Northern Europe Cruise 2.11.24

Northern Europe Cruise.

Embarkation day Southampton (2.11.2024) 

Morning of the cruise we were so excited but had to wait until 2.15 to emarkthe ship so ofcoursethemor I gwent really slow. Whilst waiting we thought we may as well go to the rising sun pub to have a drink to pass the time. Claire and I then got back to mum & Steve's about 12 before leaving for the dock at 1, with all the football traffic we got to the dock bout 13.45, dropped our bags and got in the queue for departures. The queue went really quick as P&O were super organised. We got to our cabin on deck 15, which was lovely and just what we needed. Once we dropped our bags we made our way upto deck 18 where we walked around outside to check out the views which were awesome, so much to see. We grabbed a drink from the bar and chilled out on deck for a bit before going to horizon restaurant for some food. Once we had filled up with some lovely food we went back to deck 18 to wait for our departure, once it was near departure time of 17.30 the entertainment team came out to do a few songs for our sail away party which was so much fun.

We had a long tiring day so after the sail away party we made Our way back k to our cabin and chilled watching only fools and horses.

Day 1 (3.11.2024)

Sea day.

Today is a chilled day as we are at sea so for us we had a lie in until 9. We went out had a good proper breakfast before going to deck 8 to have a full walk around the outside of the ship which was lovely, although when we got to the front of the ship it was rather windy and cold. We then decided to go to the bar at the back of the ship and sit in the sun where it was so lovely with the views into the sea and watch the world go by, we actually felt pretty warm sat in the sun, once we had been for another walk, we had a pint in Brodies sports bar before heading back up to infinity bar for another drink and another sunbathe. We had some lunch around 14.00 before heading back to the sports bar for the footie and ,more drinks, once the spurs game had finished we watched the 1st half of utd in the bar before heading back to the room to watch the 2nd half and to get ready for celebration night and dinner on chefs table.

Day 2 (4.11.2024)

Hamburg.

Docked in Hamburg this morning around 6am. We got up and dressed around 8am and straight out to find the shuttle, got into the city centre around 8.45 ish. Dropped off at the town hall which looked lovely. We weren't really sure where to walk as Brewdog was too far and also didn't open until 3 so passed on that. We walked around the shops for a little while before getting on the hop on hop off bus around the city which was really interesting, Hamburg is a big city. When we finished the tour around 90 mins later we got back off and popped into the Hamburg FC shop, of course I had to grab a shirt,we then made our way back to the shuttle to get back on board the ship. Weather isn't too bad today, it has been overcast and 11 degrees but didn't really feel cold until a bit later in the afternoon. Neither of us slept very well last night so we had an afternoon nap before heading up on deck for a coffee and relax a little while before grabbing some dinner. Lazy evening tonight so I grabbed a nice rum & coke before heading back to our cabin to watch the footie.

Day 3 (5.11.2024)

Sea day.

Chilled day today at sea, made our way down to duty free first to get our booze as they have some really good deals on, once got them and dropped back to room, went upto Deck 16 for a proper coffee and chill.

Had a good walk round deck 6 as hadn't really explored that yet, found Andersons bar and library which was a nice place to sit for a little while, we also found limelight club where we need to go later to see Lee Mead.

The sun had come out so made our way back to deck 16, grabbed a drink and sat in the sun, was warm enough I could sit in my tshirt. Sun was warm.

Grabbed a bit of lunch before following the sun round the ship.

Back to the cabin to get ready for our evening out. Went down to limelight club around 6.30 and got in the queue, once in we had a lovely little table at the front near the stage, ordered drinks and some lovely food before Lee Mead came out to do a Q&A, mains came along after that before Lee Mead came back out to sing. He was so good, has such a brilliant voice. We were pretty tired after that so back to our cabin ready for Rotterdam tomorrow.

Day 4 (6.11.2024)

Rotterdam 

New city this morning, I went up on deck and felt really odd as there were tall buildings right next to the ship on one side and I could see the city on the other. It was like waking up in the middle of NYC. 

We had some brekkie before disembarking the ship to walk into the city, it took us around half hr to get there but was a nice walk, just had to make sure we didn't get run over by cars, bikes and trams when walking anywhere. 

We had a good walk round the shops, Christmas decorations were up so saw a few Christmas trees. Went into the big food market which was fab to walk around, there were so many different food vendors, no one would go hungry in there that's for sure. Rotterdam is a lovely city to walk around. We really enjoyed it and it is probably our favourite. We managed to find both Brewdogs so got my stamp in each which I was really happy about and tried 3 new beers. Once we finished in bar 2 we decided to walk back to the ship as it was 3 o'clock and we wanted to get back in plenty of time, we ended up finishing the day on almost 20,000 steps. We grabbed some food once we had boarded the ship, ordered a couple of drinks and went back to our cabin. We were both shattered after a long day, stuck the Arsenal game on and fell asleep.

Day 5 (7.11.2024)

Zebrugge 

Up early this morning as not long in port today, 8-4 which is much shorter than all the other days, grabbed the shuttle into Brakenburg and we was going to get the train into Brugge but the train only run every hour and by the time we got to station would have then had to wait an hour until the next train, I was a bit concerned Would be a faff getting there and back as well and constantly time watching, so we stayed in Brackenburg. We had a walk round the shops but most didn't open until 10 which was frustrating as we were there about 8.30. However we walked up some stairs and come to a beach so we walked along the front for a little while before going back into the city so Claire could grab some chocolate and we could both get a fridge magnet. We only walked around for about an hour before getting the coach back to the ship. Once back we had some breakfast and a coffee before chilling in the glass house bar for a few drinks. Was a really nice chilled day after a lot of walking. I had lunch and a few more drinks before later on having some dinner before watching utd game in the evening. Next stop La Harve.

Day 6 (8.11.2024)

La Harve

Went to breakfast at 8.30am, of course had my full English, grabbed a proper coffee from the bar and once finished, we headed to the shuttle for 9.30am which took us into Honfleur, which took about 15 minutes. We were dropped outside the cathedral and walked through the city centre, there were some lovely spots like the monument and the river. We had a good walk and managed to get to the shopping centre where they had some pretty decorations for Christmas. Didn't take us long to walk around and we were back at the ship for about 13.00,had a couple of drinks in the Emerald bar before heading up for lunch. We certainly had no complaints this holiday around food, always plenty of choice and always dead nice. Went out onto deck 16 for a bit to watch the other container ships coming in and out of port, there was also a French Naval ship in dock which was pretty cool. Once we started to get a bit chilly we went and sat in the sky dome bar for a few more drinks, Claire was on the cocktails whilst I was on the rum.

After a nice relaxed afternoon we had another walk around the deck before grabbing some dinner at 19.00. We had the last few bits to pack so went to the cabin to prepare and then grab an early night as we need to be out at least by 8 but we are hoping to disembark around 6.30.

Day 7 (9.11.2024)

Southampton 

Early morning, up at 5am, ready to disembark at 6.30, get our cases ready and down to deck 6 ready to disembark.

We were surprised as we managed to get off really quick and easy as we took our own cases off. Mum & Steve picked us up about 7.10, picked our bits up from mums and headed straight off so we could get home to unpack and sort washing out. Got home at around 10.30. 

Another holiday completed, loved it and now can’t wait for my next cruise in March and next couple of getaways 🙂.