Regal Princess/Port of Southampton
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Light rain, 58F
Since this is sort of a back to back cruise, we have returned to Southampton to unload passengers and pick up new ones. About 700 passengers are “in transit,” which means they are staying on the ship until Galveston and about 2800 new people are arriving.
TK and I decided to catch the Princess shuttle into Southampton and left the
ship about 8:30 a.m. Then we discovered that shops did not open till 11. Starbucks, here we are!! After lingering with coffee and a croissant
for a while, we strolled around the area, there was a lovely park, and two
malls, one very big and magnificent. They were open at 11 and so we checked
them out.
West Quay Shopping Center, with 90 indoor
shops in the heart of Southampton has stores we know, like Apple, Body Shop, Bath
& Body, Build A Bear, Yankee Candle, H & M, Leo, Levis, Lush, Pandora,
and Zara, and those we don’t know like Boux Avenue, Fat Face, Sweaty Betty,
John Lewis, Typo, and more. Not everybody
is into malls, but on a day when the ship is taking on passengers, it is a good
idea to find somewhere else to be. I am glad that we already visited Stonehenge
two weeks ago.
The other mall was smaller, but we were intrigued by a “Dollar” store,
and especially the types of potato chips.
We returned to the ship by 12:30 and there was lots of activity, the security
checks, the busy elevators, crew members trying to sort out dozens of
questions. When we went to dinner, much
had been sorted out and peace prevailed. We still have 22 more days.
I was so happy to be able to speak to Sons Randy and Brian. It seems a
hurricane is headed to England and will somewhat affect us as we head to Spain
in two days. Tomorrow we will visit the Normandy Beaches of the D-Day Invasion,
as well as the American Cemetery at Normandy.
Even though we have unlimited calls with Verizon, those are the only two
calls we have made. We also have
unlimited texting but have not used that much either.
Chris, we have gone a bit overboard with the mugs. I pack bubble wrap and
masking tape, and we do have room in our carry on, if necessary. Last year I cooked
up this bubble wrap scheme when I knew we would be buying olive oil and other
items in glass containers—all arrived home safely in our checked luggage. Fingers crossed this time. The Starbucks mugs do come in boxes. Our
biggest concern is weight, but I will be off loading the books (I’ve finished 4
so far), and we were about 25 pounds underweight between the 4 pieces of
luggage. Packing is an art!
Tonight, I was talking with Miss Finae (I must clarify the spelling), the
delightful hostess in our dining room. She was working on an Arctic cruise for four
months and showed us some of her gorgeous photos, PLUS one showing SNOW on the
ship’s deck. The crew members have been
very helpful, and she was especially kind the first night when we told her we
needed a private table—she worked her magic and we are happy!
By the way, I don’t think I have ever mentioned the security checks.
Every time passengers return to the ship from visiting a port, they are
required to go through security, not unlike airport security—the conveyor belt
for packages, purses, metal objects, and the arched thingy to walk through. TK
always gets “frisked” no matter how many times he tells them about his ankle
and his knees. We also have a “Medallion” that must be scanned to verify us as
passengers, when we disembark and then return to the ship—that is how they keep
track that everyone is on the ship—and the right people—a photo of the
passenger appears after the scan.
TK's Takes: Sundays aren't good in most ports--becasue many things are closed.
