Despite the Boat show being on in Southampton, we arrived in the Dockyard within about 20 minutes from the Premier Inn, Fareham. We entered via Dock Gate 10, were directed to the ABParking car park and left our cases with them for boarding. We entered the Departure Lounge at 1114 and were on board at 1120, probably due mostly due to Concierge Priority boarding, I think. We were greeted on board by a Mimosa cocktail as a welcome drink, which was very pleasant. After a delicious lunch in the Main Dining Room (a fairly recent perk for Concierge guests) we decided to visit the Sky Bar for a Cocktail of the Day, prior to unpacking the cases.

Our cabin, a C2 Concierge stateroom on Deck 10 was very comfortable, with a 3-seater settee, fantastic queen-size bed, double wardrobe, dressing table with 4 drawers on the side and one under the mirror. We used the cupboards over the bed for all those items we would usually put into drawers, as the four drawers by the dressing table are not very big. The bathroom was quite compact, with plenty of cupboard space for toiletries. The shower has doors which pull together, so much nicer than shower curtains, I feel.

Muster Drill was scheduled for just after 1500 and we made our way to our Muster Station, only to be told to proceed to a lower deck to avoid crowding on Dck 5. This may have been done out of good intentions, but the result was that where we were seated we could not see neither the safety video nor the demonstration for donning our life jacket. Fortunately we have done this drill many times, so we are aware of what we should have been able to see, but I did wonder how many new cruisers were also not able to see the procedures. Read more