Day 12 - Thu - 11/13/2025 - At Sea to Southampton - Day 3

 As we came down the home stretch on our return to Southampton, I expected a little more motion to the ocean, but that never appeared.  On this day, we slept in a bit (remember that Angela doesn't return from late karaoke until after midnight).  Our only morning activity was to attend the briefing for "in-transit passengers" of which there are around 450 of us.  We learned that around 3,100 guests will be joining us and that the dining and show times will be changed by 1/2 hour earlier to reflect North American tastes.  Additionally the evening show times will start 1/2 hour earlier as well.  And the menu items will be changed as well.  Regarding alcohol, we'll (as a a group) consume about 25% less than the British crowd that is disembarking.  One other important thing is that we don't have to get off of the ship as there is no face to face immigration inspection as is done in the USA.  


After that meeting, the rest of the day was pretty much free and I took the opportunity to read my novel a bit and upload my blogs.  At 2pm, Angela's pop choir of over 100 performed in the Piazza.  It's the biggest choir of this type that I've seen on 6 Princess ships.


The evening entertainment was really packed as there was a need to have two extra performances by Michael Ball as he was ill yesterday with a digestive disruption which quarantined him to his stateroom for 24 hours.  To learn more about his, we went to the Michael Ball trivia session just to listen in.  Our rescheduled Michael Ball concert was at 8pm and he was terrific.  He had many adoring female fans.  Afterwards I found a seat in the Vista lounge for Gareth Oliver's ventriloquism act.  He was phenomenal and it was super funny.  Ventriloquism acts are among my favorite forms of entertainment.  Angela elected to return and see Michael Ball again and then do a late night karaoke session.  






It's been a good cruise.  While the service levels in the LIDO buffet area are subpar and the APP doesn't work correctly for ordering CokeZero, the entertainment quality and quantity are excellent.  The ports were good (for the ones we could make), and we totally enjoyed ourselves.


Tomorrow on the turnaround day, we're planning to travel to Winchester to see the Cathedral and the Great Hall.

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