Oversubscribed

Beginning the day slowly and gently, with breakfast delivered to our cabin has been a feature of this voyage that I have definitely enjoyed. The food in general, has been great – a selection of delicious dishes which includes a choice of appetisers, soups and salads at each meal,  in addition to the entrée (main)  and dessert. Portion sizes are sensible and taking the stairs is always an option, so we hope we are not coming home heavier than when we left. Dietary requirements are dealt with efficiently through  pre-ordering each evening so that anything on the menu is available with consideration to individual allergies/intolerances.  

This time we have had an open dining option which means we can turn up for our meals at the time of our choice, within the range of times lunch and dinner are available,  and a table will be found for us - sometimes with others and sometimes a table for two. That has worked pretty well for us, although I think Wallsy prefers meeting strangers and chatting to others over dinner. Introvert me, is quite happy with this arrangement. We have only been put on a table with others once! 

Literature festival events begin at 10am and there are usually 3 author talks, Q&A’s or panel discussions throughout the day in addition to smaller workshops with individual authors, and an informal evening event such as book recommendations or trivia.  All of these events have been oversubscribed. The Royal Court Theatre which I believe holds 850 people has been standing room only at every author event. Unless you get there  ridiculously early, there is no chance of a seat. They have answered this by live-streaming to the Golden Lion Pub which goes some way to solving the problem, but this too is soon overflowing. The other smaller venues are also quickly at capacity.

The greatest disappointment has been the workshops offered by individual authors, which are at an additional cost. These were made available on arrival on a  first-come, first-served basis; information we only received once we arrived on board, which meant of course, those with earlier boarding times had already claimed spots in these workshops before people like us, who were scheduled to board  at 3pm. There were waiting lists, but realistically there is no hope of joining a workshop. Chatting with author Graeme Simsion (yes, that was unashamed name dropping!) in the bookshop yesterday, he was outraged that everyone who wanted to attend a workshop was not able. There seems to be a bit of a groundswell of discontent about this situation.

Yesterday, we watched two livestream events in the Golden Lion during the morning – a Q&A with the always entertaining Alexander McCall Smith hosted by Sue Williams and a presentation by Fiona McIntosh, both of which were brilliant. We then went out on deck to view the scenery of Great Oyster Bay and Freycinet National Park, a section of east coast Tasmania that we had spent the morning cruising through. We walked a lap of deck 3, taking in the views and stood (briefly – the wind was freezing!) on the foredeck of level 5, which had been opened to passengers just for this occasion. After lunch we decided to watch a movie in the theatre.

The Light Between the Oceans was showing and although I own the book I had never read it, so other than the fact I knew it was meant to be good, I had no idea what it was about. Turns out it was a bit of an emotional roller coaster, I suspect there wasn’t a  dry eye in the house at the end, but it was brilliant. I can’t wait to read the book now, although I usually prefer to read first and then watch the adaptation.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time again. We were shown to a table for two in the window, where we could watch the endless ocean and keep an eye out for whales and dolphins (none of which have made themselves visible on this voyage). We  then made our way to the authors vs guests trivia night. The room was already full and airless, I couldn’t see  myself standing in the stifling atmosphere for an hour trying to participate, so I left Wallsy to represent and retired to our cabin.