On the Road Again!

Home. After the entertainment on Friday night we went to bed, forgoing the midnight feast in the deck 15 buffet. It was around 11pm UK time when when we stood looking out of the cabin windows to see us slipping past Dover harbour.  We weren't that far out and a ferry out of Dover slid across behind us en route to Calais or Dunkerque, When we woke at around 5.10am and had a look out we were on the way probably past Portsmouth.  Later on we were alongside in Southampton.   Not a great view! We had to be checked out of the cabin at 8am and in the muster station for disembarkation at 8.45am. We were breakfasted well in time for the cabin clearance.  Our luggage had been collected the night before. We'd assembled and within minutes we were taken down to deck 6 and off to the terminal, All very quick. We located our luggage and were outside in good time.  Collecting the car was simple too.  The TomTom estimated we'd be home my 10.28am.  Some two and a b...

We rushed to get ready and managed to miss most of the Captain's address and meet'n'greet as we queued for our photo that we most likely won't buy. Then hurried to dinner in the Meridian as Peninsular had a queue miles long. Dinner okay but took ages. Claire wanted to see the Take That Tribute "Beautiful World". Sad to say I also know all the songs. I put the blame on younger cousins Kate and Caroline. Then it was bed time Tomorrow Stavanger 

Up late. Well after 8am anyway. A nice lie in. Looking through the patio doors to see... Not a lot. Just the sea. Later there would be the odd oil rig. Breakfast was in the Peninsular Restaurant where our freedom dining allows us to eat. The freedom bit is time rather than being stuck to a set meal time. Then a wander. Then a snooze. Then lunch again Peninsular Restaurant. I had pate and the veggie pasta option. At both meals we had met and sat with other people from across the UK and at lunch a guy from Texas who lives in England. All very nice and we chatted along. We searched out the promenade deck but it is not possible to do a full 360° trip of the ship. We did find the theatre where we caught the end of the port information. As tonight is Black Tie we need to be spruced up and out to shake the Captain's hand at about 6pm or so. posted from Bloggeroid

From Solent Sky we made the mistake of thinking Ocean Village might be a marina with shops and places to relax. In fact it was a jumble of expensive flats.... Instead we ended up at Town Quay and parked there. It was very hot still with the car registering over 30°C still. We ended up in Starbucks near the Red Funnel ferry terminal. The local football team were at home judging by the variety of different Southampton shirts on display on everyone from kids to old blokes. Good to see so many people supporting their local club. Starbucks was air conditioned. A couple of fraps went down well. I'm glad I had the Canon with me to capture things... Problem being that the 1100D doesn't have WiFi to transfer pix off the SD card. Our parking ran out at 2.20pm and our check in time was 3.30pm before the added hour and a half from the email informing us of the delay. Rather than hang about we decided to go to the Ocean Terminal and see what happened. It was 2.35pm when we joined a queue, m...

May has come and we needed to pay the balance on the cruise. Bish bosh done. The only other thing that needed sorting was the parking at Southampton. It is included in the cruise for us as we have a balcony cabin. I couldn't find where to enter the codes and that was sorted by a few emails and a different url. So. Now nothing to do until early August.

Currently a little quiet on this trip. We have to pay the balance on the trip in March but apart from that we have not much to add. There was a newspaper article about cruise companies becoming a little stricter on what people are wearing on the ships during the day. With mass cruising there seems to have been a downturn in the standard of dress with people wearing football shirts and gaudy leisurewear. Maybe they shouldn't be letting stag and hen parties on in the first place, as one of the stricter rules is no messages and group wear..... On the only previous full cruise we have been on with Saga, there was a dress code and it is not hard to adhere too. But there have been loads of over reaction from people vowing never to go with NNNN Cruise again. P&O are one of the NNNN companies and have said that they will enforce a certain level of dressing on the ship.  I am all for that. Cue comments? And that's about it. https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=8202

After a few days of looking and exchanging emails with a travel agent we have booked.  But not with her.   The Cunard cruise on Queen Victoria sails from Southampton on August 3rd. A Friday.  A further examination revealed very few Norway sailings for August.  But P&O have one on the 4th.  Much better. Both are for seven days with slightly different ports in Norway.  We have been to Stavanger and Bergen before but didn't have much time to look about. Hopefully, in Bergen we'll dock in the city port,  Bergen Havn,   rather than way out in the industrial point and lose time waiting for coaches into the centre.

Hardly a Shakespearean conundrum but one for us.  Further enthused (read jealousy on my behalf) by my brother. Neill, and his mate Patrick being there as I write on their Scandinavian Tour, Claire suggested another cruise. She has wanted to go on another one and although I was a little hesitant before, I really enjoyed the Fjord Cruise with Saga. So we started the Google hunt. Where else? When we were in Stavanger in 2013 we were joined by the behemoth that was Cunard's Queen Elizabeth. A ship that dwarfed the smaller more intimate Saga vessel.   With the Council changing our employment rights so that we have to take the majority of our holidays in school holidays, and meaning that we now get lumbered with higher holiday prices from hotels to transport, the search parameters were more restrictive. We have found a cruise to Norway in August 2018 . It's aboard the QE sister ship Queen Victoria. Another floating city hotel. Let's see where this takes us!