| Below is a marvellous painting. It's a scene from 1990 with the old-style Red Funnel ferry and hydrofoil as well as Canberra behind Lizzie. I just love it. Looking at all these paintings it made me wonder if they will also be going with the ship next year or returned to the original artist. Cunard make such a big deal of heritage yet sold her lock, stock and barrel thus losing so much of it. |
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| After killing some time waiting for as many people to get off as possible before I did, I finally succumbed to the cold to get photos of Her Majness and Aurora. Pam was also keen for me to get all the horribles. Bad enough the view from my portholes were of the dreaded Cobalfret ferries without everything else! |
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| Time to go onto the dock to get photos of the two Southampton girls together. This would be the only time I left the ship as I have seen Bruges etc already. Aurora may be my favourite existing ship but I'm very attached to Lizzie and it was great having the ships with my current and next cruises together for the entire weekend. Despite the clear blue sky and sun it was absolutely bitter in that wind. There were several others taking photos of our ship too. |
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| There was a tape separating us from them. It was here I got talking to a German man. He had flown over from Frankfurt to go on Lizzie before she goes which isn't cheap. He was telling me he was in MO - cupboard class - and when he was taken there the woman said to him, "Here is your suite"! We both thought that was really funny. He was also telling me about Aida cruises and the former Aidablu, now Ocean Village Two. She sounds like a really nice ship. I told him about P&O and their weekenders as he's never done them and how much cheaper, even for a balcony, they are than Cunard. |
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| We decided to risk the barrier. After all they could only tell us to bugger off. It was actually much warmer this end with less of that biting wind. We reached the stern and I was shocked to see.......... |
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| Hamilton! Just five days earlier when she arrived back in Southampton on the 10th before having a four-day wet dock it was London. They kept that quiet even though, with the rest of the fleet plus Ventura being registered there, it was only a matter of time before she joined them. So quiet Southampton VTS and the Port of Zeebrugge list her as GB flagged. The final P&O ship registered in this country. End of an era thanks to this government not changing the rules to allow weddings onboard. It's so sad really and makes me wonder how long Cunard will keep Southampton. I wasn't happy even though I knew it would happen one day but glad I sailed on her while she was still UK registered. We chatted for a while with a woman who was on Lizzie but not a first-timer - hooray! I was beginning to think I was the only one. I got a horrible arriving for Pam then we made our way back towards Lizzie. |
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| By now my hands were so raw and fingers stiff I went back inside. Some of the excursion people had returned so there was a bit of a queue. We were all rushed through security. As I made my way back to the cabin to defrost for the umpteenth time I noticed one of the doors behind the sofa near it was open so I quickly took the photo below. |
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| Afternoon Tea was at 4pm. I went down at 3.30 to make sure I got a seat. The waiters were setting the tables before waiting behind a door to come out at the annointed time. A couple sat with me as there weren't many chairs available. The harp music was a recording of Christmas tunes. Our waiter Anton came over with the sandwiches. He told us they were a choice of cheese, cucumber, egg, pate or penguin. That got a few strange looks. I didn't think they'd actually have penguin as animal rights activists would have had something to say so chose one. No idea what it really was but it tasted like plain, old-fashioned bread and butter. |
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| As we were finishing the prepared for the next lot to serve. An elderly man sat in the spare chair and had clearly never done this before. He kept signalling to various passing waiters who naturally were ignoring him. Even when Anton said he would serve him shortly he kept doing it. As the light would soon be gone I went out to get some photos of Aurora again. |
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| Aurora was due to sail at 5.30pm with us half an hour later. The curse of Hamilton tranfers afflicted her now like Oriana who became an unreliable pain since re-registry last year. Nothing was happening. A rope or two did actually go in but that was all. They just hung there with a lot of shouting between the ship and two men on the dock. The men were then joined by another two and they talked, looked at the ropes, talked, stood around. Aurora put a light onto them so they could see what they were doing. The ropes looked very tangled in daylight so I dread to think how they were trying to manage in the dark. You would think, with her arriving after and leaving before us, her ropes would have been on top and not muddled with ours. They eventually dropped two of ours and we wound them in. They then had to detangle the lines before Aurora's were finally free and dropped in the water. Meanwhile we were being attacked by a tug up our bum. Aurora began to move at our time with us following quarter of an hour later but neither of us blasted. |
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| I went in as we were turning to change for dinner. Formal night. I cut through the Lido which was empty and the staff gathered around a table. |
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| I was the first at the table so talked a while with Francis. I asked what happened to David and he told me he was now on Queen Victoria. So I asked what he'll do when Lizzie goes. "I'll go down with the ship," he laughed. He doesn't know what he'll do but is planning on settling down. Like last time, we were all given copies of the dinner and luncheon menus signed by the waiters as a souvenir. By the time Pat and Jackie arrived I was on the main course but then took a photo of Vijay and Wendy. |
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| Les and Pat & Ian and Mary arrived. The dessert menu was taken off me for some reason but I didn't think anything of it. Some time later a cake was put in front of me! Now as you normally have to have your birthday during a cruise, and then pay for cakes yourself, this was completely unexpected. Thankfully the maitre'd said they don't sing. Phew! Bad enough listening to all that on Oriana two months ago over both nights! My table companions sang instead. There was someone else in the restaurant actually having a birthday so I did feel a little like a fraud. I'm not complaining though. Not every day you get a cake like that. I think they were a little disappointed I asked to take it home but as my parents had paid for the cruise for my birthday it only seemed right to share it with them. It was a wonderful gesture and the cake is wonderful. I'm not too keen on dark chocolate and while it looks stodgy it was very light and tasted of cherry liqueur. The bit on top had coconut in. |
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| Despite the cake being wrapped in foil before the maitre'd put it in a small carrier bag, how the hell was I going to keep it flat? Well first thing I did was leave my companions after coffee to take it to the cabin. On the information channel about putting the clocks back, half a dozen or so Andy Williams songs were on a loop. I hit the shops! It was so hard finding anything without that bloody 1967-2008 on. On the notable dates they didn't even list the maiden voyage so the brainwashing is ongoing. The 1969 T-shirts had vanished but the keyring was still available. The prices were astronomical as well. The bears, such as they were, had increased since last year and weren't nearly as good. I bought one for Rowan and it was double the smallest one I got last time. I got talking to a man about all this 1967 crap and he said I'd put him off buying a top now. He called his brother over, saying I was going to shatter his illusions. At the till I asked if I could have another bag to put the cake in and she gave me one. I'm so glad it's Cunard bags now rather than the duty free ones we had last year. As I was tired I went back to the cabin to sort everything going in the case before putting it out. Andy Williams was still on his loop. It was only later I realised I'd packed my thick cardigan I'd need in the morning but the case had been taken. I checked the channels and saw a little dot on the webcam which was Aurora up ahead. |
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| The alarm went off at 5am. We were approaching Calshot and I saw Aurora had passed the refinery. I didn't go outside until we had gone by too as it was just so cold. Far too dark for photos of the other ship unfortunately. I headed for the observation deck and there were a few brave or foolhardy souls out. There was a terrible wind chill coming from the starboard side so I went port. |
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| The tugs were waiting near Hythe rather than the usual Netley. I watched us pass on Hythe pier's webcam which was a very surreal experience seeing yourself arrive instead of just looking at the ship from your computer. |
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| The following few photos are more illusions caused by night shot mode. Being pitch black at 6.20am, in reality you could barely see the bow. I was surprised the one below came out so bright but even though it's nothing like it was at the time, I think it's one of the best I've taken so decided to use it. The others are purely because the bow is so clear even if the background, due to us moving in the turning circle, isn't. |
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| The wind chill was now port side so I didn't stay to see us dock. My hands were so raw again. When I returned to the cabin I found Fidel changing the bed ready for the next passenger. He thought he was safe! He's another who doesn't know what he'll do when the ship goes. He told me he'd been on her 22 years, there's no job security any more and he's stayed out of loyalty. He's gone home to the Philipines now but does have another contract he said. |
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| The Britannia opened at 7am for breakfast. I said goodbye to Francis, explaining I'll be in Mauretania next year to which he gave me a pitying look. It was nice to see him again even though he didn't remember me or Rowan and her large print menus. |
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| I packed my goodies and as I was coming out the door thought I'd better check I hadn't forgotten anything. Good job I did as I left the card on the dressing table! I waited on one of the sofas for my deck to be called, which it was at 8.45am. They now also take your card. As I got to Midships Lobby I asked when the policy changed and she said about two months ago. I still can't see the point of it. The cards are of no use to them. Even if it's part of Carnival's recycling policy it's still risky with identity theft, having to sign the back of the card. Anyone can get hold of them and forge your signature. I would prefer to keep them but if they cut them up in front of you it would at least make it better. I collected my case and headed out, noticing the picture on the wall had now also been removed. My taxi driver used to be a plumber for six years on the ship in the early 70s so we had an interesting conversation as I came home. |
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| So that was the end of my second trip on Lizzie. It has beaten Navigator of the Seas as my favourite cruise so far. I love being aboard her. She is the last true liner and even the driver can't see her being successful in Dubai after the novelty wears off. Sailing on her is magical despite not being to everyone's taste. Queen Mary 2 is a worthy successor if only she would stop being a Caribbean cruise ship. Queen Victoria on the other hand is just the same as the other Vistas which was a wasted opportunity. I cannot wait to step aboard Lizzie again next year with Rowan, Amy and her hubby for our week-long voyage! |
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