Sorry for the absence of reports during my recent cruise, three reasons really, the first being that internet reception was poor – in fact non-existent - in our cabin and I’ll be damned to pay almost two hundred quid to write reports while sat outside in the corridor. The second was the discovery of a heavily thumbed James Patterson novel I found abandoned on a table in the smokers section- kept me well hooked - And finally, the third. The cruise hasn’t turned out to be quite what I expected.
We arrived late in the afternoon after the eight hour flight to Barbados, from near zero temperatures in Manchester to twenty eight plus degrees in Barbados meant that we were slightly overdressed and stressed. It also meant that for the next five days there would be shore visits to Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and back to Barbados, before we could properly explore the ship or it’s amenities. Because of the omission of our visit to Ponta Delgada due to stormy weather, it meant an eight day sail without a stop back to blighty.
I honestly couldn’t find much that inspired me to write an account on the forum. It’s taken me all my time to find something to write in my journal. Beautiful beaches and clear blue warm sea were expected here, and after swimming and snorkelling on the first visit to Barbados, I found that most visits were too limited do to much more than a trudge round the shops. Although I love my daughter to bits, I think the cross generational thing has us wanting different things from our holidays. She and her proposed husband work full time and like nothing better than to spend days in the sun relaxing. I would have liked to take more trips around the various places of interest but was sadly outvoted.
But the most important thing to me was the inability to take part in any kind of physical activity due to my painful Piriformis Muscle. On one occasion I did manage to walk a couple of miles around the promenade deck and managed to jog some, I must admit it felt so good to be up on my toes with the wind in my face, but I suffered heavily on the following day, finding it very painful to bend or stand. Swimming did provide some relief, but once underway, the motion of the ship produced huge waves in the pool that were impossible swim through, although I did try.
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, I have enjoyed this holiday, and it has been good to spend some quality time with my daughter and her intended. There has been some excellent entertainment on board ship, and of course the food and service is legendary (did I mention the very well equipped gym) and why do all the cabin attendants look like Bruce Lee? But this cruise has not lived up to expectations…Maybe it’s just me?
So after a five hour coach trip back to Manchester airport from Southampton (Isn’t it cold here) we’ve just enjoyed a delicious meal in the Premier Inn round the corner and plan to return home in the morning. Just when I thought my Piriformis was beginning to show signs of recovery, humping suitcases around has again returned me to a painful existence. I must say though, my daughters intended has taken on the lions share of the heavy lifting, good sense of humour too…
http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=1357&pictureid=11549
I love your side of the pond Surfermom…
…Although you can see the bar graph great, you can’t read any of the numbers…I guess I’ll have to think it out again…
Perhaps three miles flat out is a bit too far…
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x
