The clocks go forward one hour today  at noon.

January is almost over and seemingly, I have dodged a lousy month back home.  On board, there is a plethora of activities and events to distract from the possible boredom of six further sea days. Port days break this monotony but can come with their own dangers if one is not careful.  However, nobody has been left behind as far as I know.

One amusing occurrence comes to mind.  QV ran out of bananas early on in the Caribbean, where I would have thought they might have been in plentiful supply. The next delivery was two days ago at Philipsburg, our final Caribbean port of call!  Yes! We have no bananas!

I booked lunch in the Verandah today at 1 pm, not realising the clocks move forward one hour at mid day.  Time to walk/work up an appetite.  I just had a small bowl of porridge without honey yoghurt and…banana!  10.41hrs.

The Captain in his noon-day broadcast suggested a further two days of tropical warmth.  We are now north of the Tropic of Cancer and it’s still a beautiful day, too good for being indoors.  Lunch was rather special today.  My Cunard World Club loyalty allows (on this voyage) two complimentary lunches in the Verandah Restaurant.  It was fabulous although for once, I could have done with some company!  The cuisine is far too special to enjoy alone.  My steak was done to perfection. But next time, I shall ask for no salt on the steak. I don’t “do” salt!  I have one more lunch which I shall take towards the end of next week.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a personalised invitation for dinner in the Britannia Restaurant on Monday.  I can’t even guess how this has come about. I’m not complaining!

Now to make the most of these last days of decent weather.  Today at noon it was 26°C.    This afternoon is idyllic. The extended pool area aft on Deck 9 is bathed in glorious sunshine and there’s probably another two days of this before we leave this welcome area of high pressure for something less warm and more turbulent.  Scantily attired geriatric humanity sunning themselves in randomly scattered deck chairs actually makes for one of the most relaxing places to chill out.  I feel as if I fit in.  Music, sometimes live plays from a small stage towards midships.

Although at sea, I shall try to make the daily blog worth at least looking at.  It’s 4.20 now. This time yesterday it would have been an hour earlier. 

Many thanks for reading, David 16.30 hrs. 19.30 hrs in the U.K.