Empress Dock

Woohoo, a week of floating luxury awaits. An early start this morning after a late night last night, we didn’t even get the suitcases out until about 8.30pm. But all packed up and on the road for 6.30am this morning.

As appears to have become customary on sailings from Southampton we stopped off in Hungerford for breakfast. A full English at The Tutti Pole just over the bridge and a little wander through the town before setting off for Southampton. Past experience told us that the M3 is usually extremely slow on a Saturday but last year we went on the bus from London and he cut the motorway out, so we gave that s bash and it was quite successful, no hold ups and at the port for about 11.30am. We’d booked ship side parking so we literally pulled up at the side of the ship, butler man comes along and takes the cases, woman comes along and takes the keys and we get on. Was a dream, lucky we have a reasonable loyalty card so straight on no waiting.

First time on Sapphire Princess, although we have seen her before, we sailed past her in Alaska which apparently was a rare sight, but I was cold and pissed of so we were having food and missed it !!. She is s beautiful ship, similar to the others in the fleet but some nice differences. There is an enclosed area on deck with an indoor pool, lots of pools and hot tubs and the best feature of all is a dedicated massive cake counter - see attached pic. She’s recently been refurbed so is in tip top condition. Again, as seems to be customary we went to the cabin, chucked our hand luggage in and went to the food decks. That’s when I found the cake section, I felt it my duty to pay it a visit, unsure if everything was as it should be I returned a 2nd time to make sure. Unfortunately I’m still not certain but I’m sure I’ll work it out by the time we get off in a week. Sharon face timed her Mum and Dad so they have seen the decks around the ship and can picture where we are, they like to know where we are and that we’re ok.

We were late setting sale, we were due to depart at 4pm but it was nearer 5. We were out on deck for the sail away party which was good as always and then off down for a drink as we zipped past the Isle of Wight en route to Bruges.

We went down to the room to unpack, when I say “We” I mean the royal we, I took it upon myself to have a bit of a nana nap 💤. As a reward for Sharon doing all the unpacking i decided I’d take her out for dinner, I’m all heart. We were both s bit on the tired side so we went to the buffet rather than the restaurant as it meant we could just have a mix and match. We contemplated the hot tub, but decided on an early night so we can be nice and refreshed for Belgium 🇧🇪 in the morning.Read more