Two days at sea which established the pattern of days on board. Leave cabin with green please do sign so Atitaya hopefully does it while we're at breakfast. Kick off breakfast with porridge lubricated with maple syrup, and an orange juice. Complete breakfast with hot water and a plate of scrambled eggs (or fried egg), mushrooms, tomato, and the crispier bacon.

Go to the library (one of our preferred areas) and try to establish email contact with the outside world (connections rather unreliable and prone to dropping out). Have a coffee or hot chocolate (which often came with a small biscuit and water) while reading a book on the iPad. Check the map near Reception on Level 5 for where the Boudicca might be. Overdo lunch. Walk round the open deck wind permitting for fresh air and a quiet time. End to end the Boudicca is noticeably smaller than our last cruise ship the P&O Azura.

In the afternoon try our hand at the quiz in the Lido Bar. Some teams were very good, I felt we did well to get 50%. The questions were questionable, and somewhat repetitive so by the end we all knew twelve people had walked on the moon. Once or twice we listened to the guitarist or violinist, or a port talk.

The first full day at sea did see the Captain's Reception, a slow procession through a gauntlet of photographers and officers. We did get somewhere to sit in the Neptune Lounge, a drink and spring rolls to eat unlike the same event on the Azura.

After supper then either see a show or sit somewhere (unlike the Azura there were quiet places just to sit) and read more (perhaps indulging in a glass of sherry or Bristol Cream or Advocaat). Before turning in watch another The Greatest Love episode.