Big Mary - Part 3

We arrived at Zeebrugge in thick fog early on Monday morning, although the sun did make a tantalising and very brief appearance at one point before the murk closed in again. We got off the ship to get some photos of her from the dock, while keeping an eye out for a blonde G4S security guard who Patsy has had several run-ins with in the past - this guy harasses passengers who attempt to walk along the dock side and doesn't allow them to take photos of their ship, while the other guards are not bothered. People must have complained, as he left us alone, which was just as well as I had a hangover and wasn't in the mood to take crap from a jobsworth.

Brief glimpse of blue skies. What a tease.
The sign is there, just in case you were in doubt as to which ship this was ;)

Going through the security back aboard the ship was interesting, as a pack of A4 batteries in my camera bag caused consternation. Heaven knows what they looked like on the scanner's monitor but I had to open my bag and pull things out for a visual inspection.

Despite the murk, I decided to photograph what few ships were visible.

Artevelde, built 2009, 5005 GT, IMO 9501954, Belgian flag

Catherine, built 2002, 21287 GT, IMO 9209453, Belgian flag

L'audace, built 1999, 15224 GT, IMO 9187318, Spanish flag

Pauline, built 2006, 49166 GT, IMO 9324473, Luxembourg flag

It was cold as we left Zeebrugge - but at least the fog had cleared - but we went up to the top deck and a small platform in front of the funnel, hoping for the full effect of Mary's 'War of the Worlds' horns as we left the port.

I made a short video of the horns

An hour later, we dropped off the pilot at De Wandelaar pilot station. The pilot vessel, a Swath catamaran, came up alongside us at speed and we got a good view from the Golden Lion, where we were on eye level with the boat. As the pilot vessel came alongside us, she hit us with a loud clang causing people to look away from the football on the telly: 'Shit! They hit us!', but no harm was done.

It was time for an early night, as we planned to get up early for our arrival at Southampton. The wind and sea were getting up and the upper outside decks were closed although the Promenade Deck was open. This was like a wind tunnel and you wouldn't have been able to stand up on the top decks.
In the early hours, Mary rolled beautifully in the seas generated by Force 7 winds but things had calmed down somewhat by the time we reached the Solent, although it was raining.

We docked in the Ocean Terminal, with the assistance of a tug, by 0630 and were off the ship by 0915. Our colour was Gold and number 3, and our disembarkation time was 0930 but they were a bit early, so I was able to catch the 0945 Red Jet home. We caught a taxi round to Town Quay, as it was raining and we were disinclined to get wet! I don't know if the driver was a failed racing driver or fancied himself at Silverstone or something but he stuck his foot down and we had a speedy ride round the corner to TQ.

That was a great trip and an ambition - to sail on a Cunard liner - realised. I still want to do a trans-Atlantic trip and, at the prices they were going for (£269 one way - tempting, but I would have to get home!), that will probably happen sometime in the next few years. Queen Mary 2 is a superb ship and the grandest ocean liner ever built; I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked but that's another reason to go back. She is huge, but not too huge and is my favourite cruise ship currently in service, just edging out Oriana.
There were very few bad points, but here they are: it was far too hot throughout the ship, the coffee was as weak as it could be, drinks were stupidly expensive, the currency is in US$ and some of the spellings were American, which grated more than a little considering Cunard are (were) a British company, and I hate seeing 'Hamilton' instead of 'Southampton' on the life-rings, life boats and on the stern. But she had more good points than bad ones and I loved being aboard her.

I have taken some interior photos, which I will put in a separate post.