think again Mervyn - wit.
powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness:
Good evening all. I have just got back from an eventful cruise on Arcadia. It contained quite a few firsts for me - including arriving back at Southampton with around 10 less passengers than we started with.
No, they are all (as far as I know) still among the living, but one lady was helicoptered off to hospital in Thorshavn, and her husband flew there once we had docked in Iceland. One person who lives in Orkney, went ashore there (and was the only one who did), and half a dozen or so of people from Northern Ireland jumped ship during our last minute visit to Belfast, thereby losing two nights on the ship, but saving themselves the time and cost of travelling back from Southampton!
An interesting time indeed! Most tours from Flåm had been cancelled after a Turbuss caught fire in Gudvangen tunnel, causing it to be closed for several weeks - and putting 5 Chinese tourists in hospital. While heading from Norway to Iceland, we had a lady airlifted of the ship to hospital in the Faroes. On our visit to the Faroes, we were diverted from Thorshavn to Kollafjordur (some 25 km away). Although this had warranted a small entry in Horizon, not everyone had read that, and as no mention was made over the Tannoy system, they were left wondering where we were, docked alongside a fish freezer plant up a fjord somewhere.
The following morning, the after decks were covered in oily soot from the funnel, and had to be closed off for several hours while they were pressure washed. At this time people were waiting to go ashore at Kirkwall, but this was abandoned as the wind was increasing, and although they could have got ashore safely in the morning, getting them back aboard after their excursions might not have been possible - so the port call was scrubbed. So we headed off, and about midday I was heading to the Crowsnest, and on entering the starboard corridor from the open deck above the pool, was confronted a blast of heat and a corridor filling with steam. It appears to have been a leaking pipe in a compartment across the centre of the ship between the two corridors, which was producing both steam and large amounts of water. It took at least an hour to fix the leak, and a lot longer to sort the soggy carpets. At least two cabins I believe had to be vacated overnight, as the following day the doors were propped open and driers could still be heard whirring away inside.
Finally some good news - and alternative port call had been arranged to replace Kirkwall. We were going to Belfast instead. Given that the original cruise map showed us going back down the North Sea, some were surprised by this choice - but those 'in the know' had always suspected we would return via the Irish Sea as there they can burn normal fuel, as opposed to the 'low sulphur' stuff which, according to one of the engineers, is £300/ton dearer.
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