A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 About This Page:

[pamcarey]

The white cliffs of Dover really do look like snow from that distance!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Nice photos and certainly most remarkably are the White Cliffs of Dover, which are so amazing when they come into view! On my first trip to Europe in 1995 I got to see these as after a couple of days in Paris our tour drove to Calais and we took the ferry to Dover nad then the bus to London. It was an amazing sight and especially on my first European experience.

I bet - we are very lucky to live so close to so many wonderful tourist attractions and I try not to take those for granted...

This trip was Rome, Assisi, Florence, Venice, island of Burano near Venice (and other islands near Venice), Lucerne (including Mount Pilatus), Paris (including Versailles) and London (including the Jack the Ripper tour). It was a great first time Europe experience for me in Europe, but I caught I nasty cold by day two, which was unpleasant. I made the best of it, but didn't feel well until I got home!

Oh wow, that is an amazing trip. Shame you were ill though.

[chezp]

Sunday 19 June – part one: what will disembarkation be like?

I didn’t exactly sleep well last night. Despite taking everything under the sun, I cannot clear whatever has got a hold of me. It seems to be rooted in my throat/chest, and of course overnight that meant I was almost having to sleep sitting up, as all the muck in my throat was making me cough. Having been stuck with this for five days now, I suspect I will need to make a doctor’s appointment if this carries on, as the last time I had something like this, only antibiotics finally cleared it up.

We were up just after 6:00am, even though it was actually a fairly relaxed morning for us. As we’d said we were due to leave at 8:00am, they’d told us to meet in the Eclipse Theatre at 7:50am. Such a pleasant change from most cruises we’ve done!

We got going slowly, and I got some photos of where we were docked…



There was a fair bit of activity on the dockside beneath us. I’m always fascinated to watch everything that goes on when cruise ships dock. It’s so well organised, but it’s still a mystery to me how they coordinate everything so well.

However, not everything went to plan as you can see…



It was all Ok in the end though…



Although we didn’t need to get moving that quickly, obviously the people around us did. We heard a lot of doors slamming, and crashing around as we were in the room. It really brought it home to you the impact you can have on others. It’s something that’s never occurred to me before on a cruise, as usually we’ve been one of the early birds. I’ll keep it in mind for future cruises though, and try not to crash around too much, now that I know how irritating it can be for others.

Talking of irritating others, we went up to the Oceanview Café for breakfast, and it was packed, and even worse, packed with rude and obnoxious people. I appreciate your vacation’s come to an end guys, but it’s the same for all of us. There is no need to be rude. From the guy who barged in front of everyone at the bar to the guy whose world was about to end as there were no blueberry pancakes and they’d run out of waffle syrup (I quickly solved that and asked for it to be topped up – apparently he didn’t realise you could do that ) people were just really horrible.

We sat outside, and got some more photos after we finished breakfast…



… then heading up to deck 15 to walk back to our room, so we could avoid the obnoxious hordes in the Oceanview Café.



We finished getting ready, and left the room about 7:45am. We quickly worked out waiting for a lift was not going to be an option. There were about seven or eight people already waiting on deck nine, and I could see us having to wait for three or four elevators. We headed down the stairs to deck five forward, which is where we were supposed to meet in the Eclipse Theatre. However, there was a sign to the gangway, and as there was no line at all we decided we might as well head off…



We made our way into the terminal building, and it was so simple getting our luggage. They had it laid out in about 40 different sections, way more than Disney do, which meant there were relatively few items under each number. We literally found our three cases within seconds and piled them on to the luggage cart we’d found, and headed out. I was moving ahead of Mark, as I assumed there would be passport control, but there was nothing at all. We were literally straight out.

I couldn’t believe how quick and easy everything was. I had been wondering what this process would be like, but it was way better than Disney. We walked past the terminal building…



… and headed over towards the car, getting some shots of the ship on the way:



Next: if only all cruises could end this easily!

[Tara O'Hara]

Great photos, Cheryl!! Aside from the rude folk in the windjammer, it sounds like disembarkation was a breeze!!

[disney_duke]

Ugh, those sinuses! Or whatever it was. Not a great way to end the last night. The early morning hustle and bustle of the unloading and re-loading always fascinates me too. There are some television shows about that (and the on-goings of a cruise) and I watch it every time. It's organized chaos!

Apparently there were some pretty important people on your cruise and you weren't aware. They get whatever they want, syrup be damned!! Rude people are everywhere.

How odd that you literally just walked right off the ship without anyone saying a word. And then found your luggage immediately too! It's pretty nice though!

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like an easy morning getting off the ship!!

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like an easy morning getting off the ship!!

[Pris]

It looks like disembarakation day was quite easy, despite the overflow in the breakfast area. Sad that some people just can't play nicely. I'm glad things went so smoothly for you, but sorry about your sinus problem (or whatever it turned out to be).

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara

Great photos, Cheryl!! Aside from the rude folk in the windjammer, it sounds like disembarkation was a breeze!!

It really was and that was such a pleasant surprise.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Ugh, those sinuses! Or whatever it was. Not a great way to end the last night.

No it wasn't.

The early morning hustle and bustle of the unloading and re-loading always fascinates me too. There are some television shows about that (and the on-goings of a cruise) and I watch it every time. It's organized chaos!

Oh I bet those shows are fascinating...

Apparently there were some pretty important people on your cruise and you weren't aware. They get whatever they want, syrup be damned!!

Obviously!

Rude people are everywhere.

How odd that you literally just walked right off the ship without anyone saying a word. And then found your luggage immediately too! It's pretty nice though!

It was so cool and definitely not what we're used to with Disney... and heck, Disney are good at disembarkation.

[SuperDave]

Looks like disembarking was fine for the two of you! That was ridiculous the way a few people acted in Oceanview Cafe!

[Cam22]

Very smooth disembarkation!

[Cam22]

Very smooth disembarkation!

[chezp]

Sunday 19 June – part two: if only all cruises could end this easily!

We obviously already knew where the car was, as we’d zoomed in on it earlier from the ship, so we picked it up, checked everything was Ok (and it was) and we were on the road just 15 minutes after leaving our room. Wow, if every cruise could end as smoothly as this!

We headed out through the port…



… and on to practically deserted roads through Southampton…



It was a beautiful day…



I liked the sound of this place!



And then further along, I saw some of my real life bovine buddies.



We were home before 10:00am, which I was absolutely bowled over by. If only all cruises could end this easily!

When we got back, the garden was in full bloom:



It was time to start the laundry, and the process of returning to real life after a wonderful two weeks away.

I just want to add a footnote in here, before I turn to the final thoughts. I have mentioned I wasn’t feeling great for the second half of the cruise, and despite spending lots of time in the steam room while we were on board, it didn’t do much good. I felt better the day we arrived home, and I hoped I was on the turn. Sadly, it wasn’t to be. On Monday, I had to drive to another office 60 miles away, and the drive really took its toll on me, especially as it was in rain, and there were a lot of traffic problems. Instead of it taking an hour and a quarter as it usually does, it took close to three hours. Not what I needed!

It got worse. By late morning, I was struggling to swallow or chew, which made drinking and eating lunch very difficult, so I rang the doctor’s surgery. I had made a booking online the day before, just in case I wasn’t feeling 100% by the end of the week, but all I could get was Friday morning. By the time I’d finished explaining to the receptionist what the problem was, I had an appointment the next morning. I was diagnosed as having sinusitis and a fever, and I ended up on a course of antibiotics. Thankfully 36 hours later, I could swallow and chew again, which was a huge relief, as that was quite a scary situation. However, I did develop a bad cough, which kept both of us awake for a few nights, until I found something else I could take that finally controlled it. It wasn’t the return to real life I needed…

The weather today was dry and some sunshine with temperatures in the mid 60s.
The best thing today was how easy it was to get off the Eclipse.
The worst thing today was having to finish our vacation.
Today we tried disembarkation with Celebrity
And the result was it was remarkably smooth.
The most magical moment today was getting off the ship so quickly!

Next: final thoughts

[Tara O'Hara]

I am so sad that this wonderful trip has come to an end! Your garden is beautiful!! Sorry your crud got worse and I am glad you didn't wait any longer to get it taken care of.! Thanks for taking us on this lovely trip!!