11th July

Sea Day Overcast. Temp 23c Smooth Sea.

During the night we went across the Bay of Biscay which is a little notorious for having a large swell. This is due to the fact that parts of the continental shelf extend far into the bay creating relatively shallow water in the area which escalates the swell from the deep Atlantic as they come eastwards. When we crossed it was quite calm. We are obviously ahead of schedule because we are going quite slow. The Captain told us in his noon report that we should be docking at 7am tomorrow. He also told us that 700 are getting off tomorrow and about the same number are getting on. We did hear a rumour that most of them are Americans but we will see. We know one Aussie who is getting on, Coral Craig and we are looking forward to seeing her. The Captain said he is getting off and another Captain is taking us back to Sydney. We had a quiet day today; I did go to Marlin’s last lecture this time more about the Silk Road. We are sorry to see him leave us tomorrow and hope someone as good replaces him. This evening the Singers & Dancers together with the cruise staff put on something different. “Ye Old Pub Night” It was in the Vista Lounge and it was set up like a Pub and they sang pub type songs. For some of them we joined in. Another good night. Tomorrow we are catching the 9am train to London so we are having an early night.

Lisbon