After the ship’s stopover in Port Victoria (and the Deputy Captain calling out on the ship’s loudspeaker for two people before we left port and sailed away, despite their absence) we are enjoying a quiet day at sea. The lecturers today are all British with topics that don’t really interest us. For example, “The History of British Silverware.” Steve said he wouldn’t attend, even if it were about the history of American Silverware.

Instead, we are catching up on emails after a day-long dead spot in the Indian Ocean, categorizing pictures and attending other presentations and a classical concert with the young couple that are playing the trumpet and piano.

The best presentation today was learning how the pastry chefs prepare a couple of the delicious desserts – strawberry pavlova and white chocolate mousse. One of the chefs previously worked as a chef in one of the palaces for the King of Saudi Arabia. The other chef has been working on the Queen Victoria since launch and we met him on our behind-the-scenes tour. Yes, one of the daily pleasures on a cruise – a dessert at lunch and dinner.

Of course, then there is the “Steve Diet”. No chef will probably be doing a demo of the vegan-low-sugar-low-flour-low-dairy-low-starch diet. But let it be known that one can eat this way on the Cunard ships, happily with great variety, at every meal. Cunard is to be congratulated on the changes they’ve made to accommodate the most finicky and sustainable of eaters over the past five years.

We did do our normal exercise and walked the deck this morning. The crew were disassembling the pirate gear on deck so we are ‘all clear.’ We also experienced a morning that began with calm sunny seas, changed to windy, cloudy with rough seas, and then returned to the nicest of days. So typical of the tropics!

Last night we watched a show on TV all about the Seychelles. Our impressions were really only what we saw on one island. Apparently, with all the conservation on some of the other islands, Seychelles is being likened to the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean.” Rare birds, animals and plants reside on some of the other islands. Also, the sea life, coral reefs and amazing clarity of water places these islands in a category all their own. We just saw the big island so missed all these other natural wonders.

I have not looked up how many hours it would take to come back to the Seychelles from Florida; I’m thinking the Galápagos Islands are closer.

Tonight is a gala evening; you know, fancy dress-up. They have these on sea days and rarely the day before a port. Gives the passengers something to do before dinner – 30 minutes to shave, dress-up, tux buttons, cuff-links, spanx and digging out the jewelry that dresses up yet another black gown.

This is in contrast to some of the places we’ve experienced on this cruise; where especially using the women’s restrooms requires some thought.

Cruising to Mauritius, another sea day away.