| Breakfast and then on deck for the arrival and also get photos of AIDAmar. THIS time, they roped the forward observation deck off. It was a shame it was the only area left after Fred Olsen slapped the monobrow on top of the bridge, removing deck space (ditto the Spey and Avon Restaurants). As the AIDA was docking, I was chatting to a bloke who said, "Are you Patricia?" Ooh er, missus! Turned out he'd seen my name around the internet. I'm famous - or is it infamous? |
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| Thanks to another bad night on rock hard pillows, I decided to have a snooze afterwards but was woken up by a crew drill, which included noises coming from my obstructed view. I got up and went for lunch in Palms Cafe, returning to find Tata doing my room. I grabbed my cardie, as it was about ten degrees less than Zeebrugge, and headed off. Having a notice in the lift telling you where the gangway could be found is an excellent idea - when it's not wrong. It was deck 5 aft, moving to deck 4 forward about half an hour after I returned! Here too, they told you to take your passport due to immigration laws when no other line ever has. No one asked to look at it once. You were also ripped off a fiver for the shuttle. |
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| Over at Honfleur was Crystal Symphony, who arrived that morning and would be staying overnight but I had no idea - bugger! Couldn't see her but the bridge she was docked behind was visible. But there was a definite bonus ship coming from Rouen in the shape of Azamara Journey, who would be with us back in Southampton. She had left about 1pm and slowly made her way up the Seine towards open sea, finally emerging in the chilly, windy air around 7.35pm. I heard blasting when she was nearer but hadn't realised it was the AIDA buggering off. The Le Havre site said 10pm but it was 8pm - grrr! |
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| Fred Olsen claims, "It is not permitted to carry luggage ashore except for hand carry." Since when???? As I had a smaller case than usual, I'd intended to do just that as other lines do. Instead I had to pointless put it out for collection. Dinner and once again Irene was absent. This time Eileen and her mother were too. We left slightly earlier than planned. It was Micky Zany in the Neptune Lounge again so I skipped it after hearing he was meant to be unfunny and swore a lot during his set two night previously. Good comedians don't need to be rude or insulting if they're funny. I wonder if he and/or the Beatles Experience were drafted in to replace the original booking of the Osmonds? Well, three of them. Instead I went to bed. |
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And so after my last bad night on rock hard pillows, it made it incredibly easy to get up at 4.30am in the hope of catching Azamara Journey ahead of us. It was a bit windy and just getting light, which made photography a pain, but she was there all right! |
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Breakfast, which opened at 6.30am. As I waited in Palms Cafe, an elderly lady with a stick told me she's not allowed to keep her wheelchair in the cabin, even though it folds up. She also told me she cannot use it around the ship unless she visits the ships' doctor and proves she's disabled. I've never heard of anything so ridiculous but it does explain why I saw one scooter parked by a wall instead of wheelchairs and scooters running people over. They have ramps on the Prom deck, even though it's really far too narrow, so what's the point? Considering the vast majority of Fred Olsen's passengers are old with mobility issues, they are being very short-sighted caring more about their carpets than a person's safety. After all, they could easily fall over, break something and sue the company because they had been banned from using their wheelchairs. I really hope that lady was a one-off case and not the norm. My obstruced view was blocked for a while by a box boat, whose crew waved and called to ours. |
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And so to the farce of disembarkation, where everyone sat around waiting for any sort of announcement whatsoever. Many could have gone! It was deck order and by port and starboard. Mine was called at 7.55am and was I glad to just go. Although, as I went down the stairs, the group of people waiting on deck 5 were told they could leave! Bloody cheek! No consistency whatsoever. So the verdict? Well I can't fault the ship. She's a wonderful addition to the Fred Olsen fleet, with her spacious public rooms, easy layout and gorgeous deck areas. It was just the rest of the trip, which has unfortunately put me off booking another cruise any time soon. As no two cruises are the same, I will go again but am in no hurry to after this. I overheard too many say it was their first and LAST Fred Olsen cruise. These short trips are supposed to showcase what the line has to offer so first time passengers would be impressed enough to return. Such a shame. To see more photos of the ships at our various ports of call, click on the Other Stalking index, while those of Balmoral and Azamara Journey sailing can be found here. |
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