Zeebrugge - Belguim

Louisa Raikes from our Southampton Office enjoying her holiday on board Arcadia - if the cap fits wear it! Hello to Louisa's Mum Anna - it was a great pleasure having you sail with us on board Arcadia.

Picturesque Bruges

Pretty postcards on sale.

Greetings Everyone,

Today we are at sea sailing south towards our first port of call Malaga. We had a good day yesterday in Southampton at the Ocean Terminal. I popped ashore in the afternoon with Mario for a tour of the new terminal and much to our delight we bumped into our good friends from operations Corinne Batty and Adam Sharp. I was very impressed with the Ocean Terminal - very spacious and lots of glass and a real feeling that 'the cruise has just begun' the moment you arrive at Ocean Terminal. I spoke to a number of the check in ladies who keep up to date with Arcadia's movements on this blog - always good to meet your readers!!

Last port of call for Cruise 912 was Zeebrugge. The morning was glorious with clear skies and warm sunshine - something that has not been too plentiful up north! However true to form by the afternoon the clouds came over and the wind blew up, so with 17 tour coaches all arriving back to the ship at the same time we debarked each coach one by one, and this way our passengers never had to experience the elements. Once everyone was one board we were sailing for our home port Southampton. Lots of farewells, phone calls, notes, thank you cards, hugs, letters and 'we'll be back' and that was 'The Baltic' all done and dusted - another majestic trip comes to a close.

Mario our Passenger Services Manager and Bob our Security Officer on the dock assisting the flow of traffic to get everyone back on board in time for sailing.

Thanks to Alison Webster for her notes on Zeebrugge - Alison went on leave from Southampton and it was a great joy to sail with her on board Arcadia. Have a great leave Alison!

ZEEBRUGGE

The Lonely Planet guide book describes Belgium as ‘Chocolate molded by Surrealists and beer poured by Old Masters’

We visited the gateway port of Zeebrugge on the hottest day of the year so far, and Arcadia broke the P&O Cruises record, for having the highest number of people on tour in this port of call.
Most took advantage of our proximity to the medieval city of Bruges where we ran a full day and half day transfer service for those that like to be more independent, as well as guided tours that include a boat ride on the very pretty canals. Others chose to visit Ghent, another medieval city that was once the largest in Europe outside of Paris or Ypres to pay tribute to those who served in WW1.

We also ran a scenic excursion that shows the beauty of the Flanders countryside and included a visit to a huge chocolate shop as one of the features of the tour. It has to be said that regardless of which city or tour our passengers chose here from Zeebrugge, most returned to Arcadia with at least one box of the famous Belgian chocolates in their bag!

· Famous people to hail from these parts include Hercule Poirot and the comic character Tintin (In Bruges there is a shop dedicated to all things Tintin)
Known as ‘Beer Paradise’ there’s over 450 Beers to choose from in Belgium .

Belgian people are reputed to dine out more than any other nation and the National dish is Moules and Frites .

I took some photographs of the Southampton and I will post these in the days to come. Have a good weekend wherever you may be,

Best wishes from all the Arcadians!

James.

'Friendship improves happiness'