Embarkation

Leaving it all behind..............for a little while


I finally decided that I needed to get away and so I left Paradise yesterday and made the drive to Rosyth to cath the beautiful and very sleek cruise ship Boudicca. I have had this holiday booked for over a year, and although there is still a not insubstantial kernel of guilt at leaving my parents and friends still grappling with infirmity and dementia, all the medics told me that I would be no use to them at all if I became too exhausted, or fell foul of a bug because I was run down.

So I bit the bullet and left.

I was offered an upgrade, can you believe, to a cabin with porthole windows, and quite a bit larger than my original booked one - so I took it in a nanosecond ! Under the portholes there is a wide ledge, I am almost at the prow of the ship, so the ledge tapers from about 3 feet to 2 feet, but it is a perfect place to sit, daydream and watch the sea go by !

I felt quite an old hand at the life jacket drill ! I was next to a couple of couples (!) for whom it is a first cruise. I was a positive expert in fitting the most unbecoming orange float aid, complete with whistle and light, but unlike aircraft ones, NO pipe to blow in to refill ! Maybe that is because on a ship we have lifeboats. I don't think Flybe or BA have too many of them strung beneath the aeroplane!

Dinner was superb - all of you who know me well are aware of the fact that I hate the formal dining, actually being nice to people -aaggh - so I onboard this white and gleaming delight I use the Secret Garden Restaurant which is self serve, yet full of attentive waiters. I had poached cod in lemon sauce and fragrant Thai rice followed by fresh fruit salad and fresh peach sauce. Will I make the midnight buffet - oh the trials of cruising!

One small hitch - we were all loaded, engines rollong and at the ready to leave Rosyth when the wonderfully eloquent Norwegian Captain made an announcement saying that he was sorry to say that all the harbour men who 'unhook' us from the quay, had left and gone home! Were they all watching the rugby I ask myself?! Anyhow phone calls were made, clearly to some homes with chaps sitting down to their pie and chips, which were then abandoned I assume ! They returned and by 7.30pm we were away, and finally I began to feel as though, for 12 days at least, I can relax, recuperate and recharge my sadly depleted batteries.


Sea Day tomorrow, and my first ever Swedish Massage ??!!