Day 2 - to Southampton
The coach journey to Southampton took 2 1/4 hours, although half a hour of that was calling in at Terminals 4 & 5. Funny how the weather changed 4 or 5 times during the trip, with showers, then fine, showers and eventually fine when we reached Southampton just after midday. A £5 taxi ride to the Ibis and we were all checked in and in our room by 12.30, which was really good as check-in was not offically until 2.00. First thing was a shower and then despite my initial misgivings, a snooze (until 5.30).
We decided that we needed some fresh air, so went for a walk to/through the new shopping centre(s) not far away. I admit that I was not excited by the food offerings at that time so we returned to the hotel about 7.00. Had a pizza & dessert, which were more than adequate and enjoyable and once again retired.
Day 3 - E Day
What a difference a good night's sleep makes. We woke just after 6.00, feeling pretty well 100%. As I was making the early cup of tea, there she came up the river to her berth at the Mayflower Terminal. Looked great as she sailed by (& out of sight). Breakfast at the hotel was once again very good. We were going to wait until midday to check out, but thought that as they'd been so good in letting us in early, we'd vacate the room before we walked back to town.
To cut a long story short, probably a mistake of mine saw us back in the shopping centre, where we checked out the wine at M&S, but then moved to John Lewis', where Vivian found a new handbag - well I suppose at least it is off the shopping list now. We bought 2 bottles of red wine for £12, which while not overly cheap, better than USD 50 each (plus 15% gratuity) onboard. The coffee at Costa, was disappointing, but not worth complaining about. What we have found however is that the "old" paper £'s are no longer accepted. Our taxi driver yesterday told us & the chap at Costa confirmed it. New notes were introduced a month or so ago and the old ones are not wanted - I commented that it makes UK look a bit like a banana republic.
Anyway we returned to the hotel and sat around for a little while until calling a taxi just after 1.00. Another £5 ride to the ship, where we were surprised at the lack of passengers. No queues, just walked straight up to the check-in counter, 2 minutes max and straight onto the ship. Very impressed. Our stateroom is in a similar position to our usual Princess one, so had no trouble in finding it. Interestingly, our Cabin Steward told us that the balcony furniture was brand new, having been delivered this morning.
Obligatory safety briefing at 4.00. This time, not only did they scan us in, but the cabin stewards had to physically check to ensure no-one was hiding out! We set sail about 4.45, and this was quite a feat in my books. The ship was birthed facing up the river and we sailed a bit further up to the container & scrap metal berths and then did a 180 degree in a pretty narrow bit of water. What surprised us was that there were no tugboats involved. I can not recall any other ports where we have not had tugs to assist. Our Captain is Danish and a woman probably in her late 40s. A lot of the other staff are also female, including our Entertainment Manager (seem to have done away with Cruise Directors these days).
The sail out gave us a good view of the countryside until it was time for dinner. We are on early sitting at 6.00, as 8.30 is just too late for us. After dinner we met up with our Cruise Critic group who we are doing St Petersburg with. This culminated in a Trivia session, as they are avid trivia fans. In fact one couple do about 6 lots of trivia a day! The show as the usual singers & dancers, followed by the 4 Seasons tribute - which we have also seen before.
Day 4 - A sea day
A pleasant day started with the Church service conducted by the Captain followed by a walk around the Promenade - unfortunately 3 times around is only .9 mile, so we did an extra half lap. After coffee, time for lunch (got to fill up following the exercise) and then Vivian has bridge - Don, from our CC group is a keen player and fortunately Cunard gave a bridge director on board, so with 5 sea days there should be plenty to keep Vivian occupied and time for me to update this blog.
Did not have time for formal Afternoon Tea, so ordered room service Green Tea and cake. The sea is very smooth and we can see a few oil rigs in the distance. We sat outside and enjoyed the late afternoon, finishing off the free bubbly given to us by the ship. Tonight is the first of a number of formal night's, so at least I didn't have to think about what to wear. The food tonight was decidedly average. We missed the comedian and had an early night, as tomorrow is Hamburg.
Photos:
Queen Elizabeth arriving
Snails invading Southampton wall
Sailaway!
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