At Sea 8: On Board Queen Mary 2

On Board QM2 – April 18, 2010

We went to the Kings Court breakfast buffet at seven o’clock. We were surprised to see so few people there but we had some idea why. Some passengers could be tired because the ship’s clocks had been set ahead during the night on Sunday and also last night. That meant a loss of two hours of sleep time since leaving New York. Some passengers could be uncomfortable with the rolling motion of the ship throughout the night and into this morning. Rolling means the ship moves up and down from side to side. That movement can cause difficulty walking and a loss of appetite.

On Monday we had gone to the Tour Office to arrange our transport from Southampton to London. Today we received a call from the Tour Office that Cunard no longer has a contract with Jeeves. The Tour Office person had neglected to tell us that when we booked. For the past eleven years we used the “Jeeves of Hampshire Travel Service” recommended by Cunard. We were always very satisfied with the service. Chris, the owner, of Jeeves always personally greeted us. He then introduced us to the chauffeur he had waiting quayside to load our luggage and drive us to our destination. We will both miss his warm welcome to England. We understand that things change but we also know the change is not always for the best. We decided to accept the car service they now provide.

Later in the day, we met Nick Bates (the captain for this voyage), in an elevator. He is in his fifties, balding and about my height. He was very friendly. I called him “Sir” when I spoke to him and he thanked me for being so polite. I then jokingly asked if I could steer the ship. He said “yes” and then proceeded to tell me how to do it. I listened and watched carefully. He pointed to a horizontal metal bar that was on the elevator wall just beneath the floor number buttons. He said that whenever I wanted to steer the ship that I should twist the bar in the direction I wanted the ship to turn!


At 11:30 we went to a lecture “My Fair Lady – a musical adaptation from Greek myth to Hollywood legend” by actor/writer/producer Robert Neal Marshall. We had comfortable seats near the stage in Illuminations, one of the two theatres on board. When Illuminations is not being used as a theatre it is converts to a sea-going planetarium. We looked forward to the lecture. We had seen the play on Broadway starring Julie Andrews about fifty years ago. The presentation was disappointing. Mr. Marshall had interesting information but he spoke much too quickly and rarely paused while speaking.


Throughout the day the ship continued rolling and sometimes began pitching. Rolling is a side to side movement but pitching is an up and down movement bow to stern. I put my motion sickness relief bands on my wrists this morning. No official studies prove or disprove their use but they seem to help me.