Eschew Obfuscation

Day Four: Dover, Board Ship

Posted by Max Dunn Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:50:00 GMT

July 29, 2006: Slept in, went to the train station, had breakfast, went back to the hotel, checked out, got on the train to Dover, rode for 2 hours, got on a bus (because they were doing work on the train tracks) to finish the trip to Dover, got on a taxi, got on the boat (took less than 20 minutes to check-in and get on the ship), went to our room, ate, walked around, went swimming, went to dinner, kids went to the kids program, went to bed. That’s it.

(Suzanne) Okay, Max summed it up (again) and in one big, long run-on sentence. But it wouldn’t be the same without my reader friendly version :-)... We spent our last night in our big spacious room and the kids (including Max, after he woke up early) ended up sleeping in until after 9:30a. That was enough time to pack, eat and get to the train headed for Dover. The kids, once again, were begging to eat at the hotel but we couldn’t get ourselves to pay 30 pounds for a continental breakfast. Did I say per person? Oh, and the exchange rate is about 1:2? So we ended up eating at the Marylebone Station, picking up crumbs behind the people rushing to their trains (oh wait, that was a dream, at least the part about the crumbs).

Once we finished breakfast, Max went to check out and we finished our packing. The tension must have been obvious because Maxie kept telling me “Mommy, I know we can make it,” but looking at reality I knew it wasn’t possible to catch the 10:23a Tube train to Victoria Station. Okay, so my glass was half empty at the time :-)

It was a mad dash back to the station and down the long escalator and more stairs to the Tube (I felt like we were reaching middle earth). There were what seemed like a million people down there going in all different directions like ants in an ant farm. We marched along, one behind the other. I was at the tail end, making sure the kids were still with us. I must have looked like a helpless mom—people were always asking if I needed help down the stairs with the kids’ bags. Well, the first time I nicely declined (that’s the rebel in me) but later succumbed. Thanks to Maxie’s positive attitude (his glass was half full), we made it on the Tube. Once we got to Victoria Station, we scrambled to the board the check the train schedule. The board was HUGE! Their train stations are like our airports, with trains from different lines coming and leaving all the time. Luckily, our train to Dover was 10 minutes late arriving so we were able to get on without waiting.

Two hours later, we made it to Dover (via a bus for the last 15 minutes—they were working on the tracks). Took a taxi to the port and had our quickest check-in/boarding ever! Our bags even beat us to the stateroom. We are on the Sky Deck (9) this time and have 2 rooms, a fantail which is on the very back (aft) of the ship and an inside cabin just around the corner (our 2nd bathroom). Even though it’s smaller than the suites which we’ve had in the past, the balcony is just as big and we had a welcome bottle of champagne and get fresh fruit and afternoon hors d’oeuvres everyday.

Once we got settled in, we got a bite to eat and then Max took the kids swimming while I unpacked a bit more. Had dinner at the San Marco Restaurant and met our table mates from England (Maggie and Neil, Trish and Roger). They’re quite lovely (as they would say in England). Ogie and Rhandy will be taking care of us for 2 weeks. Dinner was very good. I had prime rib, medium rare. It was cooked perfectly. Claire had a hard time settling in at the Fun Factory, the program for kids. Once Maxie met some boys he was off and running. Couldn’t wait to get some shut-eye.