This westbound transatlantic crossing represented the third and final segment of a 22 day voyage. So after being acclimated to the routine of the ship it's a different perspective from someone just coming on board. During the layover in Southampton I had taken one of the in-transit tours offered. Upon returning to the Ocean Terminal there appears to be some delay in boarding arriving passengers, but the in-transit people get to go to the front of the queues and re-board.

The first dinner on board was Elegant Casual, but everyone seemed to have taken the effort to dress a notch or two better than casual. Thankfully the change of passengers meant that there were now six at a table for six in the Princess Grill. My new table mates were an American couple from Savannah, Georgia and a British couple. We could enjoy the first of several evenings of civil political discussions since British citizens are not personally involved in American politics and vice versa. Service however was noticeably slower after a change of some crew members at Southampton. Either they were short staffed or the new waiters need to learn their roles.

First day at sea was a beautiful afternoon with many people using the promenade deck chairs but, as it was late September, are bundled up to some degree. There was a storm to the north of us causing swells and the ship was pitching but not nearly as much as it had been on the EB when the pitching was causing the props to cavitate. Read more