Three days at sea gives us a chance to catch up on the blog, write emails, read and plan for the next destinations which will be Kuala Lumpur (KL to the seasoned travellers on board) on Tuesday and Singapore on Wednesday, where quite a lot of passengers are disembarking to fly back to the UK. Seasoned travellers are easily identified by their Tshirt logos naming places they have visited before and by the P & O merchandise they tote!! We have sailed round the southern tip of Sri Lanka and are heading east across the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. Two things worthy of note on Saturday. We spotted another pod of dolphins at the rear of the ship and a little later whales spraying water out of their blowholes and raising their tails out of the water - not close enough to photograph but easily spotted with the binoculars. After 12 days of heightened security we have now left pirate territory, the hosepipes, audio equipment and security lookouts have been removed from the promenade deck and we can now enjoy a walk in the evenings when it is cooler. The armed guards have left the ship; they were collected just off the coast of Sri Lanka by launch and were sent off with cheers, applause and a large flag being wafted from the bridge, watched by those who could bring themselves to part with their sunbeds for 10 minutes! Wandering up onto Deck 13 at midnight reminded us very much of our Norwegian Coastal Voyage - all that could be heard was the swish of water as Oriana glided gently through the calm sea, there was minimal lighting on the higher decks so the night sky was at its best with a myriad of stars - none of which we could name; the Plough is most definitely not visible 5* north of the Equator! We counted over 200 sets of lights twinkling across the sea from the tiniest of fishing boats 5 miles or so off the coast - quite beautiful - we're simple souls really. As we write we are enjoying a post lunch break on the Promenade Deck in the shade and a strong breeze. The swell is 1 - 2 metres which sounds a lot but the ship is very stable and there is no sensation of rocking and rolling at all. Those of us lucky enough to be doing the World Voyage have just enjoyed a special lunch with some of the officers joining us - not on our table thankfully. Again lovely food - champagne and wine on the house,crab and prawn tian, mango mousse, grilled salmon or roast beef, a selection of yummy desserts and coffee. Having to cook food and wash up is going to come as a shock on April 11! A huge cake was on display with a map of the world on it - guess that will be for afternoon tea; we certainly didn't get a piece wrapped up in a napkin to take home!!! Our first visit to the cinema last night was to see West is West - and yes Janey(me writing) stayed awake all through it - must have been good! We are having to put clocks forward almost every day now - the night before last half an hour, then another half an hour, last night an hour and tonight another hour so we are now 8 hours ahead of GMT. Can't decide which is worse, one hour at a time or the full 8 hours if you are flying to Singapore. Today is the O Factor on Oriana. Various departments have set up activities for the passengers - steer the ship using a simulator, who can make a bed fastest, decorate a dessert plate, try some fruit from the chocolate fountain, check out some of the vast quantities of food taken on board in Southampton etc. Oriana carries 136 varieties of fruit and veg, 59 types of cheese, 56 varieties of fish and seafood, 87 varieties of meat, game and poultry, nearly 600 items of dried goods and 150 varieties of bond stores. In a 2 week cruise 12 tons of potatoes will be used and 5000 eggs for example. No wonder the cabins are small if they have to make room for that lot. Three days at sea ended with a 60s and 70s night on deck by the Riviera bar - a good band, lots of dancing and a temperature of 25c. We have now sailed a quarter of the way east round the world geographically speaking and we are now 101* east, 2* north and it's hot, hot, hot!