What is life like at sea? Kinda great. And no responsibilities for five months❤️

The days at sea fly by quickly.

The past two mornings I have had a very modest breakfast. The buffet certainly offers everything you could wish for. But this is a marathon, not a sprint, and i can't overdo the eating like I might on a weeklong cruise - or I would need to buy a double seat on my plane home.

The most amazing thing about the trip so far is that, for the first time in my adult life, I have no responsibilities for months on end. Not to a job. Not to my family. I don't even have to feed cats. And part of me wonders if the real reason I booked this trip is to cater to my phone phobia - I don't have to answer a call from anyone until June!!!!

Each morning, I have joined folks (ok, to be specific, I joined the Germans - this is not a French or Italian thing to do) in walking the deck. I try to put in 8,000 steps.

It was windy the first day and the ship was really rocking the second day, so I was wobbly. But it needed to happen. And the view is kind of awesome.

Then, on both days, I attended lectures about places we will visit that were given by a monotone but super knowledgeable German woman.

That was followed by light lunch (sure, with wine) and then rummy with the Windsor sisters. My win record is not good.

On Sunday I broke away from the card table and spent a half hour in the hot tub before getting dressed for a formal dinner night. I figure, after it really warms up, it will be tough to get a tub to myself. It was heavenly lying there with the sun beating down on me, and a chill in the air.

At dinner we have blended the table - Martin and Pierre, the French speakers, and the Windsor sisters Josie and Virginia. The language is franglais and I have to do the translation... which is interesting. The Gods of French will no doubt punish me when this is all over for my abuse of the language.

There is a wide range of dinner choices. Not all the food is fabulous. But it's mostly edible.

Sunday overnight we passed through the Strait of Gibraltar (I did not get to see it) and the sea was super rough - it still is rocking and rolling. And everyone was walking like a drunk person on Monday morning because of the motion of the ship. I worry about falling over and taking out a granny and her canes. But so far that has not happened.

On Monday at cocktail hour there was a meet-and-greet for solo travellers - there are probably 30 to 40 of us solo folks on board, and maybe eight who speak English. I met a new bunch of people to hang with, they including a pair of British funeral directors who are both widowed.

And after dinner on both nights we (the Windsor sisters and an Irishman named John who has joined us) caught the show on the main stage in the ship theatre.

The entertainment has been very good. Sunday was a dance group that did Cirque de Soleil type acrobatics.

Monday was a British guy who has appeared on multiple stages in London and sang Michael Buble type music and show tunes.

I have yet to go to one of the many music/dance venues after the shows, but that will happen.

One interesting aspect of this cruise is that, when travelling around the world in a westerly direction, we have to set clocks back 24 hours over the course of the trip, so we gain a day. But we don't change the time according to the actual time zone. We just set our watches to whatever time the ship officers say it is, so we are all on the same page.

Madeira tomorrow. Hills and fortified wine!