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Day 1
27th July 2024

A warm welcome back. Today is quite an easy day as we aren't in a massive rush to get going. Leon goes out early to get a haircut and when he returns he is looking like a fine specium of a human indeed!
Leon packs his suitcase and we have a bit of free time before heading off to Auntie Tanya's for a BBQ. After some good food, entertainment and great company we get on the road down to Southampton.
Much to my dissappointment Leon doesn't miss the turn off to London (this is the second time running) so we are on track..... or so we thought, at the last minute Leon notices that the sat nav tells us to turn off down the A505 - we missed it then the sat nav tells us to turn off another road and we we miss it again. Chatting to ourselves we are confused as to why the sat nav wanted us to turn off and continue along our merry way until we hit the M25 and an accident! ARGH delayed.
Along the way Dexter continuously asked Leon how much longer until we got to the hotel, Leon tells him we have 2 hours to go and Dexter answers "well, that's better than 3 hours!" Gotta love the optimism of him.
We arrive at the Holiday Inn, Southampton about 8.15pm and settle in for the night.

Day 2

Another easy morning in the hotel. As we have stayed in this hotel before we know it's mayhem on a cruise morning with people trying to get their suitcases down the lift and taxis buzzing about picking people up, so we have a plan! We pack all our stuff up and take it back to the car before breakfast this means later on no waiting about for a lift for us (which will be too full for us to get in). After breakfast we go back to our room and chill out watching some olympics, when its time to leave we leisurely stroll down the stairs passing the people queuing for the lift, winning!
The second part of our plan is to drive ourselves to the dock rather than getting caught up in the taxi mayhem, so we jump in the car and head off to the dock where we have been before. This time when we arrive we are faced with the Queen Mary cruise ship, errrr that's not our ship!!??? Where is ours? Well, we have no idea and it's not in sight, we ask a security guy and he advises us ours is in gate10! We didn't even know there were 'other' gates!! eek the wheels have come off our plan, the guy tells us gate 10 is pass where our hotel is - in our heads this doesn't seem too bad and maybe it's closer then where we are now. We drive back pass our hotel and continue driving and driving, erm this isn't looking good! Finally we find our gate and Leon drops Dexter and me off with the suitcases now he has to drive back to the hotel and walk back to dock and it's alot further then we thought!
Dexter and me settle in at the check in and we even find Stanley bear (a person in a teddy bear suit dressed as the captain) and grab a picture. We don't actually have to wait too long for Leon to get back as he found a short cut while walking back - so actually our plan worked quite well.
We board the ship and actually get all our jobs done -
Find cabin and enter before we should, tick
Watch muster video and report to muster place, tick
Register Dexter into kiddie club, tick
Have lunch, tick
Our next job is to sort out buying some wifi so I sort that out. We only have a limited amount of devices we can add to our account so I ask Leon which device he wants to add, he says "my ipad" I say "you sure?" he says "yes" so I confirm with him he definitely wants his ipad connect, "yes" he says so I connect him. 5 Minutes later he says "I think it would be better to have my phone connected!!! OMG!!! Now I have to go to the internet cafe to ask them to remove his ipad and connect his phone! When I get to the internet cafe theres a massive queue and after standing there for at least 30 minutes the man tells me to bring ALL the devices to him, argh!
We drop Dexter off at kiddie club and head back to the internet cafe to sort it out, finally it's sorted and we are on our way again, we pop back to the cabin to drop off our devices and Leon says "I can't find my medallion" - A medallion is everything on a cruise ship, it's unlocks the door to your cabin, you pay for drinks with it and use it to bet in the casino - the worse thing you can do is lose it! We search the cabin high and low then follow our tracks back, there is a group of 6 lifts together so I wait at the lift for the correct one and Leon runs down to the internet cafe, the lift i need to get into keeps passing me by while the others keep opening to let me in, this is so fustrasting! Finally the correct one opens but Leon's medallion isn't in there, dishearted I get in and head to reception to meet Leon. Luckily Leon has found his medallion at the internet cafe, he had put it on the table while sorting out the wifi.
We head off to the casino.
On this cruise we have booked a private restaurant which we can use at anytime rather then having to queue at one of the main ones - just makes life easier for us as we don't like having to book somewhere every night so we pop in for a bite to eat.
We pick Dexter up from kiddie club early and head back to our cabin for a peaceful rest of the evening....... wrong! Next thing is Leon can't find his glasses! We search through everything in the cabin and they just aren't there! OMG here we go again then Leon pulls out the over night bag he had at the hotel the night before which he has searched through 3 times already and finds them, honestly I cannot believe he loses so much stuff! He's a nightmare.
Dexter has talked constantly for 2 days now - my ears are hurting.

Weather has been beautiful today as we start our cruise over to Cornwall.
Good night everyone I'm hoping for a good nights sleep with no talking and NO LOSING THINGS!!!

Day 3
29th July 2024
Falmouth, Cornwall

A very warm welcome from Cornwall! Oh it's a beautiful day here we really couldn't ask for better weather it's 22oC and not a cloud in the sky.
Dexter hasn't woke early which isn't a suprise considering he has had late nights the past couple of nights, we get ready while he snoozes then it's off to our fancy pants restaurant for some breakfast.
Today we have to tender boat over to the mainland as the ship cannot dock at Falmouth, it's about a 25 minute ride across the sea.
Leon has researched a Starbucks for us to visit to get a destination mug it's about 5 miles away from where we dock, we decide to take a bus over to it and a very helpful bus lady tells us which buses to take and drops us off in the town center to catch the next one. She tells us to get the 69a which comes once an hour and we wait for it - what she didn't tell us is the buses change numbers once they get where we are waiting and we miss it! Annoying! But we spot a taxi and jump in, we are on our way to Starbucks!
Once at Starbucks we walk in and head towards where the cups are and guess what they don't have any Cornwall cups!!! I ask the lady behind the counter and she just looks at me like I'm stupid so I just order some coffees and sulk off.
I google Starbuck mugs Cornwall and it would seem there isn't such a thing although I still think there is... anyway no mug for me perhaps I should have checked before we left.
Next door to Starbucks is a Asda so we pop in for a couple of things, just as we are about to pay Leon remembers something he wants to get so I said I'll meet him at the scan and go area, when I get to that area I see thats not where I need to be and move to where the basket scan area is, I see Leon returning so go through to start scanning our items but Leon doesn't appear....I wait and wait and still he doesn't come back???!!! No, Leon has gone to the scan and go area and won't move, he doesn't think to himself I'm in the wrong area I'll shuffle along to the right area! He tries ringing me but our phones aren't connecting then finally he decides to shuffle along and try and find us.
We make our way to the bus stop to get a bus to the beach but again it's only 1 bus every hour and theres a 45 minute wait so we end up getting a taxi again.
The beach area is very pretty but unless you have brought your beach things theres not alot to do and nowhere to buy beach things.
We start to walk back to the tender boat and walk towards a castle which we know our tender boat is behind but thankfully we stop and ask somebody who we could tell was from our ship if we were going the right way, we are not! So we walk back and somehow find our way back - the problem with getting old is you seem to lose your sense of direction.
Our evening runs smoothly with dinner in our fancy pants place, kiddie club and casino.

Tomorrow we will be in Ireland

Sea sickness report - none found

Day 4

Top o the mornin to ya!
Yep, we are in Ireland today, we have docked in Cobh which isn't too far away from Cork. None of us are feeling very hungry this morning so we decide to skip breakfast and head out. We have hired a car for the day from Ray, once off the boat we start to look for Ray but we can't find him so we call him up and he brings the car down to us within about 5 minutes.
We are off to Blarney Castle today, a place a visited when I was a child with my Nanny (who was Irish) my Dad, Mum and brother Jas. We are in the car for about 5 minutes when Dexter pipes up "I'm hungry" ha, typical! We travel along looking for somewhere to grab something to eat but the only place we found was McDonalds.
My wonderful husband Leon is doing a spendid job of driving us around and gets us quickly to Blarney Castle, now the reason for coming here is because you can go to the top of the castle lean over the edge backwards and kiss the 'Blarney stone' this is mean't to give you the gift of the gab. When I came here as a child I wasn't allow to do it as I was too small so as we are here today I would like to do it as my Dad and Jas did it.
Firstly you have go through the castle and climb up a very small and tall spirial stair case, think very small,cold stone steps in a very tight space at height with people queuing in front and behind you, yeah I'm not feeling this! At one point I start to feel like I'm going to panic and start breathing a bit weird, repeating the words 'I need to get down, I need to get down'. Leon and Dexter find this extremely funny and Leon decides to remind me that theres no way down I have to keep going up!! (He's always such a comfort to me), thankfully the american lady behind me is more help and I do manage to make it to the top.
Feeling shakey and now faced with seeing how high up I am isn't actually helping me much but I manage to man up a bit and stay on top of the castle. Next I have to lean over the edge backwards to kiss this stone, it's a weird thing to explain so maybe google it. Leon goes first and gets the job done next my turn, and at first I wimp out but then try to give it a go and sit down to lean back but then wimp out again, I decide to let the american people behind me go in front of me, Leon says to me you'll be disspointed if you don't do it so I pop on my big girls pants and lay down on my back, now with my head and upper body over the edge of the castle I'm upside down, I hold on the the metal rails to try and get close to the stone to kiss it but I just can't reach it so I pop a kiss on my hand and the placed it on the stone - I'm calling that win! I did it!
Next we are heading over to Cork to (guess what) find a STARBUCKS! Ireland's roads are a little different to the UK in terms of having roads you can drive down at certain times of the day and other little weird things but Leon handles these like a pro, we park up and go in search of the cup.....
.....we find Starbucks quite easily and yes, they have a cup for me! It's a really nice one too with yellow on the inside.
It's time for us to head back to the cruise and return the car to Ray, we go to his garage and then he drive us about a mile down the road back to the cruise ship - my word his driving was so nuts we nearly had 2 accidents in that 5 min drive.
For our evening meal we go to our fancy pants place which is great because they make such a fuss over Dexter and he just loves it!
After dinner we all go to the theatre to watch a Frank Sinatra singer - Dexter does love a show and really seem to like swing music.

The weather held out well for us today it was dry and warm.
Tomorrow is a sea day so don't expect much in the way of updates.

No sea sickness to report :)

Day 5
31st July 2023

Good morning from the Atlantic Sea! Well actually it isn't a good morning for me :( after yesterdays antics at Blarney castle I've managed to pull the muscles in both my legs making it difficult to walk so I've looked like a complete wally walking around the boat today.
There isn't much to talk about today, Dexter's been to kiddie club and Leon and me have been relaxing.
This evening Leon and me went to a speciality restaurant to celebrate our wedding anniversary, we had steak and lobster - yumsters!
Another day at sea tomorrow - hopefully I'll be able to walk again and maybe there will be more exciting updates.

Day 6
1st August 2024
At Sea

Another day at sea for us which means we haven't done anything.
After breakfast (at the buffet this morning much to Leons dismay!) we drop Dexter off at kiddie club and head back to our cabin, Leon and me have had a look on the app to see whats happening on the ship but honestly I can say there really isn't anything we would want to do.
At kiddie club today Dexter has been making hand puppets and his is an elephant - they make so much stuff there.
We pick Dexter up for lunch and head over to our fancy pants place for a bite to eat, we are definately eating too much and not doing enough at the moment but it's hard when you're faced with starter, main and dessert each time you eat - I've made it a personal rule to try the dishes but not eat everything on the plate.
We drop Dexter back at kiddie club and again head back to our cabin, we are currently watching modern family series on the TV it's quite funny or the olympics.
The weather has changed quite a bit it's raining and about 15oC so a bit chilly if you go out on deck.
Legs are still hurting alot today so I'm still waddling about - really, really hope they are back to normal tomorrow.
After our evening meal we are going to the theatre to watch a comedian magician, let me tell you this was one of the worse shows I've ever seen! A 60 year old man doing a very bad childrens magic show, at points even Dexter was shouting out "That's not magic, he just put that in his mouth!" "He's really bad" I must admit that did make me burst out laughing! Even the people sitting behind us walked out.
Well that's it for today - early night for all of us as it's our first port in Iceland tomorrow.

Day 7
2nd August 2024
Akureyri, Iceland

Our cruise ship slowly glided into the picturesque harbor of Akureyri, Iceland's second-largest city, nestled in the stunning Eyjafjörður fjord. The morning fog cast a mystical veil over the town, but as it lifted, we were greeted by the majestic sight of mountains draped in low-level clouds. It felt like stepping into a postcard, each frame more breathtaking than the last.

Akureyri, often referred to as the "Capital of the North," is a charming town that combines natural beauty with rich cultural heritage. As the fog dissipated, the quaint buildings and vibrant gardens came into view, set against the backdrop of snow-capped peaks. The clear, crisp air invigorated us, and we couldn’t wait to explore the wonders that lay beyond.

We decided to hire a car to venture out and experience the legendary landscapes that Iceland is renowned for. Our first destination: Godafoss, the "Waterfall of the Gods." The drive itself was a feast for the eyes, with rolling hills and distant mountains painting a serene picture of the Icelandic countryside.

Upon reaching Godafoss, we were immediately captivated by the thunderous cascade of water plunging into the river below. Legend has it that in the year 1000, Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, a lawspeaker, threw his pagan idols into the falls after Iceland converted to Christianity, giving the waterfall its name. Standing there, feeling the spray on our faces and listening to the powerful roar, it was easy to see why this site holds such a significant place in Icelandic history and culture.

After soaking in the beauty of Godafoss, we set our sights on another iconic natural phenomenon: geysers. Iceland is famous for its geothermal activity, and we were eager to witness the earth's raw power up close. Google and the Sat nav took us on a merry drive around as embarked on a quest to find one of these marvels.

Our journey took us through stunning landscapes, from verdant valleys to rugged lava fields. However, despite our best efforts and much to our disappointment, we couldn't find an active geyser. It turned into a lesson in the unpredictability of nature – sometimes, she keeps her secrets hidden.

Though our search for geysers was unsuccessful, the day was far from a disappointment we did find a Netto (co-op) supermarket and stocked up on holiday treats and some food bags. The thrill of the adventure, the beauty of the landscapes, and the awe-inspiring sight of Godafoss made it a day to remember. Sometimes, it's not just the destination but the journey itself that leaves the most lasting impressions.

This evening we went to the fancy pants place but honestly all this food is getting to be a bit much, a diet is very needed when I get home.

We are chilling in the cabin this evening as we are all feeling quite tired.

No sea sickness to report BUT we are heading into a storm tonight and the captain has advised us it's going to get rough - eek.

Day 8
3rd August 2024
Isafjordur, Iceland

We smoothly sail into the Isafjordur dock as we wake this morning, looking out our balcony doors I can see a massive green mountain with the top of it covered by clouds it's quite the view to wake up to.
We head up to the buffet for some breakfast then drop Dexter off at kiddie club, today we have decided not to take Dexter off the ship because we haven't got anything planned to do. Leon and me leave the ship to find out what this stops holds for us and straight away we are hit (literally) by very strong winds, thankfully we have our hoodies and hats with us and quickly pop them on.
As we walk around this town it's becoming obvious to us there isn't much to do here but we do find another netto supermarket and of course we have a quick look around and this time buy some milk.
As we walk back to the boat we do find a tour place where we could join a tour if we wanted to but some of them have been cancelled due to the high winds.
Back on the boat we catch up with some more modern family on the TV.
This evening Dexter is having a cowboy night at the kiddie club, we did give him the option to come and watch a show with us or go to the cowboy night - he didn't choose us!!
So we pop into the casino, we play 3 card poker and we always play to first hand blind - meaning we don't look at our cards we just bet on them and hope they are winners. On my second hand I pick up my cards and open them slowly using one hand, first card Queen, second card Queen and third card Queen, oh my days my heart is beating faster now, I say to Leon '"watch my cards" Leon replies "I always do" (in a manner that he needs to because I'm rubbish), the dealer turns his cards and he has a Queen too, I nearly pee my pants!! I have never won so much for one hand it was about £600! I'm one happy Nicky tonight!
It's going to be another rough night of sailing tonight so hopefully we sleep through it and don't find any sea sickness.
We have seen blue skies today which was nice and the temperture was about 11oC although the wind was bitterly cold.

Day 9
Sunday 4th August 2024
Reykjavik, Iceland

Hallo from Reykjavik, today we are off to the Blue Lagoon. We have booked a private tour over to the Lagoon as the ships excursions are extortionate prices and we have to pay for Dexter when we know the Blue Lagoon doesn't charge for him. First we go to the buffet for breakfast and this is where our zip lock bags from Netto come in handy, after finishing our breakfast we make some ham rolls/snacks to take with us on our trip.
We leave our ship and go in search of our private tour bus, it's a little confusing but we find the right place to wait and then I decide to quickly nip to the toilet (which is the other side of the car park) when I get out of the toilet I see Leon frantically waving and begging me over, I get back and Leon says "can't you see me waving the bus is about to go!!!" Nevermind that I have just run across the car park to get there - He's so over the top!
We get on the small mini bus and head off but about 10mins later we pull up outside a hotel and we are told to get off, confused we all get off and the mini bus leaves us. A little while later a coach comes along and the driver gets out and stands by the doors, nobody moves and everyone looks confused. I walk up to the driver and ask is this the bus to the Blue Lagoon? He answers "yes" and we all get on.
Looking at the scenery as we go along I see lots of Christmas trees and the closer we get to the lagoon all you can see is lava fields where the lava from erupted volcanos have formed uneven rocky grounds.
At the Blue Lagoon we get off the bus and we are met by the most disgusting smell of sulfur and it's so intense - it's like Leon has done 1000 farts and let them loose all at once!
Once in they advise you to wash your hair and coat it in conditioner before entering the water so I do this. I meet Leon and Dexter by the doors to go out, it's 16oC outside but my word it doesn't feel like it, thankfully I hired some dressing gowns for us.
We enter the lagoon and it's amazing, so warm and a beautiful milky blue/green colour from the minerals and stuff in the water. There's a swim up bar and face masks to try out.
We are in the lagoon for a good couple of hours which is far longer then I expected us to be in there, it even rains a little on us but thats fine as water is so nice to be in.
Dexter has arm bands on (they insist on this for kids) and I think he quite likes them although he does try to dive under the water but comes up spitting the water out everywhere, it's so salty!
It's about 2pm when we leave and head to the cafe for a sit down and our ham rolls from the zip lock bags from Netto.
We catch the 3.15pm bus back to the cruise ship and arrive about 4pm, we had hoped that if we got back in time we could go and see Strokkur an active geyser which is about 1.5 hours away from where we are, unfortunately everyone is really wiped out from the lagoon so we just head back to our cabin for a rest before dinner.
This evening we are having a early night.

Some things I have learnt about Iceland - Their main exports are aluminum smelting and fish and the icelandic people aren't all the friendly or find English people funny.

Until tomorrow my land lubbers - sweet dreams xxx

Day 10
Monday 5th August 2024
At Sea

Today is very much about rest, we have a late breakfast and drop Dexter off a kiddie club. Leon and me go off to find the laundomat to do some washing but when we get there it seems like everyone else has the same idea as there is a massive queue, we decide to leave it for now and go back another time.
We go back to the cabin and finish off watching modern family, as we are peacefully watching the tv we hear a beeping noise, this is from a pager kiddie club gives us in case there is an emergency with Dexter, jumping to put our shoes on I check to see what the time is - now I'm not saying we are bad parents or anything but it's gone past the time to pick up Dexter and we have fogotten to pick him up!! oops!
After lunch Dexter wants to go back to kiddie club but we stop off in the family room first where we can play games with Dexter like air hockey.
We aren't overly hungry at dinner time so we go up to buffet for a small bite to eat.
Tonight at kiddie club they are having thier own version of the olympics so I ask Dexter if he wants to go or watch a show with us - He doesn't choose us!
We have started watching a new program on TV called Jane is a virgin, seems okish. Although we have noticed this evening there are some riots in Plymouth so we have been watching this on Sky news.

Nothing really to report today it's quite a boring day.

The sea is VERY rocky today Leon says there has been 10 metre swells, thankfully none of us have felt sea sick.

Day 11
6th August 2024
At Sea

Second day at sea.
Woke up - had breakfast, done washing, had lunch, had dinner.
We are on our way to Greenland, an iceberg was seen while we were at dinner but unfortunately we missed it.

Night, night xxx

Day 12
7th August 2024
Qaqortoq, Greenland

Greetings from Qaqortoq (pronounced Quack-or-toc). We arrived here at 7am and after watching some youtube videos before we left for holiday we aren't expecting much, it's a town of about 3000 people.
After our breakfast we go to get a tender ticket so we can get a tender boat from our ship to the mainland we are number 31 and the number being called is 21 we are told that it's a 40 minute wait until we will be called to catch the tender boat, 2 hours later as there is adverse weather and we are on our way to Greenland.
Once there we look at a couple of tours and Leon tries to speak to a taxi driver offering a 45 minute drive tour around but he bearly spoke English so we decide to just walk around and actually the town is bigger than I expected.
It's not as cold as we expected I have a thin cardi on and my winter coat and I'm plenty warm enough its about 8oC but unfortunately it's raining so we are soggy :(
As we walk along Dexter is constantly chatting and asking questions so every 5 seconds we hear "Daddy........" he is also moaning about having to walk around.
So Greenland is a part of Denmark and only a very small part of country can be inhabited with the middle of the country is covered in an ice sheet.
Back on the boat and Dexter is in time to go to kiddie club for the afternoon while Leon and me relax watching a bit more of Jane the virgin.
We have dinner in our fancy pants place where Dexter is quite the star, we have a server call Vangee and she adores Dexter, even the other night some other server came over and said what a beautiful face Dexter has, in fact Dexter is quite a star all over the ship everyone seems to know him even the staff who check us in and out when we leave.
While we are having our dinner the captain makes an announcement to tell us in 20 minutes we will be leaving and passing some icebergs which are pretty close so we finish up eating and head out on deck to snap up some pictures of them.
To be fair the photos don't do the icebergs justice they are absolutely beautiful and very majestic with just 20% of the iceberg visable it's hard to imagine how big these wonderful things are.
We are currently 2 hours behind UK time
It's a night in the cabin for us all tonight.
Sweet dreams everyone.

Day 13
8th August 2024
Nanortalik, Greenland

A very chilly welcome to Nanortalik, looking ourside when I wake up I can see mountains with low level clouds and icebergs. To be honest I don't think you can ever get bored looking at icebergs they truly are beautiful AND you only get to see 20% of them as the other 80% is under the water.
After breakfast we take Dexter to kiddie club as he isn't coming with us to Nanortalik, it's quite alot of walking for him.
We go to get some tender boat tickets and thankfully today we can leave straight away, on the tender boat we pass an iceberg really close up so thats quite exciting.
Today we are looking for a blue hotel. We watched a youtube video about this place, a couple walks into a bar (the blue hotel) have some beers and try a platter of local food, so we are off to find this place.
After about 10 minutes of walking we find the blue hotel and try to enter unfortunately it haasn't opened yet - gutted!
We walk off and snap up some photos of beautiful scenery around us then walk off to explore the area. Nanortalik is a small villiage of about 800 people so there isn't that much here but the locals seem quite friendly, they live in not much more than a shack and they must always have their heating on because it's about 6oC and its chilly (although I do have my big winter coat on so I'm fine).
We find a supermarket and of course pop in for a look about end up buying Dexter some lego and some weird haribos.
Next we find an open air museum and it's $10 to enter but to be fair you can see everything from where we are standing so don't bother going in.
Before we head back to the tender boat we decide (as it's an hour later) we will try the blue hotel again and thankfully this time it's open!
We order a gnt, beer and the local fish platter, on the platter is whale which is extremley hard to eat and awful, I say to Leon I can't chew it, he replies "just swallow it" as he pops a bit of whale in his mouth, I swallow and Leon's face changes! hahahaha, I tell him to just swallow it but he can't and runs off to the toilet to get rid of it! We try the charred seal but it's so tough I struggle to bite it, the rest of the fish is ok but not overly my thing, by the time we have finished trying the food it doesn't really look like we started.
We head off back to the tender boat and there's about a 40 minute wait to get on which isnt good when it's chilly and we are both bursting for a wee.
Leon has come up with some great business ventures for us for Greenland including pulling an iceberg over to the land and making an icebar selling vodka shots infact Leon has so many good ideas for businesses too many to go into.
Back on the boat and after weeing we rush up to the kiddie club as the pager in our room has been going off, they advise us Dexter has thrown up and was feeling unwell about 40 mins after we left, he is feeling ok again now though and when asked if he wanted to come with us or stay he choose to stay in kiddie club.
In the evening Dexter chooses to go to kiddie club as they are having a royal night and making crowns.

Day 14
9th August 2024
At sea

Hey there! We have started our journey back to the UK meaning we have 4 days at sea! I'm a little concerned we may find some sea sickness along the way but fingers crossed we don't.
As you know there isn't that much for us to do when we are at sea, mainly beceuse we aren't interested in quizzes, jewellery auctions or playing mahjong, don't get me wrong there is stuff to do it's just not for us - thankfully kiddie club is an absolute god send for Dexter and keeping him busy doing, making and playing, all the stuff he loves.
A few days ago Dexter recieved an invitation for tonight to meet the offices and the captain at an invite only party, Leon and me where quite confused as to why just Dexter had been invited but second guessed this must be a special event for the kiddies.
After kiddie club we go to the fancy pants place and have our dinner and rush back to our cabin to get dressed up to meet the captain.
When we walked into the party they advise us we need our medallions (remember I told you about medallions at the begining of the holiday?) to be in the raffle, Leon heads back to our cabin to get Dexters medallion as we didnt bring it with us.
We got there a bit early so Dexter could be at the front, I've said before that Dexter seems to be like an international super star on this cruise, this night is no different! Dexter is personally greeted by the staff who (very weirdly) ALL seem to know him!
Before the party starts Dexter and Leon are playing chase the lights on the dance floor.
Looking around I can see that this isn't a party for the kiddies and it dawns on me 'ah, this is a thank you party for gold medallion guests' people that have travelled on 3 or more cruises with Princess cruises.
The offices introduce themselves, their jobs and what country they come from and then they get on with the raffle.
The lady running the raffle has an ipad and this picks up a signal from the medallions around her which is how they pick the winners (it shows a picture of the person along with the cabin number they are in).
Towards the end I see the lady with the ipad walk off the stage and stand behind Dexter looking at him and then go back to the stage. The next winner for a Princess cruises cup is....... DEXTER!!! lol, they made him win. Leon stands Dexter up and tries to get him to walk up and get his prize and the whole audience went "awwwwww" so cute! Dexter was feeling shy so they just came over to him.
As we were leaving we spotted the Captain so I asked him for a photo with Dexter which he was more than happy to do.
Dexter then goes to kiddie club for the rest of the evening and we popped into the casino.

Day 15
Saturday 10th August 2024
At Sea

Hello holiday fans, we are still at sea which makes for a boring update.
We missed breakfast because the boys wanted to sleep in, as I've made it 'kind' day today I think it's best I leave them to sleep so they aren't grumpy and will be nice all day.
Dexter also missed the morning session in kiddie club.
After lunch in fancy pants Dexter goes to kiddie club while Leon and me embark on a new TV series - 'fresh from the boat'
During the afternoon Leon is a bit poorly, cold sweats and shakes (not sea sickness) so at pick up time for Dexter I go alone and then the 2 of us go and have dinner together.
We have another captains party to go to tonight this time for Leon and me, we really can't be bothered to dress up this time and go in jeans and t-shirts. We join the queue for the party and notice EVERYONE else is dressed to the nines and looking down on us, oh well I don't care! We didn't win any prizes tonight which had been upgraded to a bottle of bubbles and £250 to spend on diamonds.

Leon is feeling all ok again btw.

That's all on this day at sea! Until tomorrow....

Day 16
Sunday 11th August 2024
At sea

Hiya from the ocean (again), today we are floating about off the west coast of Ireland.
This morning I woke the boys up a bit earlier so that we can go on a duck hunt, this is an actually thing on cruise ships people bring rubber ducks and hide them around the boat for others to find, there's even facebook groups for this. We haven't actually found any yet but Dexter has been given some, so today I decided we would get up early and go hunt but unfortunately we didn't find any but we did get plenty of funny looks from people who don't know about the ducks.
This afternoon Dexter heads off to kiddie club and Leon and me rest, I'm absolutely knackered today so grab myself 40 winks.
Tonight is lobster and steak night on the cruise, everyone can have lobster in their restaurant (normally there's a charge for this), so we pop down to our fancy pants place and order 3 lobsters, 2 with steaks please! YUM!
This evening Leon and me pop into the casino as it's probably the last time we will go, I get a straight flush on 3 card poker which is nice, very nice!

Weather has been rainy today and a little chilly, the sea has been quite choppy as we have caught the tail end of storm.

Sea sickness report - none found :)

Day 17
Monday 12th August 2024
At sea

It's a sad day today as it's the finale! BUT fear not as we do have some things to do!
The boys are not eager to get up this morning but with some (not so) gentle pushing we are up and ready for breakfast.
After breakfast we drop Dexter off at kiddie club and Leon and me are off to watch a cooking demostation and a tour around the galley kitchen, it's quite interesting and a bit boring all at the same time.
Lunch time is exciting! Our waitress Vangie from the fancy pants place has advised us it's sushi day and where to get the best selection up on the buffet level, we pick Dexter up and head up there. To our delight there's tonnes of sushi for us.
This afternoon there's no kiddie club as the team have come to the main gathering area for a family fun day, there's games to play, stuff to make and face painting/glitter tattoos. There is even a visit from the ships mascot Stanley the captain - A man dressed in a teddy bear costume dressed like a captain, Dexter seems to really adore him and is very excited to see him.
In the fancy pants place tonight they do something that we haven't seen in many a year. the baked alaska conga, basically all the kitchen staff come out in a conga line while the guests stop eating/drinking, stand up and wave napkins in the air - it's all good fun!

Well sorry folks but we have come to an end, tomorrow morning we leave the boat and travel back to Norwich, thanks for coming with us and I really hope you have enjoyed the updates.

Until the next time xxx

We are off again.
This time to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary!

Brace yourself...

Itinerary

We are off again. This time to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary!

Brace yourself...

Itinerary

We are off again.
This time to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary!