It's Friday 13th, and land's not exactly in sight yet, but during this morning's constitutional, five laps of the Promenade Deck, we saw the first seabird since leaving Madeira. Apart from some whales and the odd flying fish that other passengers have apparently seen, no other living thing's been spotted, no ships or anything.
We're due to get into Bridgetown, Barbados this evening, quite a lot earlier than expected, partly because the weather has been so good, but a further 12 hours has also been taken off our arrival time by going at full speed due to a 'medical emergency'.
The weather's been amazing, flat calm mostly, a gentle swell at the worst. Incredible for the Atlantic in January.
And as we move gently south west, the weather is getting better and better and the climate ever milder. Many passengers are enjoying the sun and topping up their tans, as are some of the crew (entertainment staff).
Easier on the eye than us old wrinklies!
A bit later on, we suddenly started seeing the flying fish that many other passengers had already seen, and not just the odd one or two, but hundreds. They looked very small and were very fast moving. I guessed that they would be difficult to photograph, and they were. I did though manage one photo which at least shows their little wings.
As the day moved into afternoon and the sun started setting, we went as high on the front of the ship as we could and were rewarded with the first view of Barbados; just a smudge on the horizon at first, but bit by bit, it grew and grew.
As the sun set on another glorious day, Barbados changed from a flattish lump to a sparkling string of lights under a full moon.
And the lights got ever brighter as we closed in on Bridgetown. One set of lights in particular, on the right of this photo, appeared to be a large and well illuminated building.
Soon enough we slowed to a halt to allow a four-masted schooner, as it appeared to be, to leave port before we entered through the narrow entrance channel. As we later discovered, it was actually a small modern cruise ship with masts and sails - quite unusual.
Then the pilot came on board and took us safely into harbour, .....
where we discovered what the big, well illuminated building was: the massive P & O flagship, MV Britannia.
A brand new ship (2015) taking 4,400 passengers, and more crew than Black Watch's total crew and passenger complement combined; nearly 6,000 people altogether.
Impressive undoubtedly, but I didn't hear any fellow passengers wanting to transfer from our, slightly tired looking, 1972 vintage Black Watch.
As soon as the gangplank was in position, the 'medical emergency' was stretchered off to a waiting ambulance and we were free to discover the nightlife of Bridgetown.
Apparently, the gangplank was manned all night for any revellers who wanted to stay out until the small hours, but we weren't that adventurous.
We're due to get into Bridgetown, Barbados this evening, quite a lot earlier than expected, partly because the weather has been so good, but a further 12 hours has also been taken off our arrival time by going at full speed due to a 'medical emergency'.
The weather's been amazing, flat calm mostly, a gentle swell at the worst. Incredible for the Atlantic in January.
And as we move gently south west, the weather is getting better and better and the climate ever milder. Many passengers are enjoying the sun and topping up their tans, as are some of the crew (entertainment staff).
Easier on the eye than us old wrinklies!
A bit later on, we suddenly started seeing the flying fish that many other passengers had already seen, and not just the odd one or two, but hundreds. They looked very small and were very fast moving. I guessed that they would be difficult to photograph, and they were. I did though manage one photo which at least shows their little wings.
As the day moved into afternoon and the sun started setting, we went as high on the front of the ship as we could and were rewarded with the first view of Barbados; just a smudge on the horizon at first, but bit by bit, it grew and grew.
As the sun set on another glorious day, Barbados changed from a flattish lump to a sparkling string of lights under a full moon.
And the lights got ever brighter as we closed in on Bridgetown. One set of lights in particular, on the right of this photo, appeared to be a large and well illuminated building.
Soon enough we slowed to a halt to allow a four-masted schooner, as it appeared to be, to leave port before we entered through the narrow entrance channel. As we later discovered, it was actually a small modern cruise ship with masts and sails - quite unusual.
Then the pilot came on board and took us safely into harbour, .....
where we discovered what the big, well illuminated building was: the massive P & O flagship, MV Britannia.
A brand new ship (2015) taking 4,400 passengers, and more crew than Black Watch's total crew and passenger complement combined; nearly 6,000 people altogether.
Impressive undoubtedly, but I didn't hear any fellow passengers wanting to transfer from our, slightly tired looking, 1972 vintage Black Watch.
As soon as the gangplank was in position, the 'medical emergency' was stretchered off to a waiting ambulance and we were free to discover the nightlife of Bridgetown.
Apparently, the gangplank was manned all night for any revellers who wanted to stay out until the small hours, but we weren't that adventurous.
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