8th Unlock the Past Cruise: Day 1 Southampton, England

This is the first of a number of posts that I intend to do, detailing (mostly by pictures) the happenings of the day from the 8th Unlock the Past cruise. I do have internet onboard (insert happy dance here), and while it is better than previous cruise ships I’ve been on, it’s still slow, so we’ll see how I go uploading pictures etc.  But that is the plan.

So Day 1 (11 July 2015) was boarding the Celebrity Eclipse at the docks at Southampton in Hampshire in England.

As part of the organising team for the Unlock the Past cruise, I made it onboard by about lunchtime, then headed straight for the two conference rooms to check those out, before heading off to lunch. Lunch was in the Oceanview Cafe, which in my language translates to the “world’s biggest buffet” – and I’ve been on a number of big ships before, but none come close to what this offers. So after a few minutes walking around to even see what they have to offer) you have to make the hard choice of what to have, then find yourself a table.

We had the registration table set up in the Conference room so throughout the afternoon fellow geneacruisers came to collect their name tag and other conference paperwork (the program, the research help zone interests and a bunch of others), before continuing their exploration of the ship.

Shortly after the obligatory life boat drill (which always occurs just prior to the ship leaving port), we held the Meet and Greet at 5pm which Alan Phillips and Helen Smith welcomed all of the geneacruisers, introduced the speakers and gave a few other notices. Dinner was a non-formal night in the main dining room, the two level Moonlight Sontata restaurant, and it was everything you’d expect of a fancy restaurant. Ultimately not my style, but it was still nice to go and experience.

As for the conference itself, Paul Milner kicked it off with the one talk that was scheduled for the day, which was on “What were our ancestors really like?”, and he related stories of his ancestors that he found had connections to a number of the places we’re travelling to on this trip. As always with Paul’s talk, he had everyone glued to their seats, and eager for more .

Paul’s talk finished about 9pm, and after that everyone was free to enjoy the evening as they wished …

Day 2 takes us to Belgium, so stay tuned …

2 Responses to “8th Unlock the Past Cruise: Day 1 Southampton, England”

1. Fran says:

   July 13, 2015 at 8:22 am

   Alona, I will have to do one of these trips one day. All looks like you will have a wonderful and educational time. A bit jealous here eating ready for work. Fran

   Reply
2. GenieJen says:

   July 14, 2015 at 8:47 am

   Thanks for your posts, Alona. I’ve been waiting for someone to post from the ship which looks amazing. Sounds like the cruise is off to a great start. Wish I was there. Have fun

   Reply