Heavy heads this morning — more for Tash than me to be honest. Could easily have stayed in bed, and in fact we did stay in a bit longer than agreed. Nik was ringing us from the restaurant asking where we were!
Eventually down for breakfast, which was good as usual, then off to reception for the bridge tour we’d signed up for. About 20 of us were taken up to meet Freddie the Captain and some of his crew and given a rundown of how the ship operates and how everything works behind the scenes. It was really interesting and I’m glad we did it. Lasted about an hour.
After that we disembarked and went through the usual gauntlet of tour guides and taxis before wandering into town. It’s quite built up and very obviously a French colony — that was clear wherever you looked.
There was a market on in the main square but we were all pretty knackered by this point, so decided to split up. We did a bit more walking but not much if I’m honest. Tash was really feeling it (“not a hangover!”), so we headed back to port, grabbed a bit of internet access and boarded again.
Dropped things in the room and I stayed put for a good hour enjoying the luxury of air con. Eventually found Tash and we had something to eat, then spent the afternoon doing very little — lounging around, sleeping, reading, me catching up on diary entries. Exactly what was needed.
The afternoon was nice and relaxed but the weather was overcast. It kept threatening sunshine but stayed cloudy most of the time. Sometimes that was a relief, though a full sunny day would’ve been nice. Nik and Gaz came down and sat with us for a while, then headed off earlier as they’d booked the steak restaurant for dinner.
We watched the ship leave port — always interesting — then Tash and I had one last cream tea and went back to the cabin to get sorted and pack.
We headed down to Piccadilly’s for dinner but got turned away as I was wearing a collarless t-shirt. I knew the rule, just forgot — and to be fair, I did look smart!
Dinner was nice in the end and neither of us drank. We’ve honestly had enough alcohol for now and could quite happily have gone straight to bed. Still, we enjoyed the food and then headed down to the Live Lounge where Nik and Gaz had secured a great spot. We stayed put for the rest of the evening and had waiter service the whole time.
It was noticeably busier than usual — lots of people we hadn’t seen all week were out, being as it was their last night too. It gave the place a really good atmosphere.
We did drink a bit but it was hard work — stuck to Captain Morgan’s and Coke. Rhythm & Breeze were good, as were The Collective, and then at 11.00pm all the musicians came together for the end-of-show finale. That was brilliantly done — loads of songs, lots of dancing and singing, and it went on for nearly an hour.
And then… that was it. All done.
Nik and Gaz wanted to stay out longer but we were finished, said our goodnights and headed back to the cabin to sort final bits and get into bed — not that it led to a good night’s sleep.
It was VERY windy and wavy. The ship was really rocking, with lots of creaking and noise throughout the night.
One final thing — I checked the invoice and noticed we’d been charged £43 for the bridge tour. Not happy about that at all. Tash raised it straight away but we’ll need to get that refunded in the morning.
End-of-day reflection:
A tired, slightly fuzzy day but an enjoyable one nonetheless. The bridge tour was a real highlight, the afternoon downtime was badly needed, and the final night atmosphere was spot on. Ready to leave now though — physically tired, a bit over-done, and craving solid ground again.
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