The Royal Princess - Part 1 - 'Up Top'

As promised, some pics of the Royal Princess, starting with several from the upper decks.

The first is part of the outdoor eating area, at the rear of the ship, running from the Horizon Court buffet.  

Most others are self-explanatory and had it been warmer, we might well have spent more time outside.  We took several on day 1, just as it started to get cloudy and damp.

In addition to the golf area, there is also an area for bowls - and there were woods up there.

The jogging track is quite clearly marked as running anti-clockwise.  I state this, as on the Sea Princess, there was some debate about the correct direction, as there are no markings, so it was left undecided.  All around the jogging track are outdoor gym machines.

There is no doubt whatever that being modern and large, the recreational areas are way better than on the smaller Sun class ships.  There is also some form of electronic target shooting booth up there, but I think that is locked unless staffed, so I never saw inside.  There are 4 table tennis tables and unlike the Sea Princess, at least there were footballs up there to kick around and even badminton racquets and shuttles.  

There is a retreat pool area (no kids allowed) not to be confused with the paid ‘Sanctuary’ which adjoins it.
 

The feature ‘skywalk’ is an attractive gimmick and certainly adds to the shape of the ship and  the final pic at dusk is one of Paula’s, taken from our own balcony.

 

Day 82 - Santa Monica and away....

 

It was a bit of a struggle staying in bed until about 8am, having had snatches of sleep earlier and the time change.  We thought we may as well try the Huntley’s in house Penthouse restaurant, though having seen the room service menu we knew it wouldn’t be cheap.  However, it turned out to be the most expensive breakfast we have ever had and a long, long way from being the best.

Last year, we had an excellent eggs Benedict and a glass of orange juice at a Wetherspoons in Nottingham, where the ham was off the bone, £3.99 and the juice probably no more than £1 for a large glass, so let’s say £5 or $10NZD, so $20NZD for 2 of us.

So this was the Huntley experience.  I had the eggs Benedict – which came with very mediocre fried potatoes, on small Canadian bacon rounds and Paula had poached eggs and bacon, also with potatoes, two slices of toast with jams and we both had orange juice.

This is the summary of our bill:

Two eggs (with bacon)               15.00

Benedict                                   17.00

2 x Juice                                  14.00

15% Gratuity                              6.90

Tax                                           4.37

Total:                     $57.27USD    (£36.76  or  $87.44NZ)

Unbelievable.  No coffee, no offered extras – and the glass of juice wasn’t very large either.  Service was mediocre at best - and they even had the nerve to print out an option for a tip.

Bubba Gumps down the road would have been cheaper - and that is a place we believe is quite expensive.

We had the day to kill but before we went out, I went to the Concierge and asked him to book the Super Shuttle pick up for us.  The telephone number on our voucher appeared to be National Head Office and no-one was answering.  Luckily, Norton, the excellent Concierge, knew the local number and rang them and eventually managed to sort out a pick up for 6:30pm as requested.  I got the impression that he was none too keen on Super Shuttle either.  He confirmed that they used to be OK but seemed to have got too big.   Quite why the rep at the airport couldn’t do that booking, as she certainly wasn’t overworked, we’ll never know, but she couldn’t.

With that out of the way,  we went for a walk, but it was only about 10am and not exactly warm.  The Huntley Hotel is on 2^nd Street and the real centre of Santa Monica is 3^rd Street, so one block back and we were ideally situated, as it was the end (or beginning) of the pedestrianised section.

We may have been  little too early for the street entertainers, but the street was scrubbed clean and it was a pleasant amble to the other end – which lines up with the pier.  Since we were last here, the shopping centre has been totally rebuilt with the food hall now up on the 3^rd floor level, with a massive and attractive outdoor seating area.  So new in fact, that some places haven’t yet opened.

We walked back to 1^st street , at the top of the cliff and just sat and relaxed, watching a grey squirrel running up and down the fence, but alas, I didn’t have the camera with me.   Although there is a HoHo bus, we elected to skip it this time, as Paula had had enough walking, so we went back to the hotel and grabbed a yoghurt each, a tea and a coffee from the ground floor coffee shop.

Paula lay down for a rest (still a long way from being back to full strength) whilst I tried to catch up with the blog.  Having done that, I opted for a walk.  I retraced our steps from the morning walk, calling in at the Tesla showroom to take some pics.  It was pleasantly warm and with loads of people around on the pier and the beach.  I walked down to the famous pier and popped into the well-known carousel but fancying a drink, found I’d left my wallet at the hotel!

A change into long trousers for the journey and a slight reshuffle of the packing, then relaxation time again before getting ready for the 6:30 pickup.

At 6:15pm, the telephone rang.  The concierge telling us that the shuttle was already there!  We piled into the lift, dropped the room tags back at reception and straight out the door.

He was early for us and also for the next pick up, as we had a slow run to Marina Del Ray with a couple of detours.  Good job we were early anyway, for a 9:45pm flight.

To the Tom Bradley terminal and as at Heathrow, an easy check in, but no weighing or tagging of our hand luggage.  When we tried to go through initial security, we realised we only had one boarding pass, so I went back to the desk…

We were NZ1 again and spare a thought for NZ5.  Delayed until 8:30am tomorrow…

Through initial security OK (just showing the boarding pass) then the short priority queue for the scanning of hand luggage and body.  No problems here and pleasant staff - though Paula’s knee needed a friendly pat down!

Once again, straight to the Star Alliance lounge.  Nice food – but NO CIDER!   A very pleasant area, also with a balcony overlooking the main hall.  Certainly a lot better than the previous terminal, which we hated.

At least leaving was better than arriving.  All on board OK, then a 70 minute delay, as there were cargo issues, probably something to do with NZ5 and maybe shifting people over and also having to shift their luggage.

This time, rows 10 & 11K, so on the right side of the aircraft.

With  a longer flight than from London, as soon as the seat belt light was out, there was a rush to convert the seats into lie flat beds and some settled down straightaway to sleep.

I had to stay awake for the meal – and cider, but didn’t wait for dessert, cheese and biscuits or even coffee.  Although it was fairly early, I knew I wouldn’t sleep too much and I wasn’t wrong.  I was fully awake after a short nap - at 10:20pm NZ time.  Although I tried to sleep, even though I was comfortable, as before, it was far from quiet.

Tuesday August 11^th - home again!

The pilot and crew did a great job and we landed at Auckland at just after 6am, only about 20 minutes after the original schedule.  Once again, we managed to be first off, straight through immigration (no queue); luggage OK and a very quick MAF scan and straight to our own Super Shuttle.  We walked straight in and with one other passenger already on, we set off straightaway.  Brilliant!

It was cold, but bright and crisp and a good run home avoiding the building rush hour traffic.

The usual turning up of gas hot water heating; turning on the water; power etc. and then to the Freelander, which fired up straightaway.

From then on, it was life very much back to normal, which really means, the end of this part of the travel blog.  We will catch up with Teri & Alex in Auckland when the Sea Princess calls, August 31^st, so there might be another post. 

Still to do of course is a piece on the Royal Princess, or our impressions anyway, and a summary of sorts, before we head off again end September for a short break at Broadbeach, south of Brisbane, where no doubt we’ll catch up with one or two past cruisers.

We can even start looking at the 2016 travel plans! 

Day 81 - Oh the joys of travel...

Awake before the alarm, a quick shave then loaded the car, careful to put the bathroom supplies into a clear plastic bag to show at the airport.  Just a slice of toast and a glass of juice before our sad farewells and real thanks to our hosts, leaving at 9am.  The car was due to be returned at Heathrow 1pm and according to the Tom-Tom, we’d be there 11:23am.  With one planned stop, let’s just say that would be 12 noon.

Setting off was a real breeze, as at long last, the widened A453 link from Clifton, on the southern outskirts of the city, to the M1 motorway is fully open. A great run.

Even the 21 miles of 50mph/80kph restrictions were no problem and we made it to Toddington Services for a last Costa’s coffee and a toasted sandwich.  Back onto the M1 and turned as usual, eastbound, or anti-clockwise, onto the notorious M25.  London’s infamous orbital motorway.  Often described as the largest car park in the country, another huge holiday travel weekend, the inevitable snarl ups across all 4 lanes, but thankfully, no major accidents or incidents - at our end anyway.  A loose horse was causing chaos elsewhere though.

We eventually rolled into the Enterprise car park at 12:55pm – just about perfect, but that merely shows we lost an hour.  Getting rid   of the car was extremely quick and by the time they’d checked over the car (thanks Hannah!), the luggage was already on the shuttle and we were off to Terminal 2 – for the Air NZ flight NZ1 to LA.

Terminal 2 has been totally rebuilt and I have to say they seem to have made a great job of it.  Most of us are never too impressed with airports but once we’d found the ANZ Premium check in (no queue), processing was very quick.  Our two major cases weighed 24kg and 26kg respectively, but that didn’t cause a problem. (The ANZ limit is 23kg but we only had 3 to check in, although we were allowed 4 cases.)  They issued tags for our hand luggage (two wheelie bags and a knapsack with the computer) and the advice was that we could use any of the 3 ‘B’ lounges, but they suggested B2, Singapore Airlines.

Immigration was no problem and we didn’t need to take off our shoes for scanning – then my knapsack got sent down the ‘reject line’!  I thought it might have been because I’d removed the laptop battery and left it loose, but it wasn’t that at all.

We laughed when we found out what it was.  My shaving brush – because it looked like a bottle in the scanner…  The official was as amused as we were, so in LA, the shaving brush will go in the clear bag with the toothpaste.

We were warned it was about a 15 minute trip to the lounge, but we would be closer to the gate.  We seemed to go upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs and finally upstairs again, where we had the choice of B3 – Air Canada, B2 Singapore and sorry, I can’t remember was B1 was.  Probably Lufthansa.  We didn’t go to the general waiting area as we had no wish to shop anyway, but from what we saw, the best choices are of course in the initial main area before you head off for the departure gates.  Heathrow is large, and this is just one of five terminals.

 Good choice. On offer with the hot food, was a very tasty red chicken curry, mushroom stroganoff, chicken (in white wine, cream and fennel - I think), plus rice and for the plebs, chips.   The usual array of cold stuff too. I was very good and just had a blueberry rehydration drink, though a Magner’s cider was very tempting.

Paula tried to doze again.

The Air NZ rep came around to tell us ten minutes before boarding and we walked straight on.

I hadn’t looked too carefully at the tickets and I sat in the wrong seat!  We were 6 & 7A, which sounds odd, but the layout was fine. Paula is sitting in 6A and my seat is to her left. (Pic)

This is the first time we’d tried Business Class and although expensive, when suffering from back problems earlier in the year, Paula had expressed some doubt as to being able to survive sitting upright.  The ANZ system is just brilliant and we didn’t regret the choice.  Great service from the crew, as always with ANZ, really good food.  At long last, they even have Isaacs cider on board, so that went very well with my beef short ribs (boneless of course), spiced pumpkin, courgettes, nice potatoes and horseradish.  

BUT, the noise!  For regular cruisers on the Dawn/Sea/Sun, most will have walked the promenade deck 7 on many occasions.  When crossing the rear of the ship, the noise from the water and possibly some mechanical noise is pretty loud and conversation almost impossible.  Remarkably, it was about as noisy as that, yet we were ahead of the engines.

The seat folds forwards into a long, flat bed and although a duvet and topper pad is supplied, I elected to just lie, propped on pillows with a blanket, but sleep wasn’t easy, though relaxing was.  It coped easily with someone of my height and is apparently 6ft 5" long.  Almost 2m.

Spare a thought for those who came straight from Terminal 5, British Airways, as they had another system failure, so those who were transferring, would have done so OK, but their luggage was stuck at Terminal 5…

Disembarkation in LA from the aircraft, we were first off.  Now then, US Immigration systems at Tom Bradley terminal.

•  First, there is a long row of electronic ticket booths for those who have travelled to the US after 2008 on their current passport.
• That was both of us.
• Present passport to the machine and follow the on screen instructions.
• This includes the fingerprint scan – though a helpful official sorted me out here as it wasn’t reading initially.
• Once through that, the machine takes your photograph and prints out a voucher with your pic on it.
• Then Paula’s turn as part of our ‘family’.
• All OK, but no request for fingerprints - or photograph!
• We were then directed to ‘the troublemakers queue’…
• After three families in front of us, the Immigration official was very friendly and chatty and retook Paula’s prints and waved us on our way.
• All luggage safely off the carousel (trolleys are now free), then a queue to actually exit, where we handed over the immigration declaration form and the pic.
• Walk out and up the ramp and follow the signs to taxi vans, but no idea where the Super Shuttle stand was.
• Outside at 8:30pm, so 45 minutes from due arrival time.  We had to ask where the Super Shuttle stand was and were directed to the right place, (turn left outside and keep walking, almost to the previous terminal) but it was now quite cool.

Although pre-booked, we had to wait over 30 minutes for the Super Shuttle to arrive, by which time, Paula was once again vowing never to come to LA ever again…  She was cold, tired and queasy.  There was no shelter and we had to sit on a grubby kerb.

The van eventually arrived, with one passenger already on board, then we stopped twice more and set off for Santa Monica, but one of the airport pickups, an American lady, never stopped gabbing the whole way…  Thankfully, she was first off.  One other passenger was a kiwi girl from Ponsonby who was at college locally.

This was then getting on a bit and the Saturday night traffic was extremely busy.  We got to the Huntley Hotel, 2^nd Avenue at 10pm.  A real traffic crawl in Santa Monica.  Easy, friendly check in, but the lobby was crowded with people queuing, apparently to get to the 18^th floor, Penthouse which is a restaurant come nightclub.  There were two bouncers on the lift entrance but at least we didn’t have to queue for the lift.  Porter Joseph brought our luggage within seconds.

Room 308.  Massive!  Expensive.  Clean. BUT, no hot drink facility, which is pretty poor for that price.  We didn’t fancy room service at $5 a cuppa either, so we turned in – but there was considerable intermittent noise, which didn’t help, though we weren’t sure where that was coming from.

We crashed out at 10:30pm local time, which I think, equated to 6:30am UK time.  Hopefully, that is the final hurdle now overcome, with just the relaxing day in Santa Monica and a return trip to the airport to cope with, before at last, we are HOME, well, the small matter of another long flight of course - and a 12 degree high in Auckland, oh, and a shuttle trip in Auckland where the traffic will be building!   Having now sampled business class, at least we know that we will have the chance to lie down, but as our flight date was changed, our seat location has also changed, so it will be interesting to see if it is any quieter.  We will be further back, in section 2.

Who cares?  It has been a long trip and Paula is totally exhausted, which is not the idea of a long holiday and certainly not helped by the bug.  The time to get through LA however, just makes Singapore a more attractive stopover, as the last two or three times, we have been at the hotel within about 30 minutes of landing.  That is certainly now a major consideration for any future travel plans to the UK/Europe.  It is also much cheaper, as an LA stopover seems to have rocketed in recent times.  We don’t even get a reduction for checking out early either, even though they had several day’s notice.

Day 80 - A final day in Nottinghamshire and a walk over a disused pit.

The household was getting back to normal.  Phew!  Paula and I nipped out briefly to Morrisons for last minute bits and pieces and I had the worst coffee for ages.  The eggs Benedict sauce had split too, so not the most successful foray - and unusual for Morrisons.

Dave was definitely feeling a lot better so we piled into his new vehicle and down to a recently opened country park.

Mum came from a small mining village (Lambley) and all her male relatives would have worked down the pit at some stage, so Gedling Colliery is indelibly etched into our family history and also our own memories, as the coal trucks would rumble past our house night and day (or it seemed like it) and coal was a major resource of the area.  Gedling colliery opened in 1899 and closed 100 years later.  There were years when it was the first pit in the whole of the UK to mine 1,000,000 tons of coal.  The slag heaps we could see from the surrounding roads are no longer and the whole area has been turned into Gedling Country Park, with couple of small lakes, several walking and bike tracks and a great view across the Trent plains.  As a country park, there are thistles galore and a very natural looking area, plus other areas where trees have been planted.  Opened just 8 weeks ago, this has added a very nice facility to the region and is a great example of extracting the underground resources then returning the land to a more natural state.  A fair bit of the region’s wealth was based on coal as it was one of several large industries, employing 1,000’s of people.  NZ anti-mining greenies take note.

Dave used the delay on his camera and sprinted back to give us a memorable pic of the four of us – and one of Dave sprinting.  Paula was feeling a bit woozy and tired again (it is still less than a week since she was bowled over), so we didn’t stay too long and Paula returned home to resume a prone position for a couple of hours.

I picked up a couple more small items from Lidl then to Stewart, Manu and Noah for a final farewell – almost.  Noah was in fancy dress mode - and the less said about his choice of costume, the better.

Back home for a final home cooked meal instead of going out as planned.  Probably the only sensible decision.  Dave ate a normal meal and Paula a tiny one.  Poor Sue has had to work harder than usual this time, as traditionally, we’ll go out a few times for meals, either lunch or dinner.  Pity we haven’t ever managed to persuade them to visit NZ, when we could at least return the hospitality.

Stewart called about 9pm with an envelope he wanted posting in the USA, trying to add to his ‘famous people’s autographs’ collection.  He also gave me some pics of Noah’s party, which I may post later.

Bed 11pm and all ready now for the next leg.

Not the best of weeks overall, but it could have been so much worse.  The saddest part was not being able to catch up with friends in Cambs, Sussex, Norfolk or even East Leake.  My planned visit to the Heritage Museum at Gaydon had to be cancelled, so for the first time as far as I can remember, no ‘car stuff’.  At this stage, we are not sure when we’ll be back and I’m sure that Paula probably dreads the day when I decide I want to return to the UK.

 

Days 78 & 79 A subdued time - except for those at Trent Bridge

Wednesday

Brother Dave spent most of the day in bed, fortunately without further adverse effects or redistributing his innards, whilst Paula managed the occasional sleep and I was almost back to normal.  Almost.

A walk to pick up the daily papers and more Lucozade was the highlight of the early morning followed by Paula and I heading out to Brookfields garden centre again. It really is a fascinating shop area and we never cease to be amazed at the sheer diversity of products.  We could so easily have bought all sorts of quirky stuff but luggage limitations are still key, as we think we’ll manage without an extra case or bag.   I haven’t bought the usual pile of books or models this time, so our extras are mainly a two or three tops each, shoes, Everton mints and the MGB rear axle differential kit - weighing 6kg. 

After managing a pot of tea and small slice of pizza each (coffee was still not allowed until my system was back to normal), we resisted the urge to buy a couple of floppy eared bunnies from the pet shop area, but it was a close thing that Poppy, the house cat, didn’t have some company.

The days tended to blur into each other as they centred around the same thing each day, namely doing very little indeed, resting, sleeping, reading, codewords and blogging.  

You have all heard of the 5-2 fasting diet – 5 days normal eating and 2 on low calories?  I think we are doing the 2-5 system at the moment.  Has the fat belly gone?  No!!!  I may well need more strenuous exercise, not just cutting down on food, whether by accident or design.  I suppose that will happen naturally when we get home, which we are both now looking forward to.

I called on Stewart after dinner (small portion of chicken pasta for me) just as he’d put Noah to bed.  I stayed for one bed-time story then went downstairs until Stewart returned.  At least Noah didn’t follow him down 15 minutes later, which was Stewart’s trick as a 3 year old, managing to get past his security gate…

 

Thursday August 6^th

As yesterday, a walk for the paper, with Paula this time, and later, up to Costa for a snack and an overdue coffee.  Dave getting better all the time and thankfully, Sue has stayed up and healthy.  Let’s hope that continues.  Apparently there is a bit of sickness in the street, so it may not have been us after all.  That made us feel a bit better with a bit less guilt, but not a lot.

I went up to see Stewart (Paula sleeping!) and took him his present from Scotland.  A genuine Royal Stewart wool tie.  (We didn’t get him the kilt, but that was tempting.)   Noah was of course itching to know what I’d brought him, so he now has his own radio control Mini. 

Afterwards, we three went down to see my ex sister-in-law where Noah made himself at home and Jackie made him a sandwich.  Judging by his reaction, now another favourite person to visit.  Easy to charm a Green.  Just offer food.

Dave and Paula managed a poached egg each, whilst Sue and I feasted on crumbed fish (Basa), new potatoes and peas - my first proper full meal for a few days.  Delicious.  First time I have tried that fish.

The sad news of the day was the passing of actor George Cole – ‘Arfur’ Daley.

The big good news was of course local cricketer Stuart Broad (who made himself very unpopular in Australia by not walking, when out) who demolished the Australians with 8 wickets for just 15 runs.  (Kiwis still remind the Aussies of the underarm bowling incident a few years back, to prevent the Kiwis scoring a 6 off the last ball…)  Australia all out for just 60 runs was huge news and broke many records, particularly for Trent Bridge, which hosted cricket as early as the 1830’s but its first ever test, against the Australians, back in 1899.

Broad made himself a local hero and the national press are extremely positive and full of praise about Trent Bridge and also Nottingham itself.  Nice for me to read and made a welcome positive end to the three days. 

 

This was the last post actually published before we returned to NZ, though we still had a last day in Nottingham, the flight to LA, LA and the trip home.

 

I promise I will also publish a summary and some pics of the Royal Princess and a comparison between that massive, all modern ship, and the older, smaller Sun Class ships – pre refit.

 

Day 75 - 77 3-2-1 and, sleep!

I’m not sure if hypnotist David Knight would have managed any better, but that was the order of the day for Paula - again.  Sorry in advance, but you may want to skip this post as I doubt you’ll be entertained or informed, but all I can do is relate the happenings.

She managed a toast and cuppa breakfast before we checked out and headed to Dave and Sue.  Nice to see his new vehicle had arrived a bit early.

We hadn’t been there long before Paula headed for a lie down.

The rest of us went to Noah’s 5^th birthday party – a pirate theme, so he had a pencilled moustache and eye patch on and later, green hair colour, though where that fits I am not too sure.  (Pics to follow, as my camera seems incapable of focussing, which is annoying.)  Several kids of course and plenty of adults.  I didn’t take his ‘big’ present as we thought it would be better outside and away from home.  The sad news is that apparently my ex-wife’s hubby is terminally ill, which is a real shame as he is a really nice chap.

We left about 5:45 and on the way home, we learned of the passing of Cilla Black, just a few days after we’d passed the Cavern Club in Liverpool. 

We were expecting to meet a couple of cruisers from last year’s Baltic Cruise, Sheila and Tony, but Paula wasn’t in a state to go, so I went on my own.

Nice to catch up with them.  Afterwards, I stayed for a bite to eat  and possibly made the wrong choice (no doubt you can guess what that was) and the coffee at home probably didn’t help either.

I’m sure you can guess what came next.  

 

Monday August 3^rd

At 5:15am it was my turn for the bathroom, but thankfully without the vomiting, just the usual and the hot sweats.

A bland day with more sleeping and no eating, though Sue brought me some medication for rehydration in sachet form, which seemed to help, so I felt much better.

Although feeling better  I shouldn’t have had the late coffee.

More Imodium.  Paula a lot better but still tired and quite weak.

 

Tuesday August 4^th

Well, not a very bright and happy birthday really for Paula.  We’d cancelled our travel plans for the day and perhaps as well.

We went out late morning to the garden centre for fresh air as much as anything, but as coffee was off for me, we had a pot of tea, but Paula was still feeling a bit woozy.  On the way back, into the chemist for new supplies of Imodium and Kwell’s for travel/motion sickness, and a couple of bottles of Lucozade.   I did a bit of Googling regarding Noro Virus and it seems that although the major symptoms may last a couple of days, it can take up to a couple of weeks to get back to 100%.  Deep joy.  With that bombshell, we decided to try and get an earlier flight from LA back to Auckland, so an email to our travel agent, Rachel.  We have told her that we’ll be happy with just one night instead of three, to get home earlier, so fingers crossed.   

After dropping Paula back home, time to try and get Stewart’s Ford Ka started, as he wants to sell it.  It isn’t worth much (rust around the fuel filler cap) so not worth spending much on it.  The battery was suspect, but we didn’t have the tools to remove it!  It needed a long socket and an extension, neither of which was in Stewart’s toolkit, so we jump started it and drove to get a new battery - and to get it fitted.  Easy enough.

Back home and Paula had surfaced and was looking a lot better.

The other advice from the internet was to eat as normally as possible, so we opted to eat an evening meal in, instead of our original plan of going out to celebrate.  We both managed the pasta dish, though with smaller portions than normal.

A lie down for me for a while, though I was feeling a lot better.

Then, late evening, brother Dave got infected…  I don’t think we’ll be invited back again, as we have been terrible company this time, well, the second week anyway, and no amount of Whittaker’s chocolate is going to compensate our wonderful hosts for this latest turn of events.

In fact, we are even beginning to question whether or not we’ll do the 75 day cruise next year, as this extended time away does have some disadvantages, not the least is the health and tiredness aspect towards the end, but now is not the best time to be making those sort of decisions.  Feeling off colour has been bad enough, but feeling guilty is even worse.

The positive part of next year is knowing many of our favourite cruising mates are with us, albeit one or two jumping ship in San Francisco.

Not a very exciting blog folks, sorry, but I suppose that cruisers may need to know the potential effects of this all too common virus, which can affect almost anyone anywhere, even if maintaining good hygiene practices, on or off a cruise ship.

As the Dr. on board said, it is not just from touching infected surfaces either, but it can also be airborne, so the chances of avoiding it can be very slim indeed.  All I can do at the moment is apologise to the household and hope that Sue doesn’t get it too, nor son Stewart’s household.

With a bit of luck, the next post on this blog will be a bit more cheerful and I hope to get hold of some pics of the birthday bash to brighten it up.  Thanks for the emails and Facebook comments for those who enjoy the read and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Oh, I managed a haircut today and even Noah noticed.  Pretty good value at the equivalent of $12NZD.   

 

Day 74 - The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men. Gang aft agley. An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain.

Well, not quite as bad as that, but bad enough thanks Robbie.

Paula went to bed feeling just a little bit off colour, but at 12:50am, she made a sudden dash to the bathroom.  Yes, that dreaded noro virus had hit – and hard, very hard.  No point in going into the gory details but some time later she needed me to ring for the Doc.  I rang the 911 number and was told the medical centre would ring back.  They  didn’t, meanwhile I was very worried as Paula really was so ill.  I rang again and this time, I managed to speak to a Doctor.  He advised that as we had with us (fortunately in hand luggage as the main suitcase had gone) Imodium, that she should take two and also asked if we had any sea sickness pills, (we had, Avomine) to take one, but if no improvement in an hour, to ring back…

In an hour, there was no improvement so I rang back.  William came about 3am and gave Paula an injection in the shoulder.  Afterwards, she was still in the bathroom and let’s just say that the layout of the bathroom is conveniently small, so the clean-up hit  squad weren’t required.  Still feeling very weak and dizzy, I managed to get her to bed and I stayed up for another hour whilst she slept, just in case.  I managed to complete 4 tough Codeword puzzles…

Fortunately, the injection seemed to work OK and we’d been told by the Doc that as we’d notified them of the problem, it would affect our disembarkation (planned for 8:30am) and the front desk would call us for an ‘isolated disembarkation’, or words to that effect.  I wasn’t confined to the cabin but obviously Paula was.

So at 8am, I fetched a mug of water and lemon (each!) and Paula reluctantly got up and dressed.  About 8:45, I rang the front desk and they said we could head for Alfredo’s on deck 6 and we’d be disembarked at 9:30am.

For those in a similar situation in the future (and I hope you are not!) we stayed there until after one guy was despatched in a wheelchair.  He normally walked with a stick, but he probably made a good call.  We then were led out the short way from deck five (everyone else was going off at a higher level) and she stopped us in baggage claim and we had to wait whilst she fetched our single suitcase.  She then bid us farewell and we joined the crush to get out of the terminal building.

Fortunately, the queue for the taxi was non-existent so we hopped straight in and although it isn’t a long trip, it is too far to walk to the Enterprise depot, which is just outside dock gate 8.  Pity we didn’t berth at City Dock as it was only a 100m walk.  A six pound taxi fare.

I then patiently joined a queue of about 5 others whilst Paula sat outside.  Processing was slow, not helped by one couple who had booked an automatic, but they only had a manual, which they couldn’t drive, then a justifiably irate American family (of 4) who walked back in, saying they had booked a people mover and they couldn’t get their 10 suitcases into the vehicle.  This just slowed our processing even more then just as he was starting on my documentation, 4 Brummies walked in and were plying the overworked guy with a series of questions regarding a Transit van.  I politely asked them to just hang on whilst he finished my stuff as we’d been waiting a fair while.  They reluctantly backed off and as he was doing my documentation, a customer returned a Vauxhall Astra 2 litre diesel – which we accepted, as he was more than happy with it. 

So, we piled in and the boot was much smaller than the previous Octavia, but not a problem.

Paula was still hanging on, but very, very tired and we’d already decided it would be foolhardy to stay with brother Dave and Sue in Nottingham, as we didn’t want them infected.

Our plan was to head north anyway and if at any time, Paula wanted us to stop, we would.

August 1^st has to be one of the busiest days on the road in the UK because of the holiday traffic in all directions, so progress at times was much slower than normal.  I think we lost almost an hour overall.

Paula slept most of the way to the halfway point, by which time I certainly needed sustenance, so we stopped as usual at the Cherwill Services just off the M40/A43.  The first person I saw walking out was the wheelchair guy, though not fast enough to acknowledge him!

Paula managed a tea and I a coffee and a panini and we resumed.  Paula slept all the way again and we pulled into a Premier Inn, on the outskirts of Nottingham (A610).  Fortunately they had a room and once again,  Paula hit the sack – and there she stayed, with just another cuppa to keep her going.

I sneaked out for a chilli in the Beefeater Restaurant next door and they must have broken the record for service.   My drink and meal were on the table in less than 5 minutes!

An early bed then but a bit of television before crashing out.

So, the cruise didn’t exactly end on a positive note, but all things considered, at least it didn’t affect the cruise itself.  We were just so relieved that we weren’t heading for a flight to LA.

Check out tomorrow, can be as late as 12 noon, so once again, we’ll just have to see.

Almost a week in Nottingham now with Noah’s 5^th birthday party tomorrow.  Somehow, I don’t think Paula will be there.

 

 

Day 73 - Le Havre- last cruise port this year.

As usual, a leisurely start to the  day and bright sunshine.  Not hot, but bright.  We'd made no plans but had left a query at the Tour Desk for the port lecturer to tell us whether or not it was Market day in Honfleur.  It certainly was on a Saturday, but sadly, we never heard back.

We walked off, not too sure what to do but spied 'Le Petit Train' on the dock.  With a round trip price of €10 each, this was a no brainer cost-wise.   Before handing over the cash, we needed to know whether or not we could hop off in town then hop on again.  We could (in Cannes, we couldn't) so we handed over the cash.

A bumpy ride into town it may have been, but it suited us perfectly. The stop was just a few yards away (sorry, metres) from where the ship shuttle stopped and the service was stated as every 30 minutes.

We wandered around this town and rather liked it.  It was flattened during WW2, so unlike most places we have visited, not a lot of history in terms of buildings, but the advantage was that it wasn't dominated by massive skyscrapers and it looked to be a 'planned' town, with a large open square with water features, beautifully maintained gardens and everything was very clean.  There is also a 'skywheel' near the inner harbour but we didn't venture that far on foot.  The 'volcano' is their still under construction concert hall - and I'm not sure it is the best piece of architecture I have seen recently.

It wasn't very busy in town at all, but we made a beeline for a bakery and once again, bought just one fresh almond croissant, which we shared.  Delicious.  Maybe we should have bought 2, but I'm not going to get my sylphlike figure back if I succumb to temptation everytime.

After more walking, we opted for an ice cream (Paula) and as in Barcelona, I had a very tasty apricot sorbet.  Not exactly cheap at €5 for the two, but we sat down in the sun and enjoyed them.

By the time we got back to 'Le Petit Train' stop, it was just about ready to go, so we went.  On the way back, we saw another train, with a couple of ambulances and a police car – but no passengers as far as we could see, so no idea what had happened there.

It goes without saying that back at the dock, we didn't have to show our passports…

On board and it was peaceful, as many passengers were either on tours to Paris or the Normandy beaches.   In a break from the habits of the last few days, the shrimp salad again, but this time, a very tasty steak and kidney pie, which unlike the Emerald last year, was heated to order.  For the first time on this cruise, I also had a cider.  This time it was the 500ml can of Strongbow, not the small bottle of Bulmers as on the Sea Princess.  Very refreshing – drinking British cider in the very centre of the French cider area…

We didn't really have too much planned for the rest of the day but relaxed, read and blogged and put the last stuff into our suitcase, before dumping it outside  the cabin for collection.  Internet access has generally been pretty good and of course, being a modern ship, there's also an app or free internet access to a specific Royal Princess site, with the events from the patter available.  Clever stuff.

Dinner in the buffet was an American theme.  Given that the majority of cruisers are in fact from the USA, probably a good idea to have a final meal reminding them of home!   Hot dogs, chicken wings,  southern fried chicken, onion rings, sweet corn, prawn cutlets and roast turkey etc.   We ate well but not too much, though Paula did have a dessert whilst I had cheese, biscuits, dried apricots and what are commonly called 'crudites'.

As Chris Watkins had his final performance in the atrium, at 9:15, we decided to go down early and take our codeword/Sudoku books.  The atrium band "Indigo" were playing – a lot of Irish music.  As with many Irish showbands, very talented.

Chris did his 'Fireworks on Four' strings concert using his own backing track.  He loves playing to an audience and with a 360 degree stage, he really was in his element.  So, three different shows in terms of presentation with a little overlap of pieces played, but still a hugely popular act.  I managed to video most of it, then the video camera threw a wobbly just as Chris played to Paula!  We said farewell to Chris and I really hop we see him again sometime, hopefully on the Sun Princess next year.

Later on, I downloaded what I'd got, but it just wouldn't record video at all, just stills, so I reformatted it and it then worked fine.  Typical… 

A great finale to the cruise and standing chatting to some Americans outside the lift, they said they'd moved away from people on their table they thought were sick and like us, maintained a rigid hygiene regime, even to the extent of pressing lift buttons with our elbows.  We all congratulated ourselves on keeping healthy.

Bedtime and Paula thought maybe she'd eaten a little too much at dinner.

 

Little did we know what was to follow…