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Sunday 28th May
A little overcast with bursts of sunshine
We were on our way at 11.04 this morning to board for our week long cruise to the Norwegian Fjords – luggage just about fitted in the car for the four of us. We made good progress until we hit the M3 where we hit traffic and crawled along until we left to join the M27. Clear run from here straight into Mayflower Terminal in Southampton. A very short wait until we were waved through to be greeting by CPS and then a surprisingly 10 minute wait until the porters came to whisk our luggage away. Normally this is done instantly. Our car was eventually driven away … once the driver figured out how to remove the handbrake on the Volvo!
At 12.30, the terminal was already pretty busy, but we were with Mum and being in the Caribbean Loyalty tier, she whisked us down the priority boarding lane and were being checked in, heading through security and on board Azura. All cabins were ready when we boarded so made a beeline for our cabins (C710 and C714) to drop our luggage off. Kids club registration was from 1pm so got this out of the way before heading to the buffet for lunch. With cabins being ready, the buffet was really quiet and plenty of tables to choose from.
After lunch, a quick tour of Deck 5, 6 and 7 to give Mum an idea of where everything was then back to the cabin to unpack. Mum was very impressed with the size of the balcony – partially overlooked – about a third under cover from the deck above. We’d just about unpacked when it was time for Muster. We were towards the back of the ship so were allocated Manhattan for our Muster station. Slight delay as people were still boarding – they now scan all cruise cards going into Muster so no chance of avoiding this now! Obligatory muster photos taken, life jackets dropped back at our cabin, then off the pool areas for sailaway.
We managed to find a space on Deck 18 above Breakers Bar but this was much busier than we remembered – people had discovered this great spot. We found a spot on the port side so would catch a glimpse of Britannia on our way out. Britannia was in Ocean Terminal and we should pass her about 10 minutes after setting sail. Her lines were slackened, walkways removed but she showed no sign of sailing out. Prosecco for the adults for sailaway and Mocktail #1 for Callum: the No-Jito.
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A quick change for dinner for Callum – he wanted to go to Scubas before being picked up for pre-dinner drinks in The Planet Bar. The Planet Bar was two decks above Kids Club so he could be collected en route. Mocktail #2 for Callum: the Pussy Foot (favourite so far!). Mum and I chose an Anderson’s G&T whilst Jon went for The Botanist. They both tasted like gin – but no flavours that stood out.
For Dinner were in in the Oriental Restaurant on second sitting. Table 14 – a nice window seat. We were joined by two couples from the Midlands. Vicky and Pete from Halesowen and Glenis and Dave from Leicester. Pete especially was a bit of a wind-up merchant (in the nicest possible way!). His wife had her back to the window and he kept telling her that there was lightning outside. None of us believed him – Callum then saw it … and we didn’t believe him either!
Food was lovely. Jon and Callum had the Crab and Leek Pasties (really good), I had the Hot Smoked Trout (OK) and Mum the Prawn Cocktail (can’t go wrong). Jon and I then had the Cullen Skink soup and Callum the Tomato. For mains, Mum had the lamb (huge and really tasty) and we all had the Swordfish. Puddings, the boys chose the Black Forest Sundae and Mum the fruit salad and I had cheese & biscuits.
Callum was determined to go to the Movie Quiz in Brodies at 10.45 but reality set in and he was more tired than he thought so headed back to the cabin to bed. Jon and I made it but most of the films were well before our time (the latest film was Top Gun – 1986!) so had to make some educated guesses. I knew that Casablanca was made in 1942 … a good guess for Seven Samuari and 12 Angry Men. Mental block for Breakfast at Tiffany’s. We ended up with a surprising 12 points – the winning team only had 14 points so we didn’t do too badly. All the way through the quiz, Jon kept saying about the lightning flashes through the window – a spectacular storm was building up.
We grabbed some wine and headed back to the cabin and spent the next hour on the balcony watching the storm. Not too much rain, but the overhang above us kept us dry. The sheet lightning lit up the whole sky whilst the fork lightning was quite dramatic. It was all around but some considerable distance of the ship. It was amazing to watch – never seen a storm at sea before. Sea (much to Jon’s disappointment!) was still calm.
