| It began to spit with rain so we went back inside and decided to go to bed. In the morning Tahitian Princess was due to join us at 9am. Rowan didn't want to get up since she hadn't been sleeping well for some time so I went on deck solo in the hope it wasn't raining. Thankfully, although it was wet, it was just cloudy and cold as the Princess was getting closer. |
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| After another room service breakfast, we decided to take a wander across the bridge to the other side, as Pam and I had done when we were on Norwegian Gem. I just hoped I remembered the way! There were no passport checks and after walking through the terminal, we went around the front before making our way down the road in the opposite direction. It was bitterly cold and quite breezy, quite a change from the day before. |
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| We went back to the terminal to warm up and did a little shopping from one of the souvenir stalls before reboarding. Then we went for lunch in the Windjammer where we had a rather interesting cottage pie. The minced beef was like chilli con carne minus kidney beans while the topping was sauteed potatoes instead of mash. That was the only thing which let it down because it was hard with no flavour. |
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| After an afternoon nap, we went on deck for the departure of Tahitian Princess, which was at 5pm with us following an hour later. By now it was pouring with rain so we stayed undercover. |
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| Before 6pm the Captain came on to tell us we'd be leaving soon and he'd use the horn. Well he did but disappointingly only the once. The port people didn't give any kind of send off to Tahitian Princess or us when it was a maiden call for both ships. |
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| As we were changing for formal night, the Captain came over the loudspeaker announcing a very interesting sight - a dry ski slope! We got the feeling he was a little embarrassed by the time he finished making excuses as to why he found it fascinating. The Captain's Welcome Aboard Reception in the Some Enchanted Evening Lounge had no captain and no decent waiters! We eventually found a seat but did anyone come? One did with nibbles but offered them only to the people opposite, ignoring everyone else completely. There I'd been raving to Rowan about how superior it was to Cunard and it turned out to be worse. Yet last year plus Navigator and Indy it wasn't like that. Because the captain was on the bridge as we went through the locks, we had a chief engineer or something. Why do they insist on this ship the maiden voyage was the 27th April 1998 when it was the 2nd May, which it also says on the Royal Caribbean site? |
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| Well as the head waiter promised, we had first class service. So first class we'd finished by 9.45pm! He told us not to go anywhere and I guessed it would be O Sole Mio again like before. What was amusing was all the people on the captain's table with no guest of honour. Still they can always brag about being on it. |
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| While Rowan went to see the show Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme in the theatre, I made my way to the Schooner Bar for British Pub Night. I was curious to see how an American cruise line did something like that. The piano player was Simon John who played an entire set of Elton John songs. He had a backing arrangement and while it started out enjoyable, became boring after a while, especially since some arrangements didn't fit the song. |
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| It began at 11pm and was generally a quiz lasting nearly an hour before a brief singalong of mainly choruses. I teamed up with a family and a Norwegian couple. We came joint fourth with seventeen out of twenty five which wasn't bad. Then I returned to the cabin where I found Rowan already and went to bed. |
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| There was a lot of rocking during the night and a wardrobe door in a neighbouring cabin kept banging throughout the night. We discovered it was a force 8! But neither of us felt the slightest bit seasick. I was woken up at 6.55am by Patrick calling the mobile. He won't use his onboard a ship yet I've had a high charge. He made more promises of getting me on Jewel, even paying if he couldn't get me on via friends and family. After breakfast we went for a wander then out on deck. It was a little calmer but the sea spray was a nightmare, while the starboard side was the windiest so we didn't venture there. |
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| We went for lunch in the main dining room but service was pretty slow. We just about made it for the 1.30pm Parade of Flags in the Centrum. Surprisingly there weren't many people around. Seasick or not interested I have no idea. It wasn't as good as the year before and there was no captain leading the way. |
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| Afterwards Matt announced they were selling T-shirts for $10 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There had been due to be a charity walk around the top deck but the weather put pay to that. Rowan and I bought one then went for a wander as I showed her the Solarium. |
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| At 2pm, Captain Neerland had a photo session in the Centrum. It was only half an hour and a very small queue when we went. As soon as I said I was from Southampton, I didn't get, "Oh that's where Independence is based" but, "You have one of our footballers. Claus Lundekvam." Well we did but he'd retired. Rather annoyingly, in a change to the past, they wanted luggage out between 7-11pm. So we put ours out at 8.30pm then went to dinner. Our service returned to normal and all over another steak! It was yet more singing from the waiters. |
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| I took Rowan to see The Quest in the Some Enchanted Evening Lounge. Again there weren't many around when last time it was hard to find an empty seat. Perhaps many didn't understand what it was. It was still fun with cruise director Matt. We'd only intended to watch but ended up joining with a young Norwegian couple. Sadly we only managed three points because while the woman was really into it, her other half wasn't. Even I'd done the dying fly! That's on video, no photos of the event. One passenger became injured but there was an osteopath in the audience who popped his knee back in before he was taken away by the ship medical staff. |
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| Afterwards we went back to the cabin. The suitcases were only just being collected which was ridiculous. Also many people had room service menus on the door handles. |
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| The following morning was our arrival in Oslo and where we got off. We were up early and went on deck. It was pouring and freezing so we couldn't stay out. We docked in the container terminal by the ferries, which was annoying, but we didn't realise that at the time. |
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| We said goodbye to our steward Danilo then went to the theatre to wait for our colour to be called. He was the third who told me it was unlikely Patrick would get me on Jewel. Our colour was meant to be at 9.10am but there were delays. First of all it was the luggage and then someone had an accident in the terminal I say terminal, it was a flipping tent! But we were kept amused anyway as we waited. Eventually our Purple 2 was called at 9.35am and we were led out. |
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| Because the weather was so bad it put the mockers on our sightseeing plans so we decided to cut our losses and head straight to the airport. Since the flight wasn't until 8.50pm we'd be there too early and the blurry picture below is the last shot of the ship we saw. |
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| The taxi cost us 670 kroner which wasn't bad really. They were good at the airport. Since a few other people had the same idea, they opened check in early. By 11am we were in the security queue to go through to departures. Their equipment is so sensitive it set nearly everyone off! Even the hand held scanners would peep when near your back or feet. We got on our nice plane in the end at 8.30pm and the man who was 11B, next to me, offered to swap with Rowan (11F) so we could be together. We left slightly late due to a couple of passengers checking in but not boarding so they removed the luggage. |
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| We arrived at Heathrow's infamous Terminal 5 at 10pm on the dot. It was a less painful procedure than April 2008 and we were out by 10.25pm so perhaps it all took so long before due to coming from LA. Rowan was quite impressd as well since this was her first time on a plane in seven years. So the verdict. I love Vision so she can never be faulted. It felt like the same cruise onboard as last year, just minus three days. It was also interesting to see how things were the same but different depending on US cruise director and team versus UK and European. Something was definitely missing this time. Probably the enthusiasm you get from the Americans. Also this captain wasn't like the other one so that could be part of it. Still a great cruise and what an adventure! To see more photos of Celebrity Constellation on the 2nd May, click here. For Queen Victoria in Rotterdam, click here. For Rotterdam (V), click here and for Tahitian Princess click here. |
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