Sunday 13th November
Tenerife

After yesterday's sunny morning but showery afternoon we decided to switch plans around today. We hadn't organised anything for this port and just planned a wander, a cafe with wifi and a fridge magnet purchase, so we decided to make the most of the sunshine and do some bronzing around the pool for the morning. After breakfast in the dining room we headed for the Lido deck.  It was fairly quiet and plenty of loungers available.  Weather was gorgeous and decided today would be a good day to purchase the Vodafone Eurotraveller which at £3 for the day gave me use of my full mobile phone package. I paired/bluetoothed it with my iPad so David had use of that within the cost whilst I used my iPhone.  I wanted to learn how to add photos to my blog but unfortunately still haven't worked it out - never mind I will add it to my list of jobs to do when I get home and next time we travel hopefully be able to use it.  David was quite happy being able to watch the highlights of his beloved Blackpool FC game on YouTube and with a 4-0 win against Notts County was chuffed.

We ate lunch outside, David indulged himself with a cheese  burger and curly fries, I had a baked potato with bolognese sauce and salad. No desserts today.

We used the port shuttle bus at about 3.30 to go into port.  As we phoned our parents and children we got caught in a shower and sheltered under a tree.  We hunted out a suitable magnet for the collection and decided to head back to the ship instead of going to a bar as we planned to open our bottle of bubbly in the cabin.  As we headed back to the shuttle bus we were lucky enough to see a double rainbow over the Queen Elizabeth and took a few snaps just before it rained again.

Once onboard we drank our Pol Acker and ordered a cheese plate from room service to keep us going to dinner.  Now the bubbly - Pol Acker comes in for a lot of stick on the cruise forums but as we are not experts and actually enjoy anything complimentary from Cunard.

We had the usual 45 mins of sequence dancing before dinner.  David missed the chance to do the Mayfair quickstep with the American lady as she left a little earlier but I asked an older gentleman to dance a  basic Rumba One. I had noticed he had been to the dance classes and often watched the evening dance on his own and thought it would be a nice gesture.  He was lovely and think his name is Eddie, hopefully get chance to do the same again before the end of the voyage.  There are 4 dance hosts who are very enthusiastic and give the single ladies, or those whose partners don't dance, a chance to join in but it's much harder for the men who are travelling alone.

Dinner was lovely again and I shared my joy of magnets with the table and of course amazed them with the fact that the cabin walls are magnetic.  I really am the person to invite to a dinner party - only kidding!  Everyone is getting on really well at dinner and each evening we switch places around the table- always sitting with your own partner - but it really does make for a sociable group and we've all enjoyed catching up with everyone's adventures of the day.

After dinner we danced the evening away in the Queens Room again - once they played the Viennese Waltz I felt a panic  as one of the dance hosts had previously asked if I would dance with him if we got the chance.  I didn't need to be so worried we were the only ones dancing but both survived and he was very much a gentleman checking with both myself and David if it was ok and giving me the option to refuse if I had changed my mind.

We ended the evening for the second night chatting with another dance couple Paul and Claire who we have befriended during the cruise.  They're a lovely couple and considering they are fairly new to dancing do so with ease and elegance.  We first started to say hello when they ran each day on the promenade deck as we walked our circuits.  As they were going  in the opposite direction they became a familiar sight and always smiled.  It's funny how easy it is to make friends through cruising and I'm sure we will bump into them again in future cruises as this has happened regularly in the past.