Atlantic Coast Adventure Q133Q 15th Nov 2021 - Jimbo's Blog

[rakkor]

Cartagena - Monday 22nd November

 

We arrived in Cartagena at 8am this morning to glorious sunshine, which has been lacking on this cruise so far. We, again, were booked on a walking tour. This time it was a Tapas Trail, there's nothing I like better than an eating tour. It wasn't such an early start today so we had a leisurely breakfast. Not too much, just an omelette, as we've made the mistake before and struggled. We made the right decision as the Tapas was very generous, with 4 different Tapas and a beer with each or a glass of red for Jane.
Our guide, Sirena, shepherded us though the Roman amplitheatre, showing us lots of Cartagena's history all the time plying us with various savoury treats, ending up with a boozy coffee before we returned to the ship.
Jane was determined to get some sun, so after dumping our bags back in the room we headed to get a sunbed on the Grills Terrace. But the weather gods intervened and before we'd got an hour in it started to rain.

https://blog.rakkor.uk

 

[PAMJP]

We’re sailing in December in Princess grills, do you have complimentary bottled water in your cabin. The last few cruises we’ve done have been with Princess Cruises and I know they do in their Club class Mini suites but can’t remember if Cunard do also. Thanks

[rakkor]

Malaga - Tuesday 23rd November

 

We've nothing planned today so had a lie in before heading up to the PG for a leisurely breakfast. I tried to keep it light with an omelette again, but the pastries looked too nice so succumbed to a cinnamon danish.
We headed back to the stateroom to get some laundry out of the way as today is a quiet day for us. I was tasked with ironing several of Jane's dresses, she's left handed and apparently the fixed ironing boards are difficult to use. I find all ironing boards difficult to use so I'm not sure that washes with me, but anything for an easy life.
Once that was done I headed up to the Grills Terrace to bag a couple of sun loungers. It's not as chilly today, even out of the sun. I'd even taken my top off, to get some sun, much to the dismay of my fellow travellers. We had a late lunch in PG with the intention of sunning ourselves for an hour after and the heading into Malaga for a walk.
We were out for a couple of hours, just walking around. The shuttle into town seemed very slow, and it also felt uncomfortable, so rather than getting it back, we decided to walk back. It's a very nice walk, with a lovely promenade followed by the beach rather than just an industrial dock side.

 

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[majortom10]

15 minutes ago, PAMJP said:

We’re sailing in December in Princess grills, do you have complimentary bottled water in your cabin. The last few cruises we’ve done have been with Princess Cruises and I know they do in their Club class Mini suites but can’t remember if Cunard do also. Thanks

Yes yo do get complimentary bottled water in PG suites.

[PAMJP]

Thanks for your quick reply in clarifying that majortom10, also to rakkor as I’m enjoying reading your blog.

[rakkor]

Gibraltar - Wednesday 23rd November

 

My early morning alarm was a little earlier today, I was awakened by the ship's arrival into Gibraltar at 06:45. This is no bad thing as I wanted to get ahead of the curve ready for an exciting morning's shopping (btw this is sarcasm/irony) in Gibraltar.

I was alone for breakfast, Jane had booked room service ready for the rush out to the rock, so I went alone to the PG to collect postcards from our table mates that required posting at the Post Office, so saving them a trip if they were back late from their  tour.

 I was all done by 8:45 and picked Jane up from the Stateroom before we descended to Deck A and off the ship into Gibraltar. We walked to the centre rather than take the ship's shuttle buses, yet another futile weight management attempt. Needless to say a fortune was saved on our purchases...apparently. We wrote and posted postcards, then headed back to the ship to enjoy the last of our winter sun. The lower of the Grills terraces was mainly in shade, but it was glorious sunshine on the upper,  deck 12. It was lovely in the sun, but the chill in the air is very noticeable if the sun is obscured by a cloud. When this happened we decided it was Fish and Chips time in the pub. I followed this with half a sticky toffee pudding dessert as Jane, "didn't want one"

 

Edited November 24, 2021 by rakkor

[Host Hattie]

Has the Grills Courtyard been open this trip ?

[rakkor]

30 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Has the Grills Courtyard been open this trip ?

 

Yes, but it's only been usable for a couple of days and Lisbon

[BigMac1953]

On the 1 November trip, the Courtyard opened every port day.

 

 

[Host Hattie]

Thanks both, looks glorious.

[rakkor]

Heading Home - Thursday 24th November

 

It was obvious overnight that we'd entered the Atlantic, my bed was moving around, and not in a good way. The crash of the waves on the bow had also resumed, not to the same extent as when we passed Cadiz, but noticeable. It's a sea day so I've three lectures lined up starting at 10am, so a reasonably early breakfast was required. After a nice omelette we quickly popped to see the Concierge as, like a fool, I'd forgotten the Internet login for Jane's allowance. That will teach me to register the account as required and not both at the start of the cruise.

 

My first lecture was with Dr Sheona Urquhart and her talk on our planetary neighbors. Hers have been my favourite series of lectures so far on the cruise, always delivered in a relaxed and informative style.

 

 The second was Everest Explorer and mountaineer Cathy O'Dowd. She gave a very inspiring talk  on the trials of climbing Mount Everest. It was very good Indeed. I'm looking forward to her following lecture tomorrow.

The third and final of today's lectures is the return of Dave Mallinder and his "Singers of the Great American Song Book" Tony Bennett. His lecture was scheduled to start at 12:15, I assume, so as not to clash with the Captain's daily announcement, needless to say, the Captain was late with his announcement and cut Dave's lecture just as it was starting.

 

[Host Hattie]

I hope you don't have too bumpy a trip home.

[rakkor]

Last night was very bumpy, not helped by being right at the front. 5001 is a lovely cabin but it's so very noisy when the bow crashes through a wave

 

9 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I hope you don't have too bumpy a trip home.

 

[rakkor]

The Captain has just given his 12:00 briefing and says we're expecting the weather to deteriorate tonight to similar levels as last night which may affect our arrival into Soton Mayflower Terminal tomorrow.

 

https://blog.rakkor.uk

 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by rakkor

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for the update, P&O's Iona is due to be 24 hours late so it sounds rough out there.

Take care  

[rakkor]

Final Sea Day - Friday 26th November

 

That was a lumpy old night. The wind had really got up and coupled with quite a heavy swell we were rocking back and forth all night, accompanied by crashes and the ship's bow ploughed into the heavy seas. 5001 is a lovely suite, but not one for travellers that are sensitive to noise. Jane never made breakfast, but I popped up to Lido to grab her some Danishes to keep her strength up. Me I headed up to the PG restaurant for a proper breakfast before today's lectures.It was the final round of lectures, first up was Dave Mallinder speaking about Frank Sinatra. The second lecture was Cathy O'Dowd who talked about her attempt to conquer the last unclimbed ridge in the Himalayas, Manga Parbat, Pakistan's infamous "Killer Mountain" She certainly has a flair for the dramatic, and the talk was very entertaining.

Lastly came Dr Sheona Urquhart, who went off on a tangent to her usual Cosmology lectures to talk about a life without satellites and on pre-industrial navigation.

I managed to leave my Kindle in the theatre and by the time I had realised the doors were locked for rehearsal. After a bit of a faff and with help from the Purser's desk I retreived it in time for lunch in the PG 

 

https://blog.rakkor.uk

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by rakkor

[rakkor]

We've just been informed that we will be 4 hours delayed tomorrow, due to arrive at the Mayflower Terminal around 12:30 because of Storm Arwen

[rakkor]

Confirmation that our arrival time at the Mayflower Terminal is 11:50 and we have a scheduled disembarkation of 13:00 - We're currently bouncing along in the channel just past Brittany

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for the update, enjoy your last night onboard and the bonus morning !

[rakkor]

Change of plan again - Southampton is too dangerous to Dock, so we are now arriving tomorrow Sunday

[LadyL1]

Goodness, I have never known Southampton closed to cruise ships before!

We have at times thought of booking a forward deck 5 PG because of the space: in all honesty would you book one of these again?😬

Try if you can, to enjoy another day bobbing around on the ocean. Thank you very much for taking the time to post your musings.

[CarlaMarie]

55 minutes ago, rakkor said:

Change of plan again - Southampton is too dangerous to Dock, so we are now arriving tomorrow Sunday

 

Thank you for the updates. The next cruise has been cancelled due to your late arrival and the fact the next cruise is a short 4 night one to Rotterdam and Bruges.

Edited November 27, 2021 by CarlaMarie

[Host Hattie]

What a shame, I hope you're both OK

[cruzadict]

Yes we were advised at 10.30 this morning whilst in the hotel that the cruise is cancelled.  Full refund but no compensation.  Have to claim off travel insurance.

[CarlaMarie]

37 minutes ago, cruzadict said:

Yes we were advised at 10.30 this morning whilst in the hotel that the cruise is cancelled.  Full refund but no compensation.  Have to claim off travel insurance.

 

My parents live just over an hour from the port so they were at home when they got informed the cruise had been cancelled, but we really feel for all of you who had already travelled or were on the way.