Bonnetts Abroad Past Trips

Transatlantic Cruise

Debbie got lift to East Cowes fom her Mum and was on the 12:00 ferry to Southampton.

Steve finished work at 12:30 and drove to the red funnel terminal to meet Debbie.

Drove to railway station and deposited Debbie and the bags, took car bag to the house.

Walked back to station.

We caught the 14:13 to Gatwick.

Found our way to the North terminal and checked into the Hilton Hotel there.

Went to find somewhere to eat in the airport and ended up at the Nicholas Culpeper, where we both had fish and chips with mushy peas and tartare sauce.

Culpepers have their own gin still!

A G&T classic with Cinnamon, rosemary and lime

We had an early buffet breakfast at the hotel and then checked out of the hotel.

Checked in for the flight, very easy as P&O had their own check–in desks.

Bought 1 litre of Bourbon and 1 litre of Gin for £22 at the duty free.

The flight to Barbados was on a Thompson 787, quite spacious. Nice flight.

When we arrived at Barabados a heavy rain shower soaked us as we transferred to a bus.

We arrived at the port and queued to get our cruise cards, the queue moved quite quickly.

Boarded the ship and went up to our room, unfortunately neither card would open the door, so went back down to reception to get replacement cards. The new cards wouldn't work either, so back down to reception. Third time lucky! These cards worked.

The day before we left we'd had an e–mail saying we'd been upgraded, so we had a balcony room with nice views.

We were both tired and went to the Peninsular restaurant for dinner. It would've been a 40 minute wait for a table for 2, so we agreed to share a table for 8.

Throughout the meal we were ‘entertained' by Cherry, who claimed that she had been cloned, as well as many other bizarre ramblings!

The food was quite good, for startes we had Haggis tart and potted shrimps. We both had veal topped with crab meat, mashed potatoes and asparagus for our main. Then dessert was lemon posset with rhubarb and a bakewell tart. Followed by coffee.

BY this time we had been up for over 20 hours, so we retired back to our room.

We watched from our balcony as the ship approached Dominica

There was another ship in port, so we docked a little bit out of town.

We went down to the Peninsular room for breakfast, the special of the day was scrambled eggs with salmon.

After breakfast we went ashore. Walked past the tours on offer from inside the port and went outside the port gates.

Once outside the port there were other vendors offering tours, we joined up with a married couple and a family and went on Wayne's minibus for $20 each.

First stop was to see a view of Roseau from above, steep winding roads going up the hill. On the way we saw pineapples growing. At the stop we saw humingbirds. Lovely view down to the cruise port.

Next stop was in the village of Trafalgar, fruit and coconut water were on sale here, but we were mainly interested in the views of he waterfalls.

Next stop was to see the Sulphur springs at Wotten Waven. A wooden viewing platform extends out over a small gorge where hot smelly water bubbles up out of the ground.

We then drove to the carpark for the Trafalgar falls, there is a $5 entrance fee and then it's a 15 minute walk to the falls, the walk itself is quite easy and the flora is interesting to look at. The falls are spectacular.

The final stop on this tour was the botanical gardens, these were devastated in the late 1979 by Hurricane David. They leave the squashed bus as a reminder.

We then returned to Brittania

We had lunch from the buffer on deck 16 and then explored the rest of the ship.

Late afternoon we went to the Crow's nest for a quiet drink.

As the ship was departing we went back to our room so that we could take pictures of the scenery as we departed.

That evening we had a table for 2.

S had crab souffle, Grilled Baramundi and tart citroen.

D had houmous, rump of lamb and tart citroen

We then went to the Headliners Theatre to see the Opera Boys.

And then to bed.

Watched from our balcony as our ship approached Tortola

We were berthed alongside Azura

Tour of island, $20 each, on a minibus from the port

The minbus climbed up the hill from Road Town, stopped and the top where we had lovely views over to Guana Island.

Another stop by the side of the road gave us good views down into Road Town.

Then a slow drive by the wall of murals, depicting scenes from the history of Tortola.

A little bit further on we stopped at a small bar, which had a viewing platform built our over the slope, from here we had lovely views of Road Town and the ships docked there.

We then descended down to Cane Garden Bay and the beautiful beach there.

We then headed back up into the hills before descending down into Road Town, with one more stop to take in the view.

Back on the quayside a chance to look around some of the shops, and buy a bottle of the local rum. Aswell as admiring both of the P&O liners.

Azura left first, we watched her go from our balcony.

After dinner we went to see Jack Pack at the Headliner Theatre.

In St. Martin we were again docked alongside Azura.

The tours and taxis here are regulated so the prices are fixed, we joined a minbus for a round the island tour for $25 each, driven by “Johnny 5”

First stop was at the headland which separates Cole Bay from Cay Bay. Very windy up here.

Next stop was Maho Beach, famous for its proximity to the airport, planes much bigger than this land here.

We then cross over to the French side of the island and stopped in Marigot. Here I climbed up to Fort Louis.

Final stop was the Nudist beach at Orient Bay. After which we returned to the port, where we bought more rum, 2 litres for $14!

Again Azura left first.

We then sat on the balcony and watched the activity of the port for a while

We went to the early show put on by the Brittania cast, Gravity.

We then had dinner followed by a few drinks in the Glass House.

First day at sea, the sea was calm and blue.

Went to a cookery demonstration in the Studio. At 10:00

At 11:00 went to a talk by Terry Brown, a former policeman on interrogation techniques, a good speaker.

In the evening it was the Captain's Gala Party, a black tie affair. G&Ts and wine were free flowing.

Joined a table for 10 for dinner, 5 courses.

Second full day at sea, still calm and blue.

A few birds still following us.

At 11:00 we went to the second of Terry Brown's talks.

Then had a buffet lunch from the Horizon.

In the afternoon we had a cookery course booked, Thai street food.

Turned out relatively successful

Settled down for a few drinks in the Glass House, booked a wine tasting session too.

Later on had a light snack from the buffet in the Horizon

Still calm and blue

The last of Terry Brown's talks, very good.

Had lunch in the Pensinsular restaurant, shared a table with a couple of Scots.

In the eveing we went to the Limelight club to see Eric and Ernie, a Morcambe and Wise tribute act, very good.

Food was good here too, pulled ham and pea custard, Fillet Steak, trio of desserts and a bottle of wine

After which went to the Blue Bar for a couple more drinks

Still very calm, a little greyer though

We got up late and had a self–service breakfast from the buffet

Later in the morning we booked a cruise round the Baltic in May 2018.

That evening we ate in the Epicurean Restaurant

First rate food.

Then we went to the Crow's nest for a few more drinks.

Still calm

Went to an Audience with the Captain. Interesting talk.

Went to the 19:00 show, I've got the music in me.

Black Tie dinner, notable for the Eric Lanlard Pave Royal dessert.

A cloudy day as we approached Punta Delgada

From the balcony it looks to be a nice town.

After breakfast we went for a walk, we decided not to go on any island tours because from what we could sea, low cloud covered most of the island.

We walked along the harbour to the fort, now a military museum

A very good museum

With fine views from the walls of the town and harbour.

After the fort, we walked into town, but it was starting to rain by now, so we weren't expecting to see much.

It started to rain very hard, so we took refuge in a Spar, where we bought some wine and stuffed anchoves, before returning to the ship.

In the evening we had the Blue Jays at the Headliners theatre, an excellent 50's rock and roll band.

After wich we headed towards the live lounge for a nightcap.

At 04:30 in the morning, there was a bing bong on the tannoy, but no announcement, it transpired that there had been an engine failure and the system had reset.

Woke up to a grey sea.

At lunch time we had a wine tasting session in the Glass House, 2 white, 2 red and a sparkling red, with cheese, crab cake, Tika and Steak bites.

Followed by a light lunch in the Peninsular Restaurant.

In the evening had a drink in the Blue Bar, before going to dinner, Guinea Fowl was on the menu.

We then went to Brodies bar for a few drinks and some quizes.

It was starting to get a little choppy by now.

During the night it got very rough.

Still rough, 7 metre swell, wind 55 knots, gusting 80.

Late breakfast, Debbie feeling a little unwell.

All outside decks were closed, so went for beer in Brodies.

Had lunch at the Peninsular restaurant.

In the afternoon the ship suddenly heeled over quite far to starboard.

the cpatain later reported that we had been hit by a 100 MPH gust.

Display stands in the shops were knocked over and computer terminals slid off desks. One guest said that he'd heard that over 300 drinking glasses had been broken.

That evening we had a meal in the Glass House, with matching wine for each course

Then we went for a drink in the Blue Bar.

Sea a little calmer, but still quite a roll on the ship.

In the afternoon packed bags ready to disembark

Arrived in Southampton, the Red Funnel had to wait whilst Britannia reversed into Ocean Dock

Got off the ship at about 08:30, got a taxi to Red Funnel terminal 1, and we were on the 09:00 ferry back to the Island.

Passing Brittania on the way back to the Island.