Friday 17 February 2017

A Valentines Day Outing to Peckham


This month Chris finally received notification of a long-awaited appointment at Kings College Hospital in London. Because of his continuing debilitating diabetic hypos, Chris had requested an upgrade to his insulin pump, and this was not available locally. Not daring to trust the trains, we decided to stay overnight the evening before, which just happened to be February 14th    when rooms were particularly expensive.
And so it was that Chris and I found ourselves pulling a small wheeled suitcase from Peckham Rye station through the ethnically diverse shopping area, as we headed for our budget hotel. There was sadly no time to explore the interesting markets, but on another occasion we would like to do so. Finding the Peckham Road was easy, but we struggled to locate the hotel. In the end, we asked advice in the modern library, and were directed towards Camberwell.

The Best Western Peckham was situated about five minutes walk from the centre of Peckham, close to the Camberwell College of Art. At only £69 for a double room including breakfast, we were not expecting luxury. The hotel was housed in a converted Victorian building with bizarrely themed rooms, based on the TV programme ‘Only Fools and Horses'. A Reliant Robin was positioned like a statue at the front of the hotel.


The steps to the entrance were steep, but we later noticed a ramp at the rear of the hotel for use by people with mobility difficulties.


 The reception area itself was impressive with extremely helpful staff and a well designed glass fronted lift.

We were in room 116 on the lower ground floor. When we entered our room, we realised why our accommodation was so inexpensive. The conversion had crammed as many bedrooms as possible into the building. This meant that our bedroom was so narrow that the double bed was pushed against a wall with no room for a bedside cabinet on one side. I had to climb onto the bed to reach up and close the curtains in the tall basement windows. I would not recommend this room for anyone elderly or with any physical disability.
That said, the bed was large and comfortable with quality pillows and bedding, and the room was immaculately clean. There was an adequate en suite shower and toilet with medium sized towels. The TV service on the flat screen TV was good. The air conditioning was very efficient, albeit somewhat noisy. WiFi was free and fast.

While we were staying, the hotel was not serving evening meals, though a restaurant was planned. This left us with the option of ordering a takeaway, grabbing some fast food in Peckham, or strolling to nearby Camberwell to explore the greater variety of eateries. However, we then discovered a hidden gem of a restaurant three doors away from the hotel. This licensed eatery, without name, served  delicious inexpensive made to order pizzas and garlic bread.
The entire client base seemed to consist of young university and art students.......and us! I suspected that our appearance within such  company was unusual, but the students were more than happy to chat to us as we sat amongst them eating at the long and rustic wooden tables.

The following day we went for breakfast in the hotel basement. We had to remind the young lady on the door, that our continental breakfast was included in room rate, but otherwise all ran smoothly. The venue was pleasant with a good variety of breads, cereals and fruit, and an unlimited supply of coffee.


The taxi ride to the hospital cost £10.  This blog is not intended to focus on hospitals, but I just want to add that we were so impressed with the positive attitude and efficiency of the medical staff at Kings. Chris and I both felt that he was genuinely listened to, and plans for his new sensor pump were swiftly put in place.

So our journey to Peckham proved to be both interesting and worthwhile.

Monday 13 February 2017

Next Stop Peckham

Yes, folks, Chris and I are off to Peckham in a few days time. Look out for the blog post on our return. In the meantime, to start off the week, here is a link to some of my cruise poems.
Some lighthearted poems about life on a cruise ship

Saturday 11 February 2017

Sea Day and Southampton

Our final full day on Boudicca was a sea day. And now I am writing in the past tense, because we are back home and I have time to reflect on our short trip. But first here a few photos of the public areas.

 




The gym, the small casino area and the card room above

                                         The Chocolate bar

                                         The Observatory

                                          The lifts

And although the weather was cold, I ventured outside. They had heated the pool for the brave people!



We strolled around the deck, and looked at the outdoor eating area.



I was particularly interested in the promenade deck balcony cabins. This is  a clever use of space, but I wondered about the passengers' privacy on a sunny day.



And so we packed our cases ready for disembarkation on the final day. With so few people leaving, we don't think our experience was typical, but on disembarkation day, they actually called our deck before we had finished our breakfast at 8 am! Leaving the ship and collecting our luggage was a  very easy process. We had ordered a taxi for 8.45, and we reached the terminal with our cases before the taxi.

So what did we think overall, as experienced cruisers, but first time on Fred?

There is no doubt it is a GOOD product, and we loved the loyal passengers who are so friendly. The food is excellent, and the organisation mostly efficient. The facilities are similar to all smaller ships.
If you want the facilities of a large modern ship, then maybe the Fred ships are not for you. If you want friendly traditional quality, you will find it on Fred Olsen. We've always booked on the bigger ships, because we like the flexibility of dining times, and we can afford a spacious balcony cabin without paying suite prices....but Fred Olsen has much to offer. You just might see us again! 

Thank you for reading my blog. This will be updated throughout 2017. If you would like notification of updates and other news about Claire's writing, please email baldryclaire@btinternet.com or comment below.



           

Thursday 9 February 2017

Dinner and Dublin

The ship is not full. After this mini-cruise, Boudicca will travel for a long journey around South America, and most of the passengers are staying on. The remaining travellers for South America will embark in Southampton. This means that there is only one sitting for dinner on our mini-cruise. We are sat with  table companions who are all staying on for the long cruise. They are exceedingly friendly and delightful people, and Chris and I are rather sorry that we have to leave the ship in Southampton and cannot join them in South America. Like many of the passengers, they have sailed with Fred many times.
For some unknown reason, I have taken no photos of the dining room...or our food. So you will just have to take my word for it. The tables are beautifully laid, and the food quality is very good, better I would say than on P&O, though there is not, of course, so much choice of eating venues. The menu selection is very varied, with additional regular healthy and traditional options and sugar free desserts.
The only 'eating' photo I have is of the buffet. You can have breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner there, and once you get used to where everything is, it is a pleasant alternative. The tables are set out well, and it feels more like a restaurant than a cafĂ©...another thing which is better than P&O. You are not allowed to bring alcohol on board to drink in your cabin (some cruise lines do allow this), but the alcohol is reasonably priced. The all-inclusive option on a mini-cruise is expensive, but I think we would choose it for a longer cruise. Here is Chris in the buffet.

If you notice the little pipe from his shirt pocket, it is part of the insulin pump, which keeps him alive. He is not allowed through x-ray when we enter the ship, as the x ray wipes the memory on the pump. Security have rarely heard of an insulin pump, so he just says 'pace maker' and they let him go round!

We don't get to see the live music shows onboard.....they seem very popular, but we do enjoy the comedian and the regular quizzes.



Fortunately, the Irish Sea is kind to us, and, despite being on an upper deck, we have a reasonably calm crossing. Like many big cities our entry into Dublin could not be described as picturesque.

It is raining, but after a leisurely breakfast we catch the shuttle bus in to the centre of town. There we find a choice of three hop on hop off tourist buses, all reasonably priced with similar routes. We choose the green one, because it has a live commentary. The guide in green leads us past the red bus to our chosen vehicle.

The whole tour lasts over an hour and is well worth the six euros each discount price which we are offered. You can hop on and off as often as you want. Those passengers who did the Guiness Tour say it was very good, but we content ourselves with looking through the rain at the outside of the massive Guiness complex from the top floor of the bus.
 We stop off en route at the very attractive St Stephen's indoor shopping centre to use the toilets and buy a coffee.

And we finally return to our pick up point to catch the shuttle back to the ship. Fred Olsen can't be blamed for the ghastly weather, but we are disappointed by the frequency of the shuttle buses. We have to wait almost an hour in the pouring rain for a bus to arrive. This is the only time on the cruise that I hear the passengers moaning. Once finally on the bus, we have a good view of the harbour on our return.


We are too late for lunch, but we order a sandwich and coffee from room service. It is prompt and of good quality. So that's Dublin done! Our final day onboard will be a sea day.....so tomorrow's blog about Boudicca  will include a lot of photos of the ship.

Wednesday 8 February 2017

Embarkation

We have chosen to travel back to the South Coast on a cruise ship. This part of our journey will consist of three nights from Liverpool to Southampton via Dublin. We will sail on Fred Olsen's Boudicca. Though we have cruised many times before, this will be our first experience of Fred. The ship will be much older and smaller than the ships we are used to, but she has very good reviews.


Embarkation is organised from a marquee style tent on the dockside. It is not luxurious, but it is extremely efficient. Fred Olsen do not offer lunch on embarkation day so we arrive at 1.30pm for a designated 2pm checkin. Our luggage is immediately  whisked away from the taxi, and we are onboard within 20 minutes of arrival. We are unsure whether our cabin choice gave us the earlier embarkation time.
As we are used to larger ships, with a good selection of inexpensive balcony cabins, we have opted for a suite. We couldn't afford to do this on a longer cruise, but it's only three nights! We have a superior suite on deck 9. It's about the same size as a mini-suite on a Princess ship.
 The balcony is quite small, but of adequate size. We are very lucky that the sun is shining, and I manage to sit outside without a coat and watch the marine traffic on the Mersey.
 
 There is masses of storage, and a very spacious bathroom.












Our suite is also easy to find, as we are located in a corridor filled with pot-plants! So we are pleased with our accommodation. We accept that you have to pay more for the extra space and balcony on a Fred Olsen ship.