TenneSea

I doubt the crew members saw any increase in pay. Probably less.

Couldn't read the label.

"Trust" ... such an interesting word.

I think you will find that most restaurants now pool all tips given to the wait staff.

<" Princess are not calling the charge that this thread is about a gratuity. They are calling it 'crew appreciation / service charge'"> Wow, that's a pretty fine line there. Do you speak lawyer-speak ?

No, we just stayed in town, walking around.

Ooops, forgot the New Forest map: The whole green part is New Forest.

In Beaulieu, there is a famouse Motor Museum which my husband very much enjoyed. Most of those images are on his phone. If anyone would like to see them, just ask and I will post them. Also in Beaulieu and connected to the Motor Museum (all owned by Lord Montagu family) is the home and gardens of their home. We went through as much of the home and garden as they open to the public.

We stayed one night but spent 2 days in Beaulieu which is in New Forest. (pronounced: Bew-Lee) Here are some pics of Montagu Arms which was s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g. We LOVED it there. Note: one day in NF is enough to see the horses, cows, etal roaming. They are everywhere.

We saw lots of babies ! And cows

On to New Forest. Here is a general map of the Forest and you can see how close it is to Southampton. If I had a day to spend pre or post cruise and were chooseing between Isle of Wight and New Forest, it would be a really tough decision but I just might prefer New Forest. Horses and cows and donkeys and sometimes pigs roam freely all over. They block roads, wander onto hotel properties, into car parks and they are just so beautiful. They aren't wild but clearly are the priority creatures in NF. If driving, you will just have to wait until they decide to walk off of the roads. They have the right of way. I just found it so interesting. Here are some shots:

We absolutely loved Yarmouth. Little English town. I love the little village churches scattered all over England. And, of course, the pubs:

Bouncing back to the Isle of Wight. We had lunch at this great little waterfront cafe "Gossip Cafe" Great food. Then for dinner, we went to the Terrace. OMG ! So amazing. The weather was just perfect and both of these are in Yarmouth on the IOW. We chose Yarmouth so we could grab the ferry to Lymington which is in New Forest. It was walkable from our BnB in Yarmouth. Pics from the Terrace: Bruchetta: Roast Chicken:

Yes. Taxis are plentiful on the Isle of Wight at the ferry terminal. Are you going to West or East Cowes (Osborne House is in East Cowes). Last year we went to East Cowes. This year West Cowes. The taxi from West Cowes Red Jet terminal to Yarmouth was 50 pounds.

Two little people playing on the beach. This truly has to be one of the most special places on earth.

The last port of the cruise was LeHavre (Normandy). I booked it as soon as it was available as I didn't want to miss this opportunity. It did not disappoint. The tour was 10 hours, 5 hours of that was on a bus. Tiring, but a very unforgetable day. The French countryside was beautiful which helped to make the hours on the bus fly by.

Next stop on the cruise (after Falmouth) was Portland/Weymouth. There is a pretty reliable shuttle from the ship to the town of Weymouth. There is really nothing to do in Portland, so do go to Weymouth if you want to stretch your land legs. Not much in Weymouth really either. I heard there was a nice shopping area. We walked to the beach and it was pretty. I only took a few shots. It is worth the walk from the shuttle drop off to the beach if the weather cooperates.

Yes, breakfast was served in the Palm Dining Room. Pretty scaled down menu for breakfast from pre-covid days when every day was different with some choices to be made. We went 3 days and one menu item changed every day, the rest stayed the same.

We're off to the Cotswolds today. I expect to have some down time this afternoon and hope to post more on the cruise ports/and shows. We also visited New Forest which is close to Southampton. I'm hoping the pictures I post will pique some interest for future cruisers to spend a day or two there pre or post cruise. It was facinating and so uniquely beautiful !

Sail Away from Falmouth.

The port after Ireland was Falmouth, England. We hired Abacus Taxi (highly recommend) to drive us to Port Isaac for a quick visit to see where the Doc Martin series was shot. Here are some of the pictures from that day.