Rather ironic postscript to Part 1. I was locked out of the internet again, so I had to go to Reception to get let back in AGAIN, just so that I could upload it for your reading pleasure.

Part 2

Warning: This post is going to be a bit of a rambling hotch potch of random stuff, as it has been written over the passage of a week, rather than in one chunk.

As we did not disembark at Madeira, it wasn’t until we got to Hamilton, Bermuda that we found out that our photos had also been wiped from the system, and we had to have our photos taken for the ?third ?fourth time so that, when someone comes aboard with our ID/cruise card, they can see it ain’t us.  So not quite all solved just yet…

We have a new travelling companion. His name is Cedric and he is a Very Smol Duck. Someone on board is gifting baby ducks all over the ship. It’s very sweet and is causing a lot of smiles. They post anonymously on the Facebook group and distribute about a dozen a day. It’s delightful.

Poor Aurora is very tired. Freezers are breaking down, flooring panels are cracking, chair leather is worn and frayed, and they still haven’t fixed the ‘retractable’ roof, even though Richard has assured me the part needed is now on board. She’s due for a refit later this year, and there’s a lot of “mañana” going around. Although, to be fair, the cleaning has been very thorough, and we were accepted into the US without any issues.  I suspect that, now we have passed muster, there will be significantly less cleaning and repairing from here on in! The US is very picky about cleanliness. We’re not even allowed to wash our windows in US waters, in case we spill cleaning liquids into the sea.

We met up with James in Bermuda, as he now lives there.  Although first we had to walk the length of the ship into a headwind so strong, we had to lean into it about 45 degrees! He picked us up in his lovely new car and drove us around all day, bless him. We went to a beautiful restaurant for lunch – one of the best meals Dad has ever eaten, no less (Lido Café at Elbow Beach).  James took us to see a cast iron lighthouse, which was rather cool. Not many of those in the world.  We did a little shopping for essentials, and then he showed us his flat and his office. His desk has a, to paraphrase him, “unfortunately very distractingly lovely” view.  His flat is quite bare, which is very James. But it has a 50 inch television.  He never used to even own a television. But his new wife, Julia, works for the BBC, so…  He said that when she requested a 50 inch screen, he replied he had never heard of anything so preposterous. So they compromised and now he has a 50 inch television.  She lives in Miami, so we didn’t see her.

There are a LOT of golf courses in Bermuda. People on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States pop over to Bermuda for the weekend to play golf. It’s about an hour and a half flight – about the same as London to Paris. They drive on the left, in right-hand drive cars, and their speedometers are in miles per hour, but their speed limits are in km/h. I think the island maximum is 35 kph.  It’s only 20 square miles, and has three roads – called North (Shore) Road, Middle Road, and, you’ve guessed it, South Road. That’s it. It’s all rather lovely.  Only the tiniest fly in the ointment – disabled toilets here do not have bars to assist you up and down, even in the Fairmont Princess Hotel.  Although “managed” by Fairmont, the hotel is owned by a local family, who also own a fair chunk of the islands.  They use it to house their rather impressive modern art collection. This is very cool indeed, because it allows muppets like me to get up close to, and even touch, original Banksys, Hockneys, Picassos, etc. It’s a lovely way to share your blessings with others.  There are sculptures, paintings, video art, all sorts.  Probably made me even happier than strolling around the hotel’s private marina.

Although why the lobby’s giant sofas need to be in front of a roaring fire, I never did quite fathom.  You know, what with it being mid-20s all night, and all that.  As far as I can tell, all sofas and easy chairs in Bermuda (including the one in James’s flat) are about 3 to 3.5 feet deep, front to back. It seems that upright sitting is for sissies and/or eating or working only. Don’t get me wrong, my spine loves a good stretch as much as anyone’s, but your stomach muscles may get quite a workout if you try and stand up again too often. And very few have arms, which made life a little tricky for dad!

It has been very overcast since we crossed the Atlantic. Warm, but overcast. When we left Bermuda, we were going so slowly, and the sea was so dark and still, it felt like we were in the Doldrums.  Which, unless they have been diverted 20 degrees (1000 miles (very roughly)) north of normal, we weren’t. But you’d have been hard pressed to spot the difference.

It is overcast and rainy here in Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, as I am sitting typing this.  Very warm and sticky but very grey. I’m overhearing a lot of grumbles about coach trips in the rain from nearby tables. We decided not to go ashore here, and it certainly sounds like we made the right decision. There are, allegedly, EIGHT cruise ships in port today, all of them bigger than us. So that’s about 20,000 tourists milling about in the drizzle. Bearing in mind that the main street is still the length of our ship – about a sixth of a mile – that sounds rather crowded to me. UPDATE: it may only be SIX cruise ships, but the numbers may still be a very conservative estimate.

Dad and I have given up going to the Syndicate Quiz. Our lovely tablemates (Ian and Sandra and Colin and Barbara) were so frustrated at the mixture of obscure questions and the same people winning every night that they quit on us. We tried to continue on our own, but we did so dismally, we gave up too.  On the first nights, there were over 20 teams. I think last night there were 12.  And falling.  Shame, really. I rather miss their company; haven’t seen them since.

Today was Port Canaveral.  I woke when we stopped moving, and put my Sea Bands on my wrists. Just in time for the “permission to go ashore” announcement. Time check: 05:20.  We were moored on the starboard side, so we had a floodlight attached to the air bridge pointing straight in our window! How it didn’t wake dad, I have no idea. Didn’t stop me going back to sleep, mind you.

Woke about 11. Went to get “immigrated”. They found dad a wheelchair, because the walk was pretty epic.  The whole thing only took moments, no queues, and that even included having our pictures taken. Again. And they had absolutely no interest in our ESTAs. None whatsoever. Then we processed out of one door, and back in through another door further down the building, where we sat and waited to be allowed back on board. No one gets back on until everyone has come off.  Remember LA?! Waiting to (re)board, we had seats and toilets and vending machines and air con. Much more civilised.  The waiting room was vast. I lost count after 3000 chairs. This is where I bumped into Christopher Biggins. We only chatted/ selfied briefly, but he’s very nice, as is his friend, Neil.  I hope I bump into them again at some point. They boarded in Bermuda and they are here until New Orleans.

Yesterday, SpaceX launched Axiom 3 on a Falcon rocket from Cape Canaveral, but we were unable to see it from the ship. A mixture of very low cloud and our having to wait outside the Safety Exclusion Zone meant that we really had no chance. Such a shame. People were very disappointed, me included.  It was a bit odd seeing several cruise ships pretty much stationary in the water, waiting for permission to proceed.  The fine for breaching the exclusion zone, which is patrolled by the Coastguard, is $250,000 PLUS up to six years in jail, so no one was going to risk it! Never mind that no one really wants a rocket booster landing on their head. We were actually only one degree of latitude south of Canaveral, but as that is about 54 miles, and the horizon is usually about 25 miles away, visibility-wise, on a clear day, we never really stood a chance, truth be told. Hey ho. Never mind.

We rested today. Tomorrow is Miami, and we want as much energy in reserve as possible!

I think I’ll stop here. Otherwise this post may never end!