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Published: June 26th 2017
We arrived at Southampton Western Docks, berth 106 at 11:30. We hadn't even got out of the car and tragedy had already stuck. Had I lost my wallet? No? Had my passport been stolen? No! Had the ship sank before we had a chance to experience its delights? No! I had forgotten my San Francisco baseball cap. Without it I feel I'm just going to become another passenger!!
Check in was the fasted we had ever experienced. On entering the dock area there were clear signposts to the Grand Princess. We parked right outside the passenger departure terminal. We were given a ticket and someone drove the car away. Next, on entering the cruise terminal we were shown straight to a counter. Within 3 minutes, after completing a health declaration, we received our '
Gold' cruise cards and proceeded through security and straight on to the Plaza deck 5. We couldn't have experience a quicker embarkation even if we had been beamed down direct in to our cabin from the Starship Enterprise!! 2 years ago on the MSC Opera on entering the ship for the first time, we were allocated a steward who showed us to our cabin and pointed
out the amenities and accessories within. We thanked him and he left. Last year on the Sapphire Princess, a steward took us to Caribe, deck 10 and from the lift he showed us the best route to get to our cabin. On the Grand, as we boarded, after telling a steward our cabin number, he just nonchalantly pointed in the general direction. Either standards are dropping or our expectations are rising!!
After dropping our stuff of in the cabin it was time to grab a bite to eat and then explore. The Grand Princess has just gone through a very expensive refurbishment that included a completely new piazza, a redesigned casino and even the removal of Skywalker's lounge from the aft of the ship. There is definitely something that doesn't look right with something missing from the top. A bit like my head and the baseball cap!!
On exiting from the lift on our way to lunch, we were greeted by the biggest cake in the shape of a ship (the Grand Princess to be exact) we had ever seen. Roisin reminded me of the cake in the shape of a ship that she had made for my
birthday last year. She added that if she had had more time, her ship would have been similar to the exhibit that now stood in front of us. I bit my lower lip and casting my mind back to Roisin's creation could only think of Mickey Mouse's first feature length cartoon, ‘
Steamboat Willy'. Roisin added, ‘Imagine the cake they'd have to make for that to sit on top of!!' Back on deck 5 in the Piazza, entertainment was in full flow as the passengers were still embarking. A juggler had just started his routine. He would have been brilliant if he didn't keep dropping stuff. Somehow I don't think he would have gotten through the auditions for
Britain's Got Talent'!! I hope this isn't a sign for the shape of things to come!
It is obvious that the refurb has added life back in to the public areas. These have been decked in vibrant colours. The Piazza, alone has a variety of refreshments including the International café and Alfredo's pizzeria and a stones throw away is the now, open plan library/tea room called ‘
Leaves' and the wine bar called
‘Vines'. The bloke who thinks up these names is
a genius
. Club Fusion, the lounge where many a time was spent with the ‘Delta Delays' winning Princess goodies though playing trivia. This is now the Vista lounge. The tables and seats are almost in theatre style with a big screen covered by a large golden curtain at the front of the lounge. The trivia for this voyage has been relegated to Explorers lounge. This is pretty much the same as on the Sapphire {Princess, only newer!!
On the way down for our tea, we met a group in the lift who recognised our Northern accent. We got talking and lo an behold, they're from Wigan (well Standish but it's near enough) It seems to be a compulsory order that each trip we always bump in to Wiganers. On this occasion it was one of the ladies first time on a cruise and she was worried about sea sickness.
"
You don't have any tips for sea sickness, do you?" her husband asked me
“Try Porridge”, I said
“Why, is that a good remedy?” “No”, I replied “but it's the only food that tastes the same coming up as it does going down!!” Due
Independence of the Seas and Ventura
Independence of the Seas and Ventura in a grey overcast Southamptonto a trivia quiz starting at 9:15 and our sitting in the restaurant not starting until 8:15 we decided to eat in Alfredo's Pizzeria.
On our way to Alfredo's we passed the Excursions desk. Roisin and I agreed to go on only 1 organised trip, to a glacier. Something we both agreed we'd like to see close up. The assistant explained the tour to us and stated that we had to be fit. Fit?? What did that mean?? Did she mean ‘Lindford Christie fit?? I'm sure she didn't mean Christine Aguelera fit! Looking around at most of the passengers on board I'm certain her meaning of the word ‘
fit' is if you can stand upright unassisted for more than 10 seconds!!!
During our delicious thin crust pizza, I kept hearing a buzzing sound.
“It's coming from the lights over there”, said Roisin
. I hope they have the ship earthed, I said,
“with all this water knocking about!!” I had heard some rumours about the cosmetic changes made to the
Grand Princess during the refurb. Being a glass half full kind of guy, always optimistic, I can tell you, my glass was rapidly emptying at an
alarming rate!!
After our tea we were waiting by the lift to go up a few levels when an elderly couple stood behind us and started talking all foreign. It wasn't French or Spanish and it certainly wasn't German or Swedish. Bloody hell! It was Welsh. We thought we were back in Phwelli for a minute. Why do certain people have to speak Welsh in a loud voice in a predominantly English-speaking vessel? You know how paranoid we English get!! You don't hear the Italians from Rome speaking Latin when they're in Milan!! And Latin is probably taught in more schools, world wide, than Welsh!!
We met Kaye in explorers about 9pm. And bugger me; she has only invited the Welsh couple to join our team!! From Swansea, they were!
THE DELTA DELAY ALL STARS ARE BACK. !! This one was for Donny and Marie, Trudy and Brendan. One of the rules we have is to write your answer on a bit of scrap and show the rest of the team. At no point is there verbal communication. Despite explaining this to Mrs and Mrs Welshperson, this is not how they quiz in the Valleys.
The
first question was: “What is the largest planet in our solar system?” Straight away, without hesitation in a big booming voice Peter Welshman said, “
Saturn, is that”. I wrote my answer on a piece of paper and passed it across the table.
In an equally booming voice he said,
“Oh, of course, Jupiter, it is. I should have known that with it being astronomy, it is!! Despite this handicap, we won a bottle of champagne!! So far so good. Everything is going to plan. Free booze for the entire trip!! Not sure if we can keep this up once word gets around!!
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Jane P-H
non-member comment
Beautifully written, as always. I'm chuckling away here on a wet, blowy day in Sale.I'd be very careful Chris, you may be making your own birthday cakes in the future!David's just asked me where you're going and I can't remember. Put him ou
t of his misery, please!