Portland Port & Weymouth

Late this morning after a sit down breakfast and some time in our stateroom, we went out on deck to watch as we came into Portland Port in Dorset in the south of England. We stood at the stern as the local pilot backed us into the dock. Then from the starboard side we watched as dock workers got us secured. Meanwhile we’re noticing that there is no accommodation for walking off the ship and into town. And there were only three double decker buses queued up to shuttle about three thousand passengers into town for those of us that didn’t book an official shore excursion. Once we were cleared by local authorities and the gangways were opened, we watched folks lining up to board the shuttle buses and we decided we’d rather wait on board ship for a while to se headed to O’Sheehans’s, the restaurant on Deck 8 to enjoy a leisurely lunch. Eventually we disembarked and waited in the queue for about half an hour. During that time we learned that there had supposed to have been eight shuttles available but only five were in service. We were among the first on board the second one to arrive during our wait and we were privileged to be able to choose two front seats on the upper level for the trip into Weymouth, England. By the time we arrived in town many of the shops were closing but we did score an outdoor table and ordered a Cream Tea from The T-Shop. That was a delightful experience. Overall the brief ship’s stop wasn’t long enough for a satisfactory visit. That’s a downside of travel by cruise ship. Nonetheless it was long enough for us to realize that this could be a delightful spot for a multi-day holiday with many historic sites, walks along the Jurassic Coast, castles and forts to explore, the Castletown D-Day Center, and much more. At the end of our visit we enjoyed the fanfare as we sailed away, a concert from the local community band and a cannon salute!