Saturday 24^th May 2014

Overnight we completed crossing the Bay of Biscay and headed northwest up the English Channel. According to the Navigators update this morning the ship entered the Solent around 4:40am and when we woke we were sailing into Southampton Harbour and getting ready to dock.

An early start this morning as we have to vacate our Stateroom by 8:00AM.

The weather this morning is not looking good, very foggy with overcast sky and rain. Temperature is expected to a maximum of 15°

After a quick breakfast of cereal and a cuppa we collected bags and made our way to deck 5 to disembark at 8:10am. We got to the meeting point a little early and were directed straight off the ship. It only took about 10 minutes from collecting our bags to actually walking off the ship and getting into a cab and heading for the railway station. We had pre-purchased our rail tickets so we boarded the 8:30am train to London. Arrived in London Waterloo at 9:45am and after a short cab ride we checked into the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge.

Big Ben from our Hotel looking across Westminster Bridge

He weather in London is just as bad as it was in Southampton, overcast sky, light breeze and a very strong possibility of heavy rain showers and a maximum temperature of 14°. Hopefully it will clear a bit later this afternoon so we can go for a wander around.

Friday 23^rd May 2014

Our last day on at sea as well as our last day on board the Emerald Princess.

Weather this morning overcast skies, strong winds and light rain and the prediction for the remainder of the day was not good.

As we sailed further into the Bay of Biscay the Captains midday update announced that he had closed the promenade deck as well as the swimming pools due to 35-knot winds and heavy seas with swells between 4-5 metres.

All in all not looking good for our last day. Even the outdoor movie was cancelled. Lynne was not sorry, as it was Top Gun.

As there was no ability to go out on deck the inside of the ship became very crowded.

Our day consisted of doing a last load of washing and then endeavouring to repack our bags which we finally managed to do following some rearranging to fit in the souvenirs and photos that had been purchased.

With all this completed we had a last look round the ship and sat in the piazza for a cuppa before getting changed for dinner.

The theme in the dining room was “American” and all the waiters were dressed in “stars & stripes” outfits.

After a great dinner, which included the parade of the bomb alaska, (dessert this evening), we said goodbye to Joanne and Glen and made our way back to our Stateroom to complete the final packing. As we are doing the express walk off  (we will be taking our own luggage off the ship) in the morning we don’t have to leave our luggage out to be collected.