King Neptune's Party.

Saturday 14 May.

 

Moira went up for the coffee this morning and let me lie on in bed. I still wasn't feeling that good, I was nauseous with a pounding head and sore throat. After my cup of coffee I tried to read but I was still tired and fell asleep again. Moira went for breakfast on her own and brought me back some toast and jam and a cup of tea. Moira said it was still cloudy but dry so the 'line crossing' celebrations would be on, but there was no way I was going to take part. The thing I thought I needed was some fresh air, away from air conditioning, so we went up on deck to watch Neptune's belated 'crossing the line' party

 

We sat on the chairs along the rail on the walking track deck overlooking the pool where most of the activities would take place. We were there for about an hour before the parade was due to come along the track from the disco lounge where they started. When we got there at first it was overcast with thick cloud but dry, there was a cold breeze blowing and that was probably better than sitting in the hot sun. We were reading from our iPads when it began to spit with rain, we thought about going down below where there was shelter but the rain went off again, so we returned to our seats at the rail. This happened a few more times but then it got heavier, Moira went to the cabin and brought back our rain jackets. There was a brighter sky in the direction the ship was steaming and we fortunately reached it just as the parade began.

 

King Neptune leads the parade.

King Neptune on his throne.

The pool ceremony.

Covered in chocolate powder.

 

It wasn't much of a spectacle and I was glad I hadn't bothered taking part. King Neptune led his followers along the track beside us and down to the pool side. He took his place on the throne then all the participants had firstly to kiss a squid or octopus then had a couple of the King's helpers run round as that sat by the pool and splashed various concoctions over them; cream, tomato sauce, and finally chocolate powder. Then they were told to jump into the pool, all this was accompanied by loud thumping music with the helpers gyrating to the beat. Just as it was finishing the bright patch of sky disappeared and the rain poured down again.

 

We were both soaking and went to the cabin to change into dry clothes before heading to the disco lounge. As it wasn't particularly warm outside and the lounge was normally freezing we both wrapped up well, we had our fleeces on and tracksuit trousers. It still felt cold in the lounge and after lunch we decided to go down to one of the bars on deck 5 where hopefully it would be warmer. It was and we sat in some comfortable seats where we read from our iPads. Like yesterday Moira complained that she wasn't feeling well and went to the cabin to lie down. I stayed there and worked on the crossword in the 'Telegraph', I found it a bit easier today and soon finished it. By this time I wasn't feeling to good either and returned to the cabin to stretch out on the bed. At 4:00 pm I decided to go to a talk in the theatre. It was about an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria by Irish Nationalist at the time of her Jubilee Celebrations. Moira wasn't keen to go so I was on my own. The guy giving the talk was once one of the security chiefs for the Royal Family, he was a confident enough speaker but his material involved too many people in the story and it was difficult to remember who was who and at times who's side they were on as a lot of them were types of double agents. In the end it wasn't particularly good and I'm not sure what it was all about, but I suppose that is 'typically Irish'.

 

Back at cabin I read for a bit but soon my eyes were closing and I fell asleep. I was wakened when Moira was getting ready for dinner, I got up to join her but suddenly felt very bad again. My throat and head was sore and my nose choked up. I returned to bed and only wakened again when Moira got back from dinner. She brought me a cheese and ham sandwich and a cup of tea. When I finished eating it I got to sleep again and that was me for the night, another evening without dinner, show or music in the bars.

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy