Written Sunday September 6th<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had a 2 pm checkout at our Southampton hotel, and were supposed to check in at the cruise terminal at 2 pm. My first order of business in the morning was to print out our luggage tags and boarding passes, which I had been too tired to deal with the night before. But when I went to check in online, I got a message saying. \u201cThis voyage has already sailed,\u201d or something ridiculously alarming like that. I had a momentary panic where I thought I had the date wrong, but I saw that I didn\u2019t and called Cunard. They assured me it was fine and we could get boarding passes and luggage tags at the Cruise Terminal. She also said that the later we got on, the less crowded it would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We spent the morning searching for de-ionised water for our CPAP machines. It is apparently very hard to find purified water in the UK, and the de-ionized water is not with the drinking water. It is used for car batteries and irons and is often in the automotive section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I asked AI where I could find it and it suggested a superstore that was about a 17 minute walk. It also told me how to get there on the bus and said the buses ran every seven minutes. Neither of us felt like walking, so we went to the bus stop and learned that the buses run every 30 minutes and we had just missed the most recent bus. As we stood there trying to decide what to do, a different bus pulled up. I asked the driver if he went to Asda and he said no. I thanked him and Mary and I went back to conferring. I was about to order an Uber when the bus driver said, \u201cCome on. Just get on.\u201d He explained that he could get us closer to Asda and didn\u2019t let us pay. He dropped us off at a big mall, which was only a 5 minute walk from Asda. Possibly the first nice municipal bus driver I have ever encountered, and what a total mensch!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We decided to try a few stores in the mall, with no success, and eventually found the water at Asda. Back at the hotel, we had an hour or so of leisure and then we ate leftover lasagna and bread and salad for lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 2 pm we checked out and got an Uber to the cruise terminal. The driver drove past the turnoff for the Queen Elizabeth 2 terminal, where we were supposed to be. I asked, \u201cAre you taking us to the Queen Elizabeth terminal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said, \u201cI\u2019m taking you where you requested,\u201d and pointed at the sign for the Ocean terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I said, \u201cWe requested the Queen Elizabeth terminal,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said, \u201cNo you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I said, \u201cYes, I did,\u201d pulled up the Uber app on my phone, showed him that it clearly said Queen Elizabeth terminal, and he responded by saying I was wrong and showing me his phone, which wasn\u2019t even turned on. He made a big production of saying that even though we were wrong he would take us where he wanted to go, with a little muttering about how he was going beyond what he was supposed to. As we neared the Queen Elizabeth terminal, he began sucking up to us, going on about how all that mattered was that we have a wonderful vacation. He couldn\u2019t admit that he was wrong but he was working hard to salvage his tip, which made me dislike him even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Mary and I first started cruising, many many years ago, we read that the earlier you get on the ship the better. Then you can get the dining reservations you want, hit the library before all the good books are gone, have a nice lunch, etc. etc. We have always followed that advice and usually had to wait centuries to get on the ship, often in a hot room with no food or water. Then, once we get on the ship, our room isn\u2019t ready and we have to find somewhere to sit with our carryon luggage or lug it around through the buffet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This time I embraced the late embarkation time. At 2:20 or so, when we got there, there were no lines, we got on the ship immediately, and our stateroom was ready. In the past, we\u2019ve always had to attend a muster drill where everyone crowds at their muster station (where we would gather in case of an emergency) stands around for awhile, and then there is a ship wide announcement about what to do in the event of an emergency, which I can never hear because people around me are talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The QM2 has changed that process. Now, all we had to do was go to the muster station where they scanned our room keys to document that we had been there, and then watch an informational video that was playing on the stateroom tv. I admit I haven\u2019t watched it yet, but Mary has, and I get the gist of it. Grab your life vest, put on flat shoes, bring your important medications and go to the muster station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had requested early dining, and were waitlisted. When we got to our room, we discovered that we have open dining. I went down to the restaurant to figure out how that works. The maitre\u2019d asked what time we wanted to eat and began throwing out times – 6? 5:45? 6:15? 6:30? I chose 6:30 and said the most important thing is that we wanted a table for two. He said, \u201cNo problem. See you at 6:30.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also went to the library to pick out a novel and a travel guide to Singapore, which is where the next IBCD\u2026 festival will be in 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the things I love about cruise ship staterooms is that they are engineering marvels. There is so much storage space and it is all beautifully organized. I would say that every hotel we stayed at on this trip, possibly with the exception of Hotel Balzac, had major design flaws, so it was a complete joy to unpack everything, which we hadn\u2019t done since Aix les Bains. Now everything is in its place and the room is not a mess, which I can\u2019t say for just about everywhere else we have stayed on this trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After unpacking, we stood on the balcony and watched the water, the land, and the birds as we sailed away from Southampton. At our appointed hour we went to dinner and were led to a lovely table for 2 with a view of the water. I was so grateful that we were by ourselves. I find making conversation with strangers very tiring, and the dinner also takes longer if there are more people at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I watched a table for four in front of me. It was two couples, one younger and one older. The older woman was talking non-stop, particularly to the young man who was seated next to her. He was politely nodding and unsuccessfully attempting to face forward and talk with his wife\/partner. He looked very uncomfortable and I felt bad for him. The talking woman\u2019s husband spent most of the meal with his head in his hands. The young woman began to look more and more annoyed. Eventually I noticed that it wasn\u2019t a table for four, but two tables for two with about 12 inches between them. I began to have even more pity\/empathy for the young couple. By the time we left, the young woman looked like she might like to stab someone with a fork. Later I told Mary about them and Mary said, \u2018I\u2019ll bet that young couple won\u2019t be sitting there again!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I read a lot about the Queen Mary 2 earlier this summer and one thing I read consistently was that she has gone downhill – that the food isn\u2019t good, or maybe that it is hit or miss, that the staterooms are in bad shape, and other various complaints. So I have had very low expectations for this trip. It\u2019s a way to get home from Europe without having to spend hours in a cramped economy airplane seat. There will be food. There will be the ocean. And there will be nothing to do every day, so we can just read, and relax – without thinking we should be exploring a city, or trying to figure out where to go for our meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last time we were on this ship, our waiter seemed to have hurt feelings if we didn\u2019t order something from every category on the menu, and on most cruises I do. But both of us have a goal to get into better habits during this week, since we have been living mostly on bread and cheese. Last night the dinner menu seemed to have fewer options than I remembered, but there were plenty of things that sounded good. I chose cauliflower pie for my appetizer and a vegetarian Indian curry for my main dish. Thankfully, the waiter didn\u2019t tell me I had to order a salad and a dessert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cauliflower pie was delicious! Perhaps the best thing I\u2019ve eaten on this entire trip. It was also beautifully plated, but I didn\u2019t bring my camera to dinner so I couldn\u2019t commemorate my fabulous appetizer. The curry was equally delicious. It came with black rice, which I love, and a small bit of naan. I kept exclaiming about how delicious my meal was. Neither of us ordered dessert – definitely not our usual pattern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We left the dining room and the poor young couple still being conversationally dominated by the older woman. We went to the buffet because Mary wanted to bring some bread back to the room in case she gets seasick. There were many lovely looking desserts, but I chose a fresh fruit salad to take back to the room. There was one fruit in there I have never seen before, and kiwi, berries, and many types of melon. It was delicious when I ate it right before I went to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When our room steward came to do evening turndown, he brought us two soft roomy bathrobes. We both slept extremely well and I sprung awake at 7:30, which was really 6:30 because we gain an hour every night for the first five nights. I showered and then Mary and I went to the buffet so I could fill my huge 32 oz water bottle with ice and cold water and put my electrolyte mix in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the electrolytes: I have always found them disgusting and never wanted to drink them, though I made myself do it on dragonboat race days. A few months ago, both my naturopath and my coach told me I should be drinking electrolytes every day. I found two brands that are tolerable and every day I drink a packet with 32 ounces of water. Since then, my energy has improved immensely, and when I drink them, my appetite decreases. So they are an important part of my day now, and it was so great to be able to fill my bottle with water and good ice (like Sonic ice, if you know what that is). For much of the trip I\u2019ve been drinking warm electrolyte water, which leaves a little bit to be desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now it is 9:18 am, I\u2019ve been up for three hours and am still not really hungry, but we should probably go get some breakfast soon.<\/p>\n