At Sea & Stonehenge

Friday, 4 Sep 2015 – We went to a late breakfast this morning, and then lounged in our cabin.  (Sally took a nap.)   Today the sea was a little “roly-poly” as our captain calls it (or with “moderate” waves) and the air was cool; very few hardy souls were on deck.  At 3:00 we attended a wine-tasting party, this time held exclusively for Elite passengers.  As usual, we were not particularly attracted to any of the wines except for the final glass of dessert wine – and all of them would cost more than we’ve ever spent on wine!  At dinner, we sat with two couples: Gary and Carol of near Williamsburg, Virginia; and Jerry and his wife of Orlando, Florida.  Afterward, we danced in the Explorers’ Lounge to Jamari and then in Club Fusion (very briefly) to recorded music.

Saturday, 5 Sep 2015 – We awoke to our alarm at 7:30 AM.  Although this was disembarkation day for most passengers, we were among the 500 who would be remaining onboard for the next cruise ending in New York City.  Horizon Court was extremely crowded; many people had checked out of their cabins by 8:00 and then were “camping out” until time to disembark.  After eating breakfast, we proceeded to our excursion meet-up point in the Princess Theater.

Our bus departed the pier as scheduled at 9:30 AM, with driver Shane and tour guide Mickey.  In 1620 the Mayflower had sailed from Southampton to what became Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Much later, Southampton had been the last port for the Titanic before it hit an iceberg four days afterward.  During WW II, the city was heavily bombed, as were all major sea ports, and later was rebuilt with no particular plan; therefore, it is not picturesque at all.



Salisbury Cathedral

The first stop for our bus was Salisbury, where we strolled through the town center with our guide, to view the 13th-century English Gothic cathedral completed in 1258.  Built a few years after the rest of the church, the spire is a sight to behold, soaring up 400 feet and dominating the landscape for miles around.  The cathedral is home of one of only four original Magna Charta documents, which dates back to 1215 A.D.  [“Charta” is written “Carta” in England, which might be a newer spelling?]   In fact, one of the signers (a baron) was buried here.  As we wandered around Cathedral Close (the immediate area of the Cathedral), we observed the black-and-white, half-timbered houses that added to the charm of this location.



Stonehenge

Next, our bus proceeded on to Stonehenge, which dates to more than 5,000 years ago.  From the bus, our guide pointed out burial sites (burrows) not too far from the road that we wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.  Finally, our bus pulled into a bus parking area; from there, we walked to the main entrance, where we each received entry tickets from our tour guide, as well as audio-guides (like a telephone, and similar to those at Westminster Abbey a few days earlier).  At the Stonehenge entrance, all visitors must “hop on”a special small bus to a point closer to the Stones.  Then we saw the Stones, some 24 feet high, which were fenced off in 1977 due to erosion.  (Fencing them off prevents people from “crawling all over them” and making good photos possible for everyone.)  As we walked along the encircling pathway for close up views, we heard on our audio-guide about the genesis of the site, archaeological evidence about the builders, and their tools and methods of building.  No one knows exactly why Stonehenge came to be.  Although we walked for quite a distance, possibly as much as one mile, all visitors were walking slowly, sometimes stopping, to listen to their audio-guides.  There was much detail, which Sally found extremely interesting.  After completing our walk around Stonehenge, we boarded a small bus again for our return trip to the main entrance.  Here, we toured a small museum and walked through an area with mud and grass huts and other displays to show how the original Stonehenge construction workers might have lived.

At the beginning our day’s trip, a few drops of rain fell on the bus immediately after people boarded.  A little later, it turned out to be partly sunny.  However, in the open countryside at Stonehenge, the wind was cold; a warm jacket and hood or cap felt cozy.  We had been allowed almost two hours there, which had sounded like a long time but turned out to be just about right.

By 3:35 we were back aboard our ship.  New arrivals for the second part of the Caribbean Princess’ journey had already boarded and were attending their required safety drill.  (We “had been there, done that” and didn’t have to repeat it!)  After freshening up, we walked down to the Shore Excursions desk.  There, we cancelled our ship’s excursion at Bergen, where we had decided to take the hop on – hop off bus instead, and we purchased tickets for excursions to Isafjordur, Iceland; St. Johns, Newfoundland; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Excursions at those three ports had not been available when we made our reservations several months ago.  Luckily, the excursions were not yet sold out.

Having been in contact with our Brisbane, Australia friends, Gail and Jim, we knew that they would also be aboard for this cruise.  [We first met them in San Francisco at the start of a cruise from there to Sydney, Australia in September 2012, but visited with them again in Brisbane in December 2014 when we cruised around Australia.]  Tonight we sat together in the dining room at a table for four.  Afterward, they went with us to the Explorers’ Lounge, where we danced to Jamari for 15 minutes until he stopped playing; then we went with them to the Princess Theatre, where the Welcome Aboard Showtime was presented.  Although Gail and Jim had said that at this show it is usually announced how many people are aboard the ship from the various countries, this time exact numbers were not given.  However, it was obvious that most people are from the USA.  (Jesse actually stayed awake for the entire show!)