Pre-embarkation Day
Our destination changed! Plus the night before embarkation.
Our Disney cruise was booked for four nights on the Disney Fantasy, going to Bilbao, Spain. However, two days ago I received an email from Disney Cruise Line telling me that due to really bad weather expected in the Bay of Biscay, at the time we were meant to be travelling through it, they were no longer going to be going to Spain but to Zeebrugge, Belgium instead. John and I weren't too bothered as for us, it was about celebrating George's birthday on the Disney Fantasy, and not about the destination. We were a bit worried how George would react to such a big change, but we needn't have worried, because when we told him the first thing he said was, "Belgium chocolate!". Chocolate saves the day - yay!
We drove down to Southampton the day before we were due to embark on the Fantasy. Part of our route was on the M6 Toll and we were very happy we had the Disabled Mobility Exemption Pass. If you don't know what that is, it's a pass you can buy for £7 a year if you have a car that has a mobility tax exemption and you either receive PIP or DLA. It makes me feel a bit like royalty(!), as it works using ANPR, so the barrier lifts automatically as you approach.
The drive was fairly uneventful, apart from when John told me that he learned the words to the Sail Away show on the cruise! My response was an unseen eye roll and advice not to join in with the show because I know exactly what John is like!
We had booked the Novotel, Southampton for our "night before" stay. I had originally considered booking a Premier Inn, but they only allow a maximum of two adults in a room, and George wasn't confident about staying in a room on his own. However, the Novotel allowed three adults in a room. We were given a room on the 4th floor and could see the port from our window. The ship that we could see from there was Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. From the window at the end of the corridor we could see the same ship and Norwegian's Prima ship. It really made the fact we were going on a Disney cruise seem that bit more real!
The picture on the left shows Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. The picture in the middle shows Independence of the Seas and Norwegian's Prima. The picture on the right shows our room in the Novotel, with the double bed and George's sofa bed.
We went to get dinner at TGI Fridays as it's literally on the other side of the carpark. We had half a roast chicken each (I forgot to take a photo - sorry) and really enjoyed it. They offer a 20% discount to hotel guests too! While we were there I spotted Animal (from the Muppets) playing the drums!
After we had eaten, we briefly met up with someone from the WhatsApp cruise group, and then we went for a short walk, as it was such a lovely evening. The roads near to the Novotel are quite wide and busy. We went to cross one, which was next to some traffic lights, and had the pedestrian crossing marking on the road, but nothing to tell a visually impaired person when it was safe to cross. If John had been on his own, he wouldn't have been able to cross safely. We thought that was extremely poor planning.
The plan now is to have an early night, ready for embarkation day tomorrow!
