Since we first booked this cruise, there had been a number of changes to the itinerary. The most significant being that Island Princess would no longer be spending two days in Saint Petersburg.
This change to the itinerary added a sea day and more time in Stockholm. The planned visit to Liverpool was substituted by a visit to Greenock due to the lack of space there for visiting ships. This was more disappointing than missing out on visiting Russia again.
The other change was ultimately much more disruptive. The cruise originally was for 28 days. But in the USA, and later in the UK, the cruise was marketed as two separate 14 day cruises with a changeover taking place in Copenhagen.
The discounts that were offered a few weeks before the cruise had started were very steep, especially for the second half. These discount was so deep in fact that US guests were paying less for the cruise plus flights than the UK price!
Day 1: 28th June 2023: Southampton
We were picked up by our taxi at 10:45 am. The roads to Southampton for once were all clear and even better there were no queues at the Mayflower terminal. We were directed to a desk for our check-in almost immediately.
This check-in was very easy as it was just a passport check with no searches of Covid paperwork or lots of health questions. Security was relaxed with again no queues and we had a smooth passage through the checks themselves. This was especially good news as I had a wheeled carry on and a rucksack for all my photo gear.
The restaurant on Deck 5 was open and we went in for an early lunch.
On a walkabout after lunch, we were sad to see that the International Café had been replaced by more slot machines in an extension to the casino. This meant that I no longer had a go to place for our morning tea or for lunches. This part of the ship had been one of our favourite places on our trip to Alaska on Island Princess.
Our cabin issues
When the call went out that the cabins were ready, we were pleased to find that our cases were already in the cabin.
The bad news was that the loo in the bathroom sprayed water as it was flushed. We were surprised that no one had noticed this earlier.
Our cabin steward quickly had a maintenance guy come but despite two guys working on the repair it took nearly 2 hours for a fix. While this was happening our cabin steward suggested that we go for a walk while he deep cleaned the cabin.
Island Princess left Southampton at around 5:15 pm.
We were by then back in the cabin and now everything was fixed. We started unpacking and adding our lights and magnets onto the wall in the room.
The evening meal was on the 6th in the Provencal dining room. The ship’s clock were set forward by one hour overnight.
Day 2: Thursday 29th June: North Sea
After a great night’s sleep, I checked outside and on the North Sea there was a light mist.
We had breakfast in the Horizon on deck 14.
The “Meet and greet”
From the cruise’s Facebook group we had been invited to a “meet and greet” in one of the bars. This had been organised by an Australian passenger.
We were each given a piece of paper with a number and charged to find the passenger with the same number and to then to get to know them! This presumed that the other person was interested in joining in. Our “partners“ were Australian and from the USA and were more interested in finding compatriots than talking to us!
After having a drink, we struck up a conversation with an American couple from Orange County. Just like us they were on the ship for the full 28 days. Later we joined them and their friends for lunch in the Bordeaux dining room on Deck 5.
At first we managed to avoid politics but soon Presidents Biden and Trump were the main topics being discussed. The conversations then became very weird as Covid and vaccines were discussed. Our table colleagues didn’t believe in masks and certainly hadn’t had any Covid vaccines. To our horror all of their regular inoculations had also been avoided. This anti-vax position had extended even to their children and grandchildren.
Afternoon at sea
After lunch we changed and went for a walk around the promenade deck. The very first ship that we spotted was a Carnival cruise ship passing in the opposite direction.
This first day was a formal evening and the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Party which was to be held in the Plaza.
After drinks in Explorers at the Captain’s Circle we changed and went straight to dinner. This meant that we missed the Captain’s free cocktails in order to try and avoid queuing for the restaurant.
Evening at sea
We sat on a large table with five other passengers who were from Australia and different parts of the UK including Blackpool. The conversations covered cruising on Virgin and a driving tour of Australia.
I learnt about another interesting place where planes were parked during Covid. This was at the airport at Alice Springs where there was a large collection of planes waiting to be required again.
The Production Company’s production of Encore
We vaguely remembered seeing the ship’s Company performance of Encore on another cruise. As we sat in the theatre, we remembered the two tiered stage with the ship’s orchestra on the lower level. The singers and dancers entering on the upper level. Often making grand entrances as they came down the grand staircase to the stage. We had heard the guest soprano before and her performance was as ear shattering as before.
By the time the cast were performing “You’ll never walk alone“ I was ready for it all to be over.
Back in the cabin my book was too interesting to put down and I read and finished it by one a.m.
The next sea day we were in the Baltic and passing under the Great Belt Bridge.