Southampton – The Start of a New Adventure.

Yesterday (Friday), we drove down to Southampton from North Yorkshire in preparation for today’s embarkation. It was a journey frought with a few nail-biting moments, and heavy traffic, making the choice to drive down a day early instead of leaving at the crack of dawn today a good one. We hadn’t even left Yorkshire when we hit heavy stationary traffic approaching Dishforth. With Google informing us that the hold-up would likely add over thirty minutes to our journey time, and that the road probably wouldn’t clear until we’d passed Boroughbridge, we opted to leave the A1M in favour of an adjacent road (the old A1), that should effectively bypass the hold-up… only to find ourselves stuck in another long line of slow traffic; it seems everyone else had had exactly the same idea.

Then, some time later, having finally rejoined the A1, navigated our way along the M18, and found ourselves enjoying the moving traffic of the M1 (and finally free from Yorkshire), we pulled into a services for a quick comfort stop. Upon rejoining the motorway, the car developed a strange noise. It was a bumping noise, accompanied by a notable wobble on the steering wheel. With almost 280 miles still ahead of us, this just seemed like the gods were laughing at us, and the prospect of our journey coming to an abrupt halt suddenly seemed hoffifyingly likely. I pulled over onto the hard shoulder so that we could inspect the tyres, the sound and vibration seeming excruciatingly like a flat tyre. The inspection revealed nothing however, and on resumption of our journey, the car slowly improved in its performance, until eventually it was running as smoothly and trouble-free as ever, just like before. The origin of the noise and vibration remains a mystery; all that matters is that the car proceeded to get us to Southampton without so much as a mild hiccup.

I love it when a plan comes together. In an attempt to avoid any chances of picking up Covid, instead of eating in the adjacent pub – which would have been lovely, but far too risky – we called ahead to a Chinese takeaway I’d identified online before leaving home (which was literally located only just down the road from the travelodge), to order food in time for our arrival. Ordering it was effortless; unfortunately, they would only accept cash, which meant we also had to find a cashpoint on our arrival in order to pay for it. As luck would have it, there was a conveniently situated Tesco Express halfway between the hotel and the takeway, making our arrival a veritable masterclass in precision timing. Cashpoint – Takeaway – hotel check-in- eat Pork Chop Suey + Fried Rice – relax – sleep.

Today’s embarkation went almost as smoothly. We left the hotel at around 11:30am, and entered the port gate at just gone 12 noon. The Spirit of Adventure had arrived at around 7am, and embarkation was due to commence at 1pm, so we were a little worried that we might be too early. As it happened, our timimng couldn’t have been better. All guests hoping to board the ship were required to take, and successfully pass, two Covid tests. These were administered while we were still in the car, having been directed to the appropriate testing point just outside the terminal. Once a poky-up-the-nostril test and a PCR
under-the-tongue test had been completed, we were then directed to a different park-up point, where the results of the lateral flow test were confirmed, and we were asked to complete a general health status questionairre. From here, we were directed to the terminal proper, where our luggage was taken from us, and I was able to go park the car, where it will remain until mid-June.

Once inside the terminal building, an airport-style security check and hand-luggage scan finally gave us access to the waiting area, where we only sat for a short time clutching our boarding passes. Boarding started at 1pm on the dot and, within minutes, we were finally on board the Spirit of Adventure, taking a good look around and waiting for the voyage to begin.

Right from the outset, I should mention that the Spirit of Adventure is a brand new ship, which is still in its maiden season, having first sailed in July 2021, and is by far the most luxurious vessel I’ve ever been on. This was evident the minute we entered out cabin…

The cabin has a balcony, which is something I’ve never experienced before. Not that balconies are a new thing – far from it – but we’ve been used to being given a cabin in the bowels of a ship, often close to the waterline, and within earshot of the engines; cabins with balconies have never been on offer… until now. On the Spirit of Adventure, every stateroom (they don’t call them cabins) comes with private balcony as standard. The TV is a massive flat screen affair, and as well as regular electrical sockets, there are also 2 USB charging sockets on each side of the bed. This is Saga, which means bottled water is free, and the cabin includes a fridge, in which there was even a carton of semi-skimmed milk for the tea (none of those awful UHT cartons). As if all this wasn’t enough, wi-fi is not only free to all guests, but is accessible from the cabin… absolute luxury! Could things get any better? Well – as it turns out, they could. We headed for the grill to grab ourselves some lunch, which was not only delicious, but was accompanied by inclusive, complementary wine.

There are many Covid restrictions that are going to affect how things proceed from here, but I don’t mind any of them at all; I’m just happy to be back on board a cruise ship, bound for somewhere warm. That we are in the lap of luxury is just a bonus. My classes won’t start until Monday, so I’ll have a day off tomorrow to acclimatise and prepare. Numbers will be limited, of course, and social distancing will be encouraged wherever possible. Mandatory daily testing for all guest lecturers, tutors and entertainers will remain in place for the duration of the cruise.

This afternoon, as the last of the passengers where arriving, there was a meeting where all the guest entertainers, lecturers and tutors could get to know each other. This was followed by the most chilled-out mandatory emergency drill ever. Guests were instructed to watch the safety video in their cabins and make their way to their muster station when instructed. They weren’t even required to bring their lifejackets.

So far so good, then. Dinner was in ‘The Grill’, where all guest speakers and entertainers are required to stay as much away from the passengers as possible (at least until all the required testing has been completed over the next few days), and later, we enjoyed the view from our balcony as we sailed out from Southampton and around the Isle of White, until it got too cold to sit out. Our first port stop will be Gibraltar, in three days time. We’re here – we’re back… and the cruise is finally underway.