Through the English Channel And Beyond

        We have already passed the Cliffs of Dover which we could clearly see early this afternoon. We have steaming along quite quickly all night and are well on our way to Hamburg. There was an announcement earlier today there will be there tomorrow night in the late afternoon. We will overnight there which should make it easier to do our 13 hour tour the next day. By this afternoon the wind died down and the weather sunny but still on the cool side (50F).

       We had to report to German immigration this morning but the officers have been on board since Liverpool so the whole process was quick and well run . Nothing like the Liverpool experience. Zumba followed and the we caught the end of the Earthquake and Archaeology presentation. We simple stayed in the theatre for the next event which was billed as “An Audience with Original Beatle Pete Best”. The cruise director asked a series of questions (probably supplied by Pete). He talked about the early days of the Beatles and the various clubs that they played at in both Liverpool and Hamburg. He filled in many details of what it was like, the name changes the band went through and their first recording sessions. He ended with the day he was let go from the bank and Ringo Starr became the drummer. He hinted that the reason given was he was not good enough although he said he was the best drummer in Liverpool. He suggested that Paul probably knows the reason. However In all a very interesting talk.

Ready for Formal Night

       A quick lunch with tea in the Atrium followed. The dance lesson today was on the Waltz and since we have done waltzes many times in line dancing, it was a lot easier to dance all the steps Theo demonstrated. That was followed by line dance class where we did Caribbean(?) style dances which seemed to be more zumba than dances. Then it was another Zumba class for 45 minutes. It was all a bit tiring. Finally we had a chance to rest.

       We did go to the Elite nibbles before dinner. It was formal night again, the third of the cruise. We have one more to go. We had seen the presentation of Bravo earlier in the cruise so we skipped the show. There was the full evening of trivia and dance bands but nothing extra special. Judy did manage to find some silver items that she liked. It took a bit of time but she finally settled on a necklace and earnings. I said that they were for our anniversary but I don't think she went for it.