27th January 2015

Sue and I set off for Southampton at 10:30 am on Sunday, fully prepared for an uneventful journey. For once, we didn’t make our usual pit stops to investigate every bit of English countryside that caught our fancy, no hidden churches or random stone circles this time!

We arrived at our accommodation, the city centre Star Hotel (an old coaching inn), just after 1 pm and checked in. The exterior of the hotel looked as though it had been battered by a few centuries of weather, and the reception area wasn’t exactly a showstopper, but we were pleasantly surprised to find our room had had a much-needed makeover. It was lovely, modern, and, dare I say, even stylish. After munching on the sandwiches Sue had prepared and washing them down with coffee made at home (we do like to keep it real), we ventured out to see the sights.

The hotel was in a fantastic location, right on the High Street and, conveniently, within the castle grounds. Our first stop was the cinema we’d been to on a previous cruise. We made plans to return later that evening for the 8:15 pm showing of the excellent ‘The Theory of Everything’ (which we later did). After that, we set off in search of the Titanic Memorial, completed in 1914 in memory of the Titanic’s engineers. It took a bit of backtracking and a fair bit of muttering under our breath, but we found it in the nick of time, just before dark, thank goodness.

We returned to the hotel via a brisk march down the QE2 mile, stopping occasionally to read the many informational plaques set into the pavement. Clearly, we were on a cultural mission. By the time we were done, we had worked up quite an appetite and decided to pop into the Indian restaurant next door to our hotel. However, upon entering, we quickly realised it was a vegetarian-only establishment, which, naturally, led to a swift retreat by us omnivores and a hasty dash across the road to the Chinese restaurant. We needed protein, and we needed it now.

After a satisfying meal, we returned to the cinema and settled in to watch the film. It was excellent, a remarkable story about Stephen Hawking, and definitely well worth seeing. All in all, a pretty successful day in Southampton, despite the unexpected vegetarian detour.

We slept soundly, rising at the civilised hour of 9 am. Eager to tackle the castle walls, we set off with enthusiasm, only for our plans to take a detour soon after passing through the West Gate. Sue, in all her graceful glory, slipped on a patch of what can only be described as concentrated seagull poo. One moment she was walking, the next, she was flat on the cobbles with a crunch, lying prone for a few seconds as it took her brain a moment to catch up with the situation. It all happened so quickly, truly a testament to the slipperiness of seagull droppings, which I’ve now come to appreciate as a surprisingly effective lubricant. I feel a patent coming on.

Once I’d managed to support her to some nearby steps, I sat her down and gave her a once-over. Fortunately, her wrist at first appeared sprained and not broken, so we counted ourselves lucky on that front. After the initial shock had worn off, Sue noticed the aftermath: the seagull’s gift was now liberally splattered across her clothes. But, given the state of her wrist, she was in no mood to worry about it, so it stayed with her until we finally made it to the ship. Ah, the joys of sightseeing, a bit of nature’s mess that later we would have cause to remember.

Returning to the hotel, Sue sensibly took refuge in the foyer to recover, where I strapped her arm in a sling and then checked us out and lugged our cases to the car. To my surprise, I received a text from the port parking company I’d booked with, informing me that they were upgrading us to Meet and Greet for free. A most welcome gesture, it saved us from the nightmare of dragging two suitcases and Sue onto a shuttle bus. Thank you, Nan, for whatever cosmic influence you were working on that one!

Next, we found a café and sat for a while, enjoying coffee while Sue continued to recover. Afterwards, we ventured into the shopping complex, where we had great fun gently unnerving the assistants at Primark and a few other outdoor clothing retailers. In my never-ending quest to be a helpful husband, I also picked up some freezing spray from Boots for Sue and gave her a generous squirt. She looked at me with a mixture of gratitude and disbelief.

We eventually made our way back to the car, located the ship, handed our bags to the porters, and entrusted our car to the ‘Meet and Greet’. Boarding was a breeze, and soon we were seated for lunch, feeling positively marvellous. The obligatory lifeboat drill followed at 4 pm, and then we went on a preliminary exploration of the ship’s deck, mapping out the facilities for future use. Later, we sat in a bar, enjoying some live guitar music, and I gave Charlotte a ring since we were still within range of a shore telecom mast.

We were on Freedom Dining, which meant we could dine at our leisure in the Ligurian Restaurant. However, when we arrived at 8 pm, it was packed to the rafters. They handed us a pager and told us they’d call when a table became available. Fifteen minutes later, the pager buzzed, and we were shown to our table with a lovely couple from Morecambe. The meal and service were top-notch, but on our way out, we made a polite request to the head waiter to switch to set dining at 8.30 pm. We figured it would be nicer to have steady dinner companions instead of playing musical chairs with different people each night.

The evening show was an interesting cabaret featuring five singers performing a medley of well-known songs. John Lennon’s “Imagine” was particularly moving and had us all feeling a bit reflective. After the show, we avoided the many acts and activities which usually happen around a cruise ship until the wee small hours, opting instead for the simpler pleasures of a good night’s sleep.