DAY 52 Mar 5 - Sea Day Southern Atlantic Ocean

How pleasant not to have to run around today in the heat looking at relics of a bye gone age. We can relax as we are at sea until 8.00 tomorrow morning.

As expected it is a beautiful day. Blue skies, calm seas and temperatures expected to be in the high 80s. Idyllic conditions to be cruising around the coast of Brazil. In fact at 10 o'clock this morning we were at our most easterly point of the voyage and are now on a north north-westerly bearing towards our next port of call Fortaleza

Last night Lydia, one of our two concierge ladies, did her rounds with thermometer in one hand and record book in the other. We were at 'home' when she arrived at our door. We agreed that things had greatly improved and we had no need to run the fan.

Although the temperature at the a/c outlet grill was in the mid 60s the figure for the bedside was 72. This was comfortable enough for us after what we had experienced over the last few days.

Deden resumed his animal farm collection and tonight we received a lovely little bear. He too found our cabin more acceptable now.

The work involved in producing yesterday's blog post was considerable and not helped by the ship's Internet system behaving erratically and not allowing me to publish. In fact I had trouble saving produced information on the Google BLOG server.

I gave up and retired early.

We were both fast asleep shortly after 9 o'clock. The heat of the day and exertions from sightseeing had taken their toll.

During the night we found the cabin quite cold and had to adjust our bedding accordingly. Yippee, our a/c ordeal seems to be over at last.

Nancy carried out her morning inspection of the 'casualty' and declared temperatures back to normal. Later she phoned and inquired if she could offer us a bottle of whisky or gin on behalf of HAL for our patience. I suggested, and she kindly agreed, that a table for two in the Pinnacle Grill one night soon would be a better option. Maria added that a plate of truffles would not go amiss either!

It would seem that our morning and nightly visits from the the two concierge 'doctor' girls is now thankfully over.

After many attempts I eventually found the Internet working so posted the blog for yesterday. Better late than never.

We took an early lunch then headed to the aft deck for an hour or two of sun. I must say after an hour and a half I had had enough and we then both retired to our very comfortable cabin.

An afternoon movie took Maria's attention while I played around on the computer and caught up on the New York Times, ship's edition, for the last two days and the latest copy of Britain Today.

Shortly after we started the cruise we received a bulb and a vase with instructions on how to keep it watered. Last night two blooms opened and two more are on the way. It's now a beautiful flower.

We are pleased that some people are posting their enjoyment of the blog especially where they have friends of relatives on board. This applies equally to any crew member who has passed on the link to their family. Needless to say comments are always most welcome.