We had a very good, almost indulgent day today, especially as it was spent amidst a very grey and windy North Sea as we headed south towards Rotterdam.

After breakfast we called at the Future Cruises Desk to talk to the ladies there about Alaska itineraries being launched on the newly refitted Poesia next year. We are planning another road trip in the American West in 2027 and a visit to Alaska could fit in very well.

Then we had another special event we’d been invited to in one of the large lounges, specifically for the top two tiers of Loyalty Members. Again there were cocktails and champagne and some hors d’oevres. We shared a banquette with a nice British couple from Wiltshire and chatted to them. They were great travellers and had some very good stories to tell. Later, the Loyalty Ladies put on two performances for us: A Mongolian acrobat and a concert pianist.

We had lunch and then spent some time in the cabin reading, watching the North Sea roar by outside. The ship is really well stabilised, there is barely any motion at all.

It was Gala Night on the ship – the only Dress to Impress night this week. Even so black tie is not required. We went down to the theatre at 630 to hear an address from the Captain. Walked through the casino on the way. It was packed and it’s a huge casino, the biggest one we’ve seen in years. Not our particular thing but plenty of others were enjoying it.

The Captain gave a nice little talk flanked by his senior officers and the Cruise Director. It is extremely impressive how linguistically talented all the customer facing staff are. They switch seemingly effortlessly between English, Italian, Spanish, French and German, often giving the same speech in all 5 languages.

We stayed in the theatre to watch the show. Last night’s one was a rather weird version of The Wizard of Oz….. extremely colourful costumes and the usual mix of excellent singing and dancing and circus skills but not our favourite by a long way.. The songs weren’t very tuneful or well known and it was all a bit…… odd….. never mind, the performers did their best.

After dinner we went up to one of the bars fancying a nice gin martini and here we found another MSC tradition. On Gala Night, the drinks are on the Captain!!!!! There were trays of champagne, red and white wine, fruit punch and gin martinis complete with olive laid out along the bars in all the public spaces. Wowzer. Well…. it would have been rude not to ….. so we had a couple. Thanks very much indeed, Sir.

Bob went back to the cabin and got our bottle of prosecco which had been chilling in the fridge and we took it into dinner. Gala Night is a special menu always. I started with smoked salmon and dill cream, Bob had caesar salad, then we both had escargots in a puff pastry case. For main we both had beef wellington with truffled sauce. Dessert we chose baked alaska. It was all delicious. The main dining room food has been good so far. It’s not as good as Princess or Cunard but it is good. There is plenty and a good choice. No complaints about tonight’s food though and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

There was a special show at 10pm that we went to: The Crew Talent Show. This can be a hit and miss affair but tonight’s was just superb and we were treated to 90 minutes of very talented people. Who knew that the buffet dessert server had such an amazing singing voice or that the Samoan Fire Security team could perform such a devastating Haka or indeed such a sexy dance all oiled up and in loin cloths. Wowzer Matron!!!! The theatre was packed and each act was mightily cheered on. It was so much better than we expected and a great end to the night. Of course for many the night was by no means over but we retired happily to our bed.