| Next stop was Giske on one of the other islands so we went through a tunnel or two (can't remember) and it appeared to have stopped raining. There was really nothing here apart from a church and marina so I went Aurora hunting, since she had to be around somewhere looking sleek and sexy! |
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| I was much happier now I'd seen our shippy and she wasn't hidden away too much. Final stop was Alnes lighthouse, in the village of Alnes, where we'd also be having a snack. The waitress or manager or whatever got stroppy with our guide for being early because they have a schedule to keep. Juanita went up to the top. |
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| Then we headed back towards Ålesund and a quick trip around the town with an option to get off or go back to the ship. Since they showed you can get as up close and personal to Ryndam as security allowed, I got off. Marina was the other side of town and my back wouldn't manage the walk. |
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| At that moment a shuttle turned up and parked next to another by the tourist information place. There had been some confusion as to how often they were running, the guide telling us to ask the tourist information people. |
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| When I got back to the gorgeous one, I sent Juanita a text to tell her the shuttles appeared to be running as they had in Dublin to which she replied she'd asked and they didn't have a clue. I had a nap since my back hurt. |
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| When I woke up it was raining! Ugh! Glad I wasn't still out in it but did wonder where Juanita was. |
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| She'd taken a couple of photos of Ryndam while she was out which, like the ones she took of Seven Seas Voyager in Fremantle 2006, Equinox in 2009 and Aurora now, reckoned were for me. Of course they were. I believe her - not! |
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| Marge and Cedric had given their first performence in Carmens and we were all going to the second at 8pm. During dinner it was announced the show, Blame It On The Boogie, was cancelled due to technical difficulties. We heard the rehearsal so no wonder! Instead Lee Wilson, who they say is a comedian, was on instead. Bugger that. Anyway, Cedric was delighted with the extra bowl of strawberry compote Savio gave him with his dessert. Strawberries were few and far between sine the early days. We think Cedric ate them all! |
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And so the four of us headed to Carmen's to root on Marge and Cedric and they were very good. |
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| I don't think any of us will ever be able to listen to Delilah again without being reminded of Cedric wiggling is hips a la Tom Jones but he really got into it. I'm so glad we were put with fun older people and not stuck with the nearly dead. These two, Cedric especially, really made the cruise. Meeting your table companions is always a nervous time as we weigh each other up but sometimes you just click rather than be polite during the meal and we all (that includes Brian and Val) clicked. Mike came and joined us afterwards for a while before heading off to eat or something leaving the rest of us to watch the poncey dancing. There was far too much of this during the cruise - morning, afternoon and night! Many of the nearly dead took it seriously, having brought their poncey dancing shoes! I was waiting for them to collide like dodgems. At least it would have been more interesting. And the snooty nearly dead looked down their pinched noses at younger people who gave it a go but weren't very good. Gareth and Beth decided to leave, which was my cue too since the old farts dancing weren't going to liven it up by even tripping over each other and Juanita followed. As we passed Champions, Gavin saw us and said, "Where were you, girls?" so we pointed towards Carmen's. I went to the photo shop and an Italian lady was moaning about EVERYTHING to Darren, although I agreed with her about the Arctic Circle one. Contrary to what Darren had told us about them not knowing they would do them, P&O is hardly a stranger to Iceland so they did. Also, if they'd said the soft-focus was for that instead of this looking ten years younger crap, many people would have been more likely to have it taken. But why not use another photo if someone didn't have one? The whole thing was a joke. I told the girl about Darren showing his builder's bum while waiting for the geyser and she enjoyed embarrassing him after that. I bumped into a nearly dead as I turned to leave and the old bag blamed me! The queue was to my LEFT to prevent that happening yet she stood to my RIGHT. It's never their fault, is it(?) Stupid bitch. And they wonder why they gain no respect. Back to the cabin since it was another early start, since we were arriving in the cul-de-sac that is Geiranger for 8am. Aurora was chomping at the bit an hour before we were due to sail and it was still chucking it down. In the end we went about half an hour early. |
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| Well I was naughty and reset the alarm since I thought we had plenty of time and I was knackered. When I went on deck we weren't that far away - bugger! Missed the Seven Sisters yet again! Last time I was there in June 2008 was on the QE2 on what was the BEST cruise EVER! I was also extremely hungover after Bergen Night and hated Geiranger. Mind you, back then we had DRY weather unlike today which was pouring, cold and windy with very low cloud. |
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| As we were being tied around 7am, there was a Code Alpha on A deck in cabin 135. I really hoped this rain would piss off and cloud disperse. The Deputy Captain's clearance spiel said there was a chance of showers. Oh for open bridge wings then he could stick his hand out! Where the hell were they getting this from? They had been wrong ALL cruise and continued to be so. I think everyone would drop dead from shock if they got it right. I went back to the cabin afterwards to sleep since Costa Deliziosa wasn't due until 10am and Marina for the revised time of 1.30pm-5pm, instead of 8am-12pm. I heard Agostino's assistant say my name as I passed. When I woke up at 10am, I put the webcam on and saw a blurry white blob in front of us - damn! It was still pouring so I stayed on the Prom deck as Marina turned and backed up, disappearing from sight unless I went up or across to the land. The Costa then sneaked around the corner, anchoring ahead of us - cheek! |
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