THE SCOTTISH ADVENTURES OF A CRUISE SHIP ADDICT

MISSING... ONE MOTHER! I'm sitting here at 2.45pm, having lost my mum! She phoned earlier today to say her bus was due in at 2.30pm, and like a dutiful daughter, I went down at 2pm to collect her. I battled my way through the crowds and out to the buses, to be told her bus had arrived at 1pm and she was on board already. At some point I'm sure she'll turn up. On Queen Mary 2 it took me three days to find a friend who I knew was on board. I hope it won't take me three days to find mum! My friend Jess was right. The ship is full of stairs to nowhere! I found a set while trying to battle my way through the throngs of people boarding. They just stop!  My trip to the ship was eventful. Having thought, I'll get there early and board early at 11.15am, I found that they had put me on the same embarkation time as my mum, 3.30pm. Head in hands! I hadn't even had breakfast yet. In the end, the embarkation went really fast and I was on board ...

On Thursday morning, a very upsetting piece of junk mail flopped through my letter box. The brochure was entitled "Announcing Saga Rose's Final Voyages". I was a Guest Lecturer on Saga Rose on a Christmas/New Year cruise down to Madeira in 2006. Despite me being at least 14 years younger than the minimum age for a Saga cruise, I thought the ship and the people on board were amazing. The food was the highest quality I have had on a cruise ship, the service impeccable. The rooms were of the 'old school' - filled with wood and panelling. They were gorgeous. Captain Rentell had a totally wicked sense of humour, including playing the baddie in the Christmas Pantomime, and the Cruise Director, Jane Edwards, worked tirelessly to make sure we all enjoyed ourselves. Even the weather over the Bay of Biscay was good - miracles really do happen! In fact, my favourite story was sitting down to lunch one day. I looked out the window to see the sea washing it. We were at least 3...