We did trivia quizzes in the Rising Sun 'pub', our best score being 15 out of 20 - I doubted some of the answers like Adolf Hitler being Times magazine's man of the year for 1938, but perhaps it was so. The Rising Sun is next to an art gallery for those with enough money and taste. We went to a history talk on Roger 2 of Sicily - a nasty piece of work but the talker said he was ahead of his time and politically correct. I strolled around the promenade deck for a prayer time and exercise, it's three times around for a mile and the sign says do it anticlockwise. At the bow you don't get to look forrard but you can walk all the way round in the fresh air. A lot of the time sections of the promenade deck were blocked off, for the crew touching up the paintwork.

A classical pianist Neil Georgeson did Mozart Schubert Beethoven etc in the Globe, I envied his fluency and wondered again why I am trying to learn the piano! We went to a number of shows in the Palladium theatre, ranging from reasonable Beatles tribute show (including the first single I ever bought "She Loves You Yeh Yeh Yeh" - a height of lyricism) to the energetic Headliners troupe doing various compendium performances. There was an opera singer who while being good didn't sing in languages I could understand.

Virginia didn't learn any tips or tricks from a cookery demonstration, rather it was eat in one of our special restaurants. The port presentation on Messina stressed the virtues of the excursions. The captain's reception was oddly by the Neptune Pool in the open air. We all got togged up, Ginny finding dandruff on me. Our table companions were in higher bands in the loyalty club and got some special meals.

Hard to find a place to quietly sit and read as vocalists were also seeking places to perform. We were at sea one Sunday and had an interdenominational service led by the captain - Church by the numbers, hymns either patriotic or popular. Pleasant that Chris we sat on the table with was a Church goer.

We will have lowered the average age a little. Most passengers Caucasian, some women reminded me of the Queen of England who had to be buried in a square coffin. One jogger had so many wires hanging off him I thought he might be a Dalek Roboman or a struldbrugg.