DOVER – EMBARKATION DAY

I’m pleased to say that after the excitement of the previous day, embarkation was something of a breeze. From our hotel in Waterbury (near Maidstone) to Dover Cruise Terminal is just under an hour’s drive (according to Google). Since embarkation wasn’t due to commence until 1pm, it gave us plenty of time to get breakfast somewhere, and perhaps indulge in a little retail therapy. As is the way with these matters, I did a quick online search for retail parks along the route, and found one located just outside Ashford that fit the bill. In other words; it had a Dunelm. It turns out Dunelm stores have coffee shops that just happen to do rather delicious bacon sandwiches.

We ate our bacon sarnies, drank tea and coffee, and then spent some time mulling around the other stores in the retail park, looking but not spending… until it was time to move on.

Dover Cruise Terminal is easy to get to and, as always, Saga’s reception was as efficient and painless as ever. Once our bags had been unloaded from the car, we handed it over to the port car parking operatives in return for a ticket that would ensure the picking up of our car on our return would be equally as efficient and painless. From here, it was simply a matter of signing in with our passports, boarding the ship and finding our cabin… barely any waiting around at all.

After the mandatory emergency drill (applicable to all travellers, no matter how many times they have done it before), Tracey and I attended the customary meeting of the onboard entertainment staff. After this, we headed back to our cabin to finish unpacking, all in time to get ready for dinner.

We don’t usually go to the theatre on first nights but tonight, a duo billed as ‘The Sound of Simon’ were playing songs by Simon and Garfunkel. Having never seen such a tribute act on board ship before, and being a lifelong fan of Paul Simon, this seemed like something of a no-brainer. Despite a few minor reservations, we both enjoyed the performance. An early night was the order of the day, though; my classes start tomorrow at 9:30, which means a 7.30am alarm, an early breakfast and setting up from about 8:30. First classes are always traditionally a bit on the chaotic side; with the ship sailing at full capacity, there was no reason to believe that this cruise would be any different…