Fancy Dress

Last night we partook in a maritime tradition, the formal dinner night. All the passengers got dressed up in their finest trimmings to try and be presentable to their peers and attempt to outdo the person sitting next to them.

Those with regal dreams of times long past squeezing into suits and dresses which had not fit in 10 years, the slightly too young taking advantage of the excitement to try out that dress that is an inch or 2 short, the uncaring who imagine formal to mean a polo shirt with a dinner jacket, all were on show and a wonder to behold. The waiters were prepared in their double tailed black suits and proved more presentable than 90% of the passengers.

Another tradition of all cruises is the champagne fountain with the captain and first mate. A pyramid is constructed of wide glasses each with a rose petal and after a short address from the captain a bottle of bubbly is emptied over the top and allowed to flow down to the lower tiers. Then the real attraction starts, photos. The passengers are invited to step up the fountain and touch the bottle as a staffer pours into the fountain.

Dinner was a very standard affair with little of note occurring. After dinner most subjected themselves to a stage show, I excused myself from such tortures to retire to my cabin and sleep away the image of an old lady spilling out over the top of the dress that looked so good 20 years ago.