Sailing up the Solent, sipping champagne

Thursday 22^nd November

After 2 weeks of high energy and achieving more than usual, I woke this morning feeling sleepy, weary and unwell. Bummer!

I was slower getting ready than I had hoped, but eventually left shortly before 1pm. Traffic flowed well and procedures at the car park were relatively smooth (only a 15-minute wait) and I was fast-tracked through check-in at the cruise terminal (perhaps because I was by myself – as the couple who arrived at the same time was given Ticket G while I had Ticket A).

It was a relief to get onto the ship. I had just enough time for a late lunch (3.30) before our emergency drill. I was thrilled to find that my room had a corner balcony. I’ve read about them but never seen one. They are twice the size of a normal balcony and have a view to two sides, rather than just straight ahead. Because the ship sits inwards where the lifeboats are, the rooms between the levels have larger balconies. I will have to make sure I make full use of mine. I brought along my Welsh wool cape for sitting outside.

You can see from the following photograph where the corner balconies are on the ship, and the extra amount of space.

Unpacking took ages. I have never taken so many things before, but this is a 3-week cruise and I need clothes for Summer, Autumn and Winter. I used up all the hangers in the closets and needed 2 more besides!

The ship provides a bottle of champagne for embarkation, so this time I took full advantage of it. I actually drank 2 glasses – some of it sitting on the balcony, in the breeze (so difficult to open the balcony door!) watching the lights along the Solent. Because of the early darkness at this time of year, it looked great.

Normally I go to the restaurant for every evening meal, but this time I decided to take things easy and go to the buffet. A first for me. Another first was that I found UK television on the cruise, and watched a few programmes, such as Torchwood.

The champagne made me sleepy, and the sea was rough, so I planned an early night. Unfortunately the champagne also disturbed my sleep. I could not count the number of times I woke up!