| I'd popped to the photo shop to look at the Cork photo only to find it wasn't there. I asked one of the salesmen if that's all there were and he said yes. Even he had no luck so filled in a reprint form, telling me to go back after 6pm so I went back to the cabin to await the arrival of Black Watch which was due for noon. I noticed the cup I'd used hadn't been replaced and he'd put wooden sticks in place of the spoons. I kept an eye out for the gorgeous one and as I did the crew were called to do a drill which would be right below me. Originally Black Watch was going to berth at the deepwater terminal but when our trip was brought forward they had to change their plans and she went to Ringaskiddy, tendering the passengers. She blasted but then snubbed us completely, blasting again to herself after she was well past. I hope Ringaskiddy is their equivalent of the naughty corner and she wasn't let out until she was sorry. She's only jealous because she doesn't have a modified Ducky Bum and we could use her as a tender if needs be. It was quite exciting with everything going on at once as at 10.37am she came into view on this gorgeous spring day. I didn't know which thing to photograph from one minute to the next. |
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| It was formal night and this is where it differs from what I've been used to so instead became farcical night. Instead of the Captain's party being between sittings, have your photo taken with him if you want then wait in the lounge until his speech (or in Vision's case it was all in the lounge), this was one for each sitting and the Compass stated it was in the Royal Promenade. People in their daywear were being given the booze as they walked through. It was the worst champagne I've ever had on Royal Caribbean. Flavoured, I overheard a bar steward tell someone. It tasted like it too and wasn't very nice. The departure from Cobh was 6pm, the same time as first sitting. They didn't even defer it so passengers who wanted to see the departure could with no pressure. After all, there's only one first time. When they dropped Guernsey they could have just added those two hours if we had to stay so long thus giving everyone more time to do anything. He announced we would be leaving at 6.05 so would be later as well. The idiot who came up with these daft timings should be demoted or sacked! It was only the one real low point of the entire trip. Once he'd brought out Godmother Elizabeth Hill and got us all to applaud his staff it was a mad dash to the deck. |
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| Starboard was virtually deserted, a few people coming and going but no one stayed that side. Many vessels awaited our sailing, including the pilot boats while a helicopter flew around overhead. |
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| Port, on the other hand, was jam packed but I managed to squeeze in. A band played on the quayside and there were more people at all the vantage points than had seen us arrive. They were all shouting and cheering and loved it when we blasted. Many people aboard shouted back to them. It was truly amazing. |
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| In to dinner so didn't see the rest of the departure. The menu unfortunately, even with formal night, was just as uninspiring as the previous couple of nights. They really need to change everything and have more variety. As I tried to return to the cabin afterwards, the Royal Promenade was even worse to get through with the shops open, stalls out and the late sitting party passengers. This really hadn't been thought through. Why couldn't they do the same as on Navigator? It worked on that. It took more than ten minutes to get through the hoardes when normally it would be a couple from one end to the other. They ought to do like Navigator and have the formal on the first day in Cobh. If people want to attend they will. It would have solved a lot of problems if it had been along those lines. Back in the cabin I found more gifts. The certificate was really wonderful even if it was over a photo of Freedom. The other picture was Indy and it was such a marvellous gift. We had a gorgeous sunset and it was a bit breezy but a nice night. Wrote the postcards then went to bed. |
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| 5.25am I had a rude awakening by the foghorn! Many people I spoke to during the day had no idea it had even been going off. It is LOUD and eventually seemed to stop more than an hour later when I drifted off back to sleep. |
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| When I got up properly the fog had mainly cleared leaving some dense patches. Room service again and as I was eating, I heard a noise coming from the door. The steward was pushing things through. It was a note about an art auction. Next another noise and an invitation to see the preview ice show. As I'd missed the others I wasn't going to miss that. |
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| I was so glad the fog had cleared completely when I went for a wander to let the steward do my cabin. They were still trying to get people to pre-order the DVD in the photo shop, which wasn't ready yet. I bumped into Caryll and Sandra. Caryll was more impressed now with the Royal Caribbean gifts after the certificate and reminded me of the Cruise Connections meet in the Viking Crown Lounge at 4pm. I also saw Elizabeth Hill and chatted a while with her. Her husband and daughter were on the trip and they were enjoying it. Royal Caribbean Godmothers only have 10 years of free cruising but still have to pay for everything else. Her daughter ended up taking many photos as either my eyes were closed or her mother had an odd expression but we got there in the end. She's a very nice woman who is still overawed by it all and they couldn't have picked a better Godmother. |
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| As the cabin hadn't been done, I waited then wandered yet again. I stopped at one point and below was the entrance to the Pyramid Lounge. There was also a lot of hammering going on which is worrying on a new ship. Caryll and Sandra waylaid me as I began to walk around the deck and they came to have a look at my cabin then I went to their inside. It wasn't bad considering it had no view and the bathroom was about the same size. Their steward had told them the coffee table book about building Indy could be taken. When I returned to my cabin he was doing it so I asked and he said it had to stay. |
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| When he went back and he had done I discovered while he had replaced the teabags and sugar, there were no cups. They really need to work on that. It was raining by 3pm which wasn't what anyone wanted. I went to the Viking Crown Lounge to wait for the meet. The only people I knew what they looked like were Caryll and Sandra so I sat at the bar keeping an eye on the door for them. I ended up chatting to three people from South Shields and it was only when I left to go to Studio B I found the group! That night was also an opportunity to have your photo taken with the captain. The only drawback was it was between 5.30-6.30pm so you can imagine the queue. Those at the show on first sitting didn't have a chance toI bumped into Heather and Malcolm when I was almost there so we sat together inside and she told me about their neightmare trip on Legend. The show began and was meant to be music from the 1940s-70s only for some reason they had Bicycle Race by Queen in the 60s when it was 1978! The 70s were all Abba. |
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| At dinner there was a large Caesar salad for the table which reduced my choice of starter. We were passed by a warship which got a few people talking. The restaurant was almost full which is unusual for tips night. There's a few teething problems but after more cruising they should be ironed out. |
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| I went back to the cabin and found the cruise DVD on the bed so went to the photo shop to find out if they had the Cork photo and for a refund. Anet, who had taken the Cork photo in the first place arranged for a refund for the DVD while another woman took the slip for the reprint and came back with the new boarding photos with the correct date. I explained that wasn't the photo but didn't even know they'd printed them again. They really should have had a sign or informed everyone who had bought the original. I had to return the old one so quickly took a pic as a memento. |
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| After a couple of hours, there was no sign of the DVD refund on my SeaPass account so I went back to the photo shop to find out why. The assistant manager was very helpful and even tried to find the Cork reprint but in the end it turned out they couldn't refund there and had to go to Guest Relations. How stupid! And I never did get the Cork photo. The parade was 10.45pm so I went for that. I bumped into Caryll and Sandra again then Jennie and her mother who was really enjoying herself. Elizabeth Hill and her family were also there. |
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| Had a cake and coffee in Cafe Promenade with Caryll and Sandra afterwards then went to bed. It had been a long day and I had to get the case out then try to sleep in the force 6. Early call in the morning as we were due in for 5.15am! That's a ridiculous time but excellent for any ships following as we're already waiting! My colour was yellow so I was due to disembark between 7.25-8am anyway. More wandering and still annoyingly everything was flipping locked! I couldn't even get a decent, unpopulated shot of the ice rink because of the locked door. |
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| Aurora was due to arrive originally for 6.30am then it was 6.40. Queen Victoria was 7am. I had arrived with Aurora when on Oceana, except she was already in so it would be great with her having to pass. QV would be docking back at QEII. QV wasn't that far behind Aurora and when both were in view, my male neighbour said to whoever it was, "It's Aurora and the QE2. How nice." Later QE2 became QM2. |
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| Once they were almost docked I decided to go and get the Windjammer, Jade, Chops Grille and Portofino as I hadn't. They're pretty much the same as Navigator and the Windjammer was just as crowded. |
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| I went down to wait in the Schooner Bar for my colour but, like on Navigator, we were being told to just go as all the luggage was off so I did. The sooner I'm off, the sooner I can catch up on my sleep! |
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| So that was that. I took my maiden voyage goodies home and caught up on sleep. Overall not a bad cruise and on par with Navigator and Vision. Some things could be vastly improved though as you'd expect some standardisation across the fleet. The crew were terrific and Ken Rush worked hard to make it a memorable cruise entertainment-wise. Let's hope if Indy's a success they give us a Project Genesis! To see photos of Indy's maiden voyage departure, click here. For more of Black Watch arriving in Cobh click here. And for Aurora and QV arriving click here. |
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