Return to Crystal Symphony

Although our room at the B&B was quite small, the bed was very comfortable. Since nobody in the south of England has air conditioning, we slept with the window cracked open a bit, under a nice thick duvet. After all of Tuesday's exercise, the lights went out just after the blog was posted (around 9:45), and we didn't wake up until about 7:30.


The morning's adventure was using the shower. Anyone who read the blog from our river cruise in France will recall that Larry found the shower very small, to the point where he counted tiles to figure out the exact square footage. Well, he did it again here – and discovered that this shower was even smaller than the one on River Baroness! In fact, he dropped the shampoo bottle and had to turn off the water and come out of the shower stall to pick it up!! But that was only a minor inconvenience.

After getting everything packed up again, we headed down to breakfast. There is a nice little room all set up for 14 guests, the standard maximum. You can see the room from the breakfast photos below. And, by the way, it was quite delicious!

Just as we finished breakfast, another couple was debating with Sharon about a taxi pickup time. It turned out that they were also coming aboard Symphony, so we talked for a few minutes and decided to share a cab to the port a little before noon. That being settled, we headed out for another walk, this time toward the waterfront.

Not far around the corner from Castle House are the ruins of Old St. James' Church, which was founded in Saxon Times and most likely one of the Dover churches that was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Although left in disrepair since the 1860s when the town needed a larger church, it was destroyed during the Second World War by German long range artillery fired from France. It has been left as a monument to the citizens of Dover who suffered from the long-range bombings during the war.

Here are a few photos from down near the beach and the quay. The beach would not be too comfortable to walk on in bare feet – it is made of stones rather than sand – but we did see a few hardy souls swimming at 10:00 in the morning!

The little brown blob in the cliff face is the balcony we were on yesterday
from the tunnels

First glimpse of Symphony at the cruise ship port

On our way back, we took a closer look at the rows of banners stretching up and across the pedestrian street to the town square, where there is a huge outdoor TV screen showing the Paralympic Games that are currently taking place. These banners were all knit or crocheted, probably about a thousand in all. Monica had to take some photos just for the Casting Off the Cold group.

We asked Sharon about them later. They were made as an Olympic project by people with learning or other disabilities, as well as people in addiction rehab in various facilities in the Dover area. The strings of banners add a real sense of celebration to the downtown area; we hope they leave them up after the Games are over.

Our wanderings led us back past St. Mary's Church, and another view of the very old churchyard, and then on to St. Paul's Catholic Church and a very pretty house nearby. Hope this gives you an idea of how picturesque a town Dover is. Many Brits probably don't even notice, since Dover is the main landing point for the Channel ferries that go to Calais and Boulogne. The highway literally runs right down to the car ferry ramps, so there's no need to see much of the town.

A rose blooming in the small patio at Castle House

We arrived at the Cruise Terminal just after 11:30. The check-in was being done on the ship, so there was a little wait in the lounge until they were ready for us on board. We hooked up with Roy, Judy and Bob, with whom we had shared the ride from Southampton. Apparently, even though our room was a bit small and the bathroom rather cramped, we had the better deal on the accommodation front. They stayed right on the beach in the Best Western Marina Hotel, and were not particularly happy, especially since, of course, there was no air conditioning and they could only open the window a couple of inches. On top of that, they didn't find breakfast all that appetizing – so they were rather jealous when they saw our photos.

Finally on board, we got checked in and headed out to take a look around Symphony. We hadn't sailed on this ship since 2009, and she recently went through an extensive drydock that remodelled a number of the public rooms. Particularly impressive is the new Palm Court, that got a complete makeover. We'll take some photos and post them in the next day or so. In the meantime, here are a couple of shots taken from the vantage point of Deck 12.

Our best shot of the White Cliffs to the west of town. We'll be
going to dinner at sailaway, so there may not be another chance
for a photo.

Symphony's pool deck

One of the breakwater lighthouses

For dinner we are at a hosted table (officer to be advised when we meet him/her). One of our tablemate couples is from Sydney, Australia and the other one we've met so far is from Chicago – and it turns out that we've sailed together before, on the Dubai-Athens cruise on Serenity in 2010. They are celebrating their 40th anniversary and are now on their third consecutive cruise, having done the Baltic and the British Isles itineraries that preceded this one. The last couple is also on from the British Isles cruise and will be joining us for the first formal night tonight.

Of course, we couldn't go very far without running into Jim Brochu! We were heading past the Starlight Lounge after dinner and there he was, sitting with Ken Rees and John and Laura Loesser. They are all very friendly and interesting; we're looking forward to Ken's destination lectures and John and Jim's talks focusing on entertainment.

We also ran into a few more of the Cruise Critic group, especially Nancy and her husband Larry – then the party moved from the Starlight into the Avenue Saloon, also newly renovated and redesigned…We were there until midnight, so it's a good thing that we're gaining time on this leg of the cruise instead of losing it!!

Overnight in Dover

Cunard, though claiming to be much classier than any other cruise line, is no different when it comes to turnaround day. We were up at 6:00 to shower, dress and get to breakfast before we needed to have our things out of the stateroom and head for our designated waiting lounge. Our stated disembarkation time was around 9:00 and we weren't too far off of that. The whole process was actually rather painless as disembarkations go.


Once clear of the terminal, we had to look for our van, which of course had all the guys a little nervous since there was nobody waiting with a sign…He did finally show up a bit after his scheduled time with a nice, roomy 8 passenger van/bus with plenty of room for all our luggage. Here's the only photo we have of the QM2, as we left her behind in Southampton

The drive took about 3 hours, but didn't give us too much of a glimpse of the lovely scenery, since it was all on the M-series motorways, but that gave us most of the afternoon in Dover. After leaving our companions at their hotel, the driver dropped us off at the Castle House Bed & Breakfast, just at the bottom of the hill to Dover Castle.

Outside

Our room, small but comfortable

After meeting Sharon, the owner, and getting settled, we took a short walk around to find a bite to eat before heading up to the castle. We found St. Mary's Church

and almost right beside it, Chaplin's, a small restaurant serving local specialties. So how could we resist? Lunch was a little late, but here's what we had:

Larry's Cottage Pie with veggies

Monica's Plaice & Chips

After that satisfying meal, we started off along Castle Hill Road – aptly named, especially the 'Hill' part. Here's a view along the flat part of the road

After climbing what seemed to be a 17% grade (judging by how much higher the path was than the 13% grade road) we finally reached –

a staircase, with 84 steps, leading up to the ticket booth for the castle. By the way, we left the pedometer in the bag, so we're only guessing that over the whole afternoon we added another 5 miles to our log for this trip.

The headland on which Dover Castle is built has been important to defence ever since the first century AD when the Romans built a lighthouse there to guide ships into the harbour. Then the Saxons built a fortification that was added to by William the Conqueror in 1066. Henry II remodelled the castle in the 1180s, and the new fortifications were put to the test during a siege by the French in 1216-1217. Here are a few photos around the grounds

Looking down over Dover

We climbed all the way to the top of the Great Tower, which was Henry's big contribution to the site. The view was impressive, but not as good as it could be due to the mist and the thick cloud of little bugs that never appeared anywhere else all afternoon.

We also visited the Church of St. Mary in Castro, dating back to around 1,000 AD. It is still used today as a military church having last been restored in 1862. Although it is not large, it is beautiful inside. Each of the pew cushions has been cross-stitched by hand and personalized, too.

Dover Castle's historical importance as a fortification includes the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars with France in the late 1700s to early 1800s. At that time, a huge underground barracks was built to house a few thousand men. They weren't used much after that until 1940, and were instrumental during Operation Dynamo, where the British and French soldiers were rescued from Dunkirk. The whole operation was run from the underground offices, and a whole hospital was created to care for the wounded soldiers who came back across the Channel. There is a 45 minute tour that takes you through a portion of these tunnels and covers a lot of what went on to effect the rescue. Unfortunately, you can't take photos inside, but once you get out onto a balcony overlooking the harbour, cameras are allowed again.

After descending from the height, we stopped in to the B&B for a bit, and then headed out for a quick pub dinner. We had seen the Eight Bells Pub earlier in the afternoon and decided to give it a try. Obviously a regular haunt for quite a few of the locals; it was pretty busy even for a Tuesday night. Larry had a club sandwich made with fresh turkey and English bacon (like peameal without the cornmeal crust) and Monica had sausages, mashed potatoes and peas. Couldn't get much more typical than that!

Tomorrow we should be getting to the ship around noon. We'll report on the B&B breakfast that gets excellent ratings from TripAdvisor comments. Sharon already feels the pressure…

Land Ho!

Finally, after 6 days at an average speed of 20 knots in extremely calm seas, the Scilly Islands and Land's End came into view a little after 1:00 this afternoon. There hasn't been much to take photos of in the last few days, unless you're especially partial to fog, and there's been barely a ripple on the ocean. It would be great whale-watching weather if only there were whales. We did, however, see some dolphins just before reaching the Scilly Islands, as we had a quick drive-by from the British Life-Saving Society's rescue boat.


This certainly has been an experience, and a little hard to define. We had boarded the ship with open minds, but not expecting too much, trying not to put much credence in what others had told us beforehand. Given Cunard's reputation for "stuffiness" and the way they market the line, we weren't quite sure of what we were getting into. Perhaps Cedric and Reginald, in tailcoat and top hat, discussing the morning line at the Ascot Races whilst Hermine and Agatha agonized over which fascinator to wear to the Ball that night?? Truth be told, while there is a certain amount of that among some people we met along the way, by and large this was really no different than any other cruise we have taken. The speakers were by and large interesting, the people we met in the bars were pleasant, the food was good and the service varied from okay to excellent. In other words, it was pretty standard as cruises go, but without the shore excursions.
Our tablemates were great fun, and although we usually started dinner a bit later than usual, a two and a half hour meal wasn't out of the ordinary. But that often meant that we left the table, headed for the show and then went to bed since by that time it was almost midnight. The two American couples are both renting cars and driving off towards Cornwall for a few days before flying back to the US. The last couple live halfway between Southampton and London and so are heading home (to all those chores you can leave behind on a holiday).

The social knitting group that developed on board is going to keep in touch. One of the ladies, Nanci, is going to set up a web site and a blog for knitters at sea to give us all a sort of 'roll call' to set up more of these get togethers amongst handicrafters who like to take their projects along. Should be fun!

Tuesday morning we arrive in Southampton, and the wake up call will come at 6:00AM. By this time tomorrow we will be in our B&B in Dover, and in 48 hours we will be settled in our cabin on Crystal Symphony for the next part of the adventure.

The journey continues.

The Long Crossing

As promised, today we're posting some photos from around the ship. Considering she is carrying about 2,500 passengers according to the captain, there don't seem to be any crowds anywhere, even at the pools.


We came on board not really knowing what to expect. Some people had said that the 'crossing' experience is different from a regular cruise, just because of the uninterrupted length of time with no change of scenery. Some said that the onboard service would be different than we've come to expect on a ship; some even said they didn't think we'd like it. We have to say that we have been pleasantly surprised by our actual experience. Our Princess Grill suite is quite roomy and comfortable;

Our stateroom attendant, Ronald, has been very friendly and attentive, and all of the staff have been just great. We've been to the Queen's Grill Lounge a couple of times and chatted with Gyorgyi, the bartender from Budapest.

She's given us some good tips about the ship, especially the warning about the time changes. Most of the time, moves from one time zone to the next are done at midnight or 2:00 AM. Captain Wells had the time change moved to noon instead. Gyorgyi says that for most of the crew it is great, since their nights aren't being cut short for 5 days in a row, and their sleep patterns aren't interrupted. Same goes for the passengers – except that lunch service starts and ends at odd hours to incorporate the lost time and it is a bit confusing. And we all know that you can't get between cruise passengers and their food! We've only had the experience for one day so far, but we have noticed that having the day shortened instead of the night makes for an easier adjustment. We'll update you on that as we go along.

The lecture program so far has been interesting. We have a maritime historian talking about the great ocean liners, a former US ambassador talking about current events, and an astronomer who gave some lectures on the universe and the US space program. The astronomy is quite topical given that Monica has her 'Understanding the Universe' lecture DVDs along instead of a book. The QM2 has the only on-board planetarium at sea and we were looking forward to experiencing it – only it is broken and they don't know if it can be fixed before the end of the crossing.



In Illuminations

It has been rather nice, with two formal nights in a row, to see everyone dressed up, and keeping to the dress code throughout the evening. We weren't sure if that would be the case. Last night was our turn for the captain's welcome aboard cocktail party in the Queen's Room. It is quite a spectacular ballroom, the largest at sea (no surprise since Royal Caribbean isn't likely to need a ballroom as such and only RCI has bigger ships – but QM2 doesn't have an ice rink…)

Captain's reception in the Queen's Room

The next formal night will be the 'Evening at Ascot' theme. At the knitters' get-together Monica found out that there will be an opportunity to make hats to go with our outfits. If she decides to do it, we'll show you the final result…

Here are some more ship photos:

The Winter Garden

Grand Foyer

Veuve Cliquot Champagne Bar

The Pavilion pool and bar

Looking down over the terraced sun decks

Along the Promenade Deck as
we cruise at 21 knots

The Royal Court Theatre

Sir Samuel's coffee corner

Monica also managed to catch the end of the fruit and vegetable carving demonstration in the Winter Garden. Here are the final products – these guys sure are talented!

Today, Friday, we're having a lunch with the Cruise Critic members and dinner at Todd English. That means a repeat of yesterday's 3 miles around the Promenade Deck is on the agenda as well!