A fast escape from dinner, which wasn't easy with such slow service even on days hardly anyone went and a Sommelier serving something like a dozen or more tables.  I saw Caryll Young on the way to the theatre, which was ironic as she wished me a Happy Birthday on Facebook without saying she was there too.  Rob went to the Golden Lion while I popped in the theatre to have a look at the show.  It looked good but standing room only so I went to meet Rob.  I hadn't been sat down more than a couple of minutes with no time to order a drink when Patrick Patton, the piano player, announced someone called Patsy had a birthday, resulting in Rob breaking into a huge grin.  Meanwhile, I wished the floor would swallow me up as the singing began, mainly because Patrick is my ex-boyfriend who accused me of doing something I hadn't so it didn't end well, and I'm sure it wouldn't have been easy for him either, even though we first saw each other since then on this same ship thirteen months earlier and had talked.  Rob had no idea about our history.  I'd mentioned to him that Derek Conlon had sung at me a year before and since there was none at dinner, he decided to to that for me.  His heart's in the right place and is a great friend.  Before leaving, I explained to Patrick that Rob didn't know about us as Rob went to get a new keycard as his wasn't working.  

There'd been several people on the ship with the same problem and even I'd had trouble now and again.  I found him still at the Purser's desk after Patrick and I finished talking and told the Purser about the soft drinks package plus the sticker malarkey we went through in July, being sent to the Golden Lion to get one only to be told the Purser's desk had them.  The Purser insisted we go there as they had them. Three guesses what happened!  Yep, deja vu!  The bar people said they only had stickers for the first and second days and the Purser's desk knew that so we went back.  The Purser became very obnoxious, insisting that was wrong, there were none in the office because he knows it and he got on the phone to sort it out, continuing to insist he was right to them.  Another bloke, who we assume was his superior, came out saying he had a sticker.  Where the bloody hell do they find these people???  If it weren't for the other one, I'd have made a complaint at the way he spoke to us.  

Quick change to go on deck then when we returned found neither had our card - oops!  I'd left mine in my evening bag when I swapped everything over, which was the first time I'd ever done that.  Senility must be creeping in!  So, while Rob photographed the decorations in the Grand Lobby, I sheepishly went to the Purser's desk and was glad to see the nice one, who got me another card.  Then more photos before bed.  The gingerbread display hadn't been there when I was on in 2012, but apparently it was the 15th December.

Sailaway was decided to be sometime after the 5pm all aboard but Rob decided to stay in the cabin.  It was bloody cold and windy up there, especially on the portside and as soon as I'd got out there, the car carrier, Faust, sailed by, heading to Southampton.    That bugger followed us from Zeebrugge.  There was a repeated passenger call while a late bus arrived.  A Brummie was telling his friends/relatives that the smoke from Mary's funnel was from burning the rubbish and meant it!  Caryll Young was up there with Sharon Poole as we all waited and waited.  Commodore Rynd came on and gave our first pre-departure speech of the entire trip - thud!  It lasted around ninety seconds, which was unusual.  He told us the First Officer Navigator would be taking us out, "backing down the harbour and then gaining speed to make passage through the two breakwaters and out into the English Channel".  Basically, we'd be doing the equivalent of taking a running jump, though I'd pay good money to see Mary jump over something!  Gales were forecast but he reckoned there wouldn't be a problem as she's a transatlantic liner.  That's as maybe, mush, but right now she was doubling as a cross-Channel ferry but going MUCH slower than they do!  I would have had more confidence in his remark if she didn't have an annoying habit of slamming onto waves and juddering, thus aggravating my back which no other ships I've sailed on since 2010 do.  

We needed a little help to get off the berth - well a LOT of help, since the little tuggy seemed to do all the work like a dog with a rope as the wind was coming that direction.  As a result, it took far longer moving away that I've been used to, even on Mary.  We went astern incredibly slowly for what seemed like hours before speeding up as we neared the turning circle, got into the shipping lane then put the pedal to the metal without so much as an appreciative blast to our tuggy friend!  Once we were through the first breakwater without incident, I went in to warm up and detangle my hair.  I have left so much hair on various ships thanks to the wind getting it knotted, it's a wonder I'm not bald.  Before dinner, Rob wanted to say thanks and goodbye to piano player, Patrick Patton, who was in the Commodore Club since footie was in the Golden Lion, and dragged me along for moral support then we talked and laughed quite a bit.  Because of this, we got to dinner more than ten minutes late but that was fine.  

I'd pre-ordered the night before and Rob was just having his off menu spaghetti bolognese, while the other woman on the table and her daughter made sarky, patronising comments to him having that yet the mother had the same boring cheese plate each night for dessert.  He had reached the end of his tether with those two and it was lucky he didn't explode.  Wendy and her husband had gone to the Cinnamon as they'd said they may while Rosemary and John were still with us thankfully.  Despite the other woman constantly monopolising the conversation, she kept looking over as I was trying to calm Rob down, probably pissed off we weren't paying attention while she and her daughter held court.  May have helped if they weren't so bloody boring!  Her daughter claimed they liked going from bar to bar yet we'd never seen them in the Golden Lion.  And, despite looking down her nose a lot, the mother said several times nightly how cheap the cruise was yet from the way she and her daughter spoke, they had loads of money.  They were actually WORSE than the four couples I had on Radiance of the Seas put together, which takes some doing so Rob did well not throwing his dinner at them.  I'm used to Hyacinths so sit, listen then repeat their more amusing crap on Twitter but Rob isn't.  He's only young so will hopefully learn to not get wound up as he experiences life more.  She asked what we had planned for the evening so I replied we were hoping to meet up with some people but we keep missing each other.  Imagine the look on her stuck up mug when Mylène Paquette and her sister came over to the table and knew who we were.  Snotty cow was suddenly fawning, telling Mylène she had been following her crossing.  

So we joyfully bade them farewell and left while the sea became a bit rougher.  First was the photo shop so they could look at a photo taken during dinner but they couldn't find it.  One of the photographers wanted his picture taken with Mylène, so went and got his camera.  Then it was shopping, as presents were bought for her team and many other people followed by a drink in the Commodore Club.  Mylène told us Commodore Rynd informed her there was a new Mylène cocktail, which we all ordered.  Our waiter, James Biltz, eventually found someone who knew how to make it while also wishing he had his camera.  When he brought the drinks, I took a photo of him and Mylène then he took one of us all.  It was a nice way to spend the rest of the evening as Mylène told us how she became inspired to do it and many other things.  Before midnight we said our goodnights and Rob and I put the cases out just by the deadline even though the rest had already gone.  According to the info channel, we were still in Le Havre.

We put the clocks back at 2am and I woke up at 1.30am when Rob closed the door then was unable to get back to sleep.  He'd been for a walk but the decks were closed - booo!  The cases hadn't gone so he brought them back in.  The info channel was going loopy like January and the sea condition hadn't changed practically all cruise, despite it being quite bumpy.  I had enough and had to get out.  That Mylène cocktail was pretty potent stuff and I needed air, which was difficult.  Grrr! We were in the much calmer Southampton Water and everything was still closed.  Well, almost everything.  The second door along Deck 7 was open so I went to tell Rob, returning to find the first one had the barrier removed.  Ahhh, that fresh air was bliss!  The Observation Deck was still closed so we went to deck 13.  Rob decided to check 11 again and as he was there, while we were passing Hythe, hey presto!  They opened it!  

By now it was too late to see Oriana ahead of us as she was docked where we should have been and disappointingly, had her funnel light off.  Arcadia would be twenty-four hours late due to the refit over-running after the storm a week before.  We went for breakfast in the Britannia to kill time since it takes soooooooooo long to get your fry up, waited in the cabin for a bit then left, joining the deck 12 lot.  Despite what they say about not being allowed off until your luggage is all in the terminal, ours (Brown 1) was at 8.30am so why the hell do they do disembarkation so sodding late???  As we were meeting my friend Fay at Town Quay before catching the ferry to Hythe, we walked from Ocean and it started to drizzle.  Typical!  Rob safely made it back to Cambridgeshire while I had a siesta.

And so that was another cruise done and my last of the year, just like Mary had been final in 2012.  This time, however, she wouldn't be the first of the new year.  Despite sadly more obvious cost cutting, it was still an excellent cruise and one of my best.  Not THE best though.  That honour remains with Radiance of the Seas.  I do love Mary and cannot believe on the 26th December it will be ten years since she first graced us with her looming presence.  Absolutely flown but I'm glad we have her.

For more photos of Oriana and Mary, click here.  To read about Mylène Paquette and her remarkable solo Atlantic crossing, go to her website.