Tuesday, 25 August 2015

Heathrow to Istanbul

Saturday 1st August

David and I both love cruising, but cruising alone is very expensive. We agreed that we could happily share a room for a couple of weeks and booked a cruise on Queen Victoria around the Mediterranean. David would get sunshine and a tan. I would get David's company on the dance floor. I imagined waltzing around the ballroom in silk and sequins, gliding effortlessly in a fantasy of movement and music. What could be better than dancing with one's good friend and dance teacher? Fantasy or reality?

As the cruise progressed, this fantasy became far less important than the reality of the good company and the laughter that David and I shared. I think this was definitely the best cruise I have been on. I was challenged to do different things. I laughed more than usual. I spoke to many people all around the ship. I visited wine bars on shore. I sat on my balcony at midnight. I even got a suntan.

Our first day
We were due to fly out at 7:10, which meant getting to the airport shortly after 4am. As David did not finish work until 10pm, and still had to finalise packing, there was no convenient time to sleep! We both struggled to keep our luggage down to the correct weight limit for flying. It’s hard to look fabulous and still keep to weight restrictions! We both had to discard a few things from our suitcases.

We started the drive to Heathrow about 2:30am, which was good as we encountered a 15-mile detour on the way, trying to get on the M25. At one point we were taken in the opposite direction, ready to turn around at the next roundabout!

The flight was nearly 4 hours long. David managed to sleep on and off, but I stayed awake for the whole time. After a long 90-minute drive to the ship, it was a relief to board and be welcomed by the staff.

We had booked a balcony stateroom and were given an ‘accessible’ stateroom for wheelchair users. It is much larger than a normal stateroom, with loads of room to walk around and a lovely big shower. Hanging space in the wardrobes was a bit tight but we were given more hangers than I usually have in 3 wardrobes when I travel alone, so all my clothes could fit.

The room was a different shape from a normal stateroom, more square than oblong. This meant the balcony was twice as long as usual, and because of the position of the ship we also had extra depth for half of the balcony. Bliss!






 Although we had flown into Istanbul, all we saw of it were the edges as we drove from the airport, and a view from the balcony.




We got through the usual first-day routine of unpacking and attending the safety drill. On arrival in the dining room quarter of an hour late, we found that we were on a table for six near the window. I’ve never had a window table for dinner before! We soon found that our tablemates had been on the ship for a week and had agreed to arrive at 6:30 instead. That’s much better.

We went to the 9:15 dance session and I was surprised to discover that it was not well attended. Perhaps people were tired from a full day in Istanbul, or from flying in from the UK with no sleep the night before. The lack of sleep certainly had an effect on my dancing. I could not seem to follow David, and my balance was not good. We spent a lot of time laughing at my mistakes.

We gave up around 10:30 and sat on the balcony for over an hour, watching the ship pull out of Istanbul. The warmth of the weather and the lapping of the sea made for a very pleasant time.









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