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Xmas Cruise 2013 - December 23rd 2013 - January 2nd 2014 |
Xmas Cruise 2013 by Fred Olsen
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Off for a cruise on this lovely Fred Olsen ship. The MV Boudicca, photoed at Copenhagen The trip took us from Southampton to & back to Southampton |
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There are two trains per hour from Waterloo to Southampton Central, where Fred's coach picks us up & takes us to the ship. Parking in very expensive in Southampton. Monday 23rd December - Boarding The taxi arrived early, no problem, & drove like Sterling Moss to Waterloo. Consequently, we were just in time for the earlier train. Too soon for the shuttle & too rainy to walk, we took another taxi (£24 altogether) to the terminal, where we had to wait a little while for check-in to open but this did mean we had low cards for getting on the ship. This only happened at 1350, though. Elliott Taylor is the Cruise Director & automatically assumed I was on the entertainment crew. I told him, no we were cargo but I would help out if necessary. |
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Our luggage was not in the cabin at once, so we went for tea & something to eat, as although we had our free gold members coffee in the terminal, we were not eating their horrid sandwiches. Two couples soon came up to ask if I was doing talks & I found more ‘fan club’ later. Then, we unpacked & read for a bit. After we left port with two tugs (!) we went up to the Lido Lounge but the sea was so rough, we soon retreated to the main lounge & read & chatted until the Port Talk at 1945, a bit too late, as she did both Zeebrugge (the shuttle, for which I had already collected tickets, going to Blankenberge Station) & Copenhagen, so we slipped out at just after dinner time. It was so rough that Elliott helped Avis out & at dinner, the water glasses & potted plant went over twice. I don’t think we had experienced that much hassle except on the Braemar Atlantic Storm in April 2012. The next table’s water came our way, too & two people there were evacuated to another table. Our two companions did not turn up, so we might as well have eaten in the Secret Garden. Duck & Rhum Babas. Straight to bed after, as we go on Mainland Europe Time tonight. |
Us on Xmas Day (3rd day) |