| Another year as cruising continued following the Covic-19 shutdown in the UK from March 2020 until May 2021. Three on the 22nd February 2022. Aurora had been in since the 4th January as she prepared for restart, only popping out overnight on the 14th. Since the 15th she had played musical berths as she had to make way for turnarounds. MSC Magnifica had returned after cancelling calls in December due to a new policy of a two-day lateral flow test before arriving in the UK, making it impossible for those not boarding in Southampton to get off. Spirit of Adventure was the attraction though, arriving late like her sister Spirit of Discovery the previous day due to various mechanical issues including the portside Azipod, a turbo on a generator and weather. I headed to Calshot first where visibility was atrocious, but she was running late for her 11.30am arrival so I caught the bus to Hythe after she'd turned at the Brambles. Unfortunately, the Bluestar 8 had been cut due to driver shortages and the 9 was much slower as it went a different route. The bus was late arriving then got to Hythe ten minutes after it should have. By the time I got to the front of the marina, she was turning off Ocean Dock to go astern. She had been due to sail at 9pm but they had to maintenance on the gyro and wanted 10pm, but would let them know. No slot was then available until 12.45am when she left with 688 passengers. |
