Sunday 9 September - Day 19 - first sea day

Posts won't be coming so often now - internet access on the ship is wildly expensive and very slow.  We have purchased the biggest package you can get, and we're still paying 30 cents per minute!  If you just buy it by the minute, it's 65cents per minute.  For the same reason, I may end up posting these entries a day or more late, depending on the ship internet access at the time.

Anyway, back to our first sea day.  I promised myself that I'd have as quiet a day as possible, and I did.  We went to the 'Meet and Greet' - we got to meet a few new people - but we still haven't come across any other Australians yet.  Wandered down to the restaurant for lunch and came across a communication problem - they sat us at a table with two other groups of people, but both groups were Danish and didn't really want to talk, either to us or to each other.  Apparently there are around 800 Danes on this cruise, so it's very common to hear Danish spoken around the ship and all the security broadcasts are repeated in Danish too.
For dinner we went to one of the specialty restaurants - Chops Grille.  $30 each cover charge for a three course meal.  It was delicious and I ate far too much :-)
After dinner - went back to to bed and crashed.  I know that's there's lots of onboard entertainment after dinner - I just don't seem to be able to stay awake long enough to enjoy it!

Saturday 8 September - Day 18 - boarding the Brilliance of the Seas

We checked out of the Cabinn hotel at about 10:45am.
Paul and I are in some disagreement about the Cabinn concept - I thought the room showed an ingenious use of a tiny amount of space, but Paul wasn't impressed at all.  I have to agree that I was surprised about their refusal to store his insulin in their refrigerator (of course, there wasn't one in the room) - that's the first time it has happened to us.
Here's a couple of pictures of the Cabinn, although they don't really show just how tiny it was:

 The bed is actually two singles side by side.  No sheets at all, effectively you sleep on a little doona, with another one over you. Some of the rooms have a third (bunk) bed.  You can't see the "air-conditioning" - it's a tiny door at the end of the bed that you can open to let the breeze in  :-)

 Enough hanging space for maybe 6 or 8 things

 Part of the desk - not huge but big enough for two chairs, and lots of power points - important for us!

The bathroom - definitely the tiniest one I've ever seen.  There's no separate shower - the shower head hangs from the ceiling and there's a circular shower curtain that takes up all of the available space -basically the entire floor gets wet when you take a shower.

Because of their lack of ability to help us with Paul's insulin, I was a little concerned that the Cabinn reception staff mightn't be willing / able to call us a taxi, but they did, and it arrived almost straight away.  We checked out of the hotel at 10:45 and we were at the dock ready to check in by 11am.   The official boarding time shown on one of our documents was 11:30 and another document said even later, so we assumed we'd have to wait, but they were already allowing passengers on board.
Got our cards and everything without a hitch, and went on-board to wait.  Royal Caribbean does this a bit differently from Princess - Princess won't let you on board until all the cabins are ready, but Royal Caribbean allows you on board straight away but stops you from getting to your stateroom until it's ready - which they seem to always promise will be 1:00pm.  I'm still using my crutches and we had a fair bit of carry-on luggage too, so we found a quiet lounge and dumped all our stuff - Paul did a bit of an exploration of the ship, but I just sat around and read my kindle.  Rooms were ready as promised at 1pm.  Ours is a fairly typical balcony cabin - quite nice, plenty of room to hang clothes.
Only two hitches so far.  First was that Paul's luggage arrived at our room by the time we were allowed in, and mine hadn't arrived before sail-away.  Around 5pm I got a phone call to go to the 'naughty room' - that's where they take all the bags that have been pulled up in the security xray checks.  Problem with mine was a small pocket knife I've carried with me on a number of cruises.  In the end they let me keep it since it's so small, as long as I promise not to carry it around or take it on shore.  I'm going to post it home from New York though, as we have another Royal Caribbean cruise to come, and I don't want to have to go to the naughty room again  :-)     The lady in front of me had her knife confiscated and she was a bit annoyed because she uses it to fix her glasses!
The suitcases in the naughty room were divided into two main sets - 'alcohol' and everything else.  It's completely forbidden to bring alcohol on board a Royal Caribbean ship, but lots of people try. There's even a company that makes soft plastic flasks - "Rumrunners" - that you fill with alcohol and that supposely are much more difficult for security to see. Paul actually had some alcohol in his suitcase, a tiny bottle of scotch that we bought in Edinburgh - we intended to drink it straight away but we just haven't gotten around to it yet. We're assuming it was either too small for them to see, or too small for them to care about.  
The 'other' stuff that's most likely to be confiscated, apart from knives and alcohol, is anything that creates heat - for example people try to bring electric irons or coffee making machines aboard.  Royal Caribbean  deems anything like that to be a real risk of fire - they all get confiscated and handed back at the end of the cruise.   I've also heard of them confiscating extension cords and power boards, but they let mine go through.
We were one of three cruise ships in the port - also there were the MSC Magnifica and the Costa Luminosa.  We left before them - no idea where they were going.

We got to our cabin and realised that Royal Caribbean has stretched the truth on a couple of things. They promise wi-fi internet access in every room, but when you get on board it's no such thing- you have to take your laptop to one of their hot-spots to log on.  They also promised a refrigerator in every room but again it's no such thing - it's basically a cooler (and not very cool either).  The steward offered to take Paul's insulin to a refrigerator somewhere, but that would be a real pain since Paul is currently having two insulin shots per day.  So, we got the steward to bring a bucket of ice and we put that into the cooler.  Seems to be working so far.
Apart from that, things are going fairly well.  We've checked out much of the ship and it all looks very nice. Dinner was pretty good for mass produced food.  I had a Spinach Salad for entree and Paul had a fruit basket, and for our main course we both had pork cutlets.  Most important issue is the coffee - all I can say is that people who complain about the coffee on Princess cruise ships musn't have tried Royal  Caribbean's!
Didn't do anything much after dinner - we've had a few long days and decided to have an early night.

Friday 7 September - Day 17 - Travel to Copenhagen

We booked transfers to Heathrow with the tour company, although it would have been cheaper to use the train.  I'm glad we did as the train wouldn't have been an option with the way my ankle is (after spending more than a week trying to hobble round each day without my crutches, and then being unable to move again the next day, I've realised that I should still be using them all the time).
Anyway, of course, the problem with hotel transfers is that they have a schedule, and the timing of our flight was a bit unfortunate - we had to leave the hotel at 5:15am for a 9:55am flight.  There were three groups on the shuttle and we had the latest flight, but we were dropped off first :-)  We were at Heathrow almost an hour too early to check in our bags, so we had to wait to do that.  Then, we went through security - which was really busy but also really well organised.  Then, we tried to find out what gate to go to, but although they display warnings all over the place that it can take up to 30 minutes to get to some of the gates, they don't actually display the gate number for your flight until it opens - about 30 minutes before the flight.  Doesn't make any sense to me...
Anyway, we had a look at the shops, tried and failed to get into the BA lounge (Qantas Club membership doesn't get you access unless you're on a long haul flight), so eventually just sat around and waited.
Finally got on board the oldest plane I've been on in a long time.  And, our departure was delayed because they couldn't close one of the cargo doors.  This was followed by a large amount of hammering noises, and eventually we got to leave.  However, despite the age of the plane the flight was quite comfortable and we got to Copenhagen almost on time even though we had left quite late.
Picked up our luggage, got some kroners from an ATM, found a taxi and got to the hotel, no problems - although we did discover that taxi drivers can be quite assertive here too (not without justification in one case - some silly girl driving in front of us in the fast lane slowed down without warning - went past her and it turned out she was texting).  The Cabinn City hotel is just what it says - tiny rooms like a cruise ship cabin, although quite well set out, and excellent free wifi.
Once we checked in we went for a wander around the city - I had a pre-planned walk that someone had posted on the internet and we sort of followed it.  Finished up at the Tivoli Gardens which is like sideshow alley at the Ekka combined with a bunch of restaurants and concert spaces.  Paul took a lot of nice photos but I haven't had a chance to add them to this post yet.  We had dinner there at a restaurant selling burgers and ribs - nicely done but more than 50AUD for a burger and chips and a drink each.
Came home and crashed!

Thursday 6 September - Day 16 - Best of Britain Coach Tour finishes

Not much to report today; it was pretty much a clear run back to London, with the only relevant stop a quick look at Stonehenge. I'm not going to say too much about it.  It's probably the most recognisable bit of ancient history in England, maybe anywhere.  Can't resist adding a couple of photos though - here's a burial mound (there are MANY of these in the area) and a shot of the stones themselves.

I did learn some things.  Firstly, the stones we see now aren't the only thing that has ever been there - a surrounding ditch and post-holes make it clear that there was an earlier bigger structure of some sort. The current stones were also rearranged a number of times. And, although there are lots of theories about what Stonehenge was about, the fact is that no-one really knows what it was for - the meaning was lost long ago.  For example, the Romans write about it and it was already an abandoned ruin of unknown meaning at that time.  And finally, it definitely was NOT built by or for the Druids.

Overall though, it was interesting and fairly well managed.  You aren't allowed to go near the stones any more, and they appear to be building a more usable and less intrusive Information Centre which might make future visits seem a little more 'real' - although they'd need to grow a huge forest around it to make it properly realistic.

Anyway, we got back to the Thistle and did a whole bunch of washing at the Laundrette round the corner.  We thought about going for a walk instead, but my ankle is still sore and swollen, and the short walk I did wasn't at all nice - between making sure I didn't trip on the pavement, coping with the crowds, and having to dash across streets hoping not to get run over (pedestrian lights are apparently not all that common around here) I didn't think we'd get much out of a walk.   We'll come back here again sometime and do it properly.

So, tomorrow we're off to Copenhagen - the bus is picking us up at 5:15am (ouch) for a 9:55am flight.  So, off to bed now!  Sometime later I'll do a sort of overview of the whole coach tour but I'll just say - I'm really looking forward to unpacking my suitcase on day 1 of the cruise and not having to even look at it again until the end!

Wednesday 5 September - Day 15 - Best of Britain Coach Tour continues in Plymouth

All of a sudden it's the second last day of the tour!
No need to have the suitcases out this morning, as we're staying here again tonight.  However we still spent a few hours on the coach.
First stop was down to the harbour where we went on a short cruise around the harbour and then up the river.  The captain of the boat did a commentary - the bits I heard were interesting but it was very hard to hear where I was sitting (and I didn't want to move as I had a nice spot where I could rest my ankle.
Here's a shot of the marina where the cruise started:

The cruise finished near to two bridges.

 The suspension bridge is the Tamar Bridge, built in 1961.  The other bridge though is much older - it's the Royal Albert bridge, which opened in 1859 and is still in use as a railway bridge.  The large white rectangles don't usually appear on the bridge - that's plastic sheeting associated with the current renovation work.  The bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel who was an engineering genius in his day.  There's a life-size statue of him near the bridge - based on the size of his hat (which he always seems to be wearing in photos) he may have been a little sensitive about his height  :-)

After the cruise we went to a small town called Tavistock for lunch.  They had some really good markets there; it's a good thing I don't have much suitcase room available   :-)

After Tavistock we went for a drive on Dartmoor.  We saw the prison and also a lot of wild ponies.  They don't appear to be in the least scared of humans or cars:

Then we came back to Plymouth in time to do some much-needed shopping.  Dinner is at the hotel tonight, then we'll probably have an early night in preparation for our last day on tour tomorrow.

Tuesday 4 September - Day 14 - Best of Britain Coach Tour continues to Plymouth

Started out from Cardiff this morning with a fairly long day of travel in front of us - all the way to Plymouth today.
The first stop was at Bath, to see the Roman Baths.  I didn't expect to be all that excited by this, but as it turned out I could easily have spent much more time there - it's a fascinating story and the whole area of the baths is really well displayed and explained.  We didn't have enough time to look at it in the detail I'd have liked to see - so maybe another place to be added to our 'come back here someday' list.
Here's a picture - but it's really the sort of place you have to see to fully appreciate it.

There's also an abbey at Bath.  Like so many others it was basically destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries, but the site was put back into use as a parish church about 70 years later.  The church has been rebuilt over the centuries and is now a small but beautiful place.  Again, pictures don't do it justice, but here's a couple anyway:

Next stop was an unscheduled one - we stopped in Wells to see Vicars Close which is claimed to be "the oldest purely residential street with its original buildings all surviving intact in Europe" - all the buildings are from the mid 14th century.

Apart from that though, the interesting thing was the cathedral.  Unlike many others we have seen - including two others we saw today, Wells Cathedral was not destroyed by Henry VIII.  We had no idea that we were going to see a cathedral; we couldn't go inside, but it was an amazing surprise to see such a beautiful building so unexpectedly.

Next stop was Glastonbury - this was and still is the "hippie" centre of the UK, and is also the site of a huge rock and folk festival each year.  However, again, the highlight of the visit was an abbey, but this time the ruins of one.  It was an enormous building and it must have been awe-inspiring, but it was almost completely destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries.  I can only assume that the one at Wells survived because they were prepared to change over to the new forms of worship required by Henry VIII, but that the monks at Glastonbury could not bring themselves to do so.  When you look at the size and majesty of what this building represented - physically and emotionally - the dissolution must have had just as enormous an effect on the common people as September 11 did in our time.

Final stop was Plymouth.  We spend two nights here, and it will be good to have a rest from having to have the suitcase out in the morning.  The hotel doesn't have air-conditioning, or a fridge in the room, but it's nowhere near as basic as the Hydro was, so it should be ok.  Tonight the rest of the group has gone out to another hotel for dinner, but it was an option to stay in the hotel and Paul and I took it up.  We were supposed to have a set menu but they took pity on us and let us have a pick of the a la carte menu.  And, we were also supposed to only have £6 of included drinks - but we had a 175ml glass of a nice white wine each - it was supposed to cost £5.50 but they topped it up for free for us.  Very nice!  We're dining here tomorrow night too, but I suspect that it will be back to the set menu since the whole group will be here.

Monday 3 September - Day 13 - Best of Britain Coach Tour continues to Cardiff

Second day in a row without rain - another lovely day.

The Hydro hotel really wasn't all that good, and I was fairly pleased to be gone.  This is a picture of it, and the inside pretty much matches the outside - old and tired and from another time:

Lots of driving today, and not a lot of photos.  Our main stop was at Ludlow, where there are ruins of a castle that's supposed to be spectacular - unfortunately it was closed today which is pretty much unheard of.  Just our luck  :-)

The streets of Ludlow are astounding - the driver took the coach through some places where I'd swear there was only inches between the coach and the buildings on both sides.  No photos unfortunately; I was too busy planning what we'd do when the coach knocked the buildings down, but it didn't of course. Here's a couple of shots in an around the town, including some of their beautiful parish church:

The only incongruous thing about Ludlow was the local public toilets.  Unlike a lot of other places they aren't pay toilets (have already learned to always carry a 20p coin!) but they're beyond scary.  You walk in and sit down and a disembodied voice comes over a loud-speaker, telling you that the toilets are security controlled and that you'll only be allowed a limited time.  The dispensing of soap and water to wash your hands, and then the air-blower to dry them, also happen automatically.  Scary.

Ludlow is a 'new' town - it came into being as a town around a Norman camp not long after the 1066 invasion.  Apparently that makes it new  :-)   We saw a sign on a hotel in Ludlow that said that there had been a hotel at that location since at least the 1500's, and that it had been a staging post for carriages for some time.  In the 1800's, it took 27 hours to get by carriage from Ludlow to London.   Puts our 28 hours from Canberra to Manchester into perspective!

After lunch in Ludlow, we drove to Cardiff - we dozed for a lot of the way, along with quite a few others!

Once we got to Cardiff we booked into our hotel for the night - the Radisson Blu.  You couldn't imagine a bigger contrast with last night's hotel.  This one was clearly purpose built as a hotel and it has all sorts of interesting mod-con features.  There are power and light switches in sensible places, a really useful ledge specifically designed for suitcases - two of them, not the one that most hotels cater for.  It's just excellent in all respects so far.  And the astounding thing is that according to their website, the room we're in, including breakfast, would cost £89, which is £1 less than the price of that very ordinary room at the Hydro.

Not much happening tonight - the tour has an optional excursion to see a show at Cardiff Castle but you don't get to actually see the castle, and we decided not to go.  Instead we went across the road to a big shopping centre which had a choice of at least 10 different restaurants - we had the most delicious French food.