I am due to join "Aurora" in Hong Kong in March for a cruise back to the UK. Fortunately I am allowed to pre-board one suitcase at Southampton before she leaves UK on Sat. 2nd. January on the start of her world cruise. So one suitcase full of hot weather and evening clothes has been packed for weeks just waiting for the off.
My journey down to Southampton was on Tuesday 29th. December and cripes, what a struggle trying to lift a 19kg suitcase up & down/into & off of trains. The problem is that the doors on the trains are extremely narrow leaving no room to manouvre with bulky luggage - there are also those very British "mind the gap" moments !
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| The Star Hotel, Southampton |
I was staying at The Star Hotel located in the former High Street. It is a very old hotel dating back to the 18th. century (as the ricketty corridor floors testify). I far prefer quaint & quirky hotels so it was ideal for me. I chuckled when greeted with the very old fashioned lift which had grill gates similar to those which I had used at the old "New Scotland Yard" back in the 1960s. This was definitely a trip back in time.
I had booked a compact single room but was allocated a huge double double room suitable for sleeping 4. Presumably there were not going to be a lot of other guests staying on this particular night. The room was at the front of the hotel and being in the High Street I expected quite a noisy night from merrymakers outside. As it happened I only heard one or two groups making their way homewards between 11pm and 12 midnight. Funnily enough the noise came from quite a different source. A couple of hundred of yards down the road can be found the old ruined church of Holyrood. Although the main part of the church was destroyed during the Blitz the clock tower remained standing. Throughout the night the clock chimed the quarters and proclaimed the hour with relevant "dongs". The sound was not at all annoying - in fact it was rather reassuring. I slept very well and was really only aware of the chimes after 5.30 when I woke up.
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| The Old Holyrood Church, Southampton |
The walk to the Ocean Cruise Terminal takes about 10 minutes from The Star. The weather was crisp and dry so it seemed silly to take a taxi - I walked, wheeling the suitcase behind me. Naturally the cruise terminal had been designed for vehicle access rather than pedestrians so finding a safe walking route was not the easiest of tasks. I even got challenged by a security guard who wanted to know where I was trying to get to. They obviously knew nothing about the pre-boarded luggage scheme - or at least never expected some mad woman to come in by foot rather than by taxi! As soon as I came in sight of the entrance a P&O porter rushed up the road to meet me and took over wheeling the suitcase. I was ushered up to a table where two P&O ladies where on duty ready to tick me off their list. They laughed at seeing how windswept I was and commented on my red rosy cheeks. The walk had obviously done me some good. The case was taken off for security screening and once pronounced "safe" I was allowed to go.
Stage 1 of my 2016 Cruise holiday complete.
As I left the terminal I took the opportunity of taking a photo of the lovely rhino art work which sits at the entrance to the taxi rank. If you come in or leave by taxi or car (as 99.9% of passengers do) then you would never see this. I certainly have never seen it before. I did chuckle at the rhinos being lifted up by crane and wondered whether it might be a reference to some of the overweight passengers who use the cruise liners!!
