Being wise after the event is always useful but not much help at the time you need information. Some things I may not have included in this diary, may not have been applicable to a particular day, or which I may not have known when I began writing it might be helpful here.
This cruise was undertaken by John and Stella Bernardi as a celebration of John's 70th birthday (24th February). I, Stella, have kept a diary of our activities. Using a digital camera to take photographs of the places we visited and of some events I was able to upload them to the lap-top computer daily and insert appropriate ones into the document to illustrate it.
[Three months later I converted the document to a website. I hope you enjoy it! FYI the photographs were of high resolution and have been reduced for easy downloading. The quality would not therefore be good enough for reproduction.]
A general background . . .
The Black Prince has two sister ships run by the Fred. Olsen line, the Braemar and the Black Watch. Homewood Travel who organised this trip utilised the whole of this ship for this cruise. It is used at other times by other organisations such as SAGA. It is a Norwegian ship registered in Nassau. The Captain is Norwegian and the crew are multinational. Most of the staff, the waiters, the kitchen staff, cabin stewardesses, deck crew, maintenance staff etc. are Filipinos. They are all very pleasant and most helpful.
Every morning at 8am there is an announcement from the entertainment's officer when she tells us the order of the day. The Captain (if we are at sea) tells us our position, our speed, the weather conditions etc. at 12 noon. Every evening a Daily News is delivered to our cabin giving details of the following day's activities.
Our cabin is 406 and is situated on the main deck near the front of the ship. Our Cabin Stewardess is Anna. The cabin is basic with one bed that folds up against the wall during the day and the other which converts into a sofa. We are provided with clean towels and bedlinen every day. The beds are put away in the morning and remade at night. There is a desk with 5 drawers and space for a chair. There are three wardrobes, none of them very big, and overhead cupboards along the wall over the fold-up bed. A small table with stool are in the centre of the room. There is a toilet with washbasin and shower. A TV gives us BBC all day news, CCTV from the Neptune Lounge and from the bows of the ship so we can see where we are going without going outside! There are also films available, but we tend to use the cabin only for sleeping and computing so we haven't watched any. On this deck is the main entrance from the gangway for boarding and departing from the ship. There is also the Reception desk and the Homewood Travel Office. The rest of the main deck is all cabins.
One deck higher is the lounge and restaurant deck. At the front is the Aquitaine lounge (which is our muster point for lifeboat drill or usage). At the rear is the Neptune lounge where most of the entertainment takes place. Every night there is a show or entertainer of some sort as well as lots of fun and games organised by the ship's entertainment officers. In between are the Royal Garter and Fleur de Lys restaurants, the ship's shop and some seating areas.
Morning coffee and afternoon tea are served in the Lido lounge which is above and surrounding the Neptune lounge like a gallery. This opens on to an open deck area with a small swimming pool. At tea time there is always a quiz or a game of some sort, Bingo, Countdown etc.
Breakfast is a mixture of self-service and waiter service. Seating is as allocated upon arrival so table companions vary. Lunch is a similar system. Dinner is at a set table with the same companions each day and is fully waiter service. We share table 11 in the Royal Garter with Ken and Mary from Coventry. We eat at the early sitting at 6.30. The late sitting is at 8.30. At every meal there is a wide variety of options and combinations. When there is a birthday or anniversary the waiters take a gateau with a candle for a birthday or a sparkler for and anniversary, to the persons concerned. Then they all sing either Happy Birthday to You or Congratulations. The official photographer is always there to capture the moment. The waiters wear black trousers and white jackets, single breasted with 5 brass buttons for breakfast and lunch times. Dinner uniform is white trousers and double-breasted matching jacket with 12 brass buttons. Our allocated waiter is Dale. There is always food in abundance and beautifully presented. It is a big temptation to have more then is good for you! I have tried to be sensible by always having fruit, avoiding stodgy puddings and eating little of the potato/rice selections. I admit to enjoying the bread rolls which are so varied! The ones with walnuts are the best!!
After dinner at night there is coffee/tea in the Neptune lounge and entertainment of various kinds. The Black Prince Orchestra plays and Irena sings. The orchestra consists of keyboard, percussion, guitar, saxophone/flute, trombone and trumpet. The members of the orchestra and Irena are Russian. She shakes a maraca most of the time, but she sings occasionally in various languages but somewhat ineffectively, that is until the Porto Santa party!
The entertainment staff (Alison, Josie, Nicky and John) then organise some dancing, a game or other trivial pursuit in the Neptune Lounge!! After this we have one or more of the professional entertainers. These are the Deja Vu song and dance troupe, Philip Hitchcock a Magician, Leo Andrew a singer, and Ron Dale a Scottish musician and comedian. In the Aquitaine Lounge Angelito Reyes plays the piano and sings and the Casino is usually open but I believe it's not particularly popular!
Most of the people on this cruise are retired, some of them much older than us. There's quite a profusion of walking sticks and several wheelchairs.
During the cruise there has been all the prelude to the Gulf war looming in the background. On our 13th day, 20th March the first missiles were fired and war was declared on Iraq.
Created on ... June 16, 2003