Round Britain for Xmas - December 22nd 2016 - January 2nd 2017

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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
Plymouth (& Xmas Day at sea)
Newcastle
Dundee
Edinburgh

& 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


Port 1 - Portsmouth

Port 2 - Plymouth

Port 3 - Newcastle

Port 4 - Dundee

Port 5 - Edinburgh


Next Page - Portsmouth

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Contact: Ken Baldry at 17 Gerrard Road, Islington, London N1 8AY +44(0)20 7359 6294 or e-mail him
URL: http://www.art-science.com/Tourism/Cruises/RB2016/index.html Last revised 4/1/2017 ©2017 Ken Baldry. All rights reserved.