| And so outside for photos so the ships needed their best cheesy grins. It was raining a little so out came the umbrella but then it stopped thankfully. Then I chatted to a Belgian crew member from Reflection who had worked on Connie, retaining a soft spot for her, and loved Reflection, telling me about the changes made from the other Solstice class ships. |
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| There was quite a queue for taxis and I shared one with a couple from Quebec who were travelling on Reflection. I gave the husband my half of the fare when we arrived and he insisted on giving me some change because it wasn't quite €10. They and many others were heading to Paris. I knew of one American couple from our ship who had booked a hotel on the Champs Élyseé for the night, but had no idea if they would be on our train, though as it was the first of the day, probably. I got chatting to an English couple from my ship who were also going to Rouen so we sat together during the journey. Their son works as an officer on NCL while they're in the travel industry themselves doing reccies at places. They had also been on the QE2's 2007 world cruise when she was hit by a rogue wave so told me all about that. No one checked our tickets during the entire journey. We went our separate ways at the station as I went to find Marie. We wandered around before she asked some locals if there was somewhere with crepes nearby. Being a Sunday, much was closed but it was also nice and peaceful. As we were inside the restaurant, the rain came down. It thankfully turned to light rain and stopped not long after we'd finished. We met the couple again before Marie led us to platform 1 then headed to 8 for her own train. When the man checked the tickets he told me off for not validating mine - oops! For those who don't know, you stick it in a machine to have holes punched but if you print it off, his machine scans the bar code so you don't have to. |
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| We waited about half an hour for a taxi, sharing it with one of the photographers on Reflection, who told her the crew shuttle dropped them off there. Why can't the passenger one???? Her previous ship had been Liberty of the Seas and she was really enjoying her new home. Back onboard, I found my toothpaste and brush has been put in a glass. That was so sweet. Daily curry time in the Seaside and we had a great view of Reflection. |
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| I was knackered so had a kip before dinner. Reflection was sailing at midnight so I went to wait. Back on time the heavens opened! Makes me glad she was a little over thirty minutes late! She slipped out quietly then I went to bed once she was through the breakwater. |
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| Since I wasn't doing anything the next day and we didn't sail until 11pm, I stayed in bed catching up on sleep. In fact, I didn't get up until a whopping 1.40pm! Well the boys knocked off at noon so couldn't do the room until that night but it wasn't important. I went to grab a late lunch when one of the waiters saw my apples and said, "Don't bite one or you'll fall asleep". So that's why I slept so long! at 3.20pm, Ricardo knocked on the door saying he had just come back on duty and can he do the room. This was a definite first. I cleared off fast and decided to sign up for the internet. When I went back, the Norman Voyager was making a racket as it sailed by my window. |
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| After the usual daily curry, another nap then I popped to Michael's Club and managed to get a seat! Perry Grant was on top form as usual. His has such a unique act that when they ruin the room and he's on Eclipse, it will be a great loss to Connie. But he needs to be in Michael's Club, not the Sky Lounge. Does the person who makes these decisions actually sail on the ships or seen his performances? While the Solstice versions of Michael's Club are in a stupid location, easily missed (such as the poor piano player on Equinox with an audience of bar staff), it is the perfect COSY environment. I fear with a huge space it won't work and Perry will have to try and find another cruise line who wants something different instead of same old safe piano, boring players barely anyone listens to. |
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| After dinner I went on deck for sailaway and as I was tweeting, saying I was waiting, we were moving fifteen minutes early! Captain Peppas hadn't given a pre-departure announcement so it was unexpected. I had seen on the shipping forecast rough seas were in the Channel - wooo! It was at least dry but the wind whipped up, putting my hood up, so I didn't stay out too long then wasted time trying to connect to the internet so went to bed. |
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| Connie doesn't half creak which isn't reassuring or soothing like the QE2 was, but bloody annoying! I decided to try the internet again at 3am and it worked - woo! So I spent the next two hours on it before going back to bed after 5am. It was a bit bouncy so I went to get some pics before shopping and the bloke said he had been selling loads of seasickness pills. It wasn't THAT bad! |
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| At lunch in the Seaside, an old bloke was complaining to an assistant Maitre d' about the ship, saying Thomson was better. Well it takes all sorts but clearly he didn't appreciate class! I completely agreed with him over the gangways in Le Havre being too high. It seems to be only RCCL lines, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, who want to kill you. Mind you, compared to Solstice class mountaineering to and from deck 5, Connie was easy! It was a lazy day so I spent it either sleeping or taking photos of the sea, hoping it would be worse than it was. It got up to at least a force 7 which is rubbish! We had been pitching and rolling a bit though and she handled that very well. It was interesting watching the other traffic and I wondered what we looked like. |
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| Our first of three formal nights and to my surprise, the veg I had pre-ordered came on a separate plate as well as with my meal! It's a pity the lighting is so crap in the San Marco, making it hard to take pictures. We also each had a red wine sorbet, which was very nice. Afterwards was Captain Peppas followed by iHollywood, which I'd enjoyed in December then much needed sleep. |
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| Ah, Le Verdon. I hadn't been here since the 25th October 2008 on the QE2, which turned out to be my last port on her due to missing Guernsey the next day. Then it had been 25c. This day was 17c and wet! Because it was raining and the gangway was incredibly high, I decided to skip my 10.15am shuttle. After I got up, I popped out for photos and noticed the sign welcoming Norway was STILL there after all these years. I'd thought it a mistake in 2008, now I realised they couldn't be arsed taking it down. Since the weather was currently dry and gangway much easier to traverse, I went down to get the shuttle. Because of the set time on my ticket, I thought I'd have to buy another but they said it was fine. Why have times then???? We arrived at the shuttle stop in Soulac around noon. Many places were shut or shutting. It was nice being back at this pretty town, though better when it's warmer! |
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