Today was the Gold Tier Luncheon. We were sat with some pleasant enough people but my neighbour’s breath stank, so every time he spoke to me, I had to turn my head away. I had a lovely long soak in the shower this morning, but now I feel like I need another wash!

Desperately trying to email LA people about arrangements for tomorrow. Shame there’s no internet.

The ship is packed, which is odd, considering the huge number of people who left at Vancouver. The trouble is that, due to strong winds, all the open decks have been closed since yesterday evening, so everyone is inside. The Belvedere is packed, the Spinnaker is packed. All our usual quiet haunts are rammed. I may have to resort to my own cabin for some peace and quiet. The same probably explains the lack of internet access – there’s just too many people trying to use it at the same time. Funny really, because the sea is now dead calm. The mist has come down so that visibility is down to a couple of miles at best – not enough for the fog horn to sound, but enough to hold the water down – and there is now no wind at all, not a breath, so why they won’t let us back outside, I’m not sure.

Last night was odd, though, feeling the ship moving about in the wind, reading the notice on the Passenger Information Channel about deck closures, and then turning on the tv to find a second tornado warning in Joplin, Missouri. That’s not fair. There’s nowhere left to hide after yesterday. We are obviously nowhere near the tornado belt, but the confluence of events was a little uncanny.

Some twit yesterday announced that the weather would be rubbish til we got to the Panama Canal. Really? Have you informed Mexico and Costa Rica about this sudden turnaround in their climate or are you just being an idiot who likes the sound of his own voice and doesn’t care what comes out of his mouth, as long as it’s words? LA, we’re relying on you to give us good weather. Don’t let us down – we’ve done very well so far.