Well, a very relaxed start to the holiday, leaving home at 1pm by taxi, rather than the usual "silly o'clok" start when travelling by coach to the south coast. We'd been warned that the Langton Cruise Terminal at Liverpool was very basic, and indeed it was, but our bags were whisked away by a porter as soon as we pulled in, and all the staff were very welcoming and friendly. We entered the 'shed' and wandered past a few rows of seats, and were greeted by Fred Olsen crew wearing santa hats, who thrust glasses of mulled wine into our hands! Straight to the check in desks, no queuing, and in our cabin within 10 minutes of arriving at the terminal. Who cares how basic the facilities are if you can get to the port and onboard so quickly?
Our cabin - Superior Suite 9008 on Marquee Deck - is very nice in a faded traditional sort of way. It's an old ship, so some of the woodwork in the cabin is a little chipped, but the soft furnishings have obviously been updated fairly recently, so it will be a comfortable base for the next two weeks.
Once our bags had arrived, I unpacked while Dave started to make the cabin more festive. We have a 3 foot Christmas tree, which now has lights, baubles and bows, and some chocolate santas in case we get peckish. We've also brought with us a large fabric wall-hanging in the shape of a snowman, which we intend to hang on the cabin door.
We're on first sitting dinner, at a table for eight, and had a pleasant first evening. We've still not decided whether to ask to change to second sitting, but our waiter told us that on formal nights, our table will be hosted by the Cruise Director, so we'll definitely stay where we are tomorrow night (first formal) as he will be buying the drinks!
Internet VERY flaky and VERY expensive, so don't expect perfect spelling/punctuation or frequent posts!
Janet
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