Took a sleeping tablet (herbal, not prescription) and slept from 11 pm to 4.30 am. Woke up shaking with hunger and had to call room service. On the plus side, my fever may now have completely broken. On the negative side, it’s not easy to order from the already somewhat restricted overnight cold food menu during Passover. But on the plus side, at this hour, you don’t half get served quick.

For some reason, our BBC News channel visuals are now six full seconds out of sync with the sound. It’s very distracting.

Slept til 11.30. Mika rang to ask if she could change our dinner date tonight to lunch. She woke me up from such a deep sleep, I remember commenting on the phone ringing in my dream, before it woke me. But at least the awakening meant I got to watch Singin’ in the Rain on the telly, which I would otherwise have missed. There is an upside to almost everything.

Met parents for fruit and a chat. Then went and met Mika. We sat out by Aquarius pool and chatted. I didn’t eat – my fever returned – so I just watched her eat and then smoke, and we had a drink. It was very relaxing, just hanging out. The captain came over to say hi, and ask how my dad is. He commented on the irony of me now being the one who is ill. When he had gone, Mika was white as a sheet. She works on Reception and no one had told her that the Captain’s plans had changed. She thought he had disembarked at Aruba! I knew the communication on this ship was rubbish, but fancy not telling the Reception staff who their current captain is?! Shocking, really, if you think about it.

I went back to my cabin and had a rest before dinner. At dinner, dad ate properly for the first time in possibly more than a week. He had soup and steak and chips and he ate it all. He said he felt hungry for the first time in ages, it was all delicious, and the steak was the best he had ever tasted. It was quite a relief. I wasn’t so worried about parting company after that.

I am getting very cross with my grey hairs. Until now, they have only grown in my fringe, where they are the most prominent and obvious they could possibly be. Or so I thought. Turns out I was wrong. There is somewhere more prominent and obvious. My EYELASHES are now going grey. For goodness’ sake. Eyelashes?! Seriously?!

<Pause for sneezing fit> That’s it. I’m done. Time for bed.