Thursday 26^th April – Transatlantic

We continued our travels this spring with a transatlantic cruise with Karen’s parents, travelling on the P&O cruise ship Oriana from Southampton to the Caribbean and back.  Ok, it was on a big ship rather than Pyxis but it did give us the chance to see what to expect if we decide to sail across. 

After loading up the car, we drove down to Southampton arriving around midday.  We dropped the luggage at the Mayflower cruise terminal and then headed on to the RSYC at Ocean Village.  After a drink and something to eat we took a taxi back to cruise terminal, checked-in and went aboard our home for the next three weeks. 

The weather was grey and cloudy, with passing showers.  The wind was blowing strongly F7 from the SSW.  We slipped the berth at 16.43 and headed to the swinging basin to spin before returning down Southampton Water.

Despite the foul weather, Claire came out to try to wave us off.  As we passed Warsash we climbed to a prominent spot on deck and scanned the shore in search of her waving.  The next 20 minutes or so were spent frantically texting and calling on the mobile ‘Can you see me?’.

At 18.41 the pilot was disembarked and we headed out into the English Channel to start our long journey for real…

We had a great time.  The great thing about the trip for us was the extended number of days at sea as we crossed the Atlantic.  This meant that as well as enjoying the rest, we became more involved with some of the activities on board.

Matson and Karen joined the Bridge club and learnt to play bridge; we went to an interesting series of talks on topics such as the history of Concorde and Identity & Passports; and even went to the cinema a couple of times (the Oriana has a really good cinema).

As always the food and entertainment onboard were very good.

On the passage out we visited Ponta Delgada on São Miguel in the Azores and Funchal on Madeira on the way back, both islands we hadn’t been to before but wanted to visit. 

It was only on the trips across Biscay that there was significant wind and swell; once past the Azores, the days at sea were fair, the seas were slight and the temperatures gradually increased. 

In the Caribbean we visited Antigua, Tortola (the BVIs), St Kitts, St Lucia, and Barbados.  Some of the islands we visited were new to us and others we had been before.  At this time of the year the weather isn’t great so we were greeted by grey skies and rain at some of the islands but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Without doubt the best part of a trip like this is not having to fly.  It removes any problems with baggage weight and so we were able to take as much as we liked!  It’s door to door and no waiting around at the airport – perfect!

Transatlantic Cruise

© Pyxis 2012