D&N

And similarly we won't risk the lasagne. We know it couldn't possibly compete!

It was on the main menu. I don't fancy the Verandah's menu. It was delicious and perfect with the wine. The dauphinoise was another story. It looked like it came from a supermarket budget range. Nora needs to give them her recipe before we leave.

The drinks package is working out ok. We've had between 6 and 8 drinks per day plus Illys, Forte and lots of bottled/canned water. That would have been $84 to $102 per day so we are saving. Last night's gala menu offered Châteaubriand. Didn't think any of the by the glass stuff would cope so ordered a Pomerol at $68. I'd identified about 6 Bordeaux or Burgundy's that would have done at same price point, but first one was in stock. Downside was that we don't go in for keeping bottles, and Cunard supplied a free sparkling with the meal. By the time we reached dance floor we were less steady than usual. Back to moderation tonight!

Earlier this week; I had to send a coffee back in Chart Room. Ordered Americano and a cup of brown water turned up. It didn't look right and it made no impact whatsoever on my rear taste buds. May have been an inexperienced waiter. Mentioned to one of the regulars next day who guessed it probably came from the push button machine in the back room. But all their Illy stuff should come from the machine in Sir Samuels.

Before lunch today: From left to right, made in; Mid Yell, Clydebank, St Nazaire, Moodiesburn.

2.5" dance shoes take over for the energetic stuff. She was in Mephisto wedge sandals one afternoon. They're so comfy she could probably run in them.

Seems to be doing the job though. The scales were actually showing fractionally less this morning than on Tuesday. We normally walk down and up 10 floors 5.5 times per day. That's; breakfast, gym (the 0.5), morning tea/coffee, lunch, afternoon tea/coffee and our evening activities.

What has been annoying me all week are the "free weights" in the gym. They were all muddled up. My OCD couldn't take it anymore this morning and I sorted them in ascending order. 😂

I have to say that such things don't really bother me. We haven't used sumbeds. In passing them I think I've noticed some stains but nothing that would make them unusable. There are some carpets I wouldn't choose for photo backgrounds but it doesn't affect me walking, running or sashaying on them. I'm probably the wrong person to ask. We're happy she can sail in a straight line at 25knts in a force 9 and we are enjoying ourselves.

Back to our new photo location with the animals. Last night was Roaring 20s for many and lots of nice outfits were seen. For us it was Masquerade Night, at least for a few of our photos and also a selection of the professional ones. We knew that Nora's dance heels were an inch and a half smaller than her grey heels so went equipped with mini pegs to raise the hem. It didn't look quite as elegant on dance floor but better that than having an accident!

This morning the sky is a light grey colour, no sign of sun. On deck it feels there's a little moisture in air but quite mild temperatures. Hardly know the ship is moving unless you look out window.

I didn't notice it had changed Marnier to mariner on my post as well.

We do have some more casual outfits with us; lunch today. And winds have calmed to force 5, I'd say sea was back to 50 cm waves. There are some shortages on board. We've had problems at times getting Cunard Rosé in some bars. And the only Grand Mariner on board was for Crêpes Suzette. Our Sommelier tried to get us a glass each but was refused. Carinthia has none of the Portuguese whites by glass on it's menu.

Think we were briefly the cabaret act last night. Band's first number at 9pm was a Quickstep. We were up promptly then found ourselves alone for whole tune. Now was that our dancing or the dress 🤣? Everyone dances well here. Not seen a collision so far. There's a couple who are far better than us at Latin but think we're probably up there with most of the Ballroom. Not that it's a competition of course but you don't want to make a mess and get in the road of others.

You can have the report from the bridge this morning. Woke to howling gale. Keel shuddering but hardly any movement other than forward. Absolutely stunning handling! Outside deck 12 is surprisingly dry and again sea state doesn't look that bad. There's enough movement to need care tying this leaning against a window frame.

Another casual night 😉😉😉! We were astounded when we found this in Oxford Street last November. Think it went down fairly well tonight. Found ourselves running between Queens Room and G32 depending on what numbers were on. Got a proper Rhumba and a Quickstep (with smaller steps) with Exxpire in G32.

See you then. Don't think next week is quite so glitzy. Certainly nothing as short as tonight or long as tomorrow. Got to go dancing now!

It was Roman Originals, Livingston branch in November 2019. Their prices are quite cheap. I didn't like it originally, thought it was a bit dowdy, but Nora wore it last New Year and it looked quite good. It's far too big now but I think she managed to hide that.

Yes. See my last reply above.

Just a note. We are strong supporters of the Royal Family in general. But to me street parties are for streets. I'd have rather seen an extra gala night with a jubilee theme rather than folk dressing in patriotic T-shirts etc.

Street party was a food and ice sculpture display between Grand Lobby and main Golden Lion entrance. Big queue to shuffle past it and get to Britannia. Looked like a super spreader event to me. Thankfully quite a few others put on masks. We did get to sit at the big round table in centre of Britannia main. Not a Gala Night but will do. It didn't really show off Nora's lunch/tea outfit so we took other snaps of her. After a couple of the tastiest looking savouries and a tiny cup of tea (my first for about 8 years) we left for Chart Room and some real tea and coffee. Incidentally yesterday a waiter we hadn't seen before tried to serve me a cup of brown water in the Chart Room as an Americano. Promptly sent back and a cup with a little froth and lovely strong caffeine taste replaced it.

I noticed that at time. 3 men who appeared to be together and chatting to the barman, and he seemed to be serving them. However there is a big notice on the bar stating it is not permitted. We're not bar people, like comfy seats.

We do 40 minutes intense cardio after breakfast each morning followed by 30 minutes weights, resistance & stretches. And we think we have waiters trained to get portion size limited. We had 1 course, a sliced orange, wine and water for lunch in preparation for what might be offered this afternoon.

We're going to see what it's like. There's a cute corgi on one of the cakes.

For anyone interested I'm taking all our photos with a Blltzwolf BS10 selfie stick/tripod. I try to remember to hide the tiny remote control in my palm while taking photos. https://m.blitzwolf.com/BlitzWolf-BW-BS10-All-In-One-Portable-Selfie-Stick-with-Retractable-Tripod,-Hidden-Phone-Clamp,-Up-to-720mm-Length,--Removable-Remote-Control-p-358.html