Monday Sept 10th – At Sea on the Queen Mary 2

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Hello from somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean. Since there are no specific landmarks for us to reference during this cruise, anyone who is interested can still get an idea where we are in the ocean by using the following URL: https://www.seascanner.com/ships-position-queen-mary-2

We got up this morning about 7:30 and went to the Britannia Restaurant. This is where we have our evening meal too. The dining room actually has two levels and we are seated on deck-2, but quite a few folks are up on deck-3 on the tiered balcony above us. But this is actually the lowest level of formal dining rooms on the ship. There are various other dining rooms reserved for passengers in larger and higher priced cabins. We are essentially the “steerage” on this crossing.

Anyway, Janet as able to get Eggs Benedict but it wasn’t as good as she remembered from the Princess cruises. David had an omelet. But the fresh fruit was delicious. We sat at a table with 3 other couples. Two of them were on their return portion of a round-trip cruise, and one couple had sailed on the QM2 for the past three summers. So they were very familiar with everything on the ship while we are still finding our way around the ship.

After breakfast David went on a 9:30 tour of some of the public areas on the ship. Since this involved a lot of walking, Janet went to the cabin and worked on some of her needlework projects. David was shown just places on the lower decks and not up to the top-side venues. However he was surprised to learn there was an entire theater further forward of the Royal Court Theater where he had seen the show last night. In the room called Illuminations, they have lectures, show movies, or can actually lower a dome and project stars in a planetarium. All through the mid-ships of deck-2&3 are shops, casino, art gallery, passenger services, internet, future cruises, and multiple lounges and clubs. In the rear of ship, aft of the Britannia Dining Room, is the Queens Room which was described as the largest ballroom on any cruise ship. And at the very back of deck-3 is still another disco/bar. Upon later exploration, David found the pools (indoor and outdoor) and multiple walking areas on the upper decks, and even a kennel where passenger could bring their dog on the cruise too. We had already discovered the buffet located in the center of deck-7. There really are a lot of different public places on the ship (not counting the various specialty or private dining rooms).

At 11:00 Janet went to the theater to hear a lecture about Shakespeare, but which turned out to be more about the history of early English theaters and playwrights. She found it very informative. Apparently Shakespeare was a leading factor in the theatre industry as well as a playwright and actor. Meanwhile David was working with the Internet people to get the connection straightened out to be able to use our minutes – you can see he was successful!

We went to lunch in the Chef’s Galley, which is an offshoot of the King’s Court Buffet. We had a simple lunch of hot dogs and burgers, with fries. We have more activities scheduled this evening so we didn’t want to have too large a lunch.

At 2:30 we had to go through British customs so the disembarkation in Southampton will be easier. We now have our passports stamped with a UK entry mark. Then at 3:00 Janet had her first meeting with the Needlework and Knitting group in a deck-7 lounge forward of the grill. David walked her down there and then headed back to the cabin. There seem to be needle workers on every cruise and Janet had brought a long a large scarf she has been working on. Afterwards she had a 3:45 Formal Tea event to attend and then back to the cabin to change for this evening. So now she has had real English Tea and Scones with a delicious shrimp finger sandwich.

And what was David doing the rest of the afternoon? He thought about heading for the pool but decided to wait until tomorrow and hope it got a little warmer/sunnier. The temperature was announced today as being 72 degrees, and maybe tomorrow will be more conducive to using the pool. Actually they closed all the outdoor decks because it was too windy for passengers (Force 7 winds). So he stayed in the cabin and read one of the books he has brought along – a nice restful afternoon. Fortunately the sheltered aspect of the balcony made it still fairly comfortable to sit out and read.

At 5:15 we attended the “Captain’s Reception” in the Queen’s Room – that very large ballroom we mentioned earlier. There were some welcoming and appreciation speeches, and a couple of glasses of champagne, but it was nice to participate. This is the captain’s final cruise before retiring on Sept 16^th. He said here were nearly 1200 UK passengers, exactly 1000 US, a bit more than 200 from Canada, 43 from Australia, and smaller numbers from other countries – total of 28 countries represented. There are also 19 dogs in the kennels.

Then we were off to dinner, just one deck below. Tonight was one of the Gala Dinners and everyone was in the fancy outfits. Princess does these too but they get fairly slack on their interpretation of “formal dress” – here it was either more strict or the passengers were more conscientious. For our main courses Janet had the Sea Scallops and David had Beef Tenderloin – both were delicious. Today happened to be Derek’s birthday (at our table) and he got a cake which was big enough for us to all share. We (except Janet) also had a regular dessert too. It’s a good thing the Gala was early in the cruise so we would all still fit in our fancy outfits – no telling what we will do by the end of the Princess Cruises.

After dinner we went to the theater to see the show. We had heard it was supposedly pretty special so we decided to both attend. It was by the ship’s singers and dancers. There was some singing but a lot of dancing. It was very high energy and you got tired just watching them. So it’s fair to say that we enjoyed the show.

That’s all for tonight – see you tomorrow.

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Comments

[Janel]

safe travels!
Enjoying reading about your trip on QM2. We've been on QM1 in LA, but it was nothing like a modern cruise ship...just had lunch on the way to Catalina. Hope the hurricanes leave you alone. Have fun!

[Jerry and Joyce]

Description of ship and activities!
Sounds fun and relaxing! Enjoy!