Southampton

Flight arrived a bit early to heathrow this morning. That meant we had to wait for our gate for, well, enough time to put us on time.  It was pouring rain, a typical English day. I had a driver pick me up and drive to Southampton. I heard of this company from cruisecritic people: Smiths for Airports. If you ever need a driver in London , I highly recommend them. I've used them before and they are always on time, clean cars and professional. Anyway, I got to my hotel is Southampton around 1230 and had to wait an hour for the room to be ready. Apparently they were full last night, probably due to their being 3 cruise ships in port today. I'm sure they are full tonight too with the 3 queens coming in tomorrow.

After a nap and shower I went for a walk towards the docks. Royal caribbeans "adventure of the seas" sailed around 430.

As I was taking some pictures in the cold wind, I remembered what I forgot to pack: gloves. With the wind coming off the sea, it was chilly. Given the cold spring we've had in Ottawa, there's no excuse for forgetting them. M&S here I come!

5 pm: happy hour! I started to walk towards a  area with restaurants and pubs. To get there I walked through a small park where there was a man playing with his dog. The dog came over to see me and we had some fun. Chatting with the man he looked familiar. As I walked on it hit me, he was the captain of the cruise I did on Azamara in 2012. I didn't go back to confirm my theory but I'm quite sure it was him. Here I am in Southampton to take a cruise, watching the ships sail, talking to someone who I sailed with across the Atlantic before...this is weird.


I stopped at a pub for a pint and talked to a couple who were on the Royal Princess which was making a stop here. They were saying people were doing excursions to London (2 hour drive each way). Tomorrow they are in le Harve France where people can do excursions to, you guessed it, Paris. Why anyone would do this is completely beyond me. What a horrible way to spend a day a day.

Had a nice dinner at the White Star tavern.  I assume named after the company that built the titanic and later merged with Cunard.  The food was very good but by 730 I was falling asleep.  Will set the alarm early but not sure if I will make it for the sail in.