SD1 Spring 2011 Transatlantic crossing

[poppysmum]

Thank you Cool Cruiser! That really helps. I will now book my UK-US flight for Sunday.Pups and DH will like knowing I'll be home on the 8th. My head is still spinning from making this decision to go, but if you never jump...! And DH and I are both agreed that no-one will take better care of me for two weeks than Seadream. The very idea of all that time to myself with SD in charge is quite liberating. Now plotting my onboard reading list...

[Archipelago]

Congratulations on making the decision to go !! Looking forward to meeting you on this voyage !!! I'm going solo as well and I think this is a good venue to do so as you will never get lost in the crowd ! Your DH will probably be envious of you when you return !!

[ohmiss]

It's a SOLO party!! Me too! Why can't DH's be "cooped up" in luxury for that long?? At least mine can't! Looking forward to every minute. :p

[poppysmum]

Archipelago & Ohmiss - great to meet you and good to know there are other transatlantic solo adventurers onboard! On our last Caribbean SD cruise, with SD II, the crew told us that they get a regular intake of married women sailing solo on their transatlantics. The previous year we did SD I, our first SD, and we couldn't tell the difference between the boats, both fabulous and crew wonderful both times.

Ctbjr1309 - sorry, I called you coolcruiser, and just seen that coolcruiser gets attached to all our postings. I'm hopeless at these things.

Anyway, this will be my first weekend of starting to plan what I'll pack, what I'll read etc. (and how many ready-to-serve meals to leave in the freezer for DH, who is probably looking forward to two weeks of pizza and beer ...)

Have a great weekend all.

[TA Dane]

Hi All,

My husband and I shall also be doing the TA SD I San Juan to London crossing. Did a similar last year - just wonderful. Loved every minute of it. We look very much forward to sail up the Thames and anchor alongside the HMS Belfast. If any bridgeplayers among you - let us know. Always keen on a game

[Dorinda]

Karen - I'm also "half and half" - my mother was English, my dad a Yank. I look forward to meeting you.

 

TA Dane - we enjoy a friendly game of bridge. Should be plenty of time for it!

 

About reading on the cruise....does the ship have a library? Book exchange? I plan to load my Kindle but DH prefers "real" books.

 

We have a flat booked for 3 weeks in London at the end of the cruise and it seems several friends will be passing through London during that time!

 

Cheers!

 

Dee

[poppysmum]

Hi Dee Very much look forward to meeting you. Where in England did your mother hail from? The ship does have a small library. I'll be loading up my Nook, but also packing a couple of "just-in-case" paperbacks. Love the Nook and IPod for travels; SeaDream tells me that all the cabins are now equipped with iPod docking stations; they even sent me a photo of one! Sounds like you will be in London for the president's state visit to the UK. I have my ticket home, leaving Sunday and straight back to work. But that's absolutely not what I will think about en route!

[Archipelago]

Only 2 months from today and we are off .. but who's counting !:p Hope to meet you both TA Dane !!:) Don't play bridge though ..:o

[Dorinda]

Karen - my mom was born in Birmingham. I lived there for a short while too, as a child. No relatives left there but I do have a dear old uncle in Somerset. I'm looking forward to seeing him after the cruise.

 

Thanks for the heads up re Obama's visit to London. He will be there May 26-28. Sure glad we aren't due to fly out till the 30th!

 

I found a funny post on TripAdvisor...someone offering suggestions to Obama on his visit to London...gave me a giggle.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g186338-i17-k4254012-o10-May_24_26_Obama_London_Windsor_visit-London_England.html

 

Wow Archipelago! Just 2 months! Considering the way time flies these days that isn't anything at all!

 

Cheers,

Dee

[CDreamer]

"Thanks for the heads up re Obama's visit to London. He will be there May 26-28. Sure glad we aren't due to fly out till the 30th!"

 

Thanks for posting the link Dorinda, but just to clarify... according to the BBC link posted on that TripAdvisor thread, Obama's visit will be May 24-26.

 

This now has me a bit nervous since we are connecting though Heathrow on the 27th but leave the States for our SD1 Norway trip on the 26th.

 

Hopefully no flights will be cancelled at Heathrow during that time period -Heathrow's challenging enough as it is! :eek:

[Martita B.]

John B., Dee & John

I have good friends that will be joining you on the TA Crossing ~two fun, grrreat German fellows ~we've Crossed together many times on Seabourn but this year, April worked better for them (rather than our Legend March TA) as to work schedules.

Please introduce yourselves ~ they will be a huge asset to your Atlantic Crossing ~

We'll try to talk King Neptune into providing smooth seas for both March and April!

Have lots of fun!:p

Martita B.

[Dorinda]

CDreamer - thanks for catching my mistake...yes, Obama will be there May 24-26. Hope you manage to pass through Heathrow with no problem.

 

Martha - thanks for the good wishes. It will be fun to compare Seabourn and SeaDream. We are still talking about our wonderful 50 days on the Spirit.

 

Cheers!

Dee

[Archipelago]

Thanks Miss Martha !! Will be sure and introduce myself. It would be nice if you were onboard too !! I hope that your voayge goes well too and that you have a great time as usual :p I have reservations at the Savoy but can change those ..any other suggestions ? some of the trip advisor comments are not too good ..such as waiting in line for entry to restaurants and the bars ...tourists from other hotels come in and since no reservations are made the hotel guests have to stand in a queue for 30 minutes or longer . I wrote the hotel and got a reply back that said basically yes that's right but the queues move fast :confused:.. why can't guests be seated first ?:confused: Any other suggestons are appreciated !

[poppysmum]

Hi Archipelago

 

Depending on your hotel budget, you might try Brown's Hotel on Dover St (very close to Green Park, The Ritz, easy walk to Piccadilly) ; great location on quiet street and the ultimate old-style British service and atmosphere with afternoon tea to die for. Less pricey, but also great locations are The Grand at Trafalgar Square, which is very comfortable, or the Hilton Green Park on Half Moon St. I've stayed at all three in last couple of years and all were great.

 

Dee - so your mother was a Brummie Lass! My husband's two daughters both went to University there. I was born and grew up in Norfolk, about five miles from the Sandringham royal estate.As a reporter on the local newspaper, one of my beats was to cover the Royals when they were in residence (mostly over Christmas) so you had to stand out in freezing rain just to report what they wore to church and who gave them flowers. Never got invited in for tea...

 

Have started the mental packing game; just eight weeks to pack and repack that case.

 

Any BlackJack players onboard?

[Archipelago]

Thanks for your suggestions . The Ritz looked good and was the same price for the same accomodations but I was not wild about having to wear a tie everywhere, but that does make it easier to get into the different venues there since most tourists don't wear ties that come in to "visit" ,

I have some time to change but am now at The Savoy on the strand .

[Martita B.]

John

Do fine the "German Sailor's" and have a cocktail with them ~loads of fun! They are seasoned Crosser's.

Enjoy your stay in London ~If time permits a taxi ride to the Connaught Hotel for drinks in the lounge is a "not to be missed!"

Have a good week :p

Miss Martita B.

[The A Train]

Actually, we're on both crossings, Seabourn on March 21st, and, Sea Dream on April 23rd, our 4th Northerly on SB and our 2nd Northerly on SD.

 

We love them both......will not try to differentiate, 'cept the cabins on SB are much more accommodating............that's about it!

[Archipelago]

Looking forward to meeting you !:)

[poppysmum]

Best laid plans and all that...

I had booked myself a Virgin Atlantic Upper Class flight home from London to D.C. on the Sunday we disembark. But Virgin just notified me that they've now pushed up the flight departure time from Heathrow by two hours. That makes it too close to call to get from central London to Heathrow, even if I disembarked early. So they've moved my flight to Monday morning and I'll stay in London Sunday night. It means another 24 hours before I get to see my pups and DH, but a bit of shopping/afternoon tea in London in springtime is never a bad thing (except for the credit card...) :)

[Dorinda]

Well, Karen - you have the right idea - when given lemons...make lemonade! Now we just have to hope for some springtime weather when we get to London. Photos of Tower Bridge will be so much better if we have a bit of sun. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

BTW, we have our tix to the Chelsea Flower Show booked. I thought it would difficult to get them but there were plenty available on line a couple of days ago.

 

Cheers!

Dee

[poppysmum]

Hi Dee -- I'll think lemonade (and a little champagne) with that afternoon tea!

Envy you the Chelsea Flower Show; a beautiful event. Yes, let's hope for a little sunshine on our arrival. Mind you, it bucketed down pretty much solid this past weekend here in D.C. Very unusual to see that much grey and wet here. The only dry place I could find was Nordstrom :D

[Archipelago]

My documents have arrived at the travel agents office and I should receive them sometime next week !! Can't believe that it is this close and I haven't begun to think about what to pack yet :o

[poppysmum]

Got home yesterday from a weekend trip visiting friends and my ticket was waiting with me (along with the FedEx man delivering my Ipad2 so I have to learn how to use that before I sail)

All seems very real and close now!

As for packing, DH will tell you the first thing I always seem to need is a new suitcase:D

I'm assuming layers? Hoping for warm weather/sun gear at least as far as the Azores, then likely getting cooler/sweaters as we head towards the U.K. Does that sound right to everyone else? I don't really want to pack any heavy coats/rain gear as I leave the U.K. Monday.

[Archipelago]

I'm going to pack that way as well...layers . It could be a little cool as we head up north. We can sit on deck with some covers and have some hot chocolate if it's too cool ! :p Looking forward to meeting you all !!! I will be in London for 3 days so I wil pack rain wear ..already got my Oyster Card and London pass .

[ohmiss]

As we approach the Azores it gets cooler and the temps towards the last week will be in the 50's-maybe 60'sF. Believe it or not I watched the temps a year ago on the same dates, so I'd know! Marry an airline pilot and you'd understand!! Meet all my CC friends up at the TOYB right after 2:00 PM on April 23rd!! Okay?! :D