I’ve spent a whole lot of nights on cruise ships, and boarding a Royal Caribbean ship in a seasonal market like Southampton, England is simpler than a number of full time cruise ports in the USA.

Getting on any cruise ship is not tough, however some homeports are harder than others.

As somebody that cruises each month, I’ve seen nearly each embarkation day expertise conceivable, and I used to be pleasantly stunned how straightforward the method was in Southampton.

I flew to London from my dwelling in Orlando, Florida for a 7-night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas that may take me to ports in Northern France and Spain.

I spent two days in London earlier than taking the practice all the way down to Southampton.  The practice is straightforward and inexpensive.  It was about €50 for a firstclass ticket if bought prematurely, and it is only a one hour and 20 minute journey from London’s Waterloo station to Southampton Central.

The practice could be very environment friendly and quick. England’s roads are infamous for visitors delays, and the practice is a good various. 

One draw back to taking the practice is the shortage of area for baggage. Common dimension baggage that you’d verify on an airplane don’t match within the overhead bins, and the one recourse was for everybody to shove their baggage within the boarding space between the doorways. If I used to be taking my household, I would in all probability should go for a automotive service due to how a lot baggage we sometimes have.

As soon as I arrived at Southampton, it was a brief 5 minute taxi journey to the place Anthem of the Seas was docked.

Whereas boarding was delayed, the method went very easily as soon as it acquired began.

At first, I used to be stunned there was no particular line for suite visitors and Pinnacle Membership members.  But it surely actually didn’t matter, as they effectively moved visitors by way of safety and check-in. The declare that Brits like to queue undoubtedly appears to be true!

What made the method easy was there have been a number of factors for the workers to verify visitors in, each earlier than and after safety. Despite the fact that nobody was verifying anybody’s check-in time, the group wasn’t massive sufficient to overwhelm the workers.

It took me in all probability 10 minutes on the most to get from curb to ship, and most of that was as a result of I appear to all the time decide the longest safety line, each time.

To Royal Caribbean’s credit score, as soon as onboard the ship, the embarkation day expertise was fairly constant.  Muster stations have been open to rapidly care for the emuster check-in, after which it was off to lunch.

I opted to lunch on the Windjammer buffet, primarily as a result of I needed to take pleasure in my meals outside. On most Quantum Class ships, there’s out of doors seating on the rear of the Windjammer, and I liked the nice temperatures and funky breeze.  The excessive temperature was within the higher 60s and it was partly sunny. That is like summer season climate in England.

Whereas the check-in course of was tremendous easy, the one space that baffled me was when staterooms could be prepared. Sadly, cabins weren’t prepared till 2:30pm.  Normally cabins are prepared by 1pm, or 2pm on the very newest.

I am guessing Anthem was delayed in stepping into port and that backed every little thing up. Fortunately, it didn’t affect the check-in course of an excessive amount of, however cabin attendants wanted extra time.

I really went all the way down to verify if the rooms have been prepared at 1:30, 2, after which lastly 2:30.  It took to precisely 2:30 for the cabins to be open to visitors.

 

For this cruise, I booked an ordinary balcony cabin on deck 7. It is just about like several balcony cabin I’ve stayed in on different ships, and I particularly like how a lot cupboard space and additional shops Quantum Class cabins have. Again in 2015 when Anthem launched, this was a very massive deal.  Now, all of us anticipate it.

 

One distinction you will discover on this cabin is the electrical kettle.  On cruises from the UK, all cabins have an electrical kettle within the cabin by default so passengers could make their very own tea.

A fast energy nap later and we have been off to start out journey.

On this itinerary, we’ll go to 4 ports of name: La Rochelle, France; Bilbao, Spain; La Coruna, Spain; Le Havre (Paris), France.

I wasn’t positive the place I needed to eat dinner tonight, and determined to take the simple choice and go to the Windjammer. If I am being trustworthy, I appeared on the Fundamental Eating Room menu and noticed no French Onion Soup, so I skipped it.

The Asian stir fry station within the Windjammer alone made it the suitable alternative.

After dinner, it was time to move to the on line casino for some luck. 

Since I’ve already attained Prime standing within the On line casino Royale program, I am not chasing factors on this cruise and determined to play craps.

Desk video games, akin to craps, are enjoyable, however do not pay out factors in addition to slot machines do.

I ended up enjoying with the identical cash I began with for about two hours, and ended up doubling my cash. Not a foul begin to my cruise!

Tomorrow is a sea day as we head south.



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