| The brand new Royal Princess made her first return to Southampton on the 8th May 2014 since the maiden voyage on the 16th June 2013. This was only a call as she was replacing Emerald Princess in Copenhagen. Ironically, we now had Emerald for the summer. Like her debut into the port, it was windy and wet. I had been invited to a media event as Paul Ludlow, Managing Director of Princess Cruises UK, had an announcement to make. Original plans to watch her arrive went out the window due to a brief trip to Lisbon to see the Cunard Queens on the 6th, making me exhausted but I got some photos from the ferry. A bloke who works for Lloyds Register, saw my Cunard jacket and asked if Royal was one of ours. I had to confess I don't work for Carnival UK, only visiting, but wish I did! Due to weather and being soaked, I wasn't able to get dock photos as I'd hoped. Black Watch's departure was brought forward to 4pm but she and Adventure were both moving when I was on the 4.30pm ferry back. Black Watch needed Lomax to assist and at least it had stopped raining. |
