Our First Cruise

Our Cruising Experience began aboard the Thomson Holidays Ship SS Topaz. Originally the ship was launched as the Empress of Britain. (You can see pictures of this ship and what she is doing now at Simplon Postcards the ships postcard website.) We flew to the Dominican Republic and boarded her there.
As we arrived at the quay we were given a complimentary drink whilst waiting to be issued with our information packs. We had not pre-booked our cabin, hence did not know what to expect. The information pack contained some cabin ID's to attach to the cases, which incidentally had not touched by us since Manchester Airport. Our cases identified, it was time to board the ship. A steward checked our cabin details and led us along what seemed endless corridors and stairways (sure he went round a few times) till at last our cabin was reached.
The cabin was an inner grade and was just of sufficient size to accommodate us both.