12. Leden 2011

Dneska je streda 12. ledna 2011, my jsme presne tyden na mori a osmy den jsme nespatrili nic jineho nez sire more, ktere je uplne vsude, kam se podivate. Venku je dneska 27 stupnu, jasno se silou vetru 5, coz je takovy prijemny vanek. Ocean dneska trosku houpe, ale to je pry kolem 25 rovnobezky od rovniku celkem normalni. Uhanime to rychlosti 22 uzlu, coz je nejaky 38km za hodinu.  Momentalne jsem asi 500km od Barbadosu, coz uz je coby kamenem dohodil a zbytek dosel, Anglie je ted asi 5000km na severovychod,takze uznate, ze jsme uz urazili radny kousek cesty. Kapitan dneska oznamil, ze cesta probiha podle planu a ze zitra mame povoleno pristat na Barbadosu o celou hodinu drive, takze budeme v pristavat kolem sedme hodiny rano, coz je super, protoze budeme mit uplne cely den, abychom si uzili trochu pevne zeme.

Posledni dva dny nejak rychle utekly, ale snazime si kazdou chvilku vyuzit jak se da. Ucili jsme se tancit chachacha, uplne na vrchu lodi, jsme hrali basket a tenis, byli jsme na kapitanske party, kde jsme meli moznost mluvit s posadkou a zeptat se jich, jak to vsechno funguje. S kapitanem jsme se potkali zatim jen ve vytahu, takze jsme s nim mluvili jen chvilku. Snad ho jeste potkame, protoze v San Francisku nas opusti a budeme mit noveho kapitana. Asi ma uz za sebou dlouho cestu, tak poleti zpatky do Anglie na zaslouzenou dovolenou. Vetsina posadky se plavi 4 mesice a pak maji 2 mesice volna. Ale napriklad Alberto, co se stara o nasi kajutu, ten musi pracovat 6 mesicu a pak ma 2 mesice volno a nebo 9 mesicu, a pak ma 3 mesice volno, takze si to dovedete predstavit, ze je to celkem dlouha doba na mori. Alberto je z Gawi (cast Indie)  pro P&O pracuje uz 30 let! Takze to asi musi pro nej byt celkem dobra prace.

Hodne personalu, jako jsou kabin stevardi a cisnici jsou bud z Indie ci z Filipin. Vsichni jsou vetsinou hrozne mily a hned si vas pamatuji a ja se taky s nima casto dam do reci, protoze mne zajima, odkud pochazeji a jak dlouho jsou na lodi, a jak se maji a tak, takze si mne pamatuji asi jeste vic, takze obcas slysim “Hello Katie”, takze si musim zacit take pamatovat jejich jmena. Oni nastesti maji cedulku s jmenem na kosili, takze musim jen umet cist J.

Vcera vecer byl dalsi formalni vecer, takze pani museli v obleku s kravatou a damy zase v kratkych ci dlouhych satech. Chris pred veceri relaxoval a ja jsem si vydala na deck 3, kde je takovy oval kolem cele lodi. Dala jsem si 3 kolecka co je presne mile ( 1630 metru) a bylo to celkem fajn bezet a pritom se hybat dopredu, takovy neobvykly pocit. Pak jsem vybehla schody o 6 pater vis a jeste 45 minut byla v posilovne. Je to celkem fajn pocit, poradne si zacvicit, nemit pocit, ze nejak musim pak rychle jit ci jet, myslim, ze na tehle plavbe je dobre to, ze mate tolik casu, kolik jen chcete, a to se za normalniho behu zivota moc casto nestane, stale nas neco honi a porad nekde musime byt. Mozna to je jeden z duvodu, proc nas tenhle zpusob objevovani sveta tolik lakal. Videt svet, a mezi tim mit cas delat to, co normalne nemame cas delat ci stihnout, hmmm, myslim, ze sin a to clovek docela dobre muze zvyknout.

Jak uz jsem rekla, vcera byl formalni vecer a nejak mne prestalo bavit mit je rovne ulizle vlasy, takze jsem skocila do mistniho salonu a trochu jsme si je nechala zehlickou natocit. Rina, kadernice z Cape Town- Jihoafricka Republika- bylo uplne super. Rekla mi, ze je na lodich 5 let a je hrozne spokojena. Pracuje sice 12 hodin denne, ale stale potkava nove lidi, ma skvelou sefovou a proste je stastna. Na lodi take potkala pred 3mi lety sveho pritele, ktery je z Filipin, potkali se na lodi Oriana – coz je dalsi lod P&O – a pry az se vezmou, tak uz na lodi pracovat nebudou. Jak rikam, kazda prilezitost zjistit o mistnich lodnich obyvatelich neco vice, se prece nemuze nechat jen tak uniknout. Mimo jine v salonu take pracuje Polka Liza a Rumunka Oana. Pak je tam take jeden maser, ktery mi tvrdil, ze je jediny Americky obcan zamestnany na teto lodi. Kdyz jsem mu rekla, ze jsem zila v Oak Parku, tak byl uplne nadseny, ze pry jsme sousedi, ze on je z Glenfieldu, coz je jen hned vedle Oak Parku a vsem to tam hned vypravoval, tak to bylo trochu ujety, ale jinak fajn, clovek se dozvi spoustu veci a zasmeje se. Rina mi prozradila, ze rano cesala pani, co mela v 11hodin svatbu a oddaval je kapitan! Nevestu i zenicha ( oba kolem 50-ti let) jsme pak potkali vecer jak se prochazeli na lodi. Celkem zajimava myslenka,ale ja ani Chris bychom nemenili nasi svatbu ani za nic. Protoze to bychom byli sami a to by bylo smutny bez nasi rodinky a vsech kamaradu, to by proste nebylo ono i kdyby to bylo v samem raji svete, jedine, ze bychom si vas vsechny dopravili sem k nam J.

Dneska jsme meli tropickou party, ktera byla v na decku 9, bar Aquarius. Hrala ziva kapela a pak Rob DJ poustel hitovky. V noci se opet posouva cas o hodinu, takze od zitra budeme o 5 hodin pozadu oproti Ceske Republice. Luco, ptala jsi se proc tam je cerna obrazovaka a cary, to znamena, ze kdyz se divas, tak je zrovna tma, takze musis se podivat, az bude svetlo. Snad dneska nahrajeme par fotek, zatim zadne delfiny nemame, ale doufejme, ze se nam nejake podari zachytit.

Za zhruba 8 hodin pristanema na Barbadosu, kde se chystame snorchlovat a pojedeme na katamaranu objevovat ostrov, takze velikou lod, vymenime za mensi, proste toho stale nemame dost J. Tak nam prejte hezke pocasi a at objevime nejake morske zelvy, pokud tam budou, tak bychom s nimi meli smet i plavat, tak uvidime, jen to chce vodotesny fotak, nebo aspon nafotime to co pujde za sucha. Hezky den vam prejeme, padaji tu dneska hvezdy, takze je to skoro sprcha meteoritu jako v Cechach nekdy v srpnu. Posilame slunicko a pozdravy a doufam, ze se mate, tak jak to jen je nejlepe v lednu mozne!!

The day before Barbados

We've been a bit quiet lately, nothing major to report, but we do enjoy reading your comments, and KA, you'll be pleased to hear we are working on that invite still!  We're getting to know some of the ships company, we spent a couple of hours in the evening with one of the entertainment officers and we actually met our Captain "Ian" last night in the lift.  We only had a few seconds to chat (a true elevator pitch!) but the seed is sown!  It's also quite interesting to hear about some of the inner workings of the ship and the crew.  We know for example that there is an official position of ships carpenter, that we took on quite a lot of water during our rough seas and that it may still lead to problems in port.  We'll let you know if we notice anything un-toward.  And rather darker, we know that the ships morgue has space for 5, and that on the last cruise, sadly, only 2 were still available when they docked in Southampton.  This really is a floating town, with similar ups and downs (no pun intended) of life in a land based community.

We stumbled upon a meteor shower last night too.  Not sure if it's visible from the UK, we hadn't read anything about it, but happened to be outside on our own around midnight (still very warm) and saw 5/6 shooting stars in the course of half an hour, pretty special.  It gave us another idea for a class on star gazing.  As some of you will know, we were really looking forward to the darkness of being in the middle of the ocean to allow us to see more stars, but it seems even the ships own lights are spoiling that a little, we need to find a better spot on a high deck.

We're very much looking forward to getting to Barbados tomorrow morning, 8 straight days at sea has seemed like a long time, and you can tell everyone is getting a little bit itchy!  It is starting to feel like a holiday now, as the temperature was 27C today, and both pools are in use and the open decks looking like rocky outcrops on a wildlife programme!

Another hour back tonight, so we'll be GMT -4 by the time we reach Barbados.  No adverse effects felt yet from the slow time changes, it's just innate laziness keeping us in bed until 10am!

2000 miles from home, by Katie

I thought it is time for me to put together a few English thoughts together and share with you the beauty of what is going on here, now probably about 2000 nautical miles away from the cost of England. I can’t believe it is already day 6 of our voyage!

We are sitting on one of the top decks of this massive ship, drinking a pint of Stella, being in the middle of Atlantic, you can look as much and as far as you like, and all you would see would be this wonderful, calming and playful gentle waves, moving our Arcadia gently but fast and more and more toward the west. We are currently constantly doing about 22 -23 knots, which compares to about  25mph.  Weather has massively improved also temperature-wise and today we woke up to 20 degrees Celsius, so t-shirts and shorts is already definitely very appropriate wear here during the day.

I am quite pleased that not many people are as brave as me and not willing to try the pool. It is indeed heated and very warm and pleasant to swim up and down. However, when I was asked by a few random people what is the water like, I just said, that it might feel a bit cold to some ;-), as of course you don’t want to encourage all the fellow passengers to be using our Aquarius pool!! No way, if they don’t want to try themselves, I will keep the pool to us. Well, Chris is not so keen on having a swim, maybe he prefers to wait for next 3 days, when we will finally get to our first port, to Barbados! We are going to join a catamaran and go snorkeling over the coral reef and then at the second location we should be able to swim with turtles!

 I can’t wait to have a proper taste of the nice warm sea. You see, I would already have an additional business idea what attraction to add to the P&O cruises, especially to our one on Arcadia. They should have small motorized boats that would take people on tours, maybe doing a bit of snorkeling or dolphin watching during the day. The only down side is that it would have to go quite fast, certainly faster then 22 knots, so it can catch up with the ship again. Not sure if I have a proper business structure to sell it to the management of the P&O.

During our lunch time today, there have been already a few business ideas, while we were sharing our lunch with our dinner-table-mates/new friends Trevor and Jean. We were coming up with ideas for the ship entertainment. One was they should try to form a band out of passengers as there is definitely good number of musicians on board. Chris could play drums, of course. The other idea was to do Arcadia’s Dragon’s Den. As there are surely a few rich people who don’t know what to do with their money, they can volunteer and have some young entrepreneur-minded people (like usJ ) present them their business ideas and they could invest in their business. There is a suggesting box at the reception – and funnily enough Chris just asked me as I was writing this, where the suggestion box was so he must be blooming with ideas! – so it would be quite easy to make this happen. Well we should not forget we are on holiday and leave the business aside a bit, but looks like we can’t just help ourselves.

It turned out that Trevor works as a self-employed consultant where he advises people who want to start their own business and leads them on their entrepreneur’s path. I think we could not have met better person and share our dinner table with! We just both had an initial chat with him and Jean, his wife, during the lunchtime and looks like he is definitely a good person to talk to about our ideas we have in our heads. Trevor’s very first and a bit unofficial advice is if you starting our own business definitely stick to what you know. Also try to choose a business where you need to use as little money as possible, rent no premises and don’t hold too much stock. Not something we did not already know, but it is really nice to get blessing and nods of understanding from someone who know what is he talking about. So hopefully, Trevor, you don’t mind the shop talk while on holiday, and we look forward to talking to you in the due course / cruise J.

I also wanted to mention that we spend today 2 full hours today learning cha-cha-cha. It was very good and I think we did quite well for beginners. It is also much better then going to gym, because after each lesson you really sweat like a little piggy, so dancing is fun and fantastic work outJ.  I really hope Chris is enjoying it as much as I am. I must tell you something about Chris, I need to make sure some other single ladies don’t steal him and believe me there are some takers - he is a very good dancer and his hips movements - you see in Cuban dances you need to use your hips a lot – are just getting better and better, so who knows what he will be capable of by the end of our adventure!!

We are both very pleased that you enjoy reading our blog and thank you for your support and comments. With our next invention – the TeleportEngland, Scotland and the Czech Republic. Lots of love from Katie! xxx

Hoping all is well back home

Although we've found Internet connectivity, we've not really been able to spend much time checking emails and my phone is not working on the ships GSM network, so we're both hoping that all is well back home, that you're enjoying the updates, and we're sending our love. I hope that once in a port (any port will do, but it won't be until next Thursday), that we'll be able to upload a couple of photos to the blog to make it more interesting.  Please keep leaving comments, it helps us to feel in touch. x

Partying Mid-Atlantic

With it being Saturday night, we thought we ought to start acting like people on holiday, so after dinner last night, we set out to enjoy the cringe-worthy cheese-fest that was Deal or No Deal in the Globe Theatre.  With proper red boxes, a camp host and 250 pounds worth of on board credit up for grabs, it was set to be a real nail biter.  In fact it turned into a battle between Australia and the UK.  The chap in the seat won 100 pounds in the end.

Electra is the disco on board so we popped our head in to see what was happening in there.  Our friend Rob DJ was in charge of the music and was taking requests from the 20 or so people in there.  We ordered ourselves a Mojito each and danced into the early hours.  It was getting late when the other entertainment act from that evening wondered in to Electra.  They were the Beatles tribute act that had been performing earlier in the theatre (the one we didn't go to, but don't tell them that).  One way or another we ended up chatting to them at the bar, a really nice bunch of guys, most of whom are getting off at Barbados and flying back to the UK, with one of them staying on the whole trip as a guest of P&O because he's playing the piano each night.  Nice work if you can get it!

We woke up this morning with a dry mouth but nothing more serious.  The weather has noticeably improved overnight, it's about 19C so t-shirts are now abundant and I'm currently sat in the Aquarius bar at the aft of the ship while Katie is swimming in the pool in front of me.  She is known to be a bit crazy when it comes to getting into cold swimming pools, but she assures me that the temperature is "lovely" and the water in the pool is no longer sloshing over the side.

It's the first formal night tonight with welcome drinks with the captain later, we're looking forward to that.

A better day

We both had a much better nights sleep last night, due in part to not being thrown around the cabin or worrying about where we had put the life jackets.  We also had an extra hour in bed because the ships clocks went back one hour last night.  So we're now GMT -1 with another hour being gained tonight.  It's quite nice because we're not likely to get too out of sync.  Your body needs one day for every hour of time difference before it adjusts, so we should never feel any jet lag.

We learnt that we were out of the bad weather (as if we hadn't already noticed) and that we were now officially seasoned sea dogs.  This being bestowed upon us by the captain himself who explained that we had earned the title because we had sailed through 12 metre waves and winds gusting to force 12.  Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't force 12, hurricane territory?  Still, I can confess to you that we didn't actually do much to help get us through it.  It wasn't like we had to climb the rigging or fix the main sail, we just hung on and kept popping the Kwells.  It seems to have worked, as while we both felt a bit queasy, neither of us actually needed the "Motion Discomfort Bags", the new PC name for sick bags!  Honestly! I blame America.

Todays dance class was the Rumba, postponed from yesterday, and I think we did quite well although we both admit we prefer a faster dance.  Apparently, if you can master the rumba, then you're set for most of the other latin dances which are variations on the same steps.  It's also quite a good workout, especially as the ships own movement adds to the concentration levels!

Lunch was a more lazy affair. We didn't get any breakfast so we went to the Meridian Restaurant, which is where we usually eat dinner because we wanted to be served rather than fight over the buffet.  Actually, it's not a fight, there is plenty of space and options and it never feels crowded, which is nice.   We were joined by a very nice couple and chatted about stuff and things.  Everyone seems disappointed that we missed The Azores, but there's not much we can do about the weather.  Katie and I are just hoping that they don't do the same with Honolulu, or we'll be in trouble!

It turns out that the gym was closed yesterday (3 guesses why) so it was extra busy today, we still had no trouble using the machines we wanted but we were joined by the class entitled "Detoxifying Foot-Soaks - Especially beneficial for arthritis, fluid retention and general aches and pains" not to be confused with the earlier seminar entitled "Lymphatic drainage for swollen ankles".  Katie wasn't too pleased that they were taking up half the floor workout area with their weird mud baths but I was more concerned that we'd accidentally joined a Saga cruise!  Cruising doesn't have an "old" image for nothing but I guess you have to cater for the majority.  We were even asked today if we were passengers or crew!  We never forget, even if we wanted to, how lucky we are to be here (Although there were moments yesterday when I had to try really hard to remember!)

STOP PRESS: I don't mean to labour the point, but we just had dinner, and one of our table mates ate lunch today with an ex-P&O freight captain..  They had to tease it out of him, but he told them that in all his time as a captain, he had never experienced seas as bad as yesterday...and he'd been around Cape Horn 9 times.  So there you go.

8. Leden 2011

Dnes prozivame prvni vikend na mori a plavime se ctvrty den. Pocasi se pres noc hodne uklidnilo,takze houpani prestalo byt tak silene a konecne jsme se vyspali vice nez dve hodiny v kuse. Mozna to bylo tim, ze jsme si pred spanim dali Jacka Danielse a colu pro Chrise a Mai Taj pro me a tyto drinky nas poslali na cestu sneni a zaslouzeneho spanku. Rano nas probudulo slunce a teplota kolem 12 stupnu, co je na zacatek ledna velmi prijemne. Mistni bazeny uz se pomalu napousteji, takze uz si brzy budeme moci i zaplavat.

Dnes dopoledne jsme pokracovali v lekcich tance, tentokrat rumby, a bylo to opravdu celkem hodne prace, udrzet se v rytmu za mirneho kolibani parketu ze strany na stranu, ale myslim, ze nam to celkem slo, takze pokud to takhle pujde dal, budeme se za chvili moci zucastnit jedne z mistnich tanecnich soutezi :-) Po hodine trapeni se na parketu, jsem se vydali o osm pater nize pro zaslouzeny obed, ktery nas nabil opet energii. Vyber je tu opravdu veliky a kazdy den neco jineho, takze je stale co objevovat. Vcera jsem odolala snekum, a nikdo si je z naseho stolu neodvazil dat, takze jsem ani nemela sanci je zkusit. Ja si myslim, ze chutnaji trochu jako sliz, takze opravdu nevim, zda by clovek mel zkusit opravdu vsechno. Trochu je otrava, ze vsechno piti (krome vody, kavy a caje) musime platit zvlast, takze chytraci vi na cem vydelavat, ale neni to tak hrozne, ceny skoro jako v Cesku a bez vysokomorske prirazky! Nadruhou stranu veskere jidlo je v cene, takze i kdyz si date dve snidane, dva obedy a dve vecere, porad se na vas budou usmivat a krmit vas....asi az do te doby, kdyz zjitite, ze jedine obleceni, ktere vam jeste je, jsou teplaky na pekne silnou gumu. Pokud ale jeden chce, muze jit velice dobre a take zdrave, myslim, ze se tohoto stylu zatim velmi dobre drzime a jime mnohem zdraveji nez zpet doma. A hlavne pravidelne s hodne ovocem a zeleninou, takze to je neco,  na co clovek ne vzdy uplne mysli.

Jelikoz chceme zustat fit, takze jsme se dnes krome rumby zucasnili takzvane"golf chipping competition" coz spociva v tom, ze mate 6 golfovych micku a musite je trefit do takove sitky. Chris jeden  trefil a skoro vyhral, protoze vitez, trefil z 12-ti pokusu pouze dva, takze jak jiste chapete, chce to celkem trenink a pry ani ti borecci co hrajou golf to nemaji zmaknute. Jeden borec miril tak dobre, ze micek pekne odskakal do oceanu, a to se prosim nepovedlo ani mne! Take jsme pokracovali v navsteve posilovny, ktera byla trochu vice obsazena, asi z toho duvodu, ze vsichni moc dobre papaji a pak to chteji zase tvrde odpracovat, a navic vcera bylo cely den zavreno,aby si nekdo pri tech 12 metrovych vlnach nekdo neublizil. Dneska nam navic kapitan lodi, jen tak mezi jeho reci prozradil, ze jsme dosahovali sily vetru 12, co je vlastne hurikan, takze doufejme, ze to nejhorsi uz mame za sebou a to male kolibani, ci si uz pomalu ani neuvedomujeme, je proste brnkacka! :-)

The first casualty

Last night was not much fun unless you like feeling weightless one minute and twice as heavy the next.  The winds last night increased to  force 11 according to the captains' morning roundup and we are still being bounced around like you would not believe.  We had to reduce speed, which means we are not going to make Ponta Delgarda in the Azores.  Disappointing, especially as we were both looking forward to seeing the islands and spending a bit of time on dry land.  Instead we've set a course directly for Barbados.  Those people who did venture out of the cabin all looked like they were drunk, staggering around from left to right, and even in the cabin this morning, we had cups, milk and trays of stuff flying around and sliding off the table.  Even the wardrobe door swung open of its own accord, and that's spring loaded!  The good news is that it should be a smoother ride from here onwards. Fingers crossed.  

The quest for connectivity

I'll be honest, I was never looking forward to the prospect of being cut off from the online world while travelling the world, but it looks like my fears were unfounded.  Even in the middle of the Atlantic ocean offers some connectivity options, such is the pervasive nature of the Internet.  Mind you, it comes at a price, and there are no guarantees of speed or reliability either.  So we signed up to the ships Internet connection today,  sold a few clothes we should never have bought, and extended the mortgage, all so that we can update you and make me feel more relaxed!  If you're reading this, then it has been a success!

For those interested, it uses a satellite connection, with all the latency and bandwidth constraints associated with that.  There are computers in the library and cyber cafe for you to use, and also WiFi in selected public areas, with APs from Cisco <sigh>.  It's charged on a per minute basis, so using it at quieter times of day or night helps get more speed for your money.

7.leden 2011

 Patek 7.ledna nezacal uplne skvele, venku  fouka velky vitr a zpusobuje celkem velke vlny, takze to pekne houpe, a to tak, ze jen dojit nahoru pro neco maleho ke snidani uz byl celkem velky problem. Chrisovi neni moc dobre, takze jsem skocila pro neco do restaurace Belvedere – ktery je na 9.patre tak zvany Lido deck, kde se muzete obslouzit formou bufetu. Pak jsem se s talirem a dzusem v kapse zase odhoupala zase zpatky o 4. patra nize, k nam na deck 5 Dominica. Kapitan lodi rikal, ze by se tyto podminky meli k veceru uklidnit, tak doufejme, ze to tak bude. I posadka, ktera musi i v techto podminach pracovat, z toho neni uplne nadsena, ale co muzeme delat, jsou to sily nasi planety a my jsme se vydali je objevovat, takze si budeme muset zvyknout. V tuto chvili jsme nekde asi 400km od brehu Spanelska a dale pokracujeme smerem za jihozapad. Rychlost, kterou jedeme vpred byla vcera asi 18 uzlu, takze podle mych protoctu vcera je to asi kolem 38km za hodinu. Zitra bychom meli k ranu pristat na Azorskych ostrovech, takze si od toho houpani trochu odpocineme. V televizi na kanalu 39 muzeme sledovat live kameru, takze vidime, jak se ty vlny vali a vlni. Kdyz se podivate na “Track Arcadia” a pak na “Webcam”, tak byste meli mit vyhled na nase more pred nami. Z lekce rumby asi dneska nic nebude, protoze bychom se asi pekne prehupovali ze strany na stranu, takze mozna odpoledne aspon nekam vyrazime, ale vse bude opravdu zalezet na to, jak moc to bude kolibat. Jinak je tu opravdu neskutecne mnozstvi aktivit, kurzu, ruznych seminaru, lekci a vseho dalsiho, takze muzete cely den delat velmi mnoho, nebo jen velmi malo. Dneska to vypada opravdu na velmi malo, protoze i kapitan ve svem proslovu rano navrhl, aby kazdy dneska nasel klidne misto a venoval se cteni oblibene knihy. Ja zatim svou oblibenou knihu, tedy spise blog, jen pisu J a Chris dospava, to co v noci nemohl zaspat.

Co se tyka nasi lodi, tak myslim, ze je celkem plne obsazena, asi pres 2100 pasazeru a dalsich 800 lidi tvori posadka. I presto vam ale neprijde, ze je to nejak prelidnene, mezi tech 11 pater lodi se to velmi rozmelni, takze kdyz vezmete, ze lod ma na delku 300metru krat 11 pater, to je zruba 3300 metru, takze celkem velky prostor. Sun Deck 10 ma takove kolecko na chozeni a behani a kdyz udelate tri, tak to delat 1600 metru, jako kdyz jsme to behali ve skole, ale ten oval co tam byl jsme museli ubehnout 4x, takze tohle je trochu vetsi kolecko. Dneska je ale vetsina venkovnich prostoru zavrena, hlavne kvuli vetru a asi nechteji zrovna dneska lovit muze ci zenu pres palubu. Tak prave je poledne a mluvi k nam lodni  mustek. Za  poslednich 24 hodin jsme urazili 450 miles, rika ze ze tyto podminky jsou zatim nejhorsi, co nas cekaji, lod pry je na tom velmi dobre, ale i tak muzeme jet pouze rychlosti 10 uzlu misto 18 uzlu co jsme jeli vcera, takze  z tohoto duvodu, budeme muset nasi navstevu Azorskych Ostrovu zrusit a mirit primo smer Barbados…. Coz nas oba s Chrisem hodne moc mrzi, protoze jsem tam chteli objevovat prirodu, jezera, faunu, floru a proste si jen tak odpocinout od tech par dni houpani, ale co se da delat, pocasi je to, co zatim zadny clovek ovladat nedokaze, takze se budeme tesit na to, ze se ohrejeme na Barbadosu, a take ze se podminky trochu zlepsi. Dnes odpoledne jsme se take dozvedeli, ze jeden z dovodu, proc se Azoram vyhybame muze byt i celkem krusne pocasi. Videli jsme mapu predpovedi pocasi a v oblasti, kde bychom museli proplouvat mohou vlny dosahovat az 20metru!! Myslim, ze ty co se s nimi potykame ted, mozna obcas i 10 metru, tak ty teda celkem staci. Takze jsme lehce zmenili kurz a momentalne plujeme trochu vice na jihozapad nez jen na zapad.To znamena, ze na pevninu se dostaneme az 13.ledna, takze to je dalsich sest dni, to uz budeme na tom mori alespon pekne aklimatizovani. Chris dnes dopoledne tocil kratke video z naseho balkonu, jak vlny biji do nasi zadi a my se houpeme nahoru a dolu. Dnes uz chceme konecne nahrat nase zapisky na nas blog a snad i nejake fotky. Vzhledem k tomu, jak pomale je to satelitni pripojeni, tak nahravat video asi budeme az nekde na pevnine. Dneska jsme opravdu meli takovy spise odpocinkovy den, byli jsme na prednasce o letani, kterou ma byvaly pilot Singapore Airlines David Henderson v mistnim divadle Palladium a bylo to hodne zajimave. Dnesni cast se zamerovala na kontrolu leteckeho provozu, takze nam povidal zazitky, kde a jak to kolem sveta funguje a mel celkem hodne zabavnych historek. Vcera jsem byli poprve v posilovne, ktera je velmi dobre vybavena, velka a nebyl tam skoro nikdo. Tak doufam, ze se nam tam dneska podari take na chvilku skocit, ale jestli to bude takhle houpat, tak to mozna dneska nedopadne. Den se opravdu dneska natahl, zapad slunce je prave ted ve 17:37 a zitra se lodni cas bude posouvat o jednu hodinu dozadu, takze budeme mit o dve hodiny mene, nez bude momentalne v Cechach. Krome divadla Palladium, kam se mozna vejde tak 300 lidi, je tu take mensi divadlo Globe pro asi 100 lidi a pak take kino, kam se teda vejde jen 30 lidi, a kde hraji kazdy den jiny film a opakuji ho 5x denne, takze se tam take chystame, zatim davali dva dny same drsnarny a nebo psycho, u ceho se musi moc premyslet, a ja i Chris jsem zatim na tom tak, ze se nam chce stale spat, takze bychom potrebovali neco trochu lehciho. Na druhou stranu jsou tam velika pohodlna kresilka, takze kdyz bude tma a lehce u toho filmu usneme, tak to snad nikomu neublizi,tak uvidime J Dneska jsme po lehkem obede(nejak v tom houpani ani neni moc chut k jidlu) vysli ven k bazenu na zad Lido Deck 9, bazen i virivky byly vypustene, asi jak to houpe, tak by to teklo vsude, takze doufam, ze jak se to nase more uhlidni, tak zacneme napoustet, at se muzeme zacit trochu koupat a plavat. Zatim jsme tam v pohodlnych kresilkach sledovali, jak se zad houpe nahoru a dolu a dali jsme si nase prvni pivo na lodi, protoze verte ci neverte zatim jsme prevazne pili jen vodu a dzus. Mozna to bude chtit neco silnejsiho, abychom v noci mohli vubec spat. Dneska Arcadia bude muset pres noc dohonit celkem hodne mili, tak si tak myslim, ze to zase bude pekne houpat. Je pred 18.hodinou a venku je stale jeste svetlo. Musim rict, ze si zatim na vsechno tady zvykame, hlavne na to more ci vlastne ocean, ktere je neskutecne obrovsky a nevyzpytatelny, ale clovek jej pokoril a proto postavil lode jako je Arcadia, aby mohly plout sirim svetem a obcas sebou vzit nejake cestovatele, jako jsme my dva. Tak jen doufam, ze k nam bude ocean laskavy a uz nedovoli, abychom minuli uz zadne dalsi krasy sveta. Zatim se s Vami loucime, doufam, ze doma se mate vsichni dobre a ze snih a mraz je snesitelny. Myslime na vas a prosim vas prejte nam, at to more uz tak nehouuumpe, muzeme zacit chodit zase trochu normalne – je legracni pozorovat nase spolucestovatele, vsichni se po palube prochazeji ze strany na stranu! -  a muzeme zase ujizdet o stosest J nebo aspon tech 18 uzlu a dorazime tam kam mame co nejdrive. Hezky den i vecer vsech vam domu a zase zitra Ahojjjjj! J

6.leden 2011

Dnes je 6.ledna a my jsme prave na ceste zhruba prvnich 30 hodin. Chris v jeho anglickem blogu, popsal velmi krasne a vystizne, nase slavnostni vypluti z anglickeho pristavu Southamptonu vcera v sest hodin vecer za dopravodu kapely a ohnostroje, kdy jsme se se sklenickou sampanskeho roloucili s brehy Anglie a take oslavili zacatek nasi obrovske cesty-plavby. Chris najednou rekl “Chapes to jako, tahle lod nas doveze az do Australie! Chapes, do Australie!!!” a opravdu je to neskutecna predstava a ja si to zatim nedokazu uplne presne prestavit, jak to bude vsechno probihat, ale uz i ted mi prijde, ze jsme hrozne moc daleko a to jsme za tech 30 hodin cesty zatim urazili asi 1140km, takze si to teda sineme asi prumernou rychlosti kolem 38km za hodinu, coz se mi zda na toto obrovske 300metru dlouhe monstrum celkem rychlost. Take jsem vam chtela rict, ze pokud nerozumite tomu, co Chris pise Aglicky, muzete si  to treba na googlu prelozit, cele nechat prelozit, protoze ja pisu tyto zapisky,nezavisle na Chrisovi, takze to co pise on, neni preklad toho, co pisu ja, takze pokud vas to opravdu hodne zajima, co to vlastne oba piseme, zazivame a jak si to vykladame, tak urcite je dobre cist anglickou i ceskou cast. Rozhodla jsem se nepouzivat diakritiku, tak snad mi to prosim odpustite, nevim, jak to nase stranka zvladne a tak se takto urcite vyvaruji toho, ze neco bude misto a pismenek s hacky a carkami nejaky nesmyslny znak, takze si prosim hacky a carky domyslete.

Moc doufam, ze se nam konecne podari zitra (7.ledna) nahrat nase zapisky na nas blog, protoze co se tyka internetu, tak je to nejake pripojeni pres satelit, a to spis nefunguje, nez funguje. Dneska jsem si koupili 275 minut internetu za 75liber, takze jiste chapete, ze opravdu pro dobu, kdy se budeme plavit, pouze vzdy nahrajeme nase zapisky, jak to bude mozne. V pristavech by to melo byt trochu lepsi, takze pak snad pridame i nejake obrazky a treba i video. Ale uz necham toho povidani o tech technikalitach a o vsech vymozenostech sveta, protoze  I kdyz je skvele mit moznost, psat a delit se s vami o nase zazitky a zkusenosti, tak preci jen houpat se na vlnach Atlantiku a byt naprosto uprosted niceho, jak svym zpusobem uzasna relaxace!

Nase lod se jmenuje Arcadia, a je opravdu hrozne obrovska, od pride na zad ma v nejdelsim miste zhruba 300 metru, takze za den se docela nabehame. Nase kabina je uplne na zadi a protoze taky ted pekne houpeme nahoru a dolu. My jsme si ale tuto kajutu vybrali, je na podlazi 5, jmenem Dominica, a cislo nasi kabiny je D183. Je tu celkem dost prostoru, velka postel, stolek s televizi a se zidli, sedacka s uloznym prostorem a konferencnim stolkem, 3 celkem prostorne skrine, kam jsme uz vybalili skoro vsechny nase veci. Dale je take ulozny proctor pod posteli, takze to, ze jsem si na cestu vzali 6 zavazadel plus dve prirucni, se zcela ztrati a opravdu, zadne veci nejsou v ceste. Pak mame take lednicku, kde se momentalne chladi sapmpanske! Chrisuv tatinek, babicka a Ali, nas prekvapili a meli jsem ho v pokoji na privitanou na nasi cestu, take pralinky a poukazku na snidani do nasi kajuty, takze jeste jednou moc dekujeme, bylo to skvele prekvapeni. No, ale rekli jsme si s Chrisem, ze to Sampanske zatim pit nebudeme, jak to houpe v tom nasem Atlantiku, tak spise papame homeopaticke pilulky, co maji specializaci pro cestovani. Takze musime pockat az do karibskeho more, ktere pry je vzdy klidne  tolik to nehoupe!Fuj, teda dneska to fakt houpe vice nez vcera, to bude zajimava noc! No a dale tu mame velikansky balkon! Tim, ze jsem na zadi lodi, tak nas balkon je asi 2x delsi nez ten na strane, takze jak se malinko otepli, den se prodlouzi a more se uklidni, tak urcite budeme sledovat more a pozorovat delfny, tedy pokud nejaci k nasi barce zabloudi. Dneska jsem videla z balkonu vychazet slunicko, a jinak vsude byla jen voda, jak by rekla Kendy “A kde se berou”? Jo Kendy, tak Ti ani nevim, kde se ta vsechna voda bere. Zatim mi to hlavna uplne presne nebere, co jsme to vlastne udelali a neco, co vice nez pred dvama roky zacalo jen jako vtip ci sen, je ted skutecnost a my se opravdu plavime na kraj sveta a pak zpet. Zatim se snazime ucit chodit, rovne a ne ze strany na stranu a vstrebat vsechny ty mistnosti, aktivity, lidi a zazitky, co jsme za posledni den a pul zazili. Jak rika P&O ( nase spolecnost se kterou jedeme) lod je destinace sama o sobe, takze my jsem jeste nikam nedopluli, ale uz i tak mame zazitku tolik, ze vam ani nestiheme o vsem povedet. Dneska jsme se odvazili vydat do 11. podlazi, kam se dostaneme pouze vytahy, ktere jsou prosklene, takze je videt do more! Pridali jsem se do lekce Waltzu a celkem na to i slo, az na to, ze tam bylo lidi jak much, takze jsem nekterym panum trochu dupala na nozky, kdyz me Chris neudrzel a ja chtela udelat delsi krok, ale byla to celkem legrace a na prvni den, urcite super. Zitra tam bude Rumba, tak bychom chteli zase jit. Na rumbu alespon neni treba tak velky prostor a snad se to nebude zamlouvat uplne vsem. Musim vam take prozradit, ze jim tady na te lodicce velmi narusujeme prumerny vek a snizujeme asi tak ze 100 na 95! Opravdu si trosku obcas pripadam, jak v domove duchodcu, ale najdou se tu i mladsi spolupasazeri, zrovna s nami u stolu sedi dva pary( David a Anna z Liverpoolu a Trevor a Jean taky nekde ze severu Anglie, tak kolem padesati jim muzeme byt, proste mladi lide a je s nimi celkem legrace, takze jsem radi, ze mame takove prima spolustolovniky na veceri. Pani Anna zrovna vcera rekla, ze nas stul je takova skolka, a opravdu neni daleko od pravdy. Ale co, lide co se s nami plavi, jsou mladi srdcem a to je to, co se pocita! A pak aspon ta skvela posilovna, co tu je a my ji dnes hned pred veceri vyzkousli, neni precpana a je tam dost mista pro nas J Zitra bych chtela vyzkoset i venkovni vyrivku, sice je jeste stale trochu zima, ale ve virivce ma voda tak 40 stupnu-krasne se z nich kouri, takze to bude parada a zatim jsem tam zadneho blazna nevidela jit, tak nekdo to musim byt prvni. A navic, ja teda nepujdu do teple vyrivky, az vzduch bude mit 27 stupnu, chci si to uzit v tech desti, co tak ted venku bude. Stale mirime na jihozapad smer Azorske ostrovy, ktere uzeme nalezi k Portugalsku. Zitra, co je patek, nas ceka jeste cely den a noc na mori a sobotu rano doplujeme do naseho prvniho pristavu Ponte Delagada, coz je mesto na nejvetsim z deviti Azorskych ostrovu. Jak ted premyslim, tak vlastne toho moc o Azorech nevim, na dovolenou se tam lide moc nevydavaji, a jak rika pruvodce, je to takovy jeste neobjeveny raj, ktery vzniknul diky sopkam. Tak se na to uz moc tesime, az tyto vecne zelene ostrovy, kde teplota po cely rok je jen mezi 25-11 stupni, i v zimne, coz zpusobuje telply golfsky proud, pozname a pak vam dame vedet, co tam stoji za videni.

Koukam, ze uz je cas jit do hajan, lod sice stale houpe a jeste par hodin bude, nez se more zase uklidni, ale Chris uz spinka, tak snad se mi taky podari zabrat, nebo, ze by to chtelo Brusberskou hruskovici na uklidnenou? No mozna to bude potreba. Tak mila nase rodinko a pratele, doufam, ze si tyto zapisky budete moci zita precist a ja i Chris se s Vami pro dnesek loucime, ucite nam nechte nejaky vzkaz a oba zase budeme psat dale, tak snad vas to bude bavit cist a budete se tim padem plavit s nami. Kdybyste chteli neco vedet, ci se na neco zeptat, tak urcite dejte vedet, bud to uz vim a nebo zjistim. Myslime na vas a dekujeme moc, ze jste s nami i kdyz jen na dalku na nasich cestach. Dobrou noc a hezky den. Kacka a Chris

Our first day at sea

Today (Thursday) was our first full day at sea, and I'm writing this from bed at the end of the day, currently being tossed around, jolted and bounced as we head through a force 8 towards the Azores.  (Ignore that, the wind increased to Force 11 through the night!)  We knew it wasn't always going to be plain sailing in the truest meaning, but I sure (shore) hope it will flatten out for some of the journey at least!  Still, it made for interesting Waltz lessons earlier today as we attended one of the many organised activities.  With around 40 people crammed into a room trying to learn the Waltz we were all on the "3" of the "1-2-3" when the ship lurched and we all missed the step and lost time with the music.  They never get that problem on Strictly!

In fact there is so much going on every day that we get a daily newspaper that gives us all the details.  I'd had my eye on a talk/lecture by a guest speaker, a current airline pilot, which started at 2pm.  Even for a self confessed airplane geek, like me he was an interesting chap, although his talks over the following few days will hopefully go into a bit more detail.  I'll keep you informed! 

Finally today, we started our gym regime, a gentle start for me.  The gym is at the sharp end of the ship (we're calling it that for now because it's easier) which means it moves around a bit more than average, mostly up and down.  Walking on the deck is difficult enough as the floor falls away beneath your step but It was worse walking on the treadmill (I don't do running) while the ship bounced around underneath me.  You had to hold on, or you'd be off in a flash!  On the positive side, I think I've found a  cure for motion sickness.  If YOU keep moving, then your body doesn't know the ship is moving!

Sail Away...

After waving goobye to 6 bags worth of clothes, toiletries, and electronic gadgets (which incidentally are still not unpacked) we endured a lengthy check in process, which mostly consisted of shuffling our bags along by a few feet every 10 seconds, and awkwardly seeing the same people every few minutes as we doubled back on ourselves in the queue. It's fair to say that the last few weeks before coming away have been a bit stressful, but now we were finally walking the last 100 meters to board and neither of us could really believe it was actually happening.  What had started off as a bit off a crazy pipe dream 2 years ago, was becoming reality, and walking into our cabin for the first time was like stepping into a picture; one that we had studied in minute detail for the last 6 months in the brochure.

As it turns out the cabin (don't call it a room) is very nice.  We have a bigger bed than the one at home, plenty of storage, and a balcony big enough to practise our dance steps that we're going to learn  tomorrow!  The champagne and chocolates waiting for us on arrival was a lovely touch :)

After exploring the cabin, we remembered we'd only eaten a yogurt so far that day, and with it now being 3pm, decided to find some food.  Food on cruise ships is not something in short supply, and we set out to find it.  It didn't take long.  Despite the fact that we'd only boarded 20 minutes previously, "afternoon tea" was already being served, and we helped ourselves, sat by the window on Deck 9, and watched as they loaded 2000 peoples luggage, way down below us.

After a comprehensive tour of the gym and spa facilities, I was sold on the fact that I definitely needed a Thai Table massage to cure my stiff neck and shoulders, but it would have to wait another day because we had to take part in the safety drill first.  That involved us grabbing our life jackets from the cabin and heading to our muster station (Muster station C, if you're interested) and learning how to be safe.  We are now both officially safe. 

You might be thinking at this point that we were already on our way past the Isle of Wight, but despite several hours passing we  were in fact still firmly attached to the dock side in Southampton.  It wasn't for another hour or so before we would Sail Away.

I may have been sounding a bit cynical until this point, it's in my nature unfortunately, and not a character trait I like, but The Sail Away "party" (there I go again) was really a moment of awakening for me.  As it turns out, there were 6 cruise ships all leaving Southampton this evening, the Queen Victoria being one of them, and because of this  they (whoever "they" were) had laid on some fireworks for us as we pushed back from our berth and started moving slowly down the river towards the Solent.  The champagne was being sipped and the music was being played by our new friend DJ Rob (no relation to Rob DJ from Chris Moyles I'm reliably informed) and on the key side, fireworks were exploding into the clouds.  It really dawned on us at that point, that our adventure was beginning, and that the ship we were standing on now, outside in the drizzle of Southampton, would take us all the way to Australia. 

As first time cruisers, we have no idea what to expect from a cruise "holiday".  Of course, lots of people offer their own knowledge from their own experiences, yet we could never be sure what our ship, our cabin or our table mates might be like.  So far, (i think) It turns out, after the first full afternoon and evening, that it doesn't really matter, because it's what you make it, and going in with an open attitude and a determination to have  a good time will (usually) result in success!

We're Currently...

..packing like we've never packed before!

Check back regularly for updates once we set off.