Traveling from Canada to England for a one week Norway Cruise aboard P&O Azura. My cousin Ruby's very first time outside of Canada and the US and I get to see my fiancé Jackson who works on the ship.
  • 13footprints
  • 3countries
  • 10days
  • 22photos
  • 0videos
  • 14.3kkilometers
  • 11.0kkilometers
  • 1.4ksea miles
  • 184kilometers
  • 92kilometers
  • Day 1

    Belleville, Ontario

    July 12, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    All packed and ready to go! Just waiting for my ride to Pearson. It’s so exciting to think about the fact that tomorrow I’ll be back on the ship with Jackson! Plus I get to show my cousin Ruby where I have been working for the last two and a half years.Read more

  • Day 1

    Pearson International Airport

    July 12, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We made it through security at the airport! We were so early we had to wait an hour before we could drop off our checked bags but we just waited at Starbucks. Now we are sitting with two hours to wait until our flight but most importantly we have picked up lots of snacks.Read more

  • Day 2

    Heathrow Airport

    July 13, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We have arrived! Ruby’s first flight was a success. I so wish I was filming her during take off though. She was having so much fun! By the end we were both more then ready to get off the plane though. Now we are doing some washroom breaks and grabbing our luggage before heading to the bus that will take us to Southampton.Read more

  • Day 2

    Mayflower Cruise Terminal

    July 13, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The surprise didn’t go as planned but was still a huge success! Knowing Jackson was out in Southampton Ruby and took a taxi to Standing Orders where Jackson and I use to always go for lunch. He however had so much shopping to do that he didn’t have time to go there, so the surprise had to wait for the ship.
    Once we got on-board and dropped our stuff off at our cabin we headed down to the bar that he works at called Brodie’s. I walked up behind him and stood there well he was on the phone, waiting for him to turn around when he was done. He however turned around when he was still on the phone and was in complete shock. In his surprise we are pretty sure he hung up on whoever he was on the phone with. When I asked him about it later he doesn’t even remember being on the phone. With Jackson being at work though the real hello had to wait for later but he was walking around from guest to guest with the biggest grin on his face. There were to passengers sitting near Jackson when I surprised him and they really enjoyed watching his reaction as well.
    Ruby and I didn’t do much tonight. We went for the sail away party so Ruby could see us set sail. She found it so weird that you could see the ship was moving but not feel it. Then after giving her a tour we headed for dinner at our assigned restaurant, Peninsular. We are trying so hard to stay awake and not go to sleep too early but we are both exhausted. I’m guessing we’ll be sleeping in tomorrow.
    Read more

  • Day 4

    Stavanger, Norway

    July 15, 2019 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Yesterday was the first sea day and the first formal night. We had a lazy day of sleeping in and then playing pachessei in the cabin. I found and picked up the board game to bring with me knowing it was a game all three of us knew how to play. Ruby got to see Jackson’s competitive side for the first time and it had her laughing so much. They are getting along great! Ruby says she approves of him, saying he’s cool and funny.
    The formal night was fun. We put our dresses on and headed to see Tom Binns do his psychic comedian act. He’s the star and Co-writer of BBC 1 Friday Night Comedy Show, Hospital People and he was pretty good. After that we headed to see the Headliners Theatre Company preform Electric Avenue. The Headliners are the singers and dancers that preform on the ship and this show was “retro memories from the decade of excess that was the 1980’s”. By the time that was done we were ready to put some comfy clothes on so we just headed back to the cabin for the night.
    Today we were docked in Stavanger. Ruby and I were tired but still got up in the morning to grab some breakfast on the ship and then head out into port. Jackson is IPM (In Port Manning) today which means he couldn’t get off with us. Stavanger was mostly just a morning of shops so Ruby could look for souvenirs for people. We then headed to Burger King to pick up burgers to bring back to the ship to eat with Jackson for lunch. So he would have something to eat other then food from the crew mess. So we are currently just relaxing in our cabin waiting for Jackson to finish work. We know we are going to see the sail away party and some more shows tonight but besides that we have no idea what we might get up to for the rest of the day.
    Read more

  • Day 5

    Olden, Norway

    July 16, 2019 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Today was a day of relaxation. We went for a walk first thing in the morning before Jackson had to start work at 12. We walked to an old Church that Jackson and I had been to before but it was closed this time. It was still a good spot to sit and relax though before heading back. When we came back to the ship Ruby and I booked our spa appointment. We booked their The Perfect Day Massage Special which included a full body massage, invigorating skin brushing, Elemis touch facial, foot and ankle massage and scalp massage. Ruby says it was not as deep a massage as she likes and with mine I could not have sat through it if it was any deeper. It was a good experience though, especially with it being my first massage.
    That night it was my turn it be surprised by someone being on-board. Well we were waiting for a table to be ready in our assigned restaurant we were sitting in Brodie’s (where Jackson works). I login and check my messages and I have a message from a good friend Harry, “Dinner tonight?”. I was so confused and when I looked at Harry’s facebook profile I realized he was also on the ship as a passenger. He later told me that a restaurant manager we had run into early told him I was also on-board. Harry was my last manager on Azura before I left ships. Even though he is extremely busy when the ship is docked in Southampton, he worked in the gallery and took my shift so I could send time with Jackson before I left. Then on Jackson’s birthday he printed a birthday card I made and gave it to Jackson for me. So I am very excited to get to properly thank him for everything and catch up. We so far have just quickly said hi and chatted for a minute on our way into the show Astonishing but we’ve planned for him to come for dinner with Ruby and I on the 18th.
    Astonishing is a show performed by the Headliners Theatre company that I have always found really good. It’s a newer show with singing and dancing like always but it also incorporates magic and illusion into it as well. I told Ruby before we came on the ship that she needed to see that show and she loved it.
    The only other thing we did today other then nap was we spent a lot of time sitting on the top deck at the very back of the ship watching the ship sail through the fjords.
    Read more

  • Day 6

    Alesund, Norway

    July 17, 2019 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    My favourite day of the cruise so far. One year ago today Jackson and I hiked up to a waterfall in Flam, Norway where he proposed. We then hiked back down for some lunch. So today Ruby, Jackson and I got up bright and early to hiking up the 418 steps to the Ålesund viewpoint. After taking lots of photos at the top we made our way back down and back to the ship. Jackson and I then got changed and headed to Glasshouse for lunch. He was not able to get deck privileges this cruise but they said he could go for lunch with me. He then however had to go to work so Ruby and I had great naps after getting up so early and climbing the stairs. We woke up just in time to go up to the sail away. This is the last time Azura will be docking in Ålesund this year so well we were sailing they fired a cannon and a ship followed us out giving a water salute. The smaller ship was trying to have a horn blowing competition with Azura and Azura however is much bigger and louder. Ruby really enjoyed seeing/hearing the two ships.
    Jackson and I were still determined to have dinner together though so we decided to make it work with room service. Ruby and Jackson both ordered Chicken Tikka Masala with Carmalised Apple and Hazelnut Crumble Tart for Ruby and I ordered Southern Fried Chicken and Banoffee Chocolate cake to share with Jackson. Which Jackson did not tell us though is that he was having roses and cake delivered to the cabin. So we ended up with a lot of desert but I was a great surprise.
    The only thing left tonight is we are going to go see Tolkien on the sea screen on the top deck. We decided to go to the later show so it’ll be darker.
    Read more

  • Day 9

    Southampton, UK

    July 20, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After some major delays docking due to an unusually low tide we finally made it off the ship. Our first stop was hour hotel for the night the Travelodge Southampton Central to drop off our suitcases. We then headed to Boots (pretty much the same as Shoppers Drug Mart) to pick up cold medicine for both Jackson and Ruby. I’ve been dealing with a LOT of coughing and nose blowing the last couple days. Now we are at our usual spot, Standing Orders. Jackson is waiting for Sports Direct to open at 9:30am so he can pick up a suitcase, well Ruby and I will be waiting here for him to come back so we can have an early lunch before he has to head back to the ship for work.
    Yesterday was our final sea day. Ruby and I were very surprised when the noon announcement woke me up. We had no idea we had slept so long. When Jackson finished work shortly after that we played another game of Pachessi before having yet another nap. We later realized we slept through the Great British Sail along which I was a bit sad about. I was looking forward to taking Ruby to it. We ended up ordering room service for lunch so we could eat with Jackson which meant we didn’t end up leaving our cabin until a bit before our reservation at Sindhu the Indian restaurant for dinner. Ruby really enjoyed it. We then however had to head back to the cabin to pack. We packed until we headed to see DNA an act that made it to the finals on Britain’s Got Talent. I think they were quite good but Ruby was very sceptical of their abilities, not really believing get show.
    Read more

  • Day 9

    Southampton, UK

    July 20, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We arrived at our hotel, the Travelodge Southampton Central ready to sleep. Ruby had no problem napping for most of the rest of the day. I spent the afternoon just relaxing in our room on my phone. Occasionally talking to Jackson when he went on his breaks.Read more