| Rather annoyingly, there were about four naval vessels where I planned to get some great photos of Vision. They were having an open day, beginning at noon for three hours with free admission. Tempting though it was, if only to get my shots of my gorgeous Ducky, there was still fifteen minutes to go and my back was annoying me so I carried on with what I had to. P962 (KNM Skudd) is a Skjold Class missile fast patrol boat. It was quite ironic one of them was number F311 (HNoMS Roald Amundsen) while F310 (HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen) had been in Copenhagen the day before. At the back was M860 (HRMS Schiedam) and M863 (HNLMS Vlaardingen) which were Dutch. |
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| During lunch, they lowered the anchor so it could be painted. Meanwhile, one of the waiters pointed at something, telling some Americans it was the Opera House. When I told them it wasn't and the Opera House was the other side of the fortress, he went to check, returning saying, "I know nothing." Then the Americans began quizzing me on the Royal Family. Back to the cabin afterwards. |
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| My snooze was interrupted by a maintenance man coming to fix a drawer in the bedside table which Orlando had reported to him. The question is, what was he doing looking in the drawer when the cabin was occupied in the first place? I could understand it if it was during turnaround or I'd reported it as being difficult to open. Well I let him in then I could go back to sleep. He was very embarrassed and worked fast! So back to sleep until before our 7pm sailaway. Orlando was in the corridor and found it amusing I'd been asleep when the maintenance man came. It was a gorgeous evening, albeit cold. We gave three blasts once we were away from the berth then more after everyone was back inside - twice! Didn't bother with the party. They're all pretty much the same. Just went to dinner after poshing up for formal night. I was the only one at the table again and apparently there should be four. Again though, there were far too many empty tables in general. Shopping then bed! |
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| Since we had a sea day to Bremerhaven and my deck for immigration wasn't until lunchtime, I had a lie in. I was woken up by the call in the corridor for Deck 7 to go to immigration, which was around 11.15am, so I decided to get up. Since my deck was due at 12.30pm, I went along to the theatre only to be told along with many others it would be another thirty to forty-five minutes. I had a quick stroll around the Prom deck first, since it was a little before noon. Whoever was cleaning the decks or lifeboats or whatever had made such a mess, water leaked through the doors. Then it was time to eat The Windjammer wasn't crowded, which was a first for a sea day. I also grabbed some more fruit for my collection - yum! |
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| Well after lunch I returned to the theatre and they were STILL telling people it would be thirty to forty-five minutes. By now it was getting on for 1pm and Deck 7 was still in action. Just what was taking so long???? We were told we could either come back when the deck was called or wait inside. Most left while some, myself included, opted to wait so we sat four rows from the front on the right side of the theatre. There were two immigration officers from the UK Border Agency, unlike the solo female on Constellation. They were asking non-EU nationals a lot of questions. My row went up about 1.40pm and by now it was getting a little rocky, though an American said it had been really rough in the morning (force bugger all!). I was done by 1.45pm, then they scanned you SeaPass card as you left. Then it was back to the cabin to catch up on stuff. |
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| I went for a drink in the Schooner Bar before the show in the theatre. They weren't having shows as such with the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, more entertainers. I didn't fancy the first two nights but this was a Beach Boys one starring West Coast. They were quite good, just singing the songs rather than being a tribute act. It was a shame the theatre was practically empty. Then dinner and they had closed the outside decks when it wasn't that rough despite leaving them open in 2011 during a force 10! I had company during dinner - wooo! A Brazilian bloke who has lived in Bournemouth for nine years but who has been spending meal times with his five year old son. Afterwards, he returned to his little boy and I went to bed because it was a very early start. |
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| Bremerhaven was our next port and it was a maiden call for the ship and me. It was the first time I'd even been to Germany so am getting around the world! We were due at 7am but docked twenty-five minutes late. I'd long gone by then because I had a tour. It was freezing cold as we arrived. |
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| Due to our late arrival, the tours started later than scheduled. We were given clearance around 8.30am and the first three groups were called. Despite the cruise terminal being smack bang in an container port, the actual building was very bright and clean. It reminded me of an airport with six Gates. The buses were well organised too. Astor was berthed in front of us, having arrived sometime while I was in the theatre. We took the hour long drive along the autobahn towards Bremen where we were then met by the local guide, Andreas. He was very funny. Our first stop was the toilet, if we needed it, inside the Hilton, around the corner from where we left the bus. Quite a lot decided they did after all. I did wonder what the guests though as they sat quietly reading their paper and suddenly an influx of passengers from several coaches descended inside. Then we set off to the Town Hall where we were split into two groups. Our guide was a snotty cow who didn't like you not listening to her. Might have helped if she said something of interest. |
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