I think I am going to like this cruise.

Oh, it is not all perfection personified,in fact a list of don't likes is a mile long already.But it is nitpicking.And what you absolutely do not like today tomorrow may become more palatable.But one thing I will never like,is the way they expect us to wipe the machines in the gym after use.The same wet sponge re-used time and time again, just spreading the bacteria about.Then they write about norovirus, how to avoid it.Cleanliness begins at home,Cruise and Maritime, at home. With disposable wipes,please.And when I complained to the girl at the counter she said it had nothing to do with them,it is housekeeping. There is warmth in the air,on Saturday we are docking in the Azores.It has been raining all night and was still spitting when I went for walk on the 14th floor just before breakfast.My first breakfast on the ship.Porridge,some fruit and freshly squeezed orange,this is chargeable, £2.20 per glass,but there really is nothing like fresh juice being pressed in front of your eyes.All very pleasant indeed. I have been told the best place to get a decent signal is in the atrium in the reception area,so this is where I will be sitting with my Toshiba.Yes, it s the chromebook I have taken on my travels and not the new HP. Drinking black coffee, because I find the milk ships use quite unpalatable,the smell off putting.Yet yesterday after dinner the tea with milk was pleasant.The dinner was altogether a pleasant affair.The large table just to myself, no Spanish inquisition from the neighbours.Had a magazine to read, have taken at least 11 of them on this cruise.The waiters behave as if they have never served a woman travelling alone, sitting alone at a table.They do not know what to do with me.They avoid me,I feel abandoned like a sinking ship.I am not fussed over.I am not cossetted.I am not being made feel special.The menu was thrust into my hands without a word.Without a word. The starter was salmon rivette I think it is spelled,delicious,the Britannia soup would have been very pleasant had it not come lukewarm.Risotto was hot and care had gone into making and presenting it,but after the first spoonful I was struck by this strange mustiness and for the life of me I could not tell what it reminded me of,I kept eating a spoon after spoon determined to diagnose the strange taste and having swallowed the last bit I was none the wiser. The spotted dick.Never have I had a dick that had so many spots on it.As if dressed for a fancy halloween party,smothered in glossy pomada,encircled with pinkish sauce and yet another sauce brown in colour. I looked for the custard and a smattering of it was attached to the side of the dick. Tea with milk washed it down. Yet again no wine waiter came to ask if madam would like to order a beverage.And so it was time for bed. Yes, I am going to like this cruise.