Well, after getting accustomed to sleeping on a highish bed with a constant feeling of being rocked to sleep (only ever-so-gently, luckily) due to the movement of the ship along the sea, we decided to spend the day lazily - did a spot of sun-bathing on the deck (not too long, it was pretty hot out there today) and on our balcony.
We also decided to try and send an email home, since I'd promised to let my sister know we'd arrived in Mumbai safely and our mobile phones had not been able to get a signal. The facilities on the ship for internet connection were frustratingly slow. I managed to log onto my Facebook account and send a message to my sis, but when I tried to log onto my hotmail account and email other family members, I simply could not do it. I think the system was struggling to cope with the number of people using the internet at that particular time, so I gave up after spending £4 getting nowhere! We are so used to just being able to connect immediately and without problems on a daily basis at home, that the computer room onboard the Ruby hardly interested us!
As you can see from the photos, the sky was blue with just a few clouds passing by and it was a perfect start to the cruising way of life.
On the Promenade Deck, there is a sign that tells us "7 laps = 1 mile". So we decided to try it for ourselves, and completed our first mile of the holiday in about 20mins.
Every day, the Captain would make an announcement over the tannoy at mid-day after the bells were rung. Today, he warned us that tomorrow we might be at risk from an attack by Somalian Pirates - although they were taking measures to ensure no such thing. Still, it was a potential threat and gave us something to think about!
During our lazing around in the cabin I spent some time reading one of my books, "Chasing Darkness" by a favourite author of mine, Robert Crais. Having nothing to do all day is a great way for me to read as much as possible, and I find myself really getting drawn into the world created by the author - it's a great feeling!
Here's the Promenade Deck, where we did our mile-long walk on an almost daily basis.
Each evening for dinner, we sit at a table with two other couples - this isn't compulsory, but when we booked the holiday, we opted to sit with either two or up to four other people, rather than spend each night dining with just each other. This isn't because we are not happy in each other's company but just that it makes for a more interesting conversation and it helps to swap information with other people on the cruise. The two couples were Dennis and Valerie Reavell, who live in Kent and Geoffrey and Sylvia Wiggins, who live in Carlisle. Dennis and Valerie had been on the Cruise since it began its World Tour way back in January and they had plenty of anecdotes to relay from previous ports and days at sea. Geoffrey and Sylvia, however, were newbies like us, as they'd flown to Mumbai, too and joined at the same time as us. Somehow or other, the conversation tonight got onto death and the morbid fact that there had been 5 deaths on the World Cruise so far!!! I suppose, given the fact that it is a Saga Holiday aimed at the older generation (I only qualify because Keith is a lot older than me!) then the chances of someone dying on board are fairly high! however, it made us change the subject rather quickly!
Some evenings are "themed" nights regarding the dress code - tonight was an informal/Indian theme (optional) and it was interesting to see how many of the guests had managed to purchase their Saris in India ready for the event. At the end of the night, the Ladies in costume paraded up and down a catwalk in the ballroom and had their photograph taken by the Staff Photographer. Valerie had a green and gold Sari outfit which suited her very well. Needless to say, we didn't partake!
Lectures were a popular attraction on board, today's offering was from Dr Andrew Baxter, a Scientist & Traveller, entitled "Around the Indian Sub-Continent - People & Places!". These lectures were held in either the ballroom or the cinema. Some guests went to every lecture going, we only went to two on the entire cruise. If you missed one, however, and really wanted to see it, you could always catch it the next day on the TV in your cabin!
Evening entertainment (again, not one of our particular pleasures) was often classical, this evening it was the turn of a "Cello Diva", Sarah Jessica Maer - as an "April Fool", the staff had written her name down in the "Today" information sheet as "Sarah Jessica Parker". Hmm, wonder how many were fooled by that!
We had an early night after our evening meal, all the sea air feels good but certainly tires you!
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