Today, we joined MV Marco Polo in the Bristol Cruise Terminal.<\/p>\n
It was an early start (6am) and a mercilessly uneventful journey south from North Yorkshire; with only a couple of stops along the way, we arrived in Bristol Avonmouth at just gone midday, at the very start of embarkation.<\/p>\n
This is the first time I’ve cruised from Bristol, so it was a new experience. Not surprisingly, the cruise terminal isn’t that dissimilar to Tilbury in London; neither places are particularly attractive… both are good places to sail away from.<\/p>\n
After dropping off our suitcases with the porters and desposited the van in the well-positioned, adjacent car park, passage through the terminal security was painless and quick. By 1pm we were on board the ship.<\/p>\n
This is the third time on the Marco Polo this year, for me; the first time back on the ship for Tracey since our Baltic Cities and Northern Lights trip last October. Two years ago, we did the same trip, which turned out to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. I was pleased to see that a lot of effort has been put into giving the ship a milldly christmassy feel this time around.<\/p>\n
Our journey south had been accompanied the whole way by fierce winds, which didn’t let up once we’d arrived in Bristol. This was a worry, since high winds are the primary cause of rough seas, and a nagging feelling that this might turn out to be a re-run of 2013 seemed a real possibility. The deadllights being closed in the cabin were a dead giveaway.<\/p>\n
At around 4pm, just before the mandatory emergency passenger drill, the captain’s voice came over the PA system (never a good sign), to announce a few changes. Due to the bad weather conditions, which they’ve been monitoring, it has been decided to delay our departure until the next high-tide, which will be 2am tomorrow morning. This is actually good news; although we weren’t expecting to be spending our first night in Bristol, it would hopefully mean that we could avoid the worst of the weather at sea. Unfortunately, changes have also been made to the rest of the cruise itinerary; visits to La Coruna and Gibraltar have been cancelled, Lisbon has been brought forward and a new destination, Vigo in Northern Spain, has been added to the journey back.<\/p>\n
This is the second time that an itinerary change has resulted in Tracey not visiting Gibraltar, which is somewhere she still hasn’t been to. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that we don’t lose Lanzarote like we did last time.<\/p>\n
Needless to say; it isn’t quite the first night of the cruise that we’d been expecting. It is nice to be back on board the Marco Polo, however, and to see a few familiar faces. Tomorrow, we should (hopefully) be at sea, and I’ll be running my first two watercolour classes. Bring it on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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