Ventura Cruise N703 to Amsterdam and Brugge. Wednesday 15th to Sunday 19th February 2017.
Day 1 - Wednesday 15th February 2017
With a 'priority boarding' time slot of 1230, we aimed to arrive at the Mayflower Cruise Terminal at 1115, this being the earliest advertised time for car drop off with CPS. Having had a hassle free drive down to Southampton, in spite of the rainy weather, we arrived at 1110. Much to our surprise, we were struck by the fact that a lot of passengers were still disembarking. The traffic Marshall told us that there was a delay with disembarkation due to the "luggage having been loaded on the wrong side of the ship". On the basis that luggage probably spans the entire width of the ship, we doubted the validity of that explanation, but we agreed to drive off and return 30 minutes later. As we turned the corner, another marshal beckoned us into a holding lane on the dockside railway tracks, so we duly obliged! After around 10 minutes we were called forward to the unloading lanes where we vacated the car with our luggage.
Penthouse Suite. No complaints with this cabin. Very spacious (other than inadequate hanging space for longer cruises). The only (slight) noise disturbance was from staff dragging deck chairs around overhead early morning. Couldn't hear other passengers at all, so ideal if you want a very quiet location.