Janine&Chris'GeriatricGapYear: 16/12 Lobster, Michael Jackson and Grand Buffets

Friday 16 December At sea

It’s just inhumane – our last 2 days at sea and almost 4 months before our next cruise! How we suffer. We went for sit-down lunch today, which was quite good. Saw some Aussies at another table and really should have asked to be seated with them. Had a chat with the Transperth driver from Fremantle. He can accumulate overtime enough to take 7 weeks leave every 3 months. And we thought we were wild.

We got cable TV back for the first time in 9 days. We did the cha cha lesson next to the pool – now J believes me when I tell her it will rain if I dance. Trying to finish the limoncino – really a rather nice lemon flavoured drop. Cost us E3 for a bottle. Plotting how to spend E60 remaining cabin credit.

They brought us lobster for dinner. It was rubbery and the sauce did nothing for it – not easy to get it right when it has been frozen I guess. Then Baked Alaska was paraded around the restaurant and the top chefs emerged for Applauso. Extended our luggage with MSC polo shirts and caps (and Chocolate J).

We are getting used to cracking good shows and this one was up there – a Michael Jackson tribute. It was quite poignant because it started with him as a black child singing with his brothers, then the plaintive song Ben. They ran through Thriller and Bad and ended with one of his songs pleading for respect for one another and the environment. He was certainly weird and may have been worse but he had a huge talent and some good intentions.

They brought in a brilliant dancer whose backwards moonwalk skimmed him across the stage like an express travelator. No gymnasts but very vigorous lighting and sound effects and very dynamic dancing. Ooooh guess who J met in the library??? The bronzed, moulded and sculpted dance hunk who was Jimminy Cricket in the first show and the Ringmaster in the second. She has been all starstruck and a bit drooly ever since.

The entertainment afterwards in the Chrystal Lounge (Krista Lown Juh) turned out to be a competition to recognise celebrity caricatures. We did very well and got everything except Janis Joplin and two Brazilian identities but a couple of people apparently got all 20 right. The Friends of Dorothy are up there getting prizes quite often.

It is expensive to use internet on a boat but there are a lot of documents and databases you could download and use offline that would be very useful in quiz competitions. The Poms we sit with have prodigious knowledge of capital cities and if you cruise a lot you do come across the same questions quite often but there was a group on P&O that used to always sit at the very back of the room and score highly. Also, I guess some of the staff might have an affinity for some guests more than others. We just get on with it and enjoy trying to solve the questions.

We were quite amazed to be up that late and we even made it to the Grand Buffet at midnight. All the boats do it but it is still most impressive how they create large sculptures out of food. Many of them are carved out of ice or moulded out of butter and are kept refrigerated. The displays of food to be eaten were also very well done. We sat up with Dieter until after 1. Wow.

For those of you have never cruised the midnight buffets that some of the lines do are amazing. Here are some of the better, ...... I have to call them artworks because they really are.

The Bread

Train