The ocean, as ever, was full of surprises this morning. There I was, treading the decks, when suddenly two silvery shapes shot across the surface of the water.

The ocean, as ever, was full of surprises this morning. There I was, treading the decks, when suddenly two silvery shapes shot across the surface of the water. For a fleeting, moment, I thought they were birds, some sleek, metallic species I had never encountered before. That was until they vanished beneath the waves with a practiced dip, revealing their true identity: flying fish. Of course. Nature’s little practical joke. fish that couldn’t quite commit to being fish, yet hadn’t fully embraced the bird lifestyle either.  

Naturally, I spent the next several laps of the deck with my eyes fixed on the water, hoping for an encore. But the sea, being unpredictable, declined to provide one. To make matters worse, my view was further obstructed by an array of lifeboats on Deck 3, all positioned with the kind of strategic precision that suggested the ship’s designers had prioritised aesthetics over practicality. No doubt the balcony-dwelling elite—those who had paid extra for the privilege of an unobstructed horizon—were enjoying a crystal-clear spectacle of marine acrobatics. Meanwhile, the rest of us plebeians were left to peer between railings and dangling ropes, squinting like amateur naturalists at a party we hadn’t been invited to.

Such is life aboard a Queen Anne : the ocean’s wonders are democratically available to all, but the best views come with a surcharge.

Someone at the World Cruise party last night asked me, with the faintest hint of polite bafflement, why I bothered posting on the Facebook at all. Well, the truth is, if my beloved travel blog had been functioning as it should, allowing me to upload photos with the usual ease, I wouldn’t have given Facebook a second thought. But for some unfathomable reason, position in the Indian Ocean  or just the ship’s Wi-Fi having a particularly obstinate day which has lasted a lifetime, I find it utterly impossible to transfer my photographs onto my site.

So, like any resourceful traveller faced with technological adversity, I turned to other platforms. Polarsteps, for instance, which dutifully stores my images (albeit in frustratingly diminutive versions), and the Facebook page, which at least allows me to keep in touch with my followers. 

But let’s be brutally honest, the main reason I do it is for me. I adore writing. And given that my memory these days has all the reliability of a soggy paper bag, it’s rather lovely to have a diary to look back on, if only to remind myself what I did last Tuesday.  

Besides, I’ve always believed that the world has quite enough hatred and gloom without me adding to it. If I can make someone smile, or even emit a faint chuckle into their morning coffee, then I consider it a public service.  

We’ve always been the sort of travellers who veer off the beaten path, the kind who, upon arriving in a new port, will instinctively wander in the opposite direction to the tour buses. Age may have grounded us from flying (or, more accurately, from enduring the modern horrors of airports), but cruising hasn’t dulled our curiosity. Nine times out of ten, we’ll poke around behind the polished tourist façades, sniffing out the real character of a place, the hidden markets, the backstreet cafés, the unvarnished bits that most cruise passengers never see.  

I’m an observer by nature, with a mind that thrives on the colourful and the curious. Every walk is a mental scavenger hunt, collecting odd details and weaving them into stories. And much to my delight, my followers seem to appreciate this. Many have told me they find my descriptions not just entertaining, but oddly educational—a sort of offbeat travel guide for those who prefer their adventures with a little more grit and a lot fewer souvenir shops.  

So, while I may grumble about the quirks of shipboard internet, I’ll keep writing. After all, the world is too fascinating not to document, preferably with a dash of humour and as few cruise-line-sanctioned excursions as possible.

Follow me on my trip ‘Queen Anne world cruise’ at

https://www.polarsteps.com/PhilipParker1/15755884-queen-anne-world-cruise?s=301670E5-79DF-4AD1-8CA3-F5A92841FACA

http://bestpeptravels.blogspot.com/

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