ConnieTact

I couldn’t resist popping out in the balcony to take a few more snaps. Although we are happy in an inside cabin, the extra treat of sunsets and sunrises from a balcony are appreciated, even if it’s too cold in December to enjoy them from outside! Thanks MSC for the double upgrade! 👍

I woke up to this beautiful view this morning.

Good Morning from the English Channel! 😅 We weren’t expecting to be back so soon! We’re making good progress towards our extended stop in Le Havre and we are now here.

Thanks for your feedback! Let us all know how you get along with your first MSC experience! I hope it’s great!

Thanks Boogybaby. No- it’s fine for us as we have been to Bruges before and we’re only planning to go to a local chocolate factory! We has an announcement that we are going to be in Le Havre for 2pm tomorrow instead. If anyone was going to Paris this could be good news as a longer stop. i just feel for those affected who are getting their cruise cut short or have the hassle to reorganise their travel plans at the last minute. also, the folk getting on tomorrow will now need to travel to Le Havre rather than Bruges at short notice! anyway, here’s another food picture! 😊

While we were at the amusement desk, there was an announcement. Sadly due to a strike, Zebrugge will be closed so the ship cannot sail there tomorrow. it is too late to organise anything else so we will be sailing straight to Le Havre on Thursday and have a day at sea tomorrow. this is sad for some, who were going g to disembark tomorrow. They are now faved with a choice to either get off and get complimentary transport to Rotterdam The Hague airport, or they stay on until Le Havre. Either way travel plans for them will be changed and have to be rebooked. It’s at times like this one needs insurance. I hope not too many people are off the ship today oblivious that they may have to come back onboard only to have to disembark minutes later! 😱 We walked around the walking track to get some exercise before back to the room. Also, we saw the swing bridge open earlier and a tall boat sailing through.

Hi @Cruiznrightalong i went to Deck 16 to see about the fun pass. i spoke to Nelly C who was very friendly and helpful. she said you can buy the fun pass online or when you get here. She gave me the flyer to show you. She said anyone in your children in your family can use it even if not is same room. also, you may wish to put a block on the account for the children when the credit limit has been reached or you would get charged to your room for any extra spends. she said the bowling lane costs £25 for a session but you can have up to five people playing, if there is ten of you then you can hire both lanes and play against each other. Not bad for a fiver each. I took a couple of photos to whet your appetite!

Back in suite ready to go for lunch. Now the must has lifted a bit, the view is better. IMG_4460.mov

A short walk along from the coach, we found the entrance into the cruise terminal. hardly any queues today with three or four efficiently run security lines. Great Christmas decorations throughout the terminal and a helpful Tourist Information desk too.

We passed the cube houses on way home. You probably can’t make them out as quite foggy weather. Just arriving back now.

Lastly, on to the cheese shop for a short talk by the owner and lots of tasting and buying. Excellent gift for our cheese loving neighbours who are on cat feeding duties for us.

Here is the moment the king showed his face- he does this each half hour- although strangely the time was wrong in the clock! 😂 mr CT is a horologist but, as he is on holiday, I held him back! 😂 IMG_4419.mov

Gouda is extremely picturesque.We wandered around until our meeting up time at the block to watch the mechanical show.

Fabulous festive shop fronts! I love window shopping.

I was just saying that on the coach! We are now educated too! 😅

Some pretty doorway and archways on our walk around Gouda.

Great cafe on Main square- Cafe Central est. in 1916. We enjoyed coffee, tea and apple pie. A great thing to have while visiting the Netherlands! We enjoyed the warmth of the venue after our chilly stroll around. We still are actually this truly is live reporting!

Walking tour of Gouda.

The big cheese? On our way to Gouda!

On the coach by 8.30 - lots of people trying to get off and various groups. We were led out by butler. Some found it quite hard to keep up with him but he did keep stopping and waiting for the group. Coach was nearly empty when we got on. It’s starting to fill up now. Cheery welcome by guide and map, and devices for tour guide to speak to us when we are in town.

We have an early excursion today. The ship arrives at 8am and we meet at 8.20/8.30 to disembark to get on the coach. This is an organised MSC trip. the first ship organised shuttle also has the first leaving time at 8.30am today. If you have sailed with MSC before and have Gold or Diamond status you are said to be given priority status tio disembark at ports. The issue here, is that unless you’re in YC and getting escorted off with the butler, you would need to push in front of others in the queue and this may not be easy! I would say a sensible thing would be to allow up to an hour to be sure you were off. Are you thinking of booking things for certain times? we tend to have late starts and wander off the ship when crowds have gone so I dint have too much experience of the morning rushes! I’ll keep an eye open today and report back if anything is helpful to know. We also like to get back onboard an hour before the official ‘All Aboard’ time. We have watched ‘pier runners’ and it doesn’t look fun for them (although admittedly quite amusing to watch! 😜).

Sailing into Rotterdam as I write!