Saturday January 7, 2023
There was no Catholic Mass today so it was an easy morning. We were chastised by a letter saying we had not gone through the UK immigration, so that was our first stop. A quick click of the cruise card and a cursory look at the passport, set us on our way. As this was on the 3rd floor of the Britannia Restaurant, we decided to breakfast on the 2nd floor of the restaurant. We met up and chatted with a couple (Malaysian wife and Scottish husband) that we had chatted with on our South America cruise in 2019. It was great seeing and chatting with them again. This was the couple who had congratulated Roger on his dancing abilities during the South America trip. They remembered us and his “smooth” dancing.
The “Angry Atlantic” continued to live up to it’s name with on-going significant swells, caused by a weather disturbance ahead, making the ship continue with it’s “rock and roll” motion. Most felt that walking down the corridor before breakfast, remained akin to walking home from the pub after a few too many drinks!!!
By the time we were finished with breakfast, it was too late for the first lecture but we greatly enjoyed the Royal Butler who again chatted about his experiences in the Royal Household and his dancing with the Queen at the Gillies Ball at Balmoral Castle, a dream of his since he was a youth. He was overcome by emotion as he concluded, showing his great affection to Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family. Another change of time at noon becoming 1 PM also took place.
We skipped lunch but went to two other lectures – Mike Ling talking about flying with the Blades Aerobatic Team. A private organization that takes paying customers on “Red Arrow” type maneuvers as well as other air operations.
Finally, Dr.Emerson Smith talked about the Concorde and the various new supersonic airplanes that are being developed for future passenger flights. Not a great speaker, but some interesting information.
The rest of the day saw Anne going to the gym and Roger working on how to get access to the blog. We decided to forgo the Britannia and have a smaller dinner in the Royal Court Cafeteria. After which we went to the Royal Court Theatre, about an hour early, to await for the performance of British Comedian – Phil Melbourne. Some comedians perform to a silent crowd, while others get the odd titter, but Phil had us all in stitches from start to his “escape” ending from handcuffs and a strait jacket, which ended up being a regular jacket and amusing physical comedy. All great fun. We retired to our room to enjoy a Port (Anne) and a Godfather (Amaretto & Whiskey) for Roger.
Roger & Anne Travels 