As I type this blog post I sail across the Irish Sea aboard the good ship Navigator bound for Stranraer. And in some considerable luxury I tell you!
Cutting a long story short, I booked first class accommodation for the crossings this Christmas, not because I wanted to, but because the voucher money would have been wasted otherwise.
On the pre-Christmas voyage from Stranraer to Belfast, aboard the good ship Caledonia we were pleased enough with our first class experience. A little room with comfy seats, free newspapers, magazines, coffee, biscuits, nibbles and so on. Waiter service too, so we didn't have to carry our own food trays across the deck afraid that a big wave might send the Christmas dinner flying. All very nice, but hardly worth the price if I had paid with cold hard cash.
It is only as we travel now that we realize the full potential of the first class experience. Upon arriving at the check in hut, we were presented with a complimentary copy of the Belfast Telegraph, and a yellow ‘Premier’ tag to hang on the rear view mirror, to indicate to all and sundry that we should receive VIP treatment. We were asked to queue in lane one - all marked out in yellow and with a great big “PREMIER” painted at either end. We were the second car on, and are assured of being the second car off.
Aboard this ship, we have our own upstairs deck. The lounge can accommodate 150 people, but there are scarcely 20 to share the luxuries with. All the same complimentary refreshments as the previous voyage and so on, but this time with a fabulous all-round view and a much more extensive range of magazines. Even the toilets are exclusive. Reserved specially for us VIPs so we don't have to risk our personal hygiene by mixing with the riff-raff, they are immaculately presented, featuring fluffy little individual hand-towels for us to dry our VIP hands.
I’m thinking of keeping the premier tag on display in the car the whole way home. People will pull over to let us past, and I fully expect a red carpet reception at the motorway services.
This is the way to travel.
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