We left Lissewege at 6.50, a bit earlier because the traffic could be busy during the week. We got to Calais in good time to catch the Pride of Kent's 9.05 departure. The ship was full of school children from Austria, Germany, France and reminded me of my trip to York
. After boarding we went to the exchange office and I bought the book about the Spirit of Britain from the lady at reception. We then went outside to escape the noise and found both side decks open to the public. But the peace and quiet didn't last long as the kids started making their way out on deck too. A few moments later the officers started appearing on the bridge wing and we were ready for departure. We were running late due to port movements at Calais. This was probably due to a barge that was at Calais but I'm not sure. We stayed outside until we were almost clear of the French coast and then went for breakfast.
The Kent and the Canterbury pass each other
I just had a sandwich, not the best of breakfasts
and my friend had 3 pains au chocolat. "I like a man who can handle his food" said the man at International Food Court.Fortunately the Food Court was quite empty, probably because it was 10.00 by then. The Spirit of Britain came into view as she sailed towards Calais.
As you can tell from looking at the pics, the sea conditions were dead calm with no wind
The Seafrance Molière and the Dover Seaways looked pristine, the Calais wasn't in a bad shape either
We arrived at Dover on time and then we walked to Dover Priory since we had missed the train to Canterbury. We left for Canterbury at 10.45 and spent a few enjoyable hours there. We went back to Dover where I was finally able to attain a copy of Ferry and Cruise ship review. We went to the terminal and soon we were on our way to the Spirit of Britain which awaited us at berth 9. This was the first time my friend had seen the new ship but I'm not sure what he thought about her since he hasn't travelled on ferries a lot.
We had a seat in the Horizon Lounge and then went to the brasserie. This was the only part of the Spirit of Britain that I had not yet visited. I was impressed by the decor and it had a nice touch. The downside was that the vibrations in this area were quite severe (in comparison to the rest of the ship). But now we know what is causing this.
I had the pate as a starter (it did look a bit greenish
) and then we both had steak. These were excellent and cooked to order and were certainly a fitting meal to end the day. However we had to eat faster than expected as the Spirit of Britain 
was almost near the French Coast by the time we received our steak. In fact she did the crossing in about 60 minutes from pier to pier. Once again the brasserie was invaded by school children and some of them had dinner in the Brasserie. At first the staff clearly had doubts about them eating her, the look on their faces was priceless. But these kids were the ones who were more mature and they were quiet and behaved well in comparison to the rest.We quickly went down to the exchange office since my friend still had to get rid of the last of his pounds. We docked and waited a further 15 minutes to disembark. The lady in charge of the footies had forgotten it was her turn today.
It was a very enjoyable trip although the Spirit of Britain
went across a bit too fast in my opinion.Greetings
Michael
