Med Cruise: Day 1 - Gatwick Airport

To avoid having to get up too early, we stayed with some friends of Tom's in Horsham last night. This still meant we had to get up at around 4.50am and get the 6am train from Horsham to Gatwick. Being that early on a Sunday morning, the train was pretty empty and we had absolutely tons of space to sort out our baggage labels and make sure everything we needed was to hand, such as some swimwear for when we got onto the boat.

At Gatwick we were met by a nice lady from Royal Caribbean who crossed us off her list and directed us to the checkin desk, where an absolutely lovely BA agent sorted us out with a smile. I was worried about the weight of my case but it came in at the 23kg limit on the dot (I've never been good at packing light!)

Through security with no problems at all, we repaired to the Wetherspoons for a quick breakfast. There was a bit of a crush at the bar with all the early morning stag party flights heading off to wherever, so we took advantage of their mobile app to order directly from our table. Ah, luxury!

I'm writing this from the departure lounge, where our gate has just been announced, so I'll see you on the other side (of Europe!)



NOTE:
I never finished this blog - there was no free wifi on the ship, and I caught salmonella poisoning from a restaurant in Rome midway through, so sadly I was in no condition or mood to finish it afterwards!

Coming up: My First Cruise

This coming week I'm about to do something I've never ever tried before: a cruise.

I'm going with my friend Tom who's a seasoned cruiser (oo-err missus), so I'll have someone to show me the ropes, but we shall be sailing round the Med dropping in to various ports in France and Italy along the way. Fingers crossed for good weather!

One thing I won't have during the trip (because I'm too tight to pay the rather expensive surcharge for it) is consistent internet access. Thus posts may appear sporadically, or in the worst case, right at the end of the trip. But we shall see.

Now to try to pack for a week's holiday without completely going over the weight limit...