Early on in the cruise, I reported a success at the evening Lido Quiz. Well, I'm pleased to be able to announce yet another victory - Woo Hooooooo!!!!!!

Since winning weeks ago (almost three, can you believe it?), I've only attended the quiz on several occasions. Once, the other night, I joined up with a couple of the entertainers for a laugh. We didn't win, but even if we had have done, rules stipulate that we would not be allowed to claim a prize (only passengers are allowed to win the coveted bottle of bubbly). Last night, my two earlier quiz team-mates turned up again, and we won said prize, in the 'Chocolate' Quiz, after two nail-biting tie-breaks, much to the annoyance of one of the teams that, by all accounts have been systematically winning the morning, afternoon and evening quiz at a fearsome rate. Which makes the victory all the more sweeter. Of course, as before, I keep a very low profile when the winning team is revealed, but will be sharing the booty this evening (after the bottle has had a whole night's chilling), when we will try to win once again.

The Bay of Biscay is choppy, and the ship is rolling about quite a bit, but as the Captain predicted; it isn't half as bad as it could be. Today, in his noon-address from the Navigational Bridge, he did something which he has repeatedly done several times over the cruise. Several times, he has said to us that there are dolphins to be seen from the Port side, or the Starboard side, and loads of people dutifully dash from whatever it is that they're doing, wherever they are, in the hope of catching a glimpse of these elusive natives. Time and time again, they're disappointed. What the Captain probably should say is; in about 10 minutes, we'll be passing a load of dolphins, which gives people time to arrange themselves into position out on deck. By the time most people have got to the deck, the dolphins are long gone.

Today, he announced, quite noncholantly, that there was a young whale off to the port side. I was at that moment sat playing Spider Solitaire on my laptop and debated whether or not I could be bothered to fly out of my cabin and climb the three flights of stairs to the Atlantic Deck only to be disappointed yet again. Needless to say, I abandoned the laptop and flew upstairs.... and saw it once... only briefly, but enough to be able to declare that I saw it... it's body just broke the surface of the choppy seas and blew out a spout of water before disappearing below the waves again. I tried ever so hard not to be smug as several other passengers emerged after me, peering out at the sea in the hope of catching a glimpse.

As well as playing Spider Solitaire, I sat in on Peter Roach's lecture this morning on nautical terms that have worked their way into everyday language. The rest of my morning was spent finishing off my 'Gondolas in Venice' painting in time for this afternoon's workshop. I've promised them a finishing-off day today; an opportunity to tidy up the paintings that they've been working on over the course of the cruise in time for tomorrow's big Exhibition. I'll be giving them a short lecture on painting simple figures (think carrots), and trying very hard to sell them the last few of my remaining DVDs and book.

This evening is a Formal evening, so I'll be bringing out the Dinner suit for one last time. As well drinking the winnings from last night's quiz victory in the Lido Lounge, showtime will be one of the great highlights of the cruise calendar; The Crew Show. This is where members of the crew, who will have been practising at all hours of the morning below decks will demonstrate just what a talented bunch they are. This afternoon, too, is the Passenger Talent Show, so I may just give that a brief look-in after my workshop, if I have the time.

At Venice, I'd been sat at a table at lunchtime, with several new passengers who had joined us from the Orient Express, one of whom is a very nice (and quite posh) lady travelling with her sister, who she complained would not play Scrabble with her, and that she rather longed for a game. I told her I'd be more than happy to indulge in a game of Scrabble with her if we could find a suitable time to do it (boxes of Scrabble, along with an assortment of other board games, are stored in the Library). Today, I bumped into her and agreed to meet her for a game tomorrow morning at 11am - so that's my Sunday morning sorted.....

Winning the quiz..... Seeing the whale...... And another black tie evening......... Sounds like everything is cruising along. (Pardon the pun..... or maybe you shouldn't?) The question is - have you managed to win on the difficult level of spider solitaire yet? :-)

'Fraid not.... I'm sticking to Medium Level for a while... I'm up to 33 games, all won - 100% - Difficult is far too.... difficult!