Belgium and Scandinavia: Day 3 The North Sea

Morning on the North Sea

It was misty as we drew back our curtains to check the weather through our window.

This was to be our first of two sea days on this trip. When we woke up Sapphire Princess was well into the North Sea and was following a track away from the coast of England as she had started North from Zeebrugge. This meant that we were too far East to see any of the UK’s oil rigs.

Our breakfast was in the International Dining Room again. Today I went over the top and had a pancake stack, eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and (a few) orange segments. Far too much!

This morning at 10 am was the $10 item sale and we couldn’t resist having a quick look. We bought sun glasses for our grandson and an evening wear clutch bag for Linda. I was disappointed that there were no T-shirts for me to buy.

We split up and I went to the Promenade Deck to try to walk off some of my breakfast. This ship has steps up to Deck 8 and a covered walk around the bow before more steps to take you back down to the Promenade Deck. I missed two jets flying directly over the ship while I was under the overhang on Deck 8. This is the image that I managed to grab.

I only managed 3 laps and went up to Deck 15 hoping to see more planes. I did see ships as we past through the mist…

… and of course plastic waste and the odd sea bird.

Lunch

Up on the upper deck I was in the sun and the wind but as earlier. At noon the bridge officer gave their usual midday update on the ship’s position and forecast that we should be passing Skagen, on the tip of Denmark, at around 10 pm. Then we would be in the Baltic.

Our lunch was in the Savoy Restaurant that was serving ‘British Pub food’. We were greeted by a Beefeater dressed server and were shown to the table by another with a plastic policemen’s helmet. Not what usually see in a British pub!

We all chose the fish and chips, which came with a serving of mushy peas. I added another Bath Ales Gem beer. Without too much thought we all ordered bread and butter pudding with Creme Anglaise. These were delicious especially as the tops were crunchy just like creme brulee.

Afternoon at sea

After lunch we had a look at the display of replica Beatle’s clothes in the Atrium. These were from their early suits through to their Sergeant Pepper uniforms to John’s signature white suit.

We split up again as I went for another walk around the ship. Deck 15 over the bridge was very windy still and I was the only person up there. I joined the others on the stepped stern at the side of the pools and promptly had a snooze. This part of the ship was sheltered from the wind. Then we all moved to the larger Neptune Pool and we quickly realised why everyone around the pool was wrapped up watching the movie on the screen (Eddie the Eagle) – this area was not protected from the wind.

After the film finished we returned to our cabin to watch another movie, both to get warm and to have a rest. We chose the Justice League but suffered from poor bandwidth as after only 20 seconds of the movie we would have a 3 seconds or more pause. This made the film very long!

Evening at sea

At 6 pm our hors d’oeuvres arrived and we were still watching the movie stutter its way through. We then started to get ready for the first formal evening of the cruise. This was also the evening of the Captain’s cocktail party and in the Atrium the champagne fountain was being poured.

We sat in the Atrium waiting for a table waiting for our buzzer to flash. Once in the restaurant we had another friendly server for our table.

I had beef as a main and this meal came with vegetables. I started with French onion soup and a Waldorf salad. This was the strangest Waldorf salad that I’d ever had as it had no lettuce just cress and a mix of Stilton cheese and nuts. For dessert I had an extremely fattening Banana Foster flambe from the cooking trays that I’d seen as we’d entered the restaurant.

Back in our cabin we resumed the movie and we still had a stop-start version. Just some of the bedding that had been removed from the shelf.

I gave up trying to watch the movie and went outside to watch the sunset and to hopefully see Skagen.

Sunset on the North Sea

While I waited for the sunset I watched the full moon and more ships as we passed by.

The sunset over the North Sea was colourful and lasted quite a while.

I chatted to another sunset watcher who was ex-Merchant Na vy. He told me when the ship made the turn in the Baltic we would be passing so far from shore that I’d be unlikely to see Skagen. Also he informed me that this sunset was no where near as good as those that he’d seen in the Indian Ocean…

I’m not sure I’d agree as these North Sea sunset images show great colours!

Even though I had doubled up on my jumpers I was still cold in the wind so at 10.30 pm I gave up and went back to the cabin. Much to my surprise the movie was STILL going.