We glided into Cherbourg at 5.30am, my BF snoring away in bed, and me excitedly hovering on the balcony. We were on the biggest cruise ship in the world, but it was silent as it came into port. The maritime police and pilot boats which sailed alongside made far much more noise!
It was a beautiful fresh morning and the dock was lined with people who had come to see the ship in, which was lovely! I went back to bed after my rare bout of wakedness at 5am, but awoke again to a sunny morning. After a good breakfast we debarked the ship to see the sights and sounds of Cherbourg.
The Harmony of the Seas was causing quite a stir and lots of locals had gathered at the dockside to take photos of the ship right through the day. We walked through them feeling like VIPs – like “that’s right, I’m allowed in here!”. Ha ha! It made a change – normally we’d be on the other side of the fence 🙂
We strolled into Cherbourg for a few hours to wander round the Old Town. I have been to Cherbourg many times, but not for about a decade so it was nice to be here. Cherbourg is not number one on most tourist’s itinerary, and as such there are no essential “sights” to see, but it was nice just to be in France and watch the world go by.
Old Cherbourg is very pleasant with cobbled pedestrianised streets lined with cafes and shops, and a nice square with a fountain. We sat by the marina for a while with our legs over the edge watching the small fish in the sea below. We then walked up to a shopping mall called “Les Eleis” which had the cleanest toilets I have seen in France, and a big Carrefour supermarket. Then it was back to the old town and we also paid a quick visit to La Cite De La Mer where there is a nuclear submarine called “La Redoutable”. Then we were ready to go back on board the ship.
I was impressed at how quick and painless debarking and re-boarding was – you need to take your passport and your “SeaPass” card (basically your ID card while you are on the ship), and scan in and out of the ship so they can keep track of who is on board. But there were no queues either way and just like boarding in Southampton, we didn’t have to wait a single minute. We did have to go through security again when boarding, but it didn’t take long, and before we knew it, we were back on the ship.
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Big Fat Tourist 
Cool read and pictures
Thanks 🙂