The Widow & the Spinster Take a Bougie WBTA Cruise That Didn't Suck! - We finally Board the Ship! 12/2

[Flossbolna]

I was stupid, I read your introduction yesterday and forgot to post. But here I am! Very much looking forward to reading about your adventures! Especially since we were once booked on that cruise as well- before deciding to switch over to the EBTA next year. So, I slam still very much interested in all aspects of a Disney Transatlantic cruise!

 

[AgentMama]

Can't wait to follow along!

 

[franandaj]

I'm here!

I know I followed along to the FB posts but will be good to get the full story!

There's so much more to the story than what you can say in 20 pictures and a couple paragraphs!

 

[franandaj]

I can’t wait to follow along! Transatlantic cruise is on my bucket list!

 

[franandaj]

Here!
Will catch up a bit later.

I didn't expect to see you for another week! Catch up when you can!

 

[franandaj]

I am here too and can't wait to read along.

I don't comment a lot but I read all the posts and chuckle over some of them.

Well I'm hoping that there is a lot to chuckle over on this trip! We had some fun times. Spoiler Alert: We don't go into any sketchy foreign buildings in search of camera repair!

 

[franandaj]

I was stupid, I read your introduction yesterday and forgot to post. But here I am!

Very much looking forward to reading about your adventures! Especially since we were once booked on that cruise as well- before deciding to switch over to the EBTA next year. So, I slam still very much interested in all aspects of a Disney Transatlantic cruise!

I'm not sure what the itinerary for the EBTA is, but ours was nice. Going the opposite way will be interesting as you will start off with the long sea journey and losing an hour every day, and end up with the ports at the end of the trip.

 

[franandaj]

Can't wait to follow along!

 

[franandaj]

Day 1

So here we are! Departure day had arrived. I was all packed the day before (basically). There were a couple things to toss into the carry-on, but that didn't take much time. In preparation for this trip, I had re-watched some of the Harry Potter movies on my flight home from Germany last spring. While packing I picked up where I left off, I got through all but the last movie, by the day I left. We would be visiting the sets of the movies this trip, so I wanted to be familiar with the movies again.

I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Naked Jim, who had knee replacement surgery back in April is back in action again. However, he is getting a bit senile and has been forgetting when to pick me up for my trips. He completely forgot for a trip in August and seems to need constant reminders.

I asked him to pick me up at 3PM, and at 3:07 I started texting and calling him. Finally he picked up the phone and said, “Oh, is it today?” Luckily I had built in quite a time buffer. He was at my house by 3:30 and we were on the way shortly thereafter. Traffic was light and I was waiting in the check-in line nearly 3 ½ hours before my flight was scheduled to leave.

Security was a breeze and pretty soon I was sitting in the lounge with a glass of wine and my Emotional Support Water Bottle (ESWB) waiting until it was time for my flight.

I was flying Business Class on British Airways using Frequent Flyer miles that Fran had left me. Before leaving for the airport, I had eaten some Chicken Fried Rice and wasn't hungry for any of the stuff they had on offer. A couple weeks ago I visited @DnA2010 in Canada and all the Lounges I stopped into were serving Butter Chicken. Now I like Butter Chicken, but I'd had it several times in the past couple weeks, and especially since I wasn't hungry, I wasn't interested in more that day.

So I just sat at a table drinking Sauvignon Blanc. I got out my computer and started trying to finish my German/Austrian TR. I was able to get all but the last update published and hoped to finish it once I got to London. My plane was scheduled to board at 6:45, so I left the lounge at 6:30 and pretty soon we were boarding. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been on a plane that has three separate boarding areas!

This was a huge and fancy plane. The business class passengers boarded on the upper level. Look at all those boarding tunnels!

Soon I found my seat. This was an interesting configuration for business class. Definitely a bit less room and such from previous flights in business class, but it did have basically everything I needed.

I was given a welcome glass of Champagne.

We did the security briefing, and then they turned on the entertainment system. One thing I've learned since Fran's passing is that the two of us kind of lived in our own little bubble. We didn't pay attention to things that we didn't think mattered to us, especially when it came to popular culture.

Take last summer for example. When Deadpool and Wolverine was slated to come out, I'd seen both Deadpool movies, but I had no idea who Wolverine was. Well it just turns out that I caught my first case of covid that week. I had all weekend to lay on the couch watching the X-men movies.

Earlier in the week of my trip, Hugh Jackman announced his one man show in NYC. I wondered how a one man Wolverine show was going to be a hit, and Jill informed me that he has performed In MANY Broadway style musicals, and I really needed to brush up on those. So when I saw The World's Greatest Showman on the movie list. I decided that's what I would watch.

Here's what we had to choose from for dinner and drinks.

They started us off with a bag of nuts. I don't like almonds or chickpeas, so I picked all the cashews out And ate those. By now I was starting to get hungry.

I ordered the Cream of Broccoli Soup for my starter. It was pretty good. I ate all of it.

For my main I ordered the Rosemary Ricotta Cannelloni. I chose that because there was Ratatouille as a side for the other items and I'm allergic to eggplant. It was fine. Nothing special, but edible.

For my dessert I went with the sweet crépe with cinnamon vanilla sauce. It was not what I expected, but it was good.

The steward kept my wine glass topped off. Once the movie ended, I got ready for bed. These business class sleepers really are an ingenious invention! Sure, they take up a bit more room, but the ability to lay flat whilst traveling on a 10 hour flight is magnificent!

I woke around 1AM my time, and I used the potty. I've never seen an airplane bathroom this large! You could have pushed a standard wheelchair in this bathroom! It was crazy!

Knowing that I needed a bit more sleep, I crawled back into my sleeper and caught some Z's for a couple more hours. I woke again at 3:37 by my devices that were still on Pacific time. By my calculations, we would be landing at 6AM California time which was about 2+ hours away. I knew they would be bringing breakfast, and I decided it was time to start doing my morning things, meds, etc.

Here was the breakfast menu for this morning.

Shortly they brought me breakfast and coffee. The first courses of breakfast consisted of fruit, yogurt, and a croissant. The fruit itself was OK. The melon wasn't ripe, the pineapple and berries were good. The yogurt and fruit combo was very sour. The croissant was a little hard.

Next up was blueberry pancakes. Luckily I still had the butter from the croissant to put on them. They weren't bad, but it was just too early for me to eat that much.

The steward had refilled my coffee cup twice when I finally asked him if he had anything stronger. Evidently they make their coffee with something similar to a tea bag on the plane. He said he would leave the bag in longer, and this cup did the trick. I finally got that “zing” from the coffee that I needed.

We were getting closer to our destination.

Landing was smooth and shortly I was off the plane and heading to baggage claim. Or as they call it Baggage Reclaim. It took forever to get my bags and for a time I was fretting that they wouldn't arrive, but they did. While I was waiting, I got a text from my car service that my driver was on his way, and a link where I could track his progress. I exited customs on the “nothing to declare” side, and went out to find my driver. By this time he had arrived.

There was a long line of folks Holding signs with passenger names on them, but none had mine. It turns out I didn't walk far enough down the line. My driver saw me walk out and look, but wasn't sure if I was his fare. Eventually we located each other.

The ride to the hotel was long. Once we hit downtown London, traffic was a nightmare. There was one section where we only went about two blocks in half an hour. That was near Westminster Abbey. I was able to snap this picture from the car window.

Once we got through all that it was much easier. We passed over the Westminster Bridge and things started moving again. I saw the London Eye.

I was at my hotel about 10 minutes later. The entire journey took about 2 hours. Then again I was traveling at rush hour. This evening I was meeting an old friend. Her partner used to be on the DIS before she passed, her name was Paula.

Because the ride took so long, Jo and her new partner (6 years now) were in the lobby of my hotel when I arrived. They sat in the lobby having a drink while I went up to my room, showered and changed.

Several months earlier when Jill and I had booked the hotel, I had scoured the neighborhood on Google Maps looking for a place to go on this night. I wanted someplace close, but that was definitely British. I found The Duke of Sussex pub and thought that would be perfect. The restaurant was just a couple blocks away, and it had traditional pub food. It turns out that Jo had also come to the same conclusion.

They bought me a drink in the hotel lobby as they finished their own, and then we walked over to the pub. It was a very nice pub. We had a nice meal and it was fun!

I had Bangers and Mash.

Jo had the Fish and Chips.

Caz had the crab tacos, which she proclaimed were bland. Oh well two out of three….

Over dinner we talked about all kinds of things, but especially our situation in common, being in relationships for over two decades, and having our partner pass away. She was about 8-9 years ahead of me in the journey, and it was nice to hear her perspective. We made a plan to get together again sooner, probably at WDW.

I told the ladies that I wanted to pick up a bottle of wine “for the room” and as we walked back to the hotel we spied this market across the street from the hotel. The picture is from the next morning, but you get the idea. Prices were pretty high. A bottle of California wine that costs $6 in California was £12.

When I returned to the room I posted a pic of my meal on the Cruise Facebook group, and all the admins started flaming me for my “inauthentic meal”. And calling it “posh”. Jeez people! Give a Yank a break!

I texted with Jenny and Jill for a bit and around 9:30 I was so tired, I just lay down and fell asleep.

Here’s my Google Timeline for this day.

And my fitbit stats:

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm not sure what the itinerary for the EBTA is, but ours was nice. Going the opposite way will be interesting as you will start off with the long sea journey and losing an hour every day, and end up with the ports at the end of the trip.

We have Castaway Cay, Ponta Delgada, Lisbon and Cadiz. Cruise ends in Barcelona. So, two ports are the same as yours.

We will be at WDW for a week before the cruise, so starting out with the relaxing sea days sounds perfect for me. The time change… ugh!! But then Michael and I both hate the flight back to Europe overnight with losing the 6 hours, it must be more pleasant to do it one hour per night!!

 

[cruisehopeful]

Sounds lovely.

 

[Flossbolna]

Great start to the trip! So glad you could meet up with Jo for a good chat! I miss Paula’s posts here. She always had such a sunshine attitude about everything!

I think your bangers and mash look very nice and there is nothing wrong with making standard meals a bit more appealing. I guess the Brits were just teasing you!

 

[jedijill]

Emotional Support Water Bottle (ESWB)

ESWB was our third member of the travelling party.

Oooh, your plane had an actual 1st Class section....Mine was just biz and economy.

Earlier in the week of my trip, Hugh Jackman announced his one man show in NYC. I wondered how a one man Wolverine show was going to be a hit, and Jill informed me that he has performed In MANY Broadway style musicals, and I really needed to brush up on those. So when I saw The World's Greatest Showman on the movie list. I decided that's what I would watch.

I take it as my civic duty to help you catch up on popular culture!

They bought me a drink in the hotel lobby as they finished their own, and then we walked over to the pub. It was a very nice pub. We had a nice meal and it was fun!

So glad you got to meet up with Jo and her partner! We missed meeting up last year so hopefully can in the future!

I had Bangers and Mash.

I mean, that's really posh and not what real Brits would eat.....or so you were told!

You had a much shorter travel day than you did last year!

Jill in CO

 

[pkondz]

You may wonder how this all came about. Or maybe you don’t, but regardless I’m going to tell you

some of you might recall that I had signed on for a trip to Egypt with Jill.

You know one that ends in a zero.

30. Yep.

Nassau is like the armpit of the Bahamas as far as I’m concerned.

Oh? Why so?

Karin and Tom had booked the Westbound Transatlantic on the Dream and with a little arm twisting, convinced Jill and I to book as well.

Oh I’m sure it took a lot of arm twisting.

 

[alohamom]

We would be visiting the sets of the movies this trip,

That is on my bucket list, can't wait!
Also, thank you a million times over for all the food pics, I just LOVE seeing them and living vicariously through your travels.

 

[DnA2010]

I was all packed the day before

day, not weeks

We would be visiting the sets of the movies this trip, so I wanted to be familiar with the movies again.

Although I've seen the movies and read the books, I would be doing this also!

Traffic was light and I was waiting in the check-in line nearly 3 ½ hours before my flight was scheduled to leave.

Better to be waiting at the airport through security, then at home!

pretty soon I was sitting in the lounge with a glass of wine and my Emotional Support Water Bottle (ESWB) waiting until it was time for my flight.

Such a well travelled (and generally "iced") water bottle!

A couple weeks ago I visited @DnA2010 in Canada and all the Lounges I stopped into were serving Butter Chicken. Now I like Butter Chicken, but I'd had it several times in the past couple weeks, and especially since I wasn't hungry, I wasn't interested in more that day.

Mmm butter chicken! it is a regular in our house, although I cheat and buy the jars of sauce from costco

This was a huge and fancy plane. The business class passengers boarded on the upper level. Look at all those boarding tunnels!

Wowzas! Fancy indeed!

Nice little selection there

I don't like almonds or chickpeas

:scansbraintothinkifI'veeverofferedeither:

ed the Cream of Broccoli Soup for my starter. It was pretty good. I ate all of it.

That looks tasty, I do enjoy a broccoli soup, especially when it has cheddar as well!

These business class sleepers really are an ingenious invention! Sure, they take up a bit more room, but the ability to lay flat whilst traveling on a 10 hour flight is magnificent!

Super cool! I wonder if I will ever experience a fancy seat lol

I woke around 1AM my time, and I used the potty. I've never seen an airplane bathroom this large! You could have pushed a standard wheelchair in this bathroom! It was crazy!

Wowzas! that's big, how nice for a long flight!

I bet I know what you are going to have...

Yup I did know!

The steward had refilled my coffee cup twice when I finally asked him if he had anything stronger. Evidently they make their coffee with something similar to a tea bag on the plane. He said he would leave the bag in longer, and this cup did the trick. I finally got that “zing” from the coffee that I needed.

Tea bag coffee! Crazy! I'd have thought they'd have a carafe or coffee maker of some sort?

There was a long line of folks Holding signs with passenger names on them, but none had mine. It turns out I didn't walk far enough down the line. My driver saw me walk out and look, but wasn't sure if I was his fare. Eventually we located each other.

I'm trying to think, I don't think I've had this experience before, glad you found hi,

The ride to the hotel was long. Once we hit downtown London, traffic was a nightmare. There was one section where we only went about two blocks in half an hour. That was near Westminster Abbey. I was able to snap this picture from the car window.

Yikes, hope it was a set fare!

Nice clear day at least!

I had Bangers and Mash.

That looks super delish!

Jo had the Fish and Chips.

this looks great as well, I do like the British chips- I think we call them "steak" fries

Prices were pretty high. A bottle of California wine that costs $6 in California was €12.

Sounds like Canada prices!


Great start!!

 

[ACDSNY]

I can't wait to see what you two were up to. I've loved all your pics on FB.

I broke my rule of never flying in the day of the cruise and boy did it catch up with us. We slept 16 hours straight the first night.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Hey. Everyone needs an emotional support drinking vessel.

Not me carrying a huge pink Stanley around the Fantasy with either water or coke zero.

 

[pkondz]

I was all packed the day before (basically).

That’s good. Being packed the day after isn’t as efficient.

We would be visiting the sets of the movies this trip, so I wanted to be familiar with the movies again.

Good plan.

Naked Jim, who had knee replacement surgery back in April is back in action again. However, he is getting a bit senile and has been forgetting when to pick me up for my trips.

Oh dear.
How old (roughly) is he?

I asked him to pick me up at 3PM, and at 3:07 I started texting and calling him. Finally he picked up the phone and said, “Oh, is it today?”

Traffic was light and I was waiting in the check-in line nearly 3 ½ hours before my flight was scheduled to leave.

That worked out then.

my Emotional Support Water Bottle (ESWB)

A couple weeks ago I visited @DnA2010 in Canada and all the Lounges I stopped into were serving Butter Chicken. Now I like Butter Chicken, but I'd had it several times in the past couple weeks, and especially since I wasn't hungry, I wasn't interested in more that day.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever been on a plane that has three separate boarding areas!

Cool!
I’ve done two, but never three.

This was a huge and fancy plane. The business class passengers boarded on the upper level. Look at all those boarding tunnels!

Ooooohhh.
Would like to see in person.

I was given a welcome glass of Champagne.

Nice touch.

One thing I've learned since Fran's passing is that the two of us kind of lived in our own little bubble. We didn't pay attention to things that we didn't think mattered to us, especially when it came to popular culture.

Why do you think that is?

So when I saw The World's Greatest Showman on the movie list. I decided that's what I would watch.

Oh geez. I forgot about that one. Need to watch. Not sure if it’s available on any of my services though.

I don't like almonds or chickpeas, so I picked all the cashews out And ate those.

Interesting. I’d pick out the almonds and skip the cashews.

I'm allergic to eggplant.

Did not know that.

the ability to lay flat whilst traveling on a 10 hour flight is magnificent!

Sounds divine. And I’ll probably never know!

I've never seen an airplane bathroom this large! You could have pushed a standard wheelchair in this bathroom! It was crazy!

Whoa. Usually they’re barely large enough to turn around.

I finally asked him if he had anything stronger. Evidently they make their coffee with something similar to a tea bag on the plane. He said he would leave the bag in longer, and this cup did the trick.

Huh! Interesting.

Or as they call it Baggage Reclaim.

Makes more sense. Anyone can go and claim anyone’s bag… but only you can reclaim your own.

It took forever to get my bags and for a time I was fretting that they wouldn't arrive

I stopped fretting ever since I bought an AirTag.

Once we hit downtown London, traffic was a nightmare.

Haven’t been in decades, but… not surprised.

There was one section where we only went about two blocks in half an hour.

It was a very nice pub. We had a nice meal and it was fun!

Good!

I had Bangers and Mash.

Perfect. I’d almost certainly have the same.

Jo had the Fish and Chips.

…or this. Either one.

Over dinner we talked about all kinds of things, but especially our situation in common, being in relationships for over two decades, and having our partner pass away.

She was about 8-9 years ahead of me in the journey, and it was nice to hear her perspective. We made a plan to get together again sooner, probably at WDW.

Nice that you were able to discuss and get another, later perspective.

When I returned to the room I posted a pic of my meal on the Cruise Facebook group, and all the admins started flaming me for my “inauthentic meal”. And calling it “posh”. Jeez people! Give a Yank a break!

Oh brother. What would they have said if you’d had the tacos? That you can’t eat that on that side of the pond? Or North of Texas?

Sheesh.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

I am here also. Thanks for the Facebook alert. We were booked on this cruise but decided to postpone until next year or the year after. Rob is thinking of retiring and a cruise of such length will be easier when he retires. Plus, we have decided we want to sail the EBTA so we can acclimate to the time changes easier (hopefully, easier).