Passenger's log on the Queen Mary 2:
Dec 9th - First Day at Sea
Didn't sleep well--think it was the soused mackerel at dinner. Anyway, R and I woke up at about 6:00 am and discussed the order of the day. Quite the swell outside and I can feel the roll of the ship. (No seasickness thank goodness!) Despite the mackerel, I was hungry so we went to King's Court at 6:30 a.m. Buffet with loads of choice of course. We sat in an alcove looking out at the ocean. Our server was from Croatia, Slavan. I asked him my burning question of the day--why did we get a free bottle of wine but a regular bottle of Diet Coke cost $3.75? Diet Pepsi is $1.00 less. Fruit juices are free on tap. Coffee, tea, milk, ditto. But you have to pay for soft drinks.
Very odd. Slavan says it is because Cunard can't get a good contract with Coke. Hmmm.... our local School District back in Sierra Vista can negotiate .50 a can for the soda machines in the teachers' lounges but Cunard has to charge $3.95.... Oh well. I will stick to one bottle a day, good for me anyway.
At 9:30 am R and I went to get our immigration check done for entering the U.K. next week. Easy--how long are you staying in the U.K.? Two days and then we are going to Ireland. Do you have your plane tickets for Ireland? Yep. Okay very good.
Richard decided he didn't want to go to the lecture about network TV news so he headed off to the library and I headed off to Illuminations. The presenter, Derek Jedder, was excellent. He told us and showed us onscreen how different the "real" newsrooms are from what we see. The video with the woman whose body "disappeared" because she wore green (green disappears on camera because of visual effects) was hilarious. And his anecdotes about technical gaffes brought me to tears. It was all about technology, no news content, but that will come later in the week. Looking forward to it!!
We ate lunch in the Britannia Restaurant. Cunard has decided to move the clocks forward an hour at noon for two days, then no change, and then another three days of moving the clocks forward. The result was that one minute we had an hour before our lunch sitting and then the captain makes an announcement and bingo! we race to the dining room. The food on the Queen Mary is very nice but also rather rich. We didn't go to the restaurant for dinner tonight because it is a "formal" (dinner jacket and black tie) night and that isn't Richard's style. That's okay, we went for a snack at the buffet, which is MORE than adequate.
Oh and I went to a wonderful string quartet concert where the quartet--mainly from the Ukraine--played several of my favorite pieces. It is now 8:30 (or 7:30) and I am tucked up in my nightie and continuing to read a good mystery I borrowed from the ship's library. Author is Kate Ellis.
Dec 10th, Saturday at sea
First order of the day, do some laundry! Our floor has four washers, four dryers so I checked the laundry room out soon after it opened. There was one available! I hurried back to the room, grabbed our laundry and in it went. I decided I may as well go down to Level Two and work on the Christmas jigsaw puzzle. Someone had added a few pieces so for half an hour I worked on more. Then back to the laundry to put the clothes in the dryer :)
There was a very entertaining presentation at 10:00 am called "Forty years catching Smugglers, Part One." The presenter was a retired Customs Officer, an East Ender, with a wicked sense of humor. He told one story about suspecting a man who was bringing in a few trolleys of horrible furniture from Bangladesh. So he and his fellow officer decided to saw a little piece out, looking for pressed heroin--no luck. A little bit more--still no luck. They ended up sawing everything into small logs. No drugs. But the gentleman didn't mind his furniture having been sawn as it was an inheritance he hadn't wanted and the British Gov't paid him compensation.
That was just one of several stories; not only were they funny but it was also the way he told the stories that had me laughing so that I had tears in my eyes.
A slightly different aura surrounded "The Bard on Board" in early afternoon. It was an hour long show featuring some of Shakespeare's most famous death scenes. I felt transported back to Stratford Ontario. Oh the years that we would go to plays there and in Niagara-on-the-Lake and I realize how much I have missed the magic of live theatre. Something to look forward to in Ireland!!
And finally, speaking of Ireland, the movie this afternoon was "Dare to be Wild" a semi-biography of the the youngest woman to win a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show.Mary is Irish and there are beautiful shots of Ireland. Her belief in the importance of wild gardens, influenced by Celtic mysticism, led her to enter the Chelsea Flower Show and ultimately win it with her beautiful, wild, Celtic Garden.
All in all I had a wonderful day and the movie this afternoon confirmed my belief that going to Ireland is going to be wonderful.
Dec 11th Third day at sea
Ship is gently rocking, there is "quite a swell" out there. It actually feels quite nice, like being in a hammock. A bit tricky walking though.
I finished my first Kate Ellis mystery and enjoyed it so much that I hurried up to the library on the 8th floor to borrow her other one.
To give you a sense of levels, Level 2 and 3 are the main "public levels" where the cinema theatre, live show theatre, shops, etc., are. Level 4,5,6 have staterooms. We are on level 5. Level 7 has more restaurants--the buffet which has food all day and well into the night, some fancy restaurants for which you have to pay a premium. The Promenade deck is also on Level 7 where people can walk and jog or sit out on deck chairs if the weather is fair (it isn't) Level 8 has more staterooms with the Bookshop and Library at one end and the Pavilion Pool at the other. Richard swam there the other night and came back a popsicle. The water temp is about 78 degrees but the outdoor temp is 42. The other levels, 9-13, also have staterooms, a couple of restaurants, pool on 12, kennels too. I took a peek at the dog walk on level 12 and saw owners freezing their tushes while their dogs romped around. I missed Mitzi at that point, glad to think I will be seeing her next week!
Anyway, enough with the geographical tour. As far as presentations go, today I went to an improv class given by the RADA students. Loads of fun as they encouraged us to try to get our bodies to follow a partner's instructions and then an exercise to guess at our fellow "actors" impressions. Then I went to Lecture 2 on what not to do when being interviewed in front of a TV camera, then Lecture 2 on the life of a Customs Officer in Heathrow. Both lectures very witty. Somewhere in the ether might my luggage be being rerouted to use for smuggling? Who knows?
Tonight we were able to go to the fancy restaurant as it isn't a dress-up night. We wore what we usually wear for church. Our table companions are a friendly couple who are originally from Hong Kong, now living in San Francisco although they spend a good part of every year taking cruises. Would we want to do the same? Mmmm, probably not. Richard is already getting antsy and we are only on Day 3.
After dinner I went to another movie called The Lady in the Van starring Maggie Smith. Maggie was at her very best "Lady Violet" although she plays a homeless woman who lives in a van. A very poignant movie that started off quite slowly (Richard left 15 minutes into it) but one that was ultimately quite wonderful.
Now I am about to go to the room. Walking down the fancy corridor, passing people who are beautifully dressed, listening to string quartet music on one end of the ship, jazz piano on the other, watching a couple spontaneously waltz in a corner. It is another world!
Dec 12th
I have been quite dozy today. We got up at our usual 6:00, which by now is 4:00 New York time.The boat is rolling more, we are experiencing "near gale (7)" force winds. It isn't very bad though, I just have to adapt my walk to a kind of roll a la South Pacific.
We went to the Queen's Room after breakfast, the large ballroom which is usually quite deserted. Read and dozed, dozed and read. A fencing class started and that was interesting to watch. No budding Basil Rathbones in the group but they were enthusiastic.
Didn't go to any lectures this morning. We had lunch at 11:30 and then noon became 1:00 as the clocks were moved forward and I went along to a small lecture by a Nicholas Lande who, as a correspondent with Time Life, had many unusual anecdotes. They all featured him though and even when a lady in the audience asked him who he thought had been the most interesting Time Person of the Year he told a story that featured--him. Still his stories as a journalist who knew Hemingway and old-style reporters opened up a world that is so different from today's journalism. He is not impressed by what is happening in the world today at all--both in terms of news making and news reporting.
After that I went to another lecture, #3 in the Journalism series called "Trust Me I am a Repoeter." Again, very funny but thought provoking as to who makes "news" and why.
Dinner at 6:00 and tonight is a quiet one. I think the two-hour time change, and the rocking of the ship, is making me quite sleepy. We won't discuss the food consumption ;)
Sorry fell down on my reporting! Here's the update:
Day 7 (?) -- not sure what day I am in
The daily changing of clocks has started to confuse me (and play havoc with my sleep pattern). I am currently sitting in the theatre waiting for the final presentation by Derek Tedder. It is 10 o'clock am by ship's clock but my iPhone still says it is 6:00 am. I guess iPhone only registers "time" on land.
Anyway, I missed yesterday's report. Once again I attended great lectures and an hourlong production of Pride and Prejudice. Enjoyed everything! I also walked a couple of miles around the deck in the early morning before the wind picked up again. Bracing!!
This morning's broadcasting lecture was how the media reports tragedies and why. He did another excellent presentation. One thing he said that with cellphones so prevalent, too many people try to make a profit out of, or sensationalize, tragedies. Also things are reported very quickly but not necessarily accurately. I have learned so many interesting things on this trip!
Our dinner companions--we sat at a table for four--were convivial too. A couple who were originally from Hong Kong but have lived in San Francisco for the past 30 years. They spend 1-2 months per year cruising. Much as we have enjoyed this cruise, I couldn't see us doing that. It is like living in a bubble to me. A lovely bubble but it's like too much champagne. Richard gets claustrophobic by the fifth day and I feel like it is time to start our new, "real" life.
So tonight we can see, through the webcam on the bridge which is broadcast on a TV channel, twinkling nights on the coastline.
Update: and now we are here!!
Dec 9th - First Day at Sea
Didn't sleep well--think it was the soused mackerel at dinner. Anyway, R and I woke up at about 6:00 am and discussed the order of the day. Quite the swell outside and I can feel the roll of the ship. (No seasickness thank goodness!) Despite the mackerel, I was hungry so we went to King's Court at 6:30 a.m. Buffet with loads of choice of course. We sat in an alcove looking out at the ocean. Our server was from Croatia, Slavan. I asked him my burning question of the day--why did we get a free bottle of wine but a regular bottle of Diet Coke cost $3.75? Diet Pepsi is $1.00 less. Fruit juices are free on tap. Coffee, tea, milk, ditto. But you have to pay for soft drinks.
Very odd. Slavan says it is because Cunard can't get a good contract with Coke. Hmmm.... our local School District back in Sierra Vista can negotiate .50 a can for the soda machines in the teachers' lounges but Cunard has to charge $3.95.... Oh well. I will stick to one bottle a day, good for me anyway.
At 9:30 am R and I went to get our immigration check done for entering the U.K. next week. Easy--how long are you staying in the U.K.? Two days and then we are going to Ireland. Do you have your plane tickets for Ireland? Yep. Okay very good.
Richard decided he didn't want to go to the lecture about network TV news so he headed off to the library and I headed off to Illuminations. The presenter, Derek Jedder, was excellent. He told us and showed us onscreen how different the "real" newsrooms are from what we see. The video with the woman whose body "disappeared" because she wore green (green disappears on camera because of visual effects) was hilarious. And his anecdotes about technical gaffes brought me to tears. It was all about technology, no news content, but that will come later in the week. Looking forward to it!!
We ate lunch in the Britannia Restaurant. Cunard has decided to move the clocks forward an hour at noon for two days, then no change, and then another three days of moving the clocks forward. The result was that one minute we had an hour before our lunch sitting and then the captain makes an announcement and bingo! we race to the dining room. The food on the Queen Mary is very nice but also rather rich. We didn't go to the restaurant for dinner tonight because it is a "formal" (dinner jacket and black tie) night and that isn't Richard's style. That's okay, we went for a snack at the buffet, which is MORE than adequate.
Oh and I went to a wonderful string quartet concert where the quartet--mainly from the Ukraine--played several of my favorite pieces. It is now 8:30 (or 7:30) and I am tucked up in my nightie and continuing to read a good mystery I borrowed from the ship's library. Author is Kate Ellis.
Dec 10th, Saturday at sea
First order of the day, do some laundry! Our floor has four washers, four dryers so I checked the laundry room out soon after it opened. There was one available! I hurried back to the room, grabbed our laundry and in it went. I decided I may as well go down to Level Two and work on the Christmas jigsaw puzzle. Someone had added a few pieces so for half an hour I worked on more. Then back to the laundry to put the clothes in the dryer :)
There was a very entertaining presentation at 10:00 am called "Forty years catching Smugglers, Part One." The presenter was a retired Customs Officer, an East Ender, with a wicked sense of humor. He told one story about suspecting a man who was bringing in a few trolleys of horrible furniture from Bangladesh. So he and his fellow officer decided to saw a little piece out, looking for pressed heroin--no luck. A little bit more--still no luck. They ended up sawing everything into small logs. No drugs. But the gentleman didn't mind his furniture having been sawn as it was an inheritance he hadn't wanted and the British Gov't paid him compensation.
That was just one of several stories; not only were they funny but it was also the way he told the stories that had me laughing so that I had tears in my eyes.
A slightly different aura surrounded "The Bard on Board" in early afternoon. It was an hour long show featuring some of Shakespeare's most famous death scenes. I felt transported back to Stratford Ontario. Oh the years that we would go to plays there and in Niagara-on-the-Lake and I realize how much I have missed the magic of live theatre. Something to look forward to in Ireland!!
And finally, speaking of Ireland, the movie this afternoon was "Dare to be Wild" a semi-biography of the the youngest woman to win a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show.Mary is Irish and there are beautiful shots of Ireland. Her belief in the importance of wild gardens, influenced by Celtic mysticism, led her to enter the Chelsea Flower Show and ultimately win it with her beautiful, wild, Celtic Garden.
All in all I had a wonderful day and the movie this afternoon confirmed my belief that going to Ireland is going to be wonderful.
Dec 11th Third day at sea
Ship is gently rocking, there is "quite a swell" out there. It actually feels quite nice, like being in a hammock. A bit tricky walking though.
I finished my first Kate Ellis mystery and enjoyed it so much that I hurried up to the library on the 8th floor to borrow her other one.
To give you a sense of levels, Level 2 and 3 are the main "public levels" where the cinema theatre, live show theatre, shops, etc., are. Level 4,5,6 have staterooms. We are on level 5. Level 7 has more restaurants--the buffet which has food all day and well into the night, some fancy restaurants for which you have to pay a premium. The Promenade deck is also on Level 7 where people can walk and jog or sit out on deck chairs if the weather is fair (it isn't) Level 8 has more staterooms with the Bookshop and Library at one end and the Pavilion Pool at the other. Richard swam there the other night and came back a popsicle. The water temp is about 78 degrees but the outdoor temp is 42. The other levels, 9-13, also have staterooms, a couple of restaurants, pool on 12, kennels too. I took a peek at the dog walk on level 12 and saw owners freezing their tushes while their dogs romped around. I missed Mitzi at that point, glad to think I will be seeing her next week!
Anyway, enough with the geographical tour. As far as presentations go, today I went to an improv class given by the RADA students. Loads of fun as they encouraged us to try to get our bodies to follow a partner's instructions and then an exercise to guess at our fellow "actors" impressions. Then I went to Lecture 2 on what not to do when being interviewed in front of a TV camera, then Lecture 2 on the life of a Customs Officer in Heathrow. Both lectures very witty. Somewhere in the ether might my luggage be being rerouted to use for smuggling? Who knows?
Tonight we were able to go to the fancy restaurant as it isn't a dress-up night. We wore what we usually wear for church. Our table companions are a friendly couple who are originally from Hong Kong, now living in San Francisco although they spend a good part of every year taking cruises. Would we want to do the same? Mmmm, probably not. Richard is already getting antsy and we are only on Day 3.
After dinner I went to another movie called The Lady in the Van starring Maggie Smith. Maggie was at her very best "Lady Violet" although she plays a homeless woman who lives in a van. A very poignant movie that started off quite slowly (Richard left 15 minutes into it) but one that was ultimately quite wonderful.
Now I am about to go to the room. Walking down the fancy corridor, passing people who are beautifully dressed, listening to string quartet music on one end of the ship, jazz piano on the other, watching a couple spontaneously waltz in a corner. It is another world!
Dec 12th
I have been quite dozy today. We got up at our usual 6:00, which by now is 4:00 New York time.The boat is rolling more, we are experiencing "near gale (7)" force winds. It isn't very bad though, I just have to adapt my walk to a kind of roll a la South Pacific.
We went to the Queen's Room after breakfast, the large ballroom which is usually quite deserted. Read and dozed, dozed and read. A fencing class started and that was interesting to watch. No budding Basil Rathbones in the group but they were enthusiastic.
Didn't go to any lectures this morning. We had lunch at 11:30 and then noon became 1:00 as the clocks were moved forward and I went along to a small lecture by a Nicholas Lande who, as a correspondent with Time Life, had many unusual anecdotes. They all featured him though and even when a lady in the audience asked him who he thought had been the most interesting Time Person of the Year he told a story that featured--him. Still his stories as a journalist who knew Hemingway and old-style reporters opened up a world that is so different from today's journalism. He is not impressed by what is happening in the world today at all--both in terms of news making and news reporting.
After that I went to another lecture, #3 in the Journalism series called "Trust Me I am a Repoeter." Again, very funny but thought provoking as to who makes "news" and why.
Dinner at 6:00 and tonight is a quiet one. I think the two-hour time change, and the rocking of the ship, is making me quite sleepy. We won't discuss the food consumption ;)
Sorry fell down on my reporting! Here's the update:
Day 7 (?) -- not sure what day I am in
The daily changing of clocks has started to confuse me (and play havoc with my sleep pattern). I am currently sitting in the theatre waiting for the final presentation by Derek Tedder. It is 10 o'clock am by ship's clock but my iPhone still says it is 6:00 am. I guess iPhone only registers "time" on land.
Anyway, I missed yesterday's report. Once again I attended great lectures and an hourlong production of Pride and Prejudice. Enjoyed everything! I also walked a couple of miles around the deck in the early morning before the wind picked up again. Bracing!!
This morning's broadcasting lecture was how the media reports tragedies and why. He did another excellent presentation. One thing he said that with cellphones so prevalent, too many people try to make a profit out of, or sensationalize, tragedies. Also things are reported very quickly but not necessarily accurately. I have learned so many interesting things on this trip!
Our dinner companions--we sat at a table for four--were convivial too. A couple who were originally from Hong Kong but have lived in San Francisco for the past 30 years. They spend 1-2 months per year cruising. Much as we have enjoyed this cruise, I couldn't see us doing that. It is like living in a bubble to me. A lovely bubble but it's like too much champagne. Richard gets claustrophobic by the fifth day and I feel like it is time to start our new, "real" life.
So tonight we can see, through the webcam on the bridge which is broadcast on a TV channel, twinkling nights on the coastline.
Update: and now we are here!!
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