Norwegian Jade, Artemis & Ventura
Norwegian Jade, the former NCL America ship, Pride of Hawai'i, made her Southampton debut on a rainy 30th May 2008.  She was due to dock originally after a repositioning cruise from Barcelona at 4am but it was put back half an hour.  If she had come at the original time it would have been to a glorious sunrise as by the time she passed my view at 4.20am it was pouring with rain and gloomy.  The port has gone starboard crazy this year with both her and Artemis docked that way with Ventura port at Mayflower Terminal. Jade was due to sail an hour earlier than the P&O ships but then that 4pm was put back half an hour.  I was getting a strong sense of deja vu and she hadn't even been here twelve hours!  As my dad chatted to a chap from Worthing, I was busy filming the flags being taken down from Artemis.  Unusually it was 3.15pm instead of around the hour prior to departure.
The weather was mild but did spit a few times.  Thankfully those heavy rain clouds were just that.  It didn't keep people away as slowly the marina built up.  A container ship mades its way towards the container terminal.  4.30 came and went with no movement.  The ropes were almost all gone when the container ship passed.  We heard one blast and finally movement!  She followed towards the turning circle at quite a lick.  Meanwhile at QEII, there was smoke coming from what looked like Artemis but it was a car carrier the other side.  Just before 5pm Artemis was heading for her own turning circle.
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			(C) Copyright Patricia Dempsey 30th May 2008 Not to be reproduced without permission