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ConclusionSaturday, July 15. 2017Adonia is a lovely ship and it is a pity that they cannot upsize it to the larger ships - but having said that it is probably not what a lot of people actually want. The suites (did I mention we had a suite?) are probably the best of any on P&O ships - they are humongous! The food is pretty much the same as when we cruised last year but seemed to be more variable. For example one night was Beef Wellington and my steak was perfect (for me) but the next night when there was Fillet Medallions the steak was nowhere near as good. The entertainment was, being Adonia, somewhat limited and I don't think that P&O have quite got the balance right as they are trying to put on scaled down versions of the full shows whereas they really need to tailor the type of entertainment to the venue. I don't think that I need to go into any more detail about the medical facilities - this was the first time I set foot in them and, hopefully, the last. Would I cruise on Adonia again - yes, but only on a short cruise - I still think that she is too small for us for anything longer than a week. Right I shall wait and see what happens with the case tonight/tomorrow and get ready to do battle with the insurance company on Monday. Friday 14th July – SouthamptonFriday, July 14. 2017Up quite early as we wanted to get to the docks for just after 08:00 this morning. Ask silly question at reception with usual answer of “sorry but no”. Taxi arrived at 08:00 to take us to QEll Terminal where the Care Team had arranged for us to collect our cases off the ship. Everyone helpful and about 10 minutes later they brought us our cases and we collected our car keys and were on our way home at 08:40. Mrs63 has been to see her GP this afternoon and he has started her back on blood pressure medication. Thursday 13th July – SouthamptonFriday, July 14. 2017A good night’s sleep was had – see I told you the medicine was good! Down to reception “Has our case arrived?” – “Sorry no” we are now getting desperate as all our valuables were in the case – yes I know you should not put them in hold luggage but when you only have 15 minutes to “get your act together” logic goes out of the window. Anyway after breakfast we can go shopping on the insurance company with their delayed baggage clause and also while we are out Mrs63 can get her blood pressure checked again. Fortunately the shopping centre is not too far from the hotel and it is a nice day for a walk. Right them shopping done let’s get the blood pressure done (have to get the priorities right!) Ah this should be easy there is Boots Pharmacy next door – “Can you take my blood pressure please?” Mumble, mumble, look of why are you asking me such a question. Pharmacist comes looking as miserable as they come “No but we can sell you a machine to take your own blood pressure” – great!! Now one thing that I will say about the P&O Care Team is that they have been in touch every day and if we needed them they were only a call away so let’s ask. I was told that there is another Boots other than the one we had just visited but apart from that they could only suggest the Walk-in-Centre at the hospital. OK so back to the hotel to get changed and freshened up and check if any luggage had arrived - none. Now for some inexplicable reason I had kept the charger for my phone in my hand luggage so after some more medicine I had a search on the Internet (Holiday Inn now has free Internet) for a Lloyds Pharmacy as they all do blood pressure testing (today’s useful information tip) and found that there was one about 20 minutes walk from the hotel. As it was a pleasant afternoon off we set and without too much difficulty find said Lloyds Pharmacy (when did a chemist become a pharmacy?). Blood pressure still good so we are “happy bunnies” and can relax a bit. Had a meal in the hotel with another bottle of medicine and had a fairly good night’s sleep. Wednesday 12th July – KinsaleFriday, July 14. 2017Kinsale was our unexpected destination, but not an unpleasant one. We both woke early this morning with having not much sleep. We now needed to assess what our options were and how to proceed. My first call, which was at a ridiculously early hour (well I am up and about so should everyone else!) was to the P&O Care Team contact who I thought would be the one to take over the situation – but no, this was now in the hands of the insurance company (yes we did have travel insurance). So ringing the travel insurance company, which had already been instigated by the Doctor on board, did not help very much. The main option, which I had already been told, was for them to contact Mrs63’s GP to assess the situation and decide if they would arrange repatriation – or we could “do it ourselves” and make a claim later. So in reality the options were: It soon became clear that the last option was not viable as getting from Cork to Hornfleur took over 24 hours and by the time we would have got there the ship would have gone. Waiting for the insurance company to come to a decision was also soon rules out as we wanted to be back in Southampton to collect our car and luggage on Friday. So I started looking for flights from Cork to Southampton that day. The only flight that I could easily find was via Amsterdam so that was booked and flying at 17:20 that afternoon and arriving in Southampton at 21:15. Next was to book somewhere to stay in Southampton – Holiday Inn had a room available for the two nights. We were now fairly happy that we would be back in the UK that night with a feeling of being more in control of the situation. Now after having some breakfast, which neither of us were very enthusiastic about, we set off to get some medication that the doctor at the hospital had prescribed. They have a strange system in Ireland – the doctor writes the prescription on a hospital letter headed sheet and you just take it to a pharmacy to get the medication. For anyone planning a visit to Kinsale I should warn you that most of the shops do not open until 09:30 – silly us for thinking that they would be open at 09:00. So as it was a very pleasant day with the sun “cracking the flags” we wandered around trying each of the pharmacies (there are four in Kinsale – this will be my specialist subject on Mastermind!) until we found one open. To cut another long story short one of the tablets that was on the prescription nobody had – in fact they do not make it in that dosage. The third pharmacy that we visited was very helpful and she offered to ring the hospital to check that the dosage was correct – which it wasn’t and in fact the consultant that she spoke to said that Mrs63 did not need to take it – but the pharmacist did give her the nearest dosage, just in case. Now this is where I earned a few more Brownie points. Whilst the doctor had given Mrs63 a letter to say that she was “fit to travel” (something that I recall having read is needed for an insurance company) I suggested that it would perhaps be a good idea for Mrs63 to have her blood pressure taken to see how things were today. The very helpful pharmacy could not do it as their machine was away for repair but we were told that the Lloyds pharmacy would do it. It certainly helped pass the time walking around Kinsale looking for pharmacies! Anyway we found the Lloyds Pharmacy and the very helpful Asian pharmacist (who really thought she was a doctor!) did the necessary which proved to be what we both wanted to hear – that Mrs63’s blood pressure was back to normal. OK so we could relax for a while now with a couple of glasses of wine (for medicinal purposes you realise) and some lunch before we set off for the airport. Taxi duly arrives to take us to the airport which was about 25 minutes away from the hotel. We check in with our paperwork (which the very helpful receptionist at the hotel had printed off for us) and our one case that we had hurriedly packed on the ship. The case was checked to go straight through to Southampton but she could not print off boarding cards for the second leg and we would have to get them from the Transfer desk in Amsterdam, We knew that we would have quite a long wait but we were prepared for that as we had to wait somewhere. About half an hour before we were due to start boarding there was an announcement that the flight was going to be delayed by 15 minutes – stress factor kicking in as we only has 50 minutes between flights! Anyway the flight took off 10 minutes late and made the time up and we landed on time – good news. Now why is that when you are in a rush to get off a plane everyone else is faffing around with their 33 pieces of hand luggage? Right we are now off the plane and the clock is ticking as we follow the signs for the Transfer desk(s). All is going well until we reach a sign where some transfer desks are to the left and some to right – which way do we go? Luckily there is a helpful member of the airport staff at that point so we ask her – “no you do not go to the transfer desk, you just go straight to the gate where they will issue your boarding pass”. OK so which gate? “Gate 18” Oh goody that is where we have just more or less come from! Now I have to admit that running backwards and forwards through airports is not one of my favourite pastimes. We eventually reach the gate to be greeted with “I have just closed the gate” – anyway a bit of pleading and she relented especially when we said that we had a bag being checked though. So on the Flybe “wind up elastic band” plane – I am sure I could have walked quicker than that plane! – But I admit that it was very comfortable with plenty of room in the seats. The relief on landing in Southampton and being back in the UK was immense, but short lived. Why is it that if you are first off the plane you end up being last to go through immigration? OK all that done out to the baggage hall and guess what? No case – I mean after all we have gone through NO CASE! So off we go to report our missing case to basically be told that Amsterdam is notorious for loosing baggage when there is a transfer involved. Cannot do any more so off we go to the Holiday Inn – at least our room was still there but all we had was what we stood up in – no change of clothes, not toiletries, no charger for the laptop (which is why my reports have only just appeared) – but at least we could have a good night’s sleep afer another bottle of “medicine” (they do a very nice Chardonnay at the Holiday Inn in Southampton!) Tuesday 11th July – CobhFriday, July 14. 2017We woke up this morning to a grey a rainy day in Cobh. Fortunately we had booked an excursion to Blarney Castle/Stone. Whilst there is not really much at the Castle to see (other than the Stone which is just a money making production line) the grounds on a good day would be a pleasant hour or so looking round. There is also the “obligatory” shop there, which is actually very big and selling many Irish quality goods. Also included in the excursion is a “free” Irish coffee – more coffee than Irish. We had intended going to either the Heritage Centre or the Titanic Experience in the afternoon but with the weather the way it was we decided against going out again. Now the “fun” begins. Without going into any great detail Mrs63 needed to visit the Medical Centre on board so off we go at 17:00, when it opened. As with all medical things they deemed it necessary to take her blood pressure, which was nothing to do with why she had gone, and found that it had gone through the roof, so much so that the Doctor was saying that there was a risk of having a stroke which the ship was unable to cope with and that she needed to go to hospital as soon as possible as we were at sea the next day and if she deteriorated there was nothing that could be done. OK panic mode set in. We literally had 15 minutes to pack all our belongings keeping some in an overnight case as the ship was due to sail at 18:00. The medics sent for an ambulance whist we, with help from the Housekeeping Staff, packed – well it was more literally “the” everything into the cases. Once done off we go back to the Medical Centre to await the ambulance. By this time it was rapidly approaching 18:00 but the power of the Doctor means that she can overrule the Captain and delay sailing. The ambulance eventually arrived about 18:30 due to the fact that the first ambulance had been diverted to a more serious call. So off we go to the ambulance, with half the passengers “rubber necking”, and all the assessments that they do in these circumstances. Anyway to cut a long story short just before 19:00 the ambulance sets off for the hospital – at which point the Captain sounded the ship’s horn. Now Irish hospitals are no different to English ones – too many patients, too few beds/trollies and too few staff. Anyway Mrs63 was eventually assessed and found a trolley. It is at this point that the brain goes into overdrive – where are we going to stay, how will we get home, how do we get our car (it was with CPS), how do we get our luggage back, how much is all of this going to cost, etc. During this time the P&O Care Team were in touch so we now had a point of contact. Anyway after a couple of hours the doctor decided that as her blood pressure had dropped to a more satisfactory level and there were no other issues that she could be discharged – good news, ah hang on a minute where are we going to stay? I had been given the number of the Port Agent who told me to contact him if we needed anything, so I did. Major problem number one – all the hotels in Cork are fully booked. Anyway after about half an hour, and several phone calls back and forward he managed to find us a room (well it was, inappropriately, the Bridal Suite) at an hotel some half an hour’s drive away – he thought it was expensive, I was only too pleased that we had a room! Next – how do we get there? Yet another call to the Agent who organised a taxi for us. We eventually arrived at the hotel in Kinsale (a very nice little fishing village) around 22:00 – just before the bar closed! We did get to bed after having a large glass of wine (for medicinal purposes, obviously) and some sandwiches. Monday 10th July – DublinMonday, July 10. 2017We woke to a gloomy and overcast morning in Dublin which soon turned into light rain. Obviously one of the advantages of Adonia is that she can “park” right next to the dock gates but it appears that they do not want you to walk into the city as there is a free shuttle for everyone. We took the shuttle into the city and, once established our bearings headed off to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Now finding the entrance to the college was interesting as it was not signposted but there were plenty of helpful residents that would point you in the right direction. Now if you are visiting Dublin and are intending to visit the Book of Kells then I would suggest that you buy tickets on-line in advance – we just walked straight in whereas those without tickets were in a long queue! The Book of Kells whilst interesting is not what I had imagined but was more than compensated for by the visit to the Long Room, otherwise known as the library where there are literally thousands of ancient books – unfortunately we were not allowed to “borrow” any of them! After our visit to the Book of Kells we took one of the H0-Ho buses for a tour of the city 2hich was made even more interesting by the commentary by the drier. One thing that they do seem to be able to do well in Dublin is traffic lights – I have never seen so many anywhere else. The weather improved during the day and whilst it was dry there little to no sun. One surprising thing was that there was no satellite reception, neither Internet nor TV, whilst the ship was in Dublin port. Tonight we went to Ocean Grill for dinner and have to say that it was superb! Sunday 9th July – Sea dayMonday, July 10. 2017The weather started off somewhat cloudy – not sure how it will progress, so we went to the port talk but after 15 minutes of trying to get the technology to work we gave it up as a bad job – the saying “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” never seemed more apt! We must be fated because later we went to listen to the speaker, Phil Holt, who was talking about air traffic control and he overran and was abruptly “cut off” and then when we went to the show there was a false start and they had to restart the show! Tonight was the first of two Black Tie nights and was reasonably well adhered to – although some did stretch the definition. Saturday 8th July - St Peter PortSunday, July 9. 2017Well we managed to get into port which in itself is an achievement. The weather started off “cracking the flags” but mid-morning it clouded over but by lunch time the sun was back out. Being St Peter Port it is a tender port so we have the usual shambles of getting off. In the Horizon iy states that in order to use the tender that you will have to do a “step test” to prove that you will be able to get on/off the tender – where was this test? You guessed – non-existent (left hands and right hands again!). When we got ashore on the quayside was the Security Manager and this is for Qubie – you would not want to argue with her!!!!! We decided to diy in St Peter Port as we have not been here before. Getting off via tender was no problem, although P&O do seem to have tendering far better organised these days – especially with organising where passengers sit and when they can disembark (probably to do with load balancing on the tender) St Peter Port, whilst being a quaint and pleasant little place, did not appeal to me at all. I have never seen so many barbers shops 9no not a euphemism) in one place – not sure what the significance is! And Mrs63 has never seen so many jewellery shops (oh dear – I left my credit card in the safe !) As the weather was becoming more cloudy we decided that we would return to the ship around lunch time – the weather then improved so we spent the afternoon on the balcony getting sunburned because somebody fell asleep. Tonight was another question of the left had not telling the right hand what was going on. Normally you would expect that the second night of a cruise would be the first formal night but due to the fact that we were tendering I had already decided that the first formal would be tomorrow. Sadly other departments did not realise this. On the list that was in the cabin when we arrived it said that the first formal would be tomorrow ( as I anticipated). So last night there were invitations to the Captain’s Welcome Aboard bash for tonight – these were quickly removed and replaced with ones for tomorrow night (I hope you are all keeping up). Tonight’s dinner menu was the “Gala Dinner” which did not have the same impact not being a “Black Tie” night – although they did have the stilton with port. The table situation does not appear to have resolved itself so I am guessing that the ship is not full. Our table for eight was only set for six and the next table still only had two – anywat tomorrow night we will be a table of eight and the next table will be a table of none! Friday 7th JulySaturday, July 8. 2017We set off from the hotel for a leisurely hour’s drive down to the hotel. I must say that Dock Gate 20 is now my access point of choice for Mayflower Terminal. As we had priority check-in (did I mention that we got this cruise half price so we decided to have a suite?) we were on board at 12:15, cabins ready by 13:00 and all unpacked by 14:00 – having had lunch along the way. Next was the usual “safety drill” – and yes they are scanning your cruise card when you enter, with a warning that anyone not attending will have to attend another one later. There always has to be some that don’t listen – two women turned up without their lifejackets (but in fairness there may have been a valid reason) and there was a chap sat across from us who apparently thought that trying on the lifejacket did not apply to him (note to self: must find out where to apply for these dispensations!) We are on second sitting for dinner and it seemed a fairly well organised first night compared to others that we have had. One interesting thing is that there were many “missing” tonight – for example we are on a table for eight and only six turned up and the table next to us was for six and there were only two there. Whether this is because the ship is not full or they chose to dine elsewhere only time will tell. The meal was OK – nothing to get excited about Being Adonia there is not a lot to do, or places to go, at night but we had a walk around the ship (that took all of ten minutes) – one thing to note is that the photo gallery has gone totally digital – all the photos are viewed on monitors. Short Adonia JauntThursday, July 6. 2017This cruise is everything we said we would never do – a one week cruise (only because of the travelling time) and cruise on a small ship. So what are we doing? A one week cruise on Adonia!! This all came about because P&O offered us (along with many others) a cruise on Adonia at half price due to having booked another cruise for next year – so it would have been churlish to have not accepted the offer. It also fitted in with our other holiday plans. The itinerary whilst not being the most exciting is calling at ports that we have not been to before (apart from Southampton!) As is our normal routine these days we have travelled most of the way down on the day before and are staying once again at the Regency Park Hotel at Thatcham. I am not sure but it looks a bit as if the hotel is under new management and would certainly appear to have a new chef as the meal in the restaurant was far superior to the one that we had last time we were here (August 2016). The journey down was uneventful and was without problems but it does not get any shorter! Tomorrow we will set off for embarkation after breakfast and I will report again …
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