Friday 19th July 2019
Today's activities will hark back to the Exploration side of this trip - I will meet a good friend and we will embark on the VASCO DA GAMA. I had a late breakfast at my small hotel and then walked down to the main station to leave my rucksack in a locker while I had a coffee and watched the world go by yet again. There were many people struggling with rather large suitcases.
My friend and I decided to walk along the waterside to where we could see the big cruise ship VASCO DA GAMA was berthed. Checking in meant joining a queue inside a big tent, and that was our introduction to Transocean Cruising in Kiel. Passengers were allocated a check-in time according to cabin location which should have been a good idea in theory - in practice it was impossible. We and probably nearly a thousand others had to queue for over an hour, standing up in a hot and airless tent, with little signs of movement ahead of us. I felt sorry for those passengers having to stand outside in the queue.
Eventually the boarding must have started and I could check in, register a credit card and hand over my British passport to be kept in Reception on board. I am never too happy to relinquish my passport but was assured I could get it back when it had been registered. I was given my boarding card and noticed it had my date of birth printed on it - that is rather unusual in my experience.
I had booked for this trip over a year ago and fortunately was allocated one of the few but spacious twin cabins on Veranda Deck 9 for single use.
I soon left my rucksack there and went to join my friend for lunch in the Club Bistro up on Lido Deck. We are due to sail from here in Kiel at 4 p.m. but have Lifeboat Drill before that.
Sailaway from Kiel was interesting as I noticed familiar sights I had seen on the previous days, including the entrance to the Kiel Canal. Soon we were heading out to the sea and on our way to enjoying this 3 night cruise. Our first port of call will be Gothenburg in Sweden tomorrow, then Copenhagen in Denmark the day after, before returning to the port of Kiel on Monday.
We met for drinks in the Champagne Bar before dinner, which was all very enjoyable. My diary says we went on deck after dinner to watch us sailing under the Great Belt Bridge - an amazing sight from below of course as it was still not dark.
Ships seen: Costa Pacifica, Regina Seaways, Schilksee, Color Magic, Stena Scandinavica, Laboe, Bulk, Heikendorf, Vasco da Gama, Nina 1 with the empty cable reels
To be continued...