13. Bits and pieces.

Today, Friday, is a sea day. We have just finished the morning trivia (and our team lost the tie break again). I am sitting right at the top of the ship the Skywalkers lounge looking out over a mostly cloudy sky and no doubt the daily thunderstorms are brewing somewhere over the horizon. The seas so far have been very smooth with just a low swell but today there is just a touch more wind as there are more ripples on the surface. A large freighter is passing on our starboard side but unlike the Malacca Straits there has been very little shipping in view here in the South China Sea.

It seems that there is no majority age group on this trip....thee are just as many 20's and 30's as 60's and 70's. However most of the passangers are Chinese (probably 70%), with Australians about 20%, a few Americans, a few Brits and a smattering of just about every other nationality you can think of. Indeed, last night we had dinner with a couple from Khazakstan. Unfortunately they could speak very little English but we established that he was the coach to the Khazakstan 2012 London Olympics modern pentathlon team. Now, if that isn't a claim to fame, I don't know what is.

As always, the staff and crew are unfailingly helpful, efficient and polite. Many of them are Chinese also, which, given the itinerary and clientele makes good sense. We have done all the jokes about the waitress being called Wei Too Yung and wondering if Ping Pong is a good entertainer. (No offence intended!). 

The entertainment has been good, without being exceptional. Last nights show was a magician who was okay but didn't do any tricks that we hadn't seen before. There is a classical duo (violin and Spanish guitar), who are very good and the house band is British. They play the usual standards well although the girl playing lead guitar would look more at home in a library than fronting a rock band. The cruise director's staff are great....but then, that's their job.

As always, it tends to be a bit of a bun fight in the Horizon Court buffet at breakfast and lunchtimes. The worst offenders are the Chinese grandmothers who are four foot nothing and with elbows as sharp as knives. However, in chatting with a couple from Hong Kong, they explained that because places like HK are so crowded, the only way you can walk the streets is by elbowing people out of the way, so it's a perfectly acceptable practice!