Odds and Ends - Notes on crossing #1

[MarkBearSF]

That sounds like a very good alternative to the KC. Thanks for the info.

It IS, but it still missed for us on our three visits. On each, only a 2-3 of items looked interesting to us (and one was not one we would repeat). Also, the bar service waiters were not very helpful, and there were no menus on the tables, and on one visit, no salt and pepper. So, for us, it just kept falling short - by a little. On our last 2 visits, I took advantage of its proximity to the King's Court to get a plate next door and join Steve at his table.

 

It's still a nice alternative - just a bit frustrating when one considers how close it comes to being a fully satisfying option.

[MarkBearSF]

Other notes...

• They've started scanning cruise cards at muster drill. Unfortunately for us, they didn't scan on our initial NY-SOU leg, but started with the second segment (SOU-Zeebrugge-SOU) and was done on the SOU-NY crossing. Although we weren't required to attend, the morning after the westbound crossing, we got a gentle nag in the form of a xerox copy of the muster information left in our cabin.
  No argument at all over the change in procedures and I fully support tracking attendance - but we just got caught in the change and received a gentle, but unnecessary reminder.
  
• The Commodore Club atmosphere in the evening has changed. It is now closer to a St Petersburg Arts Academy recital than a jazzy nightclub with standards and showtunes. Not surprisingly, it's DEAD. Almost empty bar and a number of chair groupings unoccupied.
  
• Potholes are starting to recur. I found a couple on the main floor of the Britannia and in front of the mural facing Homer on the Deck 2 corridor adjacent to the new Photo Gallery.
  
• We got priority disembarkation because of an early flight and had a couple of surprises.
  
  • The porters were initially nowhere to be found and there was a looong line of passengers waiting for them. And then, around 8:30 a parade of them appeared. (Unfortunately for us who were demurred by the lane, this resulted in them getting in the way of the rest of us)
    
  • It had been drizzly earlier in the day. There were only a rare sprinkling of cabs for a long line of passengers. (So much for the assurances that there would be a large number of cabs available) We called a car service, and in the 20-30 minutes it took for them to arrive many more passengers arrived in the taxi queue than cabs to handle them. I'd recommend having a fallback option to cabs, should you find yourself in this situation. (Dial7 worked well for us)
    
  • Luckily, Customs & Immigration was not a problem at this early hour.
    

  [*]On the previous disembarkation morning in Southampton, we overslept for the early Britannia breakfast hours and went to Kings Court. What a shambles! Not only the usual congestion, but since it's also a gathering spot for disembarkation, it was totally clogged by the majority of passengers, and carry-on luggage. Get up early. Avoid this at all costs.

Notwithstanding any of the quibbles in my posts, we thoroughly enjoyed the round trip crossing. So much so that, on the final sea day, I popped down to see Yoyo to book another RT TA in September 2018!