might I just add that the toilets do take a bit of getting used to and as I don't take my glasses with me to the loo, I've no idea what button I'm meant to push but so far there have been no disasters! After dinner we headed to karaoke where we were very enthusiastic supporters of the singers.And then we headed to another bar where they were doing a quiz on songs that had a break up theme. I did very well at that particular topic! We actually had 3 other people from the karaoke bar come with us because they clearly decided we were a lot of fun! The lady from Perth was most upset that she was getting off the ship tomorrow and had only just met us! So with fond farewells to all we headed back to our room and time for our beauty sleep.