Southampton and then back to Oz...

Sunday, 3rd July

I wasn't really looking forward to the end of this cruise. Not because it meant the end of 15 fairly relaxing days, but for the thought of the next few days, and getting home to Australia.

The cruise was only taken because of where it went, and that allowed us to see Iceland, and Norway, and Brugges, but I will never go on another large cruise ship again, (unless of course I don't have to pay for it!!). We were comfortable, well "watered" and fed, although we both thought the buffet food on this ship was not as good as we had had on the Sapphire Princess when we did the cruise from New Zealand to Sydney.

So, having arrived at Southampton by 7.00am, we had been asked to vacate the rooms by 8.00am to give the cabin staff and others, time to get everything done for the next cruise which would leave tonight. Sunny morning and because we'd all vacated our rooms, the buffet was very crowded, and so we had ours at a table on the deck, near the pool.

Not much to do but wait until called according to the colour-coded cards we'd been allocated. Ours was Orange, and we were told we'd be called about 9.30. However, the first groups were called about 8.45am, and so we were then off the ship by 9.30.

The bags are arranged in alphabetical order by deck letter, in a huge shed on the wharf. They are not necessarily together, and so everyone goes looking. I later found out that there are hundreds of trolleys for passengers' use, but they are at the other end of the hall, and you are not advised of that. Having retrieved a trolley, we found our bags, and then proceeded out to get a taxi.
We had always decided to stay the night here before we headed up to Heathrow for the flight home. The taxi took us to the Novotel, and although when I phoned them, we were told we couldn't have the room until 2.00pm, there was in fact one ready, which was a great relief, and it was just after 10.00am.

Novotel Southampton does not have air conditioning in the rooms!!! 
It was warm and we changed into cooler clothes and had a rest before going down to the city for lunch. We had booked on a bus for the trip tomorrow to the airport, and wanted to find out where it was, and although it wasn't far, it was too far to try and drag four bags, etc. We got our bus tickets, and then to lunch.
Went to the Post Office and found a tube to send some posters home, along with yet another parcel to lighten the load in the luggage. What with the things we'd purchased along the way, we now had the four bags and two carry-ons for the flight. Thankfully Japan Airlines had changed their luggage allocation since we've been away, and so we would not be worried about excess baggage.


Walked over to a restaurant called Franky and Benny's, with whom we'd had a pleasant experience back in Chichester, but this time it wasn't as good.

The Cruise to Norway, including Dublin, Iceland, and Brugge...

Saturday, 18th June - SOUTHAMPTON - ALL ABOARD!!!

Yesterday, the taxi driver who brought me back from the Hertz yard, suggested we get down there around 11.30am, as that would be when the bus loads of other passengers would start arriving. Good local knowledge is always handy!

So we walked into town to try and find a better (third) bag to replace the cheap one we'd bought in Gloucester, which was becoming hard to manage and perhaps not strong enough. On the way, we went to the remains of the old town walls and you can go up stairs and get a better view around the area. It's good they've kept these bits of the past, and fascinating to see just how large the wall would have been.

Then we headed to the large shopping mall, to get bag labels and the new case.

There isn't much choice for travel goods, which surprised us a little, given that so many cruises leave from Southampton, and we had lunch at Pret a Porter first, and then went back to find things. Great shops, and you could go berserk finding lots of lovely clothes here, but that's not what we wanted and so after discovering that M & S didn't have luggage, we went back to John Lewis (which I reckon is their version of David Jones), and found a really good one, that had been reduced. It ended up being just the thing, and again we were able to re-organise everything for the trip down to the docks tomorrow.

The taxi driver down to the ship was telling us that the big shipping lines don't necessarily bring that much money into the town any more, as they had taken over a large part of the docks and had dedicated it for the parking of cars and buses for cruise passengers. We came across several people on the ship, who simply parked their car at the dock for the duration of the cruise, and all they had to do when we disembarked, was to wheel their bags over to the car, and drive off home. One couple only lived ten minutes away in Southampton, and they parked there!!!

So with that service provided by the shipping lines, the hotels aren't getting as much trade. Why pay for a night in a hotel if you can simply drive to the ship on the day?

On a completely different note, this wonderful model of the creature from the ALIEN movies, was on display in a game shop! It was all metal, and sculptured/welded/soldered together!

Next - ALL ABOARD!!