Enjoying the “Wow” Factor.

A pic from Saturday - Doug on the balcony of our cabin enjoying the sunshine in Southampton before our departure at 5 o’ clock.

We’d kept our embarkation quiet but it wasn’t long (the sail-away party in fact) when we were “discovered” by a member of the entertainment (Laurie) and we were soon beginning a reunion with many of the staff aboard.  Here’s Doug with entertainment team members Laurie and Tom (who ‘seemed’ happy enough to see us!)

As we left Southampton the sail-away party got under way in the sunshine around the central Lido deck area.

The view from our balcony at 6 o’ clock on Sunday evening as we head towards a very calm Bay of Biscay.

On Sunday evening we had a very nice meal with Laurie in The Glass House …..

…… before moving on to The Live Lounge where the night club atmosphere was buzzing with activity ……

…… while we waited for the extremely good male duo singers to come on stage.

Late on Monday evening (11 o’ clock) we were having a snack in the Horizon restaurant when we were approached by Janet (who we’d never met) - a friend of our dear friend Thelma.  It’s such a small world and very observant of Janet to recognise us – thank you Janet and it was lovely to meet you.

A walk around the ship today (Monday) with the camera - here are a few pics. :-

This is not a trendy store after closing time but the self service Horizon Restaurant. Cleverly laid out it copes very well in rush hours and is a real breath of fresh air when it comes to the “trougheries” (self service) on a lot of cruise ships.

“Brodies” pub.

The Headliners Theatre – very much in keeping with the contemporary layout and design of the ship.

Just a corner of a walkway – very pleasant to just sit and read.

Large as the ship is the whole layout is centred around the beautiful Atrium with it’s central “Starburst” exhibit suspended from the ceiling. (P&O suggest there’s over a million pounds worth of art on board) The Atrium always seems to be well used but still remains a very relaxed place to spend some time. It covers three decks (there are 19 decks in total!!!) with shops and coffee lounges overlooking it’s central space.

The very contemporary design of the ship is well complimented by the diverse artwork all around.

A lot of bar and lounge venues are adjacent to the thoroughfares – normally not a great idea but things have been so well thought out it seems to work a treat.

We spotted a couple having a sneaky one to one dance lesson in the Crystal Room.

…… and, finally, we can keep a watchful eye on the Bridge from our balcony high up on deck 15!

We’ve still a lot to discover aboard this very big ship (and hopefully we’ve got all the info right so far!) but first impressions are that this is one hell of a nice vessel. The Bay of Biscay has behaved itself today with calm seas and glorious sunshine and we should be docking in Gibraltar tomorrow morning.

PS. On Sunday James was the very first person on the cruise to win a gold sticker by winning the deck quoits! He had to lie down after to get over the shock!!!!