Woke up at 5.00am this morning; we didn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of getting back to sleep again because the Balmoral had taken the pilot on board on her approach into the Big Apple, and she was revving her engines with a vengeance. This caused quite a lot of noise and vibration, so [...]
Archive for the ‘Shipshape’ Category
So Good They Named It Twice
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Halifax – The Titanic Connection
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
We got up early this morning and looked out to a very grey and foggy Halifax. We were due to go on one of the excursions this morning; to the Titanic cemeteries. It might seem strange to come on holiday and spend half a day looking at grave stones, but there were 300+ victims of [...]
Nearer, My God, To Thee
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
01.45am, 15th April 2012 We adjourned, in silence, to the open decks aft of the Balmoral. Trevor and I found ourselves on Deck 7 near the pool, and we could see the White Star Line pennant flapping gently in the breeze. We positioned ourselves on the starboard side at the ship’s railings so we could [...]
A Night To Remember
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 14, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
As we had had to put our clocks back one hour and 27 minutes at 2.00am this morning, we woke up very early after a very rough night in which the Balmoral was tossed about the wild Atlantic like a cork. We looked out of our window at large waves, one or two of which, [...]
Glitz and Glamour, 1912 Style
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On waking up this morning to calm and sunny seas we found, once again, that they were serving free ‘champagne’ with breakfast, as tonight is another formal night. We managed to consume four glasses each (!), the last of which we took out onto the deck at the stern and enjoyed outside in the rare [...]
From the Balmoral, All is Well
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
We awoke around 8.00am and, after a good breakfast in the Palms Café, decided to go out on deck where the weather looked much brighter. We had a good wander along the deck, taking in the bracing sea air and watching the Balmoral as she glided through the deep waters of the north Atlantic. There [...]
Atlantic Crossing
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 10, 2012 | 1 Comment »
We woke up this morning, or rather I should say woke up again, after having done so several times in the night on a very rough Atlantic ocean. Last night, in the darkness of our cabin, we heard the continuous racket of creaking, groaning, rattling and banging as the Balmoral pitched and rolled in a [...]
Cobh, Ireland – Titanic’s Last Port of Call
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This morning we woke up and looked out of our window to a choppy and grey Atlantic ocean. A bit different from the azure waters of our last cruise in the Caribbean in January this year. We were due to arrive in Cobh in the afternoon. Cobh, of course, used to be known as Queenstown, [...]
The First Evening
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Back in cabin 4170 we washed and changed for dinner at 6.15pm. We have been allocated table #61 in the Ballindalloch restaurant and we met our table companions for the first time: a father and daughter, David and Joanna from Ohio, USA and a couple, Donny and Barbara from Toronto, Canada. They all seemed very [...]
In the wake of RMS Titanic
Posted in Cruises / Holidays, Shipshape on April 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »
This morning we woke up in Southampton, having journeyed down from Durham by train last night. We were due to board the M/S Balmoral at berth 46, to sail in the wake, 100 years later, of the legendary ill-fated liner Titanic. The Titanic set sail from Southampton on 10th April 1912, ultimately bound for New [...]
