Been There Thread, Our Cruise

Well this is the story of our Cruise around the British Isles.

We left home on Wednesday morning at eight o’clock to catch the coach to Victoria, that took five hours then we had to wait another three hours for the coach to take us to the ship that was docked at Tilbury. By the time we had got there gone through customs and had boarded we had to have lifeboat drill, all this went on until eight then we tried to get something to ear, we had booked the first sitting at dinner but was given second sitting, this did not start until eight thirty, so I did not fancy that. We ended up eating all the time in something they called the’ Bistro’.

Any way we fed that night and had a lot of coffee as we were so thirsty and of to bed, the ship went out deep into the North Sea and did a North Turn sometime in the Night and by golly was it rough. Up the next morning breakfast walk around the deck and nearly got blown away. Lunchtime had just finished eating it when I felt a little queer, done a three-minute mile into the loos and up it all came. We spent the afternoon in the ship’s library and went down to change for supper, just got into our cabin and everything in me came out in a jet stream of sea sickness, oh boy was I ever bad.

Next day we arrived at Invergordon, we had a visit booked to go to the Glenmarangie Distillery which I was really looking forward to but getting off the boat I felt a bit groggy but put that down to the after effects of the sickness, anyway all I remember from that point was climbing a lot of stairs and that’s all. Back on the coach the sweat was pouring off me and I just wanted to sleep so my dear wife stopped the coach and informed the driver, this brought onto the scene an ambulance and Paramedics who took me to a little highland hospital where I was given a sound and though examination, the trouble they found out was a severe case of dehydration, so they set about fixing this by filling me full of water, four pints they pushed into me before letting me go. We had to get a taxi back to the ship that was leaving in 20 minutes and the journey took half an hour but they waited for us, jump on board, gangplank up and away.

That night we steamed around the top of Scotland and arrived in the morning at Stornaway Isle of Lewis, we did not go ashore here but the scenery was really lovely the sea calm and inviting, we moved on again at 6 in the evening.

Next we arrived at Tobermory, Isle of Mull, once again such a pretty and tranquil looking place, my wife went ashore here and had a good time looking round but I could not face the ordeal of getting into a tender to be driven ashore, we have many photo’s of this.

Next stop Dublin, here I went ashore to as the ship was tied up at the dock. We had a sightseeing trip planned for but this started off on the wrong foot when it Was an hour late, the coach took us around Dublin and a fine city it is but we went passed the O’Connell statue three times, once in front and once on both sides.

Next the Scilly Isles, going down to these islands the weather took a turn for the worst and the seas got up to a good height, all organized trips were cancelled but you could go ashore by tender, once again I stayed on board but Shirley chanced it and visited the island. This was going to be one of the high lights of the whole trip with a visit to the Tresco Gardens and a tour of the island but cancelled.

Next to the Channel Islands, once again so rough that all was cancelled except for the tender to take anyone ashore who wanted to go, the seas were very high and Shirley went with some other people just really to say that we had been, on the trip out to the ship it took the tender ¾ to get alongside the ship and then he crashed into the side but all mad it back safely.

Next we stopped at a place in France called Honflour and had a coach trip to the Gardens of Monet, this was really more like it and we toured the garden for 1 ½ hours, then back on the ship for the return to Tilbury the next day. And to be honest it had not come soon enough for me, it then took us 9 hours to get home from there 9we could have driven ourselves or hired a cab and done it in three hours)

And as soon as we are back we have both suffered from Flue and I ended the night in Hospital on Friday.

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Honi Soit Qui Maly Pense

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Hope you feel better now Boger, if you are going again next year, give me a ring and I will run you to Tilbury, its just down the road from me!

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Definately a cruise to remember then.!!! :wink: :lol:

p.s. Bistro's are in all the pubs here in OZ...

Poor you Boger, what a trip to remember (for all the wrong reasons) hope you feel better now,


Joelle x

:? Very sorry to hear that.

I have seen these cruises advertised and often thought I would like to do one, but I am not 100% in rough seas, so I think I'll have another think!!!!!!

Hope you are feeling better

My experience of ships is that the bigger and faster the better for comfort.
Even then a big ship becomes boring after the first day.
Looking at some of the modern cruise ships, which I wouldn't waste my money on, the passengers appear crammed on and haven't room to move about unless you like crowds.
Shakespeare meant what he said when he coined the phrase "..But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in to saucy doubts and fears.."

The British Isles have some of the most turbulent waters in the world beaten only by the swells of the two Capes.

I wouldn't wish to travel on any such round UK trip, well done to you, Boger, for doing it!

I couldn't resist another quote from that scottish play which seems most appropriate for you Boger:-

"Now, good digestion wait on appetite,
And health on both! "

Thanks for your posts, perhaps a note on the food would be appropriate.
Every day there was a good selection but all very strange all sorts of things for breakfast lunch was roasts and a lot of continental stuff. Well the first roast I had the peas were in the salad area and freezing cold, most deserts were made up mostly from melon , I have had white ,green yellow and multi coloured red, water was only available to buy. But in our cabin there was one of these radios that don't actually switch off it just turns down so in the middle of the night you get Russian music coming from it, so I have one of those multi tools, took off the front and cut the wires to the speaker, that fixed that.
The crew were all Bulgarians the maids and waiters all Ukrainian and the rest a conglomerate of the UN.
But having said all that if you was well it was possibly a good trip and very interesting, but if you get sick as a good many people did it's torture.

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Honi Soit Qui Maly Pense

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spybot. adaware.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I presume you missed the call to abandon ship then?

Nice account Boger.................No use asking you to join "The Royal Navy" then?????!!!!!

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What a shame Boger, nothing worse than Sea sickness so you won't be booking again then?

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