D-day onward and boarding

Staying over night was a wise decision as the weather had really affected rail and air.
Seems Gatwick and Heathrow are suffering from disruption. I heard there were problems with the radar; lightening strike I think.
So, sitting on the floor all the way from London to Newcastle was little inconvenience compared to cancelled flights and sleeping on the floors with your luggage.
SLEEPERZ is a nice, small and modern hotel tucked round the back of the railway lines. It was both comfy and relatively quiet. Breakfast was good too and only £7.95 which, when you compare it to some of the others, is very good value indeed. 

My only complaint? A bloody flea which did manage to bite me. I have a feeling I sensed it, scratched and because it was latched on, I got it. Typical of me (and apes in general ) it went straight in my mouth. Tasted the blood so suspect it died between my teeth.
So, it’s the day of boarding and I’m sitting in the foyer of the hotel waiting time to tick by. I’m not being picked up until 12 noon so have a couple of hours to kill.
I have located where the shuttle bus goes from, I think, so will wander along later. It seems it’s raining so will wait until a bit later to get going.
Well that was both civilised and straight forward. We waited for the shuttle, handed our bags over and were transferred straight to the shed where we registered, collected our cabin numbers and transferred that to the cases. They were then whisked off and magically appeared outside our cabin doors some time later.
In my case, the case was eventually delivered at 5.30pm! Took a while but I suppose it’s a case of first on, last off. Excuse the ‘case’ pun. Couldn’t resist it.
So the ship might be huge but the amount of space is heavily filled with cabins so there are only three decks which seem to be relevant to me; deck 11 for the Market Place, a buffet centre for all meals, deck 5 for reception and deck 6 for the place to sit, chill and have a tea or coke. I suspect I’ll get to deck 12, the open deck and Food Shack eventually but at the moment, my right knee is telling me I’ve walked up and down stairs a bit too much. Going from deck 4 to deck 11 is a bit of a kicker! Now it is!

For a single cabin, it is roomy and at the far end a queen bed sits spaciously between two side tables. It is very comfortable and offers a full perspective of the entire cabin. A flat screen tv sits opposite where there are tea and coffee making facilities and a mini bar ‘shop’.
It looks as though I will be buying water on board as it’s not that expensive; £1.60 for 1.5L. Nice thing is, it’s in the room so buying it is straight forward, just sign the tab and pay for it from the registered card.
So, shower and bed. I’m shattered after the travelling and the heat. Time to rest ready for Kirkwall tomorrow.