 |
Round Britain for Xmas - December 22nd 2016 - January 2nd 2017 |
Round Britain for Xmas by Fred Olsen
Off for a cruise on this lovely Fred Olsen ship. The MV Black Watch, photoed at Leith.
|
|
There are half-hourly trains from London Fenchurch Street to Tilbury Town. Grab a taxi from there but we had not got off the ship after a Christmas Markets Cruise on this link. The trip took us from Tilbury to Portsmouth & back to Tilbury. This was not what was supposed to happen. The original route in the brochure went via Falmouth, Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast, Kirkwall & Edinburgh. The second was to Falmouth, Cobh, Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh. The third was to Portsmouth, Plymouth, Cobh, Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh. The fourth was Portsmouth, Plymouth, Newcastle, Dundee & Edinburgh. The fifth changed two days in Dundee to one day & three nights in Leith. There were thus four revisions before the final route, the last two after we had set sail because storms in the Irish Sea made it impassible. |
This map shows Route Version Three, which did not happen The original route may have looked a bit dodgy in December but one would have expected a company of Freds experience to know what was practical & what was not. |
Gravesend from Tibury on a really nice day
Thursday 22nd December - Staying on
We did not get off the ship after the previous cruise. As the passengers leave, the ship becomes Very Quiet. A few turns round the deck. I had to go into the terminal to get wi-fi but did download Legacy Java I had forgotten before we left. (This allowed me to create this & the previous web site). I found the TV engineers still in our cabin! I finished the last cruise diary editing while Travel Agents prowled the ship. I made friends with some newcomers while Avis crashed out for the afternoon. We have a new driver, now. I attended lifeboat drill on my own. The show was Composers again & a lot slicker than before.
Tilbury Terminal |
Cake Village on the "Black Watch" |
The Gravesend Ferry |