THE OCEANA PART 1

So we left the house after saying bye bye to our girls. They left with their new friend M, who promised she would look after them and give them two hourly walks per day. I packed their beds, dish and food as well as their leashes and vet books just in case the inevitable occurred. She had a large van but before she left she went to see a neighbour who she knew, I kind of wished she had just driven off as my babies were still in the van on our drive. I wanted to grab them out and say sorry and I was not going on holiday so they didn’t have to be packed off like garbage. But eventually she drove off and we did our last preparations for our holiday.

 

Took a taxi, it came on time, thank God as two days before, a taxi came at the same time I booked him for our holiday, just two days early. So I was rather anxious that they would forget. They have a new system on their computers and they can’t get anything right at the moment. Off to the station. We knew it was going to be busy as our city was hosting the Tour De France that weekend. So we gave ourselves plenty of time.

 

On the train, teen with us and three suitcases in the shelves provided. Really I hate that about trains. Anyone can pick up our cases and we wouldn’t know? Can you imagine that? Got there and no cases?

 

It was a very long journey. Four and a half hours.

 

We had to stay in a hotel the night before as train times were a little close to departure we thought to come the next day.

 

It was a Holiday inn express. So cheap, but you are guaranteed clean sheets and furniture. I hate staying in a dirty hotel.

 

We went to see what the restaurant had to offer as we were in the middle of nowhere. So no choice.

 

Well, you know I said a cheap hotel? Hmm. Yep, it was a very interesting dinner. Let’s say, it was actually in the reception of the hotel and café like tables and chairs with the sounds of ping in the background from the microwaved food. But we didn’t starve and prepared ourselves for the delights of the cruise to come.

 

Had a good sleep. You are guaranteed a good night’s sleep too in those hotels. I don’t know how they do it, as the hotel was full of little brat’s haha, no just excitable children looking forward to visit a park for kids where their TV character Pepper Pig lives of course. It was not too far from the hotel. But we didn’t hear one child’s voice through the night. No traffic coming to the hotel it was silent  the beds are so comfortable. The only thing is, the room was so hot, and we had to keep the fan on all night.

 

Next day took a taxi to the cruise port. It was sunny a good start. The forecast was not good for Norway, our destination.

 

Well my friend had been on the same cruise the week before so I know she had to wait for a couple of hours in the waiting room. Nothing glamorous about it. We were so lucky. Dumped our cases, yep, really, dumped them. A man took them off where? Not sure, who was he? Not sure, but teen said he had a yellow vest on, so he must be OK right? Haha. Again, would we ever see our cases?

I visualised myself for a week wearing the same clothes.

 

We went straight onto the ship. How lucky was that? I was so anxious what will it be like? What will the clientele be like? How will they talk? What would be expected of me? My Hub used to go on cruises all the time with his ex and she was a go getter and was not afraid of life like me. She did all the tours and climbed the highest mountains swam through the waterfalls and hand glided to dinner.

Well, OK, not quite to dinner, but breakfast perhaps?

 

She fed the turtles and for sure did dangerous sports. God, what did he see in boring old me?  Not my fortune that’s for sure. So would he be bored? Would teen be bored? It had to be right for my boys. If they are happy, I’m happy.

 

I had already heard from my doggy sitter. The girls had been on a walk and a river swim. They were settled in. Well, she said. I mean, I had to trust her.

 

Onto the ship. Gosh, it didn’t move. Not sure what I was expecting, a rocking boat? Really, it was as though stepping into a hotel. There was a fountain in the entrance. The ship was called

“The oceana”

There were no staff fussing over us as I thought there would be. It was very smooth and we were given a card to spend on bored. Teen was delighted thinking he could buy whatever? And we would pay for it at the end of the week. Oh that was a funny story.

More later on that.

 

Our small slim room had two beds. Single beds. Oh God, they haven’t got a bed for teen? My fear as really I questioned this before I left twice as his details were rather vague.

 We asked the guy who was appointed to look after our cabins. Well, he didn’t have a clue what we were asking. Almost all of the staff were Indian and couldn’t speak English or understand it. They nodded a lot teen said.

 

Then we did a lot of pointing and he told us he would “get key and pull down.

 

Say what? Hahahah

Well he did, the bed came from the ceiling. I told Hub he was sleeping under teen’s bed. I didn’t trust it; also the cabin was already a little claustrophobic as of course we couldn’t open the window. We got a window for teen and I’m glad we did, though it cost £400

Must be good double glazing right?

The shower room was like a cupboard. Not as clean as I thought it may be. But OK.

 

A small bottle of shampoo and shower gel was to last the three of us a week as we didn’t get new.

 

The fridge had two complementary bottles of water in.

There was loads of tea and coffee. Only one UK plug but this we knew as I looked up reviews on the net.

Lots of hanging spaces and six small drawers. Clean bedding apart from the blood stained spare pillow

 

There were lots of packets of biscuits ginger, I guessed for sea sickness. A flower, it was real. How did I know? I knocked it over and water went everywhere. It was at that point I learned that the carpet in the cabins were water absorbent, as I felt to clean it up and it was bone dry. Had the salt got to me already? Was I going madder? No, it was real. Kind of a daisy. Not sure of the colour, just the one flower in one of those skinny vases for one flower. There was a TV but we didn’t have it on once. As we didn’t really like being in the cabin.

 

We unpacked our clothes and began our holiday.

Oh so much to investigate and a week to do it. X