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On Board QM2 – April 19, 2010
This was the fifth day of our seven days at sea. We went to breakfast in the Britannia Restaurant at eight o’clock. We sat at a table for two and enjoyed being served. Jerry had blueberry pancakes and I had finnan haddock. The difference between the Britannia and the various breakfast buffet venues in the Kings Court is that all of the buffets are self-serve.
We then went to the library to use the computers. We used the computers every day to read the newspapers. The news was mostly concerned with the problems being created by the volcanic ash blowing from Iceland across England and the Continent. This was to become a major story as airports were shut down and travelers stranded.
We enjoyed some Stellas in the Chart Room later in the afternoon. Stella Artois is a Belgian beer dating back to 1366 and is called by the shortened name of Stella. It was the best lager served on the ship.
About 6 o'clock we went to the buffet dinner at Lotus. Lotus had the usual diverse menu with a good variety of food to choose from. We both particularly liked the spicy soup.
At a table near us was a woman from the Southampton area who had been on Queen Mary 2 since the start of the World Cruise. She had been on this ship before and compared her earlier pleasant experience with that of the present World Cruise voyage. Her complaints were many: the food was not as good, there were long queues to stand in, there had been poor management of shore excursions and maintenance problems had not been resolved. Thankfully, our crossing did not have the same problems.
I did not walk on deck today due to the strong wind. I stepped outside once and felt the force of the wind pushing and lifting me. When I attempted to open the door to get back inside, the wind was holding it closed. Another passenger had to help me open the door and I was very grateful for his assistance.
Click here to see what the bow of a Cunard ship encounters on a transatlantic crossing.
For years, the idea of taking The World Cruise fascinated me, but now I am not so sure. One can take the whole Cruise (for about 100 days) or can take one (or more) segment(s). The Cruise is usually broken up into about eight or nine sections.
ReplyDeleteIt is expensive to start with, and for that length of time you would need a larger stateroom to hold you clothing and luggage and -- for general comfort. One can abide smaller cramped quarters for a one week crossing -- but a hundred days is a different matter. Also, how rewarding can it be to get a famous place and be restricted to a bus tour to a famous site and then back to the ship by end of day?
But I must admit that approaching these far away places by sea must be a glorious experience. So, if I hit the lottery tomorrow, I might reconsider my hesitancy.