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32 / My journey
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water Jane Archer discovers that a UK cruise with Celebrity is a stylish, cost-effective and Covid-safe way to see some of the best of Britain entering the terminal, I am onboard. Life onboard is different too. Passengers must wear masks when moving around indoors (crew have to wear them all the time), food in the buffet is served and various seats are off limits to allow for physical distancing. In ports, we can only go ashore on a Celebrity tour. It’s a pain but it’s to keep us in a ‘bubble’ and – in theory – ensure we mix only with guides and coach drivers who have been equally vigorously tested. Judging by the air of normality onboard, I am not the only passenger feeling totally Covid-safe.
Food, glorious food Dinner tonight is in Tuscan Grille, an Italianstyle diner that serves huge steaks cooked to order, as well as fish, pasta, salads and soups. It’s so good I head back there on the last evening. In between I’ve dined on everything from a delicious Muscovy duck creation in French Murano to Colorado lamb in the main dining room and steak in the Lawn Club Grill – a restaurant that’s part al-fresco on the ship’s real grass lawn. I decide to skip the excursions in Dover and instead grab a perch in the solarium, one of my favourite places. It’s quiet, the sun is shining, there’s a view of the white cliffs, a pool if I need to cool off and a café serving healthy foods for lunch. I know, I know, I should eat there but the Oceanview Café is calling. Indian dishes, pasta, pizza, Mexican fare, grilled meats; you name it, it’s here. Having the food served works surprisingly well and there’s less wastage, but it is slower as we’re not
VISIT BRITAIN
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he crew are laughing and clapping as I board Celebrity Silhouette. It’s her first sailing in 15 months and we are all super excited and just a little emotional. Me because I can finally get back to having the holiday I love; the crew because they are finally back after the long Covid-enforced hiatus. I’m sailing from Southampton to ports in England and Ireland on an itinerary that Celebrity introduced after the Government gave the nod for domestic cruises to restart (a port in Scotland had to be dropped after the Scottish government banned cruise ships– a diktat since rescinded). Specifically, we’re sailing to Dover, Belfast and Liverpool, with two sea days to enjoy onboard Celebrity Silhouette, which is back in the UK for her third season but her first since a major makeover. In the good old pre-Covid days, to cruise with Celebrity you just needed to check-in (preferably on the app), have an (optional) picture taken with a cheesy backdrop and bingo, you were on. Not any more. I need to be fully vaccinated, with the last jab at least 14 days before the cruise. Tick. Then I need a PCR test (paid for by Celebrity) – and negative result – within 72 hours of departure. Tick. Finally, within 24 hours of embarkation, I complete a health questionnaire on the app to confirm I am hale and hearty. Tick. Only then do I get my online boarding pass. I print out my health certificates to show at the port rather than relying on having them on my phone – a good move as it makes check-in very speedy. Within 30 minutes of
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My Journey Celebrity V5.indd 32
8/24/21 05:17 PM
