The weather has cooled down a little and the clocks went forward at noon, which puts us back on to UK time. Barbara finished packing one of her cases and I’ve noticed that some luggage is now appearing outside cabins awaiting collection. The system is that you place your bags outside your cabin on the last night (or before) and they are taken away and appear in the arrivals hall where you then collect them and go home!

Our last formal night and a bit of a surprise as there was the Captain’s Farewell Party. We were all tarted up and hit Carmen’s for the final party. The drinks flowed and a good time was had by all. Lobster canapés and lobster for dinner, what is there to argue about that? Pub quiz in Champion’s and we were dire, 9/20. Shaun Wallace set the questions in the Syndicate and we were as bad, 8/20. The winners (table 39) only scored 12.

With a day to go it’s probably worth reflecting back on the cruise. I’ve enjoyed the cruise, but I think I’ve come to the end of taking long ones. One exception would be if they had one from Southampton to the Amazon and back. Next year Barb and I are taking 30 days to the Arabian Gulf and I think that’ll be long enough.

Highlights? The Falklands were interesting. Cartagena old town was beautiful. Buzios was a sweet little place. Most of the Caribbean, as usual, was fun. The contrast between Fort de France and Tres Ilets on Martinique was surprising. The Atacama Desert was different. Meeting old friends, both those I knew were coming and those met on other cruises, was good.

The lowlights? Not many if I’m honest. Ecuador was not particularly nice, but that may just have been the port and places around. Some of the entertainment left a lot to be desired, but, to tell the truth, I didn’t watch much of it. We complain about the food sometimes, but in all honesty, it’s been fine. There will always be things that don’t taste nice or have tough meat in them in every cruise and on a long cruise little things get magnified. Things that you wouldn’t even notice on a standard length cruise suddenly become major issues on a long one.

All in all I’ve had fun, I’m glad I came and, boy, was it good to miss the Beast from the East!