Letters from The Sea - Part II -Gibraltar

The Rock and I

Land ho!

So yesterday we sailed into Gibraltar, which was quite cool, actually. The sun was shining, the rock is pretty impressive and it was really good to see some land! I had a couple of hours to disembark (see, I've got the jargon down pat!) and stroll around the town.. And cruising suddenly seemed to make a bit more sense to me - if there's a destination, not just open sea, it is quite a dramatic way to arrive in a country! The down-side, of course, is that you only get to see the edges of the country for a couple of hours, which is a big enough down-side for me to still feel I'm unlikely to do it for real.

An, apparently, historic moment also occurred when the two Ocean Village ships passed each other for probably the one and only time ever just outside Gibraltar. It was weirdly emotional for quite a few people around me - most of the crew all worked on OV1 for years before being moved to this ship (very originally named OV2), and have never actually seen it sailing from a distance - you either see the ship right close-up in port, or you're on board. It was quite touching to see how attached people are to their ships, I must say. I'm vaguely starting to understand how people can settle into this life, but it's not for me... Too easy, too organised and TOO CHEESY!!!!! A lot of the "ents" (entertainment) staff come from Butlins, and it seems they've all been sent on a course in How To Speak With An Annoying Fakely Enthusiastic Lilt In Your Voice. It's that that would drive me more mad than being trapped in a small space for lengthy periods of time. But none of the passengers really seem to mind - probably because they're the type who probably grew up with Butlins and don't know quite how to holiday without someone telling them what to do, and when. Heidi hi! (sp???)


Ships passing in the day

The teensy bit of Gibraltar I did see was kinda weird - England in the sun with a Spanish twist. All the UK high street stores as well as tons and tons of duty-free stuff (fags: 60p a pack, litre bottles of rum, £4.95) but I didn't bother (sorry smokers, I didn't even think to bring you any till I was back on the ship). Had a pleasant stroll, bought a bikini and some shorts (having managed to avoid a uniform in toto I find I'm running out of clothes, even WITH a laundry service. Didn't pack very well....) and got back on the ship. Er, I mean re-embarked. Glad I've seen a bit of Gibraltar, but won't be hurrying back.


Gibraltar - the square at the start pf the duty-free shopping spree

The evening's entertainment was a pre-show singer, Lucy, (who does a 4-song warm up set) and then Jaki Graham. Who? you might ask - as I did, but she's actually the one and only genuine celebrity we have on board, everyone else is a tribute act (George Michael, Robbie Williams, Tina Turner). Anyway, Jaki had a no 1 hit covering Ain't Nobody some time in the 80s. The pre-show warm-up singer, like me, had no idea who Jaki was, nor what her hits may or may not have been. So, no malice intended, Lucy, as her second song, launches into Ain't Nobody. The consternation that THIS caused was quite sensational! Now obviously Jaki can't sing it in her set if it's been sung mere minutes before, and it was HER actual hit! Oops, but hey, the hell that decended on poor Lucy when she finished her set was slightly disproportionate, I felt. Anyway, small dramas make life interesting.


Me and my Booth

We were meant to leave Gibraltar around 6PM last night with a dramatic sunset sail-away. Around 6.15 the Captain makes an announcement that they're "just making a few adjustments to the engines" and we'll "be underway soon". A further announcement, in a similar vein, followed at around 6.30. And 7.00. Eventually at 11.00PM he made a final announcement saying that they're having problems with some propulsion thingy, and we'd leave only when it was fixed, good night sleep tight...

We eventually left around 1AM, so are skipping our next port, Cartegena, and going straight to Barcelona (YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!) Which works out quite well for me - I've got two shows to rehearse today, so am happy to be stuck in the theatre on a sea day rather than a port day.

Love and misses to ya'll...
Dxx

PS the Captain has just announced that we're slowing down to try locate a small boat adrift a few miles ahead of us so we can rescue them! Excitement indeed!