Scottishnellies UK Cruise - Day 6, Portland (almost)

[scottishnellie]

Had a very shoogly night, and kept waking up feeling like the room was spinning. And I knew it wasn’t the alcohol as I’d had one glass of wine with dinner then nursed the same glass of champagne all night. I got up to go to the loo and the towels were swinging around. Just kept trying to get to sleep but it was a very restless night. Kevin snored away peacefully all night. Maybe I should’ve made more effort with the alcohol right enough!

Woke up at 8:30 after finally falling asleep around 6 and it was way more peaceful. Looked out and we had a sea view with other cruise ships dotted around so I assumed the kids were landside. Messaged kieran to send me a pic of his side and was surprised to see his sea view too. So we hadn’t docked at Portland as planned then?

Curious, I logged on to cruise mapper to find we (and the ships around us) were circling about off the coast.

when I looked at the Facebook page I realised it wasn’t just that I had rubbish sea legs during the night

It was then explained when the captain announced we had been unable to dock due to high winds, that they would attempt it again later, and that the days excursion to Portland would be delayed.

The kids were going for their Covid tests at 9:15 then for breakfast with kevin. I really wanted a cuppa now so got dressed and nipped up to a quiet buffet and straight back down with my tea.

there are tea making facilities in the room but the teabags are rubbish and the powdered milk is rank. I should pick up breakfast tea bags from the buffet and keep some normal milk in the fridge really.

I crawled back into bed to upload yesterday’s trippie. I had (as usual) turned off the wifi in favour of 4G as it’s faster to upload the pictures, but soon the 4G started to go, and I had to switch back to wifi. As a result the trippie took forever. When I looked out I could see we were sailing so must’ve left further from shore which lost the 4G. Cruisemap showed we had indeed left the other circling ships behind.

Sure enough the captain announced they would not be attempting to dock at Portland at all now, the today’s excursions were cancelled and refunded, that he would be sailing to calmer waters with hopefully better weather, and there would be more entertainment around the pool this afternoon as a result.

Kevin and kieran returned from breakfast and announced they were going on the water slides so off they went. The seas started to calm, and the skies started to clear a bit.

Both kids had said the Covid test was a nonsense. That neither of them thought the swab had been done far up enough or for long enough and they were just told to go. No waiting for a result. I do wonder if it’s just a tick box exercise then to show they are doing what the government asked.

I’d had a letter about arranging self disembark so I called to arrange that for both rooms. Took 15 minutes to get through to reception but eventually done and she said we will get more info tomorrow. We have train reservations home and I’d rather get off ourselves early than get off, get a bus to the ACC again to get our cases and worry about missing the train. Just hoping we can get a taxi when we get off. Might just do Uber as not sure if there’s a taxi rank at port. Will look at that tomorrow.

I’d told Hannah I was coming to her cabin next. I wanted to get her to try stuff on to make sure she knew what she was wearing tonight and not leaving it til last minute to have yet another evening start with a Hannah drama.

I also wanted to try to de-crease her red dress for tomorrow nights Gala night to avoid tomorrow night starting on a low too! So armed with my Lenor crease release and a hot hairdryer that was done.

Sun now out it was time to try the pool. Took our towels and found a few beds. It was breezy but ok when the sun was out. Told kevin where I was and got this…

kieran came and jumped in the pool. When he got out later he was cold in the breeze but was ok once he dried off and got his t-shirt on. Nothing if not hardy!

It certainly wasn’t sunbathing weather but ok to sit in with your cardi or fleece on. Kevin came back and had managed to get bowling for 12:30 tomorrow but you are now only allowed to book for half an hour so not sure how much use that will be for 4 people. £30 for half an hr. Kevin said he needed a beer after the stress of that! He said there were so many people arguing about the lack of availability, and the prices of the fun passes on board compared to before boarding. I do feel for the staff. There’s only 2 boys in that arcade expected to deal with all of that.

Kevin went back to the cabin to change into dry clothes for lunch. Kieran went to the loo to do the same as he was all organised and had his stuff with him in his rucksack again. When he came back and lay down the wind had dropped and the sun was really quite warm. Next thing I could hear him snoring away! I let him have a wee 15 minute nap til it was time for lunch

Pea soup and some salad

Kevin had Salad, chicken, green Thai curry and a baked potato. He did abandon the Thai curry as it was on the bone and the meat looked as if it might be a bit too pink near the bone than it should be.

Kieran had some chicken nuggets and pizza

Followed by desserts, cookies & tea

We went back out to the main pool and the the boys went back in to play. They also tried out the hot tub although Kevin said there was no way it was 38 degrees as it said, definitely cooler. I wasn’t brave enough to try it as I’d then have to get out into the breeze wet. Brrr no thanks. Also - We have a hot tub at home now and I keep it at 40 degrees constantly. On the odd occasion it drops to 38 I feel it’s not warm enough so I knew on a day like today it just wouldn’t be for me. I’m such a cold fish!

I lay on the lounger with my cardi on and dozed on and off in between reading. Hannah eventually appeared and went for some lunch in the buffet which is right next to the pool. While she was away it reallly clouded over and got too cool for me so I told the boys and went inside for a cup of tea with Hannah.

Back to the cabin I had a wee nap until time to get ready for dinner. While getting ready kevin shouted out that he could see dolphins. We dived out into the balcony. You could hear loads of folk on the balconies shouting ‘there! There! Look!’ Trying to show others. I only managed to see one do one leap but kevin said there had been a few of them together. I spent ages trying tried to catch them on my phone but missed, so I had endless videos of just the sea to delete!

We all met in the champagne bar at 6:30. Early tonight as we had the other show to go to that I had booked. There are 2 shows. We had seen the science one and now we were about to see the Chess one. Well, 3 of us were. Kevin didn’t want to go as he ‘didn’t enjoy it’, also filed under ‘Ahm no payin’ 15 quid for that’ even though I’d told him this one got far better reviews.

Off the 3 of us went, through the casino to the carousel lounge. While waiting to go through Hannah and I could both really feel the ship sway again. Tomorrow is a sea day and I really hope it’s not like the last one.

Took our seats for the show but didn’t bother with the cocktail as we hadn’t liked it last time. We just took our champagne in with us. It does say you’re not allowed to take your own drinks in but almost everyone did and nobody was stopped. Maybe they know the cocktail isn’t great. As before there was the same string band playing soft jazz until it started.

Well the reviews weren’t wrong. This one is Ajedrez (pronounced a-hay-dress) and the show was INCREDIBLE. It was the same cast of actors/acrobats so when I saw that I thought it would just be the same but oh lord no. The costumes were amazing, like moulin rouge meets strictly come dancing. Hannah and I were mesmerised at all the sparkle. And the story was really good with banging classical rock music that made it very dramatic. The stunts and tricks were better as it was all done at a much faster pace. Just brilliant. All 3 of us loved it. If I’d been on this cruise longer I’d have paid to see it again. That’s how good it was. I’ve no photos of it as you’re not supposed to take any, but I wish I could show you the costumes. Amazing. These 2 shows are due to run for the rest of the year, even when the ship moves to Dubai in Autumn but if anyone was only going to book one then it HAS to be Ajedrez.

We met up with kevin again and stopped for some photographer photos before going in for dinner. Hannah was wearing a top of mine with her black jeans as her emergency replacement outfit and said every time she saw herself she thought she was me! I love a bit of sparkle me.

In for dinner

and it turned out every one of us had what we thought was our nicest meal yet. A complete contrast to last night.

I chose the ‘always available’ fish dish but asked if I could have some of the butter caper sauce from the other dish on the side which they happily did. It was so delicious.

Kieran asked for some fries with his lasagne which was also no problem. They really do anything they can for you.

Kevin said his beef was lovely and tender

And Hannah thought the risotto was the best dish she’d had all week

After dinner we went to the Virtuosa lounge again. We had talked about maybe trying some of the other bars but we like to be somewhere with live music and the only other place just now with that is the adult lounge which for one thing is jazz, and another we can’t take kieran in.

Tonight was retro night so the band were playing 60s, 70s, and 80s songs. It was much busier tonight and it was a brilliant atmosphere. There was a mum in the seats along from us chair dancing away (just like me) while her husband and teenagers pretended they weren’t with her (just like me) so we gave each other a wee nod and up we went. I fair enjoyed having a good dance. It’s been such a long time!

Kieran headed off to bed around midnight

I tried a couple of different cocktails but still went back to pina colada at the end. I just love them.

We had a brilliant night. I would love to tell you what time we went to bed but I have absolutely no idea. I can tell you that the ship was still swaying and the alcohol doesn’t help that feeling. I can tell you that I didn’t manage to get my makeup off before bed. And I can tell you I woke up with quite a sore head at 7am. So a good night was definitely had.

[loola30]

Aww it looks like you were having great fun dancing away! The food does look quite nice although I'm not sure it's quite my husband's level of portion size. He once put on 21lbs on a one week cruise - 1lb per meal! He's embarassingly rather proud of that fact. So good to hear that they will 'customise' your meal to some extent so perhaps he'll just have it customised to double haha.

I'm not loving all the rocking and rolling of the cruise ship though. I hope that you have a smoother sea day today. Looking forward to the gala night outfits.

Off to buy Lenor Crease Release... x

[WIGGYSMUM]

Another great report

Again both you and Hannah looked lovely, I absolutely love the top Hannah was wearing. I love a bit of sparkle ✨

Why won’t these young people get up for a boogie ? Be thankful for the international mum “nod” 😂

Thanks for sharing Helen

[BevS97]

Sounds like you have a good day. I hope tomorrow’s sea day is smooth sailing for you.

[scottishnellie]

Originally Posted by loola30

Aww it looks like you were having great fun dancing away! The food does look quite nice although I'm not sure it's quite my husband's level of portion size. He once put on 21lbs on a one week cruise - 1lb per meal! He's embarassingly rather proud of that fact. So good to hear that they will 'customise' your meal to some extent so perhaps he'll just have it customised to double haha.

I'm not loving all the rocking and rolling of the cruise ship though. I hope that you have a smoother sea day today. Looking forward to the gala night outfits.

Off to buy Lenor Crease Release... x

See more...

Tell him not to worry! He can order 2 starters and 3 mains at the same time if he likes! They will give you anything you want 😊

[Gryff]

Helen
Enjoying readingvyou report as always but I’m not sure if it’s really making my mind up that cruising is just not for us
I do appreciate that it’s not normal times or even a typical cruise route

[scottishnellie]

Originally Posted by Gryff

Helen
Enjoying readingvyou report as always but I’m not sure if it’s really making my mind up that cruising is just not for us
I do appreciate that it’s not normal times or even a typical cruise route

See more...

I know. I’m the same myself but everyone keeps telling me that normal cruising is nothing like this so it’s hard to tell.

[MarionG]

It sounds like overall you are having a great time. I'm enjoying reading an actual trip report!

[ducati211]

It's great to read what a fun night you had...
I know all that swaying would make me dizzy.. Hope your enjoying your rest from work, housework, cooking and cleaning lol

[margyloveswdw]

Brilliant that you had a simple nod with a fellow mum and then you were dancing away together! Brilliant….😂