Boudicca Cruise –
Trolls of Norway – June to July 2013
This cruise was really not supposed to
happen! On our anniversary in March,
Alan and I went to the Carrick Lodge and had a fantastic conversation, which
ended in an agreement to island hop this summer. Our plans were to purchase the island hopper
ferry pass and wander all over Barra, Uist, Lewis, Harris, Skye and anywhere
else that tickled our fancy….
Then, Alan did his best to change my mind. He kept finding cruise offers to all kinds of
wonderful places, with all kinds of special deals. No, I was having none of it; we were going to
the islands…
Not only can Alan be very persuasive, but this
cruise offer was really good, and we only had to drive north about 45
minutes! Added to this, the generous
luggage allowance -90 kg per person (about the equivalent of 4
suitcases!). Who could say no to this! I am considering calling this blog the Divine
Decadence tour since I had no limits in what I packed, including 10 pairs of
shoes for 9 days. Does travelling get
better than that?
We did have some concerns though, this ship is
known to have problems with the Norovirus and the average passenger age is
67. So we really didn’t know what to
expect, packing extra hand sanitizer just in case though. And checking in, looking around, it is
obvious this cruise caters to older folks, but there are also folks “our age”
on board. Being a smaller ship, we have met so many more people in the day and
a half here that we ever did on a giant ship like the Azura. Things in general are more relaxed on this
smaller ship. I just might be a convert
to Fred Olson cruises!
As for the Norovirus – who knows but you can catch
that anywhere. And they have taken massive precautions to prevent this – such as
no self-service on the buffet. This is a
strange concept, since many people love to go to a buffet and load their
plates. Difficult to do when you are asking a server to do this….and the normal
self-serve coffee areas – if you want a coffee, you wait until a server comes
along to pour it for you. I imagine the
money they are saving on food waste from the buffet alone will more than cover
the extra service staff they must have had to hire!
We have heard that the many Scottish passengers on
board, who make up the majority of the passenger list, came along just to enjoy
the picturesque Scottish coast. It has
been breath-taking, all day yesterday so many of us stayed outside or in the
observatory bar just to see it all. This
country is beautiful. And I did get to
wave at Barra, Uist, Lewis, Harris, Skye……maybe not the same, but I am certain
we will see them up close and personal another time.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain
by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain
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