Day 13: Rockin’ an’ a rollin’

When a plane hits turbulence, the Captain switches on the fasten seatbelt sign and everyone returns to their seats. On a cruise ship, however, things are slightly different.  Here the captain simply tells everyone to hold onto the handrails tightly while we toss about. 

Today there is no mistake that we are now in the Atlantic. At the time of writing we are sailing off the coast of Portugal with 8 metre high swells rolling into our port side, which certainly makes the ship dance around a bit. There are a large number of passengers on the Saga Sapphire with walking sticks, so it is inevitable that there are going to be a few casualties by the end of the day.  However, there are also many passengers who have been brought down to the scourge of bad weather at sea; seasickness.   I am fortunate because I do not succumb to it. Personally, I think this may be down to having spent a great deal of my youth in an inebriated state and so I am rather used to staggering along corridors. However, for the other passengers there are always Stugeron seasickness tablets which are given out for free from the reception or bracelets using acupressure to alleviate the effects of seasickness that can be bought from the shop.

Kevin Woodford (centre) and celebrity guests

 For those not confined to their bunks, there was time earlier today to see a stage show of one of the UK’s most popular cookery game shows, Ready Steady Cook. The idea of the show is to make a meal with a limited amount of unknown ingredients in 25 minutes. The show was held in the famous Britannia Lounge on Deck 8 and was hosted by celebrity chef Kevin Woodford. As I had met Kevin before, I already knew he would be putting on a good show. And so, not only did  Kevin and the rest of the celebrity team succeed in making two very nice dishes under rather difficult circumstances; they also did it in a force 9 gale.