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Everything posted by FionaMG
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It was. I'm feeling emotionally drained but he's on the mend and that's what matters. You asked about Bournemouth Airport. Well, it was so easy. It's a tiny airport with just 12 check in desks. There was one flight boarding when we arrived and ours and one other due to go out within about 15 minutes of each other. We arrived two and a half hours ahead of departure and check in wasn't open yet but there was information above the counters to say it would open at 15.10 (exactly two hours before departure). And it did, punctually, with 3 desks manned by very efficient and friendly agents. Going through security was a pleasure in comparison to any other airport I've ever flown from. There were just two stations but they were staffed by two lovely friendly ladies who actively assisted passengers, explaining what needed to go where and helping to put the stuff in the trays as opposed to just standing there scowling at you. Inside, there is a to-scale duty-free shop, a bar/restaurant and a WH Smith. With two flights going out together, the restaurant was almost full but there was still enough seating in the departure lounge for people to have proper seats rather than having to sit on the floor like you often see at the bigger airports. I would definitely use Bournemouth again in preference to the big London airports.
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Since the demise of Flybe who served the Southampton/Faro route, there is now only one flight a week, operated by BA on Saturdays, so it didn't fit the schedule of this cruise either on arrival or departure. 😕 Ryanair do the Bournemouth route 3 times a week, so their schedule fitted in with the cruise days.
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Last dinner menu. Aw. 😕 Green bean croquettes off the vegan menu. DH had the cream of broccoli, also off the vegan menu but I didn't get a pic of that. Easy to imagine a bowl of green soup, though, right? Garlic tiger shrimp Tiramisu and the royal chocolate cake. I'll have to wait till April next year for another one of these! So we are all packed and DH is making one final contribution to the casino. We were too late getting out of dinner to make the 9 pm farewell show. I'll do a final sum-up of the cruise with some miscellaneous musings after we get home. In the meantime a million thank-yous to everyone who's been following along. I appreciate your support and comments. 🥰
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Departure information. A visit to Guest Services is in order. Despite choosing the latest departure time on the questionnaire we've been given tags for 7 am departure. Not interested in getting off the ship that early when we have to hang around until 5 pm for our homeward flight from Bournemouth to Faro.
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Captain's Corner this morning was at the god-awful time of 9.15 and was held in two70 so with that in mind we decided to have breakfast there. It was ok but the fact that you have to ask for your food instead of serving yourself can quickly result in queues forming. I definitely prefer the buffet where you just pick up stuff without having to queue. Captain's Corner information sheet There was no biography sheet so I'm glad I managed to get that earlier in the cruise. On stage were the Captain, the Hotel Director and the Cruise Director. The event was well attended. Some interesting information for anyone boarding in the next few weeks: both the Captain and Hotel Director finish their current tours of duty tomorrow in Southampton and Joff the Cruise Director finishes his at the end of the next cruise, so it will be a new team taking Anthem back across to Cape Liberty in two weeks' time. Also, masks for crew are becoming optional from tomorrow fleetwide. With the weather not really conducive to outdoor activities and having already used up our free D internet days we bit the bullet and bought a one-day pass for DH. Of course, the price has gone up for this final day: 32.99 instead of the 26.99 previously for surf and stream. The basic surf was the price that S&S had been previously. However, we found on the two days we used it that surf was very slow so since we were paying for today's we went with the S&S; it has actually been fairly decent throughout most of the voyage.
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Last day. Nooooo! 😭 We are at sea today for our last day on board and as expected given our location and time of year the skies are grey and heavy, although it is quite mild and there is only a light breeze. Even the hardy Brits have forsaken the pool area in favour of indoor venues. Front poolside lounger anyone?