Days 26-30 – at sea

5 February 2026

We are quite put out! Firstly, during the noon day announcement, the captain advised us that due to a forecast tropical storm, Queen Anne’s visit to both Reunion and Mauritius have been cancelled. Apparently Cunard is striving to find alternative ports between here and Sri Lanka and we have high hopes for either the Seychelles or the Maldives but knowing our luck it will be Craggy Island or Mogadishu in Somalia!

Then this evening we were rigorously chastised by the maître D for being late for dinner! We skulked to our table after this dressing down feeling much like Oliver Twist shortly after he asked if he could have some more.

In happier news we have a wonderful new art teacher called Wendy and we have discovered the Wellness café which overlooks the Pavilion pool (which we don’t usually frequent) and which serves yummy healthy lunch options and which doesn’t seem to get too busy, probably because most of the punters are piling up their plates with burgers and chips in the Lido restaurant.

Things took a further upward turn this evening when Paul and I won the 80s music quiz, a feat made more impressive by the fact that we were up against a roomful of teams, many of whom had five or six members. Go us! 🥳

7th February 2026

Great news!! This morning our captain announced that in lieu of the cancellation of both Reunion and Mauritius, we are going to visit the Seychelles AND the Maldives!!! How lucky are we? Two of my dream destinations that I never thought I would get to visit due to my crippling phobia of flying.

After this happy announcement, we spent half an hour in the gym before going to see a talk by Mark “Billy” Billingham MBE, former SAS Sergeant Major of some 20 years active service, and known to most for being the head training officer on Channel 4’s “SAS: Who Dares Wins”. Oh my goodness, what an impressive man. Coming from a rough council estate in Walsall in the West Midlands, he was headed for a life of petty crime until he made the decision to join the army at 17, after being stabbed by another gang member and almost losing his life. The life and career he proceeded to carve out for himself is the stuff of school boys’ dreams and since leaving it all behind he now devotes the bulk of his life to helping rebuild chatted communities in places like Iraq and Haiti. He appears to have remained humble, self-effacing, approachable and very human and is by far the most inspiring speaker we have ever seen.