It’s a Long Way to the Ship if your Suitcase Doesn’t Roll (with apologies to AC/DC)

Cruise embarkation day! While we slept, our ship, the Pacific Princess, pulled into Dover, and was awaiting our arrival. Turns out overnight she was also involved in the rescue of three fishermen, and news crews have been on board. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/25/cruise-passengers-clap-as-pacific-princess-rescues-fishermen

Meanwhile we were busy eating the last of our food, packing our suitcases, and mustering up the energy for the 2.5 km walk to the cruise terminal. We’d seen a website which declared “you cannot walk from Dover to the cruise terminal”. That was a red rag to a bull. Why not? We had all morning. So off we set, suitcases rolling along beside us.

We could see the ship long before we reached it. A strong head wind threatened to blow us off our feet as we hit the waterfront. The port security guard was bemused to see passengers on foot, but he happily directed us into the waiting lounge. We decided that if there was a competition for people who’d wheeled their luggage the furthest, we would win hands down. That’s because NO-ONE ELSE WAS SILLY ENOUGH.

A nice man relieved us of the cases, and we sat down with a sigh of relief. We were above the old railway station, where passengers could once catch a train from London’s Victoria Station, right to Dover Pier, and stay on the train which rolled onto the ferry to France. A quick engine change, and the train rolled right off again and into Paris. Makes you wonder why they needed the Channel Tunnel.

Within an hour we were on board, armed with our Cruise Cards and a wealth of information about how we could spend our time and our money. It didn’t take long to explore the ship. As the smallest in the Princess fleet, it only holds around 600 passengers. It took us days to work out how to navigate around Regal Princess; we had this one sussed pretty quickly. The décor is pleasantly old fashioned and we feel like we are in a grand hotel. Our cabin is on deck 4, amidships, so we are not too far away from anything really. We have a cabin window this time, and places to put everything and keep things ship-shape. The library is huge for a ship’s library, and looks very inviting. The weather, on the other hand, does not. No hot tubs or poolside lounges today. We are very happy that we went to the Castle yesterday. The jousting knights would be very soggy today.

Having had a nice buffet lunch, unpacked, and attended the safety drill, we are now awaiting departure, which has been delayed about an hour. We probably won’t be allowed on the open deck to see the white cliffs as we sail away. The waves outside the harbour have white caps, and we expect some rock and roll on the way out, although the captain assures us the weather will improve as we go north.

Tomorrow is all day at sea, then we pull in to Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, on Tuesday.