Neither of us had a particularly good night’s sleep and part of the reason seemed to be a fair bit of noise, as late luggage was shuffled around. We were awake before the alarm anyway but looking out of the cabin, we could see the Dawn Princess, which apparently came in just behind us, so at least that was one potential hiccup out of the way.
As per normal, we vacated our cabin by 8am and headed upstairs to the Horizon Court buffet for the last time on this trip, saying farewell to our excellent cabin steward, Arnel, on the way.
As our meeting time for disembarkation wasn’t until 10:05, we had a leisurely breakfast, then wandered down to deck 5. As you will already have read on the summary, posted earlier, it was a surprise to find chocolate doughnuts in the cabinet... A farewell to Elsa from Auckland and our new found USA lawyer plus Tony and Sheila who we’ll no doubt meet again.
(Internet access on the Dawn has been at best, extremely slow, or non-existent, so the summary which had already been written, got uploaded in Cobh - ashore! No idea when this will be uploaded.)
We were just about the last group to leave the ship and as everyone was supposed to be ashore by 10:15am, it wasn’t our fault that it was nearer 10:30. Finding our luggage was easy enough, as by then the shed was virtually empty. No luggage trolleys left (they were generally outside), so we lugged our four cases, plus two hand luggage cases and the computer bag, to the meeting point outside, where we had to wait almost 30 minutes for the transfer coach to the QEII terminal, just 900 yards away as the crow flies.
The driver was brilliant, loading all our cases - but he couldn’t squeeze the last three or four on, plus a wheelchair, so he was due to make a return trip.
Over to the QEII terminal and I spied brother Malc patiently waiting before we’d even stepped off the coach. The driver said that if we left all our cases on the coach, he’d take them straight to the drop area and unload. Very nice of him.
Before we’d even done three steps, we met Cec & Kevin, who told us that we’d just missed Alan and Alana, who had driven down from Worcester to spend the day on the ship, but whoever was supposed to meet them, didn’t, so they were turned away. Unbelievable. Twenty seven years as probably the most popular entertainers ever, with a huge number of fans, and they were turned away? Not good enough.
Anyway, we went with Malc over to his car, in the short stay car park where he’d paid the £3 fee for about 15 minutes (another captive user rip off!) and off to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. A fine, warm day, so a pleasant museum visit including the Top Gear area, where they show some clips from the shows, then a walk around part of the extensive grounds. Entry to the museum itself was £17 – Seniors rate. First of all, though, it was Malc O’clock, which in our terminology, means time for a cuppa.
A nice fresh scone with jam and a couple of pottles of Rodd’s Cornish clotted cream. Bliss!
Malc ran us back to the dock mid-afternoon. On the way, we spied Ron & Angela, walking as usual. We had a short queue at check in, where there were about ten people in the Elite line and none on the ordinary line… Says a lot.
Cards issued, photos taken and aboard. We hadn’t even stepped the 5 yards into the Atrium proper when we spied our Grand Circle table waiter, Alan!
For the next half hour or so, after dumping our hand luggage (the other luggage was already in the cabin), en route for the buffet, it was a just a case of hugs and hand-shaking as we met the regulars.
We had a cabin that I call the ‘wrong way around’ with our feet towards the front of the ship on the port side. After the usual request for a pile of extra coat hangers, we stepped out on to our balcony. A massive let down after the smart and spacious Emerald Caribe balcony. The deck is partially enclosed at the sides and without a rail to floor, glass panel. The deck matting was looking decidedly tired and the deck area needed repainting. Fortunately, not enough to worry us.
The usual safety drill at 5pm (now mandatory every 30 days for those doing a long cruise) with yet more hand shaking and a catch up with Darryl and Sue from Adelaide who are on our dinner table. Dinner was open seating so we went with them. Bruce and Margaret from past cruises, joined us.
Sailaway was a fairly quiet affair!
The opening night’s production show had the usual single spot by the dancers and singers, then lo and behold, Chris Watkins, the violinist we’d just seen on the Emerald. It is usually a comedian doing that spot.
We were fairly tired so crashed at 11pm, ready for a relaxing day at sea as we head for Dublin.
Nice to be on our second home again!
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