Crusing on the Seven Seas Voyager for 12 days from Dubai to Luxor was my first actual expertise of cruising. I sailed as soon as from Southampton to New York on the Queen Mary 2, however that was an Atlantic crossing so not likely a cruise.
I went on the QM2 as a result of my buddy Stephen Webster, the jewelry designer, was having a celebration in New York. I had 5 days to be taught a script and I assumed, effectively, somewhat than fly to New York and get jet-lag, how about I’m going on a ship the place I am going to have 5 plenty of 25-hour days and arrive with no jet-lag after which fly again. So that is what I did, and in these 5 days, I discovered the script.
All aboard for a feed: Stephen heads onto the Seven Seas Voyager in Dubai, planning to eat himself into form
Being on a ship was pretty – there’s one thing completely timeless about crusing someplace. I skilled the identical feeling after I was doing my African and Australian hot-air balloon crossings for my TV exhibits – there are only a few locations left on Earth the place you can’t see any signal of man.
Often, you are able to do that in the midst of the ocean, and also you instantly overlook about your self, which is an excellent method to ponder and realise how insignificant you’re as a result of, usually, you are surrounded by day-to-day detritus and also you assume all of your issues are monumental.
The ocean and the world have been there an terrible lot longer than any of us, and it is nice to consider that and rid your thoughts of petty distractions.
You quickly begin considering of different issues and different folks – and that is of nice profit to anybody.
It helps that I appear to have good sea legs. I did not really feel sick – I actually simply felt awestruck on the majesty and the dimensions of the ocean.
There was a double attraction of cruising from Dubai.
I remembered the Arabian Sea from the movies that my dad used to observe, resembling The Thief Of Baghdad: it was unique, like one thing from an image ebook.
I knew little or no concerning the United Arab Emirates and all their neighbours. Fortuitously, every single day on the cruise there was a tremendous lecturer who educated us on each port of name, and on all of the nation’s flags, and gave you an excellent historical past.
Throughout our cease in Aqaba we visited Petra, which was superb – and possibly the principle purpose why I used to be persuaded to come back on the cruise.
I’ve seen it solely in image books or on movies. I wasn’t actually ready for simply how unimaginable it’s; fantastically hidden from the human eye. It truly is the jewel of the Center East. I used to be captivated and fascinated – it was every little thing that I hoped it could be and an terrible lot extra.
I rapidly found {that a} cruise affords a really specific vacation expertise – and completely what I hoped for.
I would just completed a stint enjoying King Arthur in Spamalot and was about to tackle the job of a truck driver in a brand new TV sequence referred to as Truckers.
A real world surprise: Stephen was amazed by the great thing about Petra, the enduring Nabatean metropolis in Jordan
Once I was provided the truck driver sequence I might been on stage for eight exhibits per week for 16 weeks so I used to be wanting moderately trim and did not fairly match the construct of a trucker (the character I performed is a stereotypical driver who most likely did not go to the fitness center quite a bit).
I used to be politely requested if there was any approach I may put weight on within the subsequent three weeks, so this 12-day cruise – throughout which you’ll be able to eat all you need of the best delicacies with such selection – was good.
I assumed this chance will not come round once more and it’ll save me in junk meals – I am going to simply eat very effectively for 12 days. That is what I did and I put a stone on. So everyone was blissful, particularly me.
The meals was superb. I’m a little bit of a foodie, and beloved the actual fact there have been so many eating places and that the menu modified every single day, and it wasn’t all buffet fashion.
Evenings had been degustation menus – which was unimaginable.
The fashion of the cruise suited me completely. I’ve at all times loved time to myself anyway, and there is loads of time for that. I used to be with my great companion, Elaine, and there was at all times a desk for 2.
However you could possibly be part of an even bigger desk.
We had been invited to dine with the captain one evening and we ate on the leisure supervisor’s desk on one other night. He was referred to as Ray Solaire – he’d pinched his title from Ambre Solaire!
He did it as a result of when he joined Fairness, the actors’ union, it would not let him use his actual title because it was the identical as one other performer. Someday, whereas he was attempting to think about a brand new title, he walked into Boots and noticed a bottle of Ambre Solaire, the suntan lotion.
He thought it sounded fairly unique – and Ray Solaire was born. He utilized for a job on cruise ships and he is been on them ever since. He is from Blackpool initially and he used to work with Ken Dodd, so he was an absolute fountain of information on one among my all-time heroes.
The wonderful thing about Regent Seven Seas Cruises is that almost every little thing is included within the fundamental worth. The excursions, for instance, are free which was great.
There have been plenty of nice ports of name: we loved visiting Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai and Aqaba – and Luxor, the place we ended the cruise, was improbable.
However a lot of the time was spent studying 5 hours’ value of scripts for Truckers in my cabin – so what with that and having to do all of the consuming to place weight on, my leisure time was restricted.
I used to be additionally informed to keep away from getting a suntan as a result of truckers aren’t well-known for wholesome complexions.
However if you happen to’re a lorry driver your proper arm is at all times alleged to have a suntan as a result of that is at all times the one hanging out the window…
