Queen Elizabeth shall spend much of 2012 sailing roundtrip voyages from Southampton to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Norway’s fjords, the Baltic Sea. Late August she will reposition to the Mediterranean to embark on a series of ten Mediterranean fly-voyages from Venice, Rome (from Civitavecchia) and Athens. In December Queen Elizabeth will return to Southampton for two roundtrip voyages – a Christmas & New Year Western Mediterranean and an Atlantic Islands voyage, before seeking out warmer climes on a Pacific Islands and Panama Canal voyage in January 2013.

Queen Victoria will spend her full season in 2012 sailing roundtrip voyages from Southampton. She will be sailing an array of Norwegian fjords, Baltic cities, Mediterranean shores, Atlantic Islands and Caribbean voyages providing many stunning backdrops to delight her guests

Queen Mary 2 continues to superbly interpret the transatlantic service that is so integral to Cunard’s history, with 20 crossings between April and January. In 2012 she will also be venturing to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and the vibrant autumnal colours of North America.

This year Cunard is offering generous Early Booking Benefits for Queen Elizabeth voyages including and departing after Q205, Queen Victoria voyages including and departing after V208 and Queen Mary 2 voyages including and departing after M204, for those who book by 31 May 2011. For example, Early Booking Savings of up to £900 per couple are available on a typical 12-night voyage. In addition and for the first time ever at Programme Launch there is an additional 10% saving on all new 2012/13 voyages for guests booking prior to 31 May 2011.

There is also complimentary On-board Spend available of between $40 and $640 per couple on Fly voyages & Transatlantic Crossings.

And finally, Complimentary Car Parking is available to guests booking 2012/13 Southampton roundtrip voyages with durations of five nights or more (excluding roundtrip Transatlantic Crossings and World voyages). This is worth £146 on a typical 14-night voyage

ROYAL RENDEZVOUS
Southampton 5 June 2012

For the first time ever, in their homeport of Southampton, the three Cunard Queens will be together for a Royal Rendezvous to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Queen Elizabeth will then venture on a 14-night St Petersburg & Baltic Explorer voyage, Queen Victoria a 17-night Adriatic Explorer voyage and Queen Mary 2 a 5-night Summer Getaway voyage to the Netherlands, Belgium & France. The three Queens will also be together in Southampton on 13 July 2012 with Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 then sailing in tandem to Hamburg.

On sale on Monday 4 April 2011
0900 GMT for UK World Club Members
General Sale 1300 GMT

COMPLIMENTARY CAR PARKING

Available on voyages of 5 nights or more which leave from and return to our voyage terminals in Southampton (excluding roundtrip Transatlantic Crossings & World Voyages). Saving guests £85 on a 7 night voyage, £146 on a 14 night voyage and even more on longer voyages (one space available per stateroom). The car parking is operated by Cruise and Passenger Services (CPS) and on confirmation of the booking with Cunard guests are reminded the Free Car Parking with CPS can be booked no sooner than 48 hours after making their reservation, and no later than 35 days prior to the sailing date. If a vehicle is wider or longer than a standard car parking space (2.4m by 5m), it may be subject to full car parking rates to cover the charge of the additional spaces required.

ON-BOARD SPEND

Guests booking 2012 Mediterranean Fly voyages, April 2012 – January 2013 Transatlantic Crossings, Roundtrip Transatlantic Crossings and 2013 Fly voyages (with the exception of voyages of 4 nights and under)will receive onboard spending money. The on board spending money is in US Dollars, varies depending on voyage duration & is tiered by cabin meta category, The on board spending money is available for the first two guests sharing a stateroom. On board spending money for a 7-night voyage will be $110 for Queens Grill, $90 for Princess Grill, $70 for Balcony, $50 for Outside and $30 for Inside Staterooms

KIDS GO FREE

Family holidays are even better value with our KIDS GO FREE programme. It applies to the first child aged 17 or under travelling in the same stateroom as two fare-paying adults on these voyages (subject to availability).

Queen Elizabeth – Q207 (23 May 2012) and Q225 (9 Dec 2012)

Queen Victoria – V216 (29 June 2012) and V224 (3 Oct 2012)

Queen Mary 2 – All Roundtrip Transatlantic Crossings 2011/12

Cunard World Club Benefits

EXTRA 5% SAVING. As an additional incentive for our loyal past guests we will be offering them an additional 5% saving. This will apply after the 10% saving has been deducted & does not apply to Holiday Package Add On.

QUEEN ELIZABETH
Greek Isles & Turkish Splendours
Q225 17 November 2012
12 nights

QUEEN VICTORIA
Fjords & Waterfalls II
V220 17 August 2012
7 nights

QUEEN MARY 2
Westbound Transatlantic Crossing
M210 10 June 2012
7 nights

Itineraries.

Queen Elizabeth

• Q204 27th April 2012 Continental Escape Cruise Break
• Q205 2nd May 2012 Adriatic Discovery Central Mediterranean
• Q206 18th May 2012 Spring Getaway Cruise Break
• Q207 23rd May 2012 Mediterranean Delights Western Mediterranean
• Q208 5th June 2012 St Petersburg and Baltic Explorer I
• Q209 19th June 2012 Summer Getaway Cruise Break
• Q210 22nd June 2012 Norwegian Fjords and North Cape Discovery
• Q211 6th July 2012 Fjords and Waterfalls I
• Q212 13th July 2012 St Petersburg and Baltic Explorer II
• Q213 27th July 2012 Around the British Isles
• Q214 7th August 2012 Fjords and Waterfalls II
• Q215 14th August 2012 Mediterranean Gems Western Mediterranean
• Q216 287th August 2012 Mediterranean Memories Positioning Mediterranean Fly
• Q216 28th August 2012 Italian Rendezvous Positioning Mediterranean Fly / Holy Land
• Q217 6TH September 2012 Holy Land Explorer I
• Q218 18th September 2012 Greek Isles and Aegean Treasures
• Q219 30th September 2012 Pearls of the Black Sea
• Q220 12th October 2012 Greek Isles and Ancient Wonders I
• Q221 24th October 2012 Greek Isles and Ancient Wonders II
• Q222 5th November 2012 Greek Isles and Turkish Splendours
• Q223 17th November 2012 Holy Land Explorer II
• Q224 29th November 2012 Mediterranean Moments Positioning Mediterranean Fly
• Q225 9th December 2012 Iberian Serenade
• Q301 19th December 2012 Mediterranean Celebration
• Q302 6th January 2012 Atlantic and Caribbean Wonders Caribbean Transatlantic
• Q303 20th January 2013 91 nts SOU-SOU Panama (West bound)
• Q304 4th February 2013 36 nts LAX-LAX South Pacific

Queen Victoria

• V208 24th March 2012 Iberian Serenade I
• V209 4th April 2012 Adriatic Discovery
• V210 21st April 2012 Mediterranean Delights
• V211 5th May 2012 Spring Getaway Cruise Break
• V212 8th May 2012 St Petersburg and Baltic Explorer
• V213 22nd May 201 Norwegian Fjords and North Cape Discovery
• V214 5th June 2012 Adriatic Explorer I
• V215 22nd June 2012 Fjords and Waterfalls I
• V216 29th June 2012 St Petersburg and Baltic Explorer I
• V217 13th July 2012 Fjords and Waterfalls II
• V21821st July 2012 Mediterranean Gems
• V219 3rd August 2012 Norwegian Fjords and North Cape Discovery I
• V220 17th August 2012 Fjords and Waterfalls II
• V221 24th August 2012 Summer Getaway Cruise Break
• V222 28th august 2012 Adriatic Discovery II
• V223 13th September 2012 Black Sea and Turkish Splendours
• V224 3rd October 2012 Adriatic Discovery II
• V225 19th October 2012 Grand Caribbean Discovery
• V226 11th November 2012 Iberian Serenade II
• V227 22nd November 2012 Voyage to the Ancient Wonders
• V228 13th December 2012 Northern Adventure Baltic Christmas
• V301 20th December 2012Canray Islands Celebration Christmas & New Year

Queen Mary

• M205D 11th May 201 Northern  
• M209 5th June 2012 Summer Getaway 
• M212A 24th June 2012 North American Odyssey Transatlantic (Round Trip + America)
• M214D 13th July 2012 Norwegian Fjords and North Cape Discovery
• M217D 10th October 201 Scandinavian Explorer
• M221 4th September 2012 Iberian Highlights I
• M222A 14th September 2012 New England and Canadian Wonders I
• M222B 14th September 2012 Grand New England and Canadian Wonders I
• M223 21st September 2012 New England and Canadian Sojourn I
• M223A 21st September 2012 New England and Canadian Explorer I
• M225 9th October 2012 Autumn Getaway Cruise Break
• M226A 14th October 2012 New England and Canadian Wonders II
• M226B 14th October 2012Grand New England and Canadian Wonders II
• M227 21st October 2012 New England and Canadian Sojourn II
• M227A 21st October 2012 New England and Canadian Explorer II
• M229 4th November 2012 Mediterranean Gems
• M232 4th December 2012 Iberian Highlights II
• M233A 15th December 2012 Grand Caribbean Celebration
• M233B 15th December 2012 Caribbean Celebration
• M301 22nd December 2012 Caribbean Fiesta
• M301A 22nd December 2012 Grand Caribbean Fiesta

To pre register for any of the above voyages please contact me

On sale on Monday 4 April 2011
0900 GMT for UK World Club Members
General Sale 1300 GMT

Only on Cunard! The boys from the Princess Grill spent the afternoon in the snow of the Courtyard building us a snowman to look through the Princess Grill Restaruant window. They didnt even have their white gloves on!

This is a very short clip showing the creation of the Cunard Snowman and some of the snow that fell on Queen Victoria’s decks.

Full review, and photos to follow!

 Better than that, for the last two years he has hosted a TOG’s Voyage and travelled with Cunard and hundreds of his Old Geezers and Gals on Queen Victoria. The generosity of Cunard guests, along with a handsome contribution from Cunard Line has meant we raised £81,000 this year and a total of over £200,000 over the last five years. 

 The face of BBC’s Children in Need is Pudsey Bear, and Cunard hosted Pudsey recently on board Queen Mary 2 to review whether they should do another TOG’s Voyage in 2011.

 Cunard will be doing a TOG’s Voyage hopefully with Sir Terry Wogan, on Queen Mary 2’s Around The British Isles Voyage which departs on 12 September 2011. They aim, with your help to raise over £100,000 this time for deserving Children in Need. I hope you will be able to join Pudsey on the TOG’s Voyage; it’s always a special voyage visiting many of the places where Cunard Line became famous.

Join Pudsey onboard Queen Mary Two for 8 nights, Around the British Isles, departing 12th September 2011. Prices from £895pp Plus $65pp Onboard credit and Free Parking at Southampton

Contact me now for best availaility and fares and to take advantage of the Free Parking whilst its still available!

All fares and availability subject to change and availability, and based on two sharing

The naming will be a milestone in British maritime history and will be a major event of worldwide interest.

Peter Shanks, Cunard President and Managing Director, comments:

“The naming of a Cunard Queen is a very special occasion and this will be an historic event in the true sense of the word. The Queen launched Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1967 and named our current flagship, Queen Mary 2, in 2004. We are both honoured and proud that Her Majesty will name our new liner Queen Elizabeth.”

Her Majesty was also present at the age of 12 at the launch of the first Queen Elizabeth on 27 September 1938 when she accompanied her mother, Queen Elizabeth, to Clydebank for the launch.

The Naming Ceremony will take place in Southampton on Monday 11 October and the ship will set sail on her maiden voyage the following day.

We are very pleased to announce that all Ships in the P&O Cruises, Cunard & Ocean Village fleets will show all 64 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Live from South Africa. The event begins on June 11th and concludes with the Championship game on July 11.

All three cruise lines will receive the initial group stages, the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, 3/4 Place and Final.

England fans onboard Princess Cruises’ Grand, Crown, Ruby, Sun, Dawn, Star, Caribbean, Emerald, Diamond & Golden Princess will be pleased that they can follow the England games and plenty of other key matches from the World Cup in South Africa, which will all be shown on the huge outdoor Movies under the Stars screens as well as in selected indoor venues. Each of these ships will show the following matches: -

The opening round game South Africa vs. Mexico
All 9 first round games that include the United States, England and Italy
The Sun and Dawn Princess will show all 9 first round games that include Australia, New Zealand and England.
3 Second Round games, including England if through
All 4 Quarter Finals Matches
Both Semi Finals Matches
Runner Up Game
World Cup Final

Please be reminded that all viewing will be satellite coverage permitting and it is impossible to 100% guarantee coverage.

We are very excited to be able to confirm our intentions to show these matches onboard our ships.

Footage of Cunards Queen Elizabeth’s float out ceremony in Italy where she was blessed and met with water for the first time.

79 year old Florence (Dennie) Farmer was guest of honour at the ‘Float out’ ceremony  of Queen Elizabeth as the hull touched the water for the first time. Dennie’s husband , willie Farmer, joined Cunard in 1938 and served as Chief Engineer on both Queen Elizabeth  and Queen Elizabeth 2 until his retirement in 1979. Cunard bestowed on Dennie the honour, in Italian  tradition, of being the ‘Mandrina’ to the third Queen Elizabeth.

I awoke early, as usual for a Southampton morning, and could see Aurora gliding past the hotel quietly, all light up, as she headed for Mayflower terminal. She was followed close behind by Queen Victoria which turned and reversed into the Ocean Terminal. She looked magnificent and larger than Aurora. Amongst the lights I was trying to work out which was our suite. Ooh I need time to hurry now. I tried laying in bed, but couldn’t get back to sleep, so opted for a nice big bubbly bath instead. As the daybreaks the sun rises over Queen Victoria. Its not the best of days but I just want to get across and get onboard. We have soon had breakfast. Couldn’t fault the service again at the Holiday Inn, we always feel welcomed and the staff seem to remember us, restaurant manager was very chatty this morning!

11.00am was late enough for us to head for the Terminal, so the car was packed and off we went. Arrival at Ocean Terminal was effortless, the car was checked in with CPS and taken away, the porter that assisted with my cases at the end of the July cruise came and took our cases away, and we were greeted at the foot of the escalator and guided to checkin upstairs. We were recognised as Princess Grill guests and before we knew it we were checking in. a new computer and check in system was in use for the first time today and it took a while to get to the end of the process, but there was no rush. I looked behind and realised how many people had arrived before us and were sat waiting to check in. the lounge was practically full and I commented it was going to take a while to get all of those checked in if they all took as long as us to process. From checkin we were guided to be seated at the far end of the building and before long we were amongst the first to check in.

Once onboard we were greeted and ask to walk along to the forward lifts for our suite. I knew better and new we had just embarked midship so stuck to my guns and we headed up in the lift.

Our Princess Grill accomodation was faultless. Im going to be very comfy in here. Huge bed, walkin wardrobe, bathroom with bath and shower, plenty of shelving in the bathroom, selection of towels in varying sizes, walkin wardrobe, tall cupboard and safe area, bedside tables with lovely deep drawers, bedside lights with dimmer switches, desk/dressing table area, two flat screen tvs, large 3 seater sofa with a painting of Venice hanging above just to make me feel at home, and a lovely big balcony. Oh yes, I like it very much. A full bottle of champagne is on ice to greet us, and a bowl of fresh fruit sits above the fridge stocked with fresh fruit.

I quickly unpack the hand luggage and we are off to explore. I will be honest, we didn’t get very far, and the obvious place for us to head to was the Grill lounge. It was far nicer than I had imagined and than any pictures had portrayed. We settled into some nice comfy armchairs and the bar tender came a cross to greet us. I asked for her recommendation for a champagne cocktail. She knew exactly what we should have and she explained about the one with Hibiscus flower in the bottom with just a hint of mint. Kath and I settled for one of those and it was divine. However the lads caught site of the price and nearly choked on their beer, but hey, what the heck we are on holiday. It was soon announced that lunch was served in the Queens and Princess Grill, well we hadn’t expected that so we decided to partake.

We had table 103 and were shown to our table by the Matre D and the waiters greeted us warmly. The choices on the menu all looked excellent, but I opted for a light lunch of shrimps followed by poached salmon, both of which were to die for. The wine waiter had recommended the wine so it was the perfect lunch. Service was very attentive, waiters gave recommendations throughout and it was the perfect start to our introduction to Queen Victoria.

After lunch we nipped back into the lounge to book our theatre boxes for the Victorian show tomorrow evening. It’s a good job we did as only 3 or 4 boxes remained. All of the boxes for 4 had gone but Nel the Concierge gave her recommendations for those that were available and asked us to go and check to make sure we were happy with our choices. We were very happy so now it was time for a proper explore. But where was everyone? We had been onboard for hours and the place was deserted. Maybe they were unpacking? Well, it later transpired that the computers at check in failed and there were waits of over two hours to check in. lucky we came when we did then.

You cannot fail to be impressed by Queen Victoria. Even though she is the same structure as Arcadia she cannot be compared to her. She is leagues above Arcadia and even though a couple fo her public rooms are in the same location, all are totally different and the ship offers a whole different ambience. I just love it! In my opinion even nicer than Queen Mary 2.

Back to the suite and we quickly unpack, placing all of my dresses on the white satin padded hangers of course. There is no shortage of places to store things and more than enough room for all my belongings on a longer voyage.

But that big bed is calling me. It looks like I should just test it out and oh boy it has some magic sleeping powers. I went into the deepest sleep and had no idea where I was when I woke up. But it didn’t take long to come to my sense and realise it was time for a wash and brush up.

We headed for the shops for a spot of retail therapy. Retail therapy completed and they agreed to deliver it to our suite for us while we headed for the Grill lounge. There was no hesitation in choice for our pre dinner cocktail and it was one of those champagne cocktails again with the hibiscus flower. A square platter of hor d’uerves was delivered consisting of steak and onion on sticks, prawns in breadcrumbs and vegetables and dip. We could have had more drinks but knew we had to eat at some point. The bartender placed Kaths remaining champagne onto a silver tray and escorted us into dinner. Now that’s service, not being even allowed to carry ones own glass. The Maitre d seats us and the waiters are greeting us and offering their recommendations. I have no idea what these tablecloths are made of but it is like having a soft rug laid across your legs. They are so thick and luxurious. The whole service of dinner was smooth and faultless. The wine waiters recommendation of wine was perfect, the medallion of beef apparently was to die for and I must admit it looked like velvet when they cut into it. I had tiger prawns on a bed of rice and couldn’t have wished for better. The apple strudel for sweet was possibly the lightest and most divine I have ever tasted. The waiter had recommended it so I will be going with his recommendations in future.

Rat Pack night in the theatre so we headed for there with the intention of viewing from the back, so we could make an exit to a bar at some point but we were too high up, and spotted that ‘our’ boxes below were available so trecked across to those, good job we knew the route via the little back stairs. The theatre company did and excellent performance of songs and that was follwed by a very talented female caberet artist, who we watched almost to the end before Mr Hellon came and tapped me on the shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Time for a wander and a beverage. But where was every one? The ballroom that had been buzzing earlier with couples waltzing was deserted, the champagne bar was closed, oh dear, what to do? We headed for the Commodore Club but the pianist seemed to me in a different key to the piano so we turned back and went to Hemisphere nightclub. That was better! It was very busy but we managed to get seated and the waiter was straight across to take the drinks order. The dance floor was buzzing and the DJ excellent., later a live band came on, Serious Sounds, and you could hardly tell the difference from record tracks. Absolutely superb! We stayed until 3.00am and the place was still buzzing, but one does reach a stage when sleep is needed. But of course the lads had other ideas, they had curry on their mind. So at just gone 3.00am we manage to locate the Lido buffet for the first time. Curry, pizza, various sandwiches and wraps are on offer and while the lads select their meals to feed their starving bellies me and Kath head for hot chocolate and cookies. I was surprised to also see Horlicks and Bournvita on offer, but hot chocolate it was. We even needed assistance and guidance with that task and it was a good job there was a steward on hand to assist. Sadly the cookies weren’t upto QM2 standard and had to be dunked to soften them up. Bed was miles away and once through the door I had to go through all that rigmarole of removing makeup, cleansing, moisurising etc. Mr C attempted to complete a breakfast order menu but Mr C had a few too many drinkies, and was long gone before my head hit the pillow.

Sunday 6^th December 2009 – Should have been Cherbourg but ended up a day at sea.

Oh dear this morning hasn’t got off to good start. I heard mumblings on the tanoy outside from the Captain saying that it wasn’t going to be into Cherbourg due to the weather conditions, but I just rolled over and slipped into another level of sleep. Next thing I knew (It was about and hour or so later) Mr entertainment was coing through the in suite system loud and clear telling us what we could do instead of visiting Cherbourg. Personally, I‘d have been happy with just sleeping. Eventually I managed to focus my eyes for long enough to see the time. 9.30am?! but what happened to Mr C’s wonderful breakfast her ordered in bed? I broke the news to him that I didn’t think it was going to arrive and he was not a happy bunny, but I had to smile. Of course it was everybody elses fault but his own. I knew I should have double checked he had ordered it properly, but I didn’t so it was no breakfast for us. We could have eaten a full breakfast up in Princess Grill, but it was too late. So it was either the Lido or nothing. I decided tea toast and pastries in bed would be far better than a bun fight with the masses, so that was what we did.

The toast was fresh and warm when it arrived and the pasties light and fluffy. It was enough for me but I could tell that Mr C was still grumpy, no doubt he is planning his lunch already.

The ship has just taken an almighty lurch and I watched the horizon rise and rise above the railings. Oh dear are we going under, what hit us. Mr C risked the high winds out on the balcony but couldn’t make sense of it. Soon the Captain was on the tanoy to explain and apparently there was a technical hitch in the engine room and we lost propulsion but its all been corrected now and the ship is heading back on course to Rotterdam. Bet the air was blue down in the control room for a few minutes!

So what to do next? I think I will nip up and see my concierge, get a few things sorted.

We have a good wander round and as noon is approaching we try to decide whether to watch the clock at the bottom of the lobby stairs strike 12 noon or go to see the ringing of the bell in the atrium. We chose the donging of the big brass bell but nothing happened at noon, so that was a bit of a let down. We had a good wander round but everywhere was packed. There was no chance of a seat in the Golden Lion for a pub lunch so we headed for the tranquillity of the Grill lounge. This is more like it, big comfy sofa, personal service and stunning views across the length of the ship on a glorious sunny December day. I asked the bartender where we could order the wine for this evenings meal and she disappeared, presumably to get me the wine menu. But no, she came back with Kevin our wine sommelier who gave me the full run down on his recommendations again. He is very knowledgeable, which is good as I have very limited knowledge of wines. We go with his recommendation as he has been spot on with all the others so far and he has took the time to note our likes and dislikes etc.

We were just wondering what to do about lunch when Dave & Kath appeared, and were about to dine in the Princess Grill so we joined them. As always a varied selection was on offer and a lovely potato and Puccini soup was followed by Sole Gorgons and salad which were delicious. Mr C chose the club sandwich and fries. Sweet once again was to die for but I really should learn to resist!

As it was a lovely day we left the restaurant and ventured up onto our private sun deck via the courtyard. Oh yes I could see me sunning myself up there. Lovely luxurious sunbeds with deep soft covered mattresses all spaced well apart. Again the views forward of the ship were spectacular. What a shame the hot temperature wasn’t there to match the sunshine as I would have liked to spend more time up there.

We had a wander through decks 3 and 2 and its still quite busy. We settled for a drink in the Golden Lion, but Im ready for my bed.

Im awoken by a call from the Concierge (luckily right on time for when I needed to be thinking about waking up) she has come back to me with progress reports re my querries earlier, so I was impressed with her service.

A big hot bubbly bath was called for, and I did think about sipping some champagne in there, but then remembered I had quite a bit to come later.

After a little wander round the ship and through the shops etc we headed for the Grill lounge and pre dinner drinks. Ooh it was busy, but out attentive Bartender was soon on hand for a bit of furniture moving to make sure we were seated comfortably. Out special hibiscus flower champagne cocktails have become a bit of a pre dinner habit now, but they are oh so delicious.

Dinner was as always a highlight of the evening. We were greeted by the Maitre D in his full tailed morning suit and white rose button hole, escorted to the table and greeted by our waiters, whom are always on hand. It was hard making a choice from the menu again, and I admit to being a little overwhelmed by the huge slab of rib eye beef that I ordered for my main. But it might as well have been velvet, it just melted effortlessly in the mouth, and I could see Mr C eyeing it up in the hope that he could finish it for me after he had finished with his prawn stuffed chicken. I didn’t let him down and he finished off the remaining two thirds of it for me. For desert I had some sort of baked banana and Barbados rum cake, mmm mmmmm  delicious!

This evening we have each booked a box at the Royal Theatre and are looking forward to yet another new experience. It didn’t disappoint! We are greeted at the theatre door by the red uniformed Bell Boys then escorted to the select lounge at the back of the theatre and shown to our table. We have programmes for the evening, flags and white cotton hankies to wave (nice flags too, not those cheap plastic P&O ones!) we were immediately served champagne and then a silver cake stand of chocolate ice cream mini deserts and dipped strawberries in chocolate dinner jackets arrived. We were advised when it was 10 minutes before curtain up and the Bell Boy escorted us to our reserved boxes, where a bottle of Verve Cliquot was on ice and served to us with another plate of chocolate truffles. This evenings production is Victoriana, which opened with Victorian Christmas carols and snow etc, went through the music hall and finished off with a good old sing song and knees up. Very enjoyable and highly recommended! Before we left our box we were greeted ne more time bu the Bellboy with a signed photo of the theatre company.

We headed for Hemispheres but it was rammed, full to capacity without even any standing room, so after standing on the edge of the dancefloor for 5 minutes or so and realising there was no chance of anyone departing anytime soon we headed into the Commodore Club to sample some of the Martini Cocktails, both of my selections were very nice. Before we know it its getting on for 2.00am again and decide to call it a night. As we wait for the lift Hemispheres is still buzzing and I guess its going to be a late one in there tonight!

Monday 7^th December 2009 – Rotterdam

I think it was a bit bumpy in the night but I don’t know why as we were practically at a standstill and land was in sight as it had been all evening. I had left the curtains slightly open and I could see Rotterdam port slowly gliding by, but the effort involved n fully opening my eyes and taking a proper look was all too much. Next thing I knew breakfast had arrived. I didn’t let Mr C do the ordering last  night and I completed the form and left it outside. Mr C waded his way through full English, toast,pastries and muesli, but one slice of toast and a cup of tea and I was done

I suppose I should think about getting up and maybe heading into town? But that involves effort so I might just put my head on the pillow again.

It was afternoon when we finally got ashore today. Im told that the first shuttle bus wasn’t booked until 10.45 today as were weren’t due to arrive until 10.30, and when I looked over the balcony at about 10.45 the queue for the shuttle buses was wrapping all around the car park. When we disembarked we didn’t even bother to check the bus queue and instead opted to walk across the bridge and into town, it didn’t take long and it was nice to stretch my legs with a nice brisk walk. Im not a huge lover of Rotterdam, at the end of the day its just a city, and maybe we should have taken the train to Delph or something but we didn’t. We just had a wander and then warmed up with our first gluitwein of the voyage in a cosy little street café, sat outside next to the warm fires. We took the shuttle bus back to the ship and were given a guided tour back. We were taken the very long way round back to the dock and the guide made it quite clear that he wanted a tip at the end of it forcing us all to exit by the forward door.

Back onboard I had work to do and as we hadn’t eaten we decided to g upto café Corinthia for a sandwich and nice coffee but it turned out we were about 3 minutes too late so that didn’t help my mood.  We moved onto Grill lounge and waited for white gloved afternoon tea. Now that was special. No queues to be seated while they prepared the room etc. the service was as attentive as we had began to expect it to be, and I had the lot. Ive decided that only Cunard can make cucumber sandwiches because Ive tried at home and they adre just not the same. We had delicate little sanwiches, open crusty finger rolls, selection of cakes and fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. It was very naughty of me to have some of everything but I felt I had too.

It turns out we had a fireboat escort and singing clog dancers to welcome us a shore this morning, but I missed all that. And to think I spent every waking morning of the Ventura Maiden cruise hanging over the rails looking for a fireboat escort!

Darkness was starting to close in and Mr C went back ashore onto the bridge to capture some stunning pictures of Queen Victoria all light up, while I continued with my work. Its so handy for me when the staterooms are wifi and I don’t have to go off around the ship finding an internet connection.

I worked up until it was time for pre dinner drinks and in the end we were a little later than usual. But Lucia was still there to prepare our very special champagne cocktails. We were the latest we had ever been arriving for dinner at 8.45 but that’s the beauty of Grill class, go when you are ready and you know that your table and your waiters will be waiting for you.

Château Breean was on the menu this evening oh and was it just a delight to eat?! Although we all felt a little cheated tonight as I dared to turn the page in the big leather bound menu and found a whole a la carte menu sitting there. Had that really been there all week? More food to investigate next time. The deserts were to die for again and Mr C couldn’t choose so he had two. Kevin our personal sommelier was a hoot tonight and its clear he has us sussed, he obviously likes a challenge and we are fast becoming wine experts of the world.

After dinner we head straight for Hemispheres as we were disappointed we couldn’t get in last night. It was Abba night and it wasn’t very busy at all for a long while, but once it fills it really does fill. The Dancing Grandad was in again and clearly loves to dance with any lady that will let him. We stayed until around 2.00am again, before heading for bed.

Tuesday 8^th December 2009 _ Zeebrugge for Bruges

I feel like I was awake in the middle of the night but I think it was about 6.00am when I did wake up. At 7.30 our tea and toasted muffin arrived as our wake up call. It was our cue to be awake and ready for breakfast up in the Grill Restaurant. Im very much liking this Grill lark, especially the restaurant and meal times. As long as you are there before the cut off time, your table and waiters are always waiting. Mr C had just about everything available on the menu. Blueberry pancakes, full English with double sunny side up, toast, pastries, coffee. I really don’t know where he puts it. I had the full English but it was huge and I couldn’t finish it.

We disembark and are on one of the first shuttle buses into Blankenburge. The weathers not good and it’s a mxture of showers and heavy down pours. Mr C walks ahead and gets to the train station to buy our first class rail tickets into Bruges. The train isn’t due until 10 past 10 (they depart Blankenburge at 10 past the hour and for the return trip from Bruges back to Blankenburge they depart at 38 minutes past the hour) but it arrives early so at least we can get onboard and sit in comfort in the warm. The journey into Bruges takes approximately 11 minutes and is then about a 15 minute walk into the Main Square. Just like last year it isn’t very busy, but to be fair we are early and many of the Christmas Market stalls are not yet open. The ice rink is open and many of the local children are already enjoying the skating. We usually go for a drink in one of the lovely bars but im so stuffed after that breakfast I need to do some walking first. we walked into town using more or less the same route that the horse and cart rides take, in an effort to try and find the shop that was pointed out to us last time as being famous for its hot chocolate, but it was a failed mission. It was nice to take a different route for a change though.

We decided to visit Dumon our very favourite choclatier before she gets too busy. She recognises us every time and always welcomes us back. We thought we knew exactly what we wanted to buy but her delicious chocolates are so tempting that we ended up with almost €90 worth! I asked where we could go for some of this famous hot chocolate and although she confessed to not knowing the place we were trying to find, she did suggest we trey her sons newly opened shop in the little square off the main shopping street. Stephens shop is a lot more contempory than the traditional quaint little Dumon that we always visit, and it reminded me very much of Hotel Chocolat type shop. Her recommendation was excellent and the hot chocolate did not disappoint. You choose from a variety of flavours and then you are served a glass of warm milk and a falvoured chocolate block moulded onto the end of a trendy spoon. You then stir the chocolate into the milk and drink with the four chocolates that come with it. Excellent! We have a little browse around the Christmas Market in the same little square and then decide, we should perhaps head back to the ship as we have got what we came for. We decided we had enough time to get back for the 1238 train. Well we would have done if I hadn’t spotted a Swarovski shop! I very nearly didn’t go in as they all seem to have exactly the same stock and I had been in one yesterday in Rotterdam. But then I spotted a pearlised white pen with Swarovski crystal barrel. Oh I had to have one! But that had eaten into our time allowed for getting the next train. Mr C insisted that we march through town in an attempt to try and make it back to the train station, but as we approached the edge of town I gave up and declared it an impossible mission. Never mind there another Christmas market to look around. We wandered acoss to the little street where the horse and carts stop for a drink and decided we needed to rest our kegs with a guitwein. Everywhere was pretty busy and then I spotted a cheap and cheerful little café serving yummy looking waffles and sandwiches. It was by far the cheapest place we have ever found in Bruges. Mr C had a Leffe, tuna salad baguette and some fries. I had a ham, cheese and pineapple toastie and some glutwein and it only came to €16!! Bargain!!

We took the scenic route back to the train station through the park and at the last minute found ourselves running for the train. I had heard the whistle blow as we approached the foot of the stairs and then I realised that our watches were 4 minutes different to the station clocks. But we managed it and jumped in the one open door we could find. We were in second class and it was completely full with many people standing so we had to try and push our way through to first class, where we found a seat and were on our way. We were straight onto a waiting baus in Blankenburge and sooon back onboard, and it was only 2.15pm. We chose to have a relaxing Cappuccino in Café Corinth and then have another wander around the ship taking some photographs of all the places we had missed. It really is a very interesting ship to just wander around. The attention to detail with the interior design and furnishings is exceptional. I also love all the bits of memorabilia that are around the ship and many of them fascinate me. We could have gone upto the Grill lounge for afternoon tea but the trouble is I want some of all of it, so decided to resist temptation.

Instead there is that horrible thing called packing the cases to do. I hate that job, and of course its made worse by the fact that I bring far too much stuff with me. But it is soon more or less sorted and I have time for one long relaxing soak in the bath before pre dinner drinks in the Grill Lounge.

We are early tonight and I manage to slip in one extra champagne cocktail before Dave and Kath join us. Another nice thing about this evening is that there is no tention building about the giving of tips. Usually we would be in the cabin discussing who deserves what and that trying to get the correct combinations of money into envelopes. All the tips are taken automatically and added to the onboard account. $11 per day for Britannia Class, and $13 per day for Grill. I would question whether these amounts are a little over the top, certainly for a longer cruise, but for us the service has been faultless, so we don’t begrudge any of it.

It has been so pleasant to sit and relax in the Grill lounge pre dinner every evening, always a comfy chair and always first class service with a smile. And long walk or lifts to catch for dinner, as it is just across the foyer.

We arrive at dinner possibly the latest we have ever arrived at around 8.50pm but the service is as it would be if we had arrived two hours earlier. Kevin is on hand with his final recommendation of wine and it doesn’t disappoint. I wish I could remember all he has tried to teach us, but I couldn’t even tell you the name of any of them let alone what USP’s of them were. He has been an absolute star and I hope he enjoyed serving us and much as we enjoyed him serving us. Both Kath and Dave decided to go for main courses from the a la carte menu this evening. You should have seen Daves thick New York strip as it arrived. Or should I say heard it! You could here it coming from the other side of the restaurant as it sizzled its way to him on the silver skillet. It looked amazing and his reaction to every mouthful was that it was amazing!!

It was a truly wonderful meal, as had every meal that we had had in Princess Grill, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Service was the most attentive I have ever experienced, food always hot, tender and tasty, far far removed from mass catering of any description.

But we could leave the dinner table without another high. The Maitre de, our waiters and kevin all arrived with a Wedding Anniversary cake to celebrate our 5^th Wedding Anniversary.

I was so overwhelmed and didn’t even see it coming. It was the lightest perfect cake I have ever tasted and was even worth missing the crepes for, which of course we could have had but there just wasn’t the room. It might not be our official wedding anniversary until Christmas eve, but as we had our big Wedding Blessing at sea on 30^th December 2004 on Oriana, we have at least managed to keep the tradition of celebrating our wedding anniversary at sea every year since.

Kevin knew we needed liqueurs to finish off the evening and I left my selection to him. He surprised me with a lovely raspberry liqueur which of course was the perfect choice.

We really were the very last to leave the restaurant this evening, it had been so wonderful we obviously just did not want to go.

As we were late leaving we decided if we were to get a seat in Hemispheres night club we should head straight there. As we are midship and we needed to be forward we have selected a different deck to walk along every evening. Tonight we chose deck 7. we got out of the lift and turned the corner to be greeted b big double doors of a very grand looking suite. I don’t know why but that sent us into fits of giggles (I blame Kevin and his wine) I need to investigate behind those doors at some point and a mental note is made. The rest of the journey to the nightclub is pretty uneventful and we are no sooner seated than we are greeted by a waiter wanting to take our order.

Our entertainment this evening is provided by one of the male dance hosts, who to be honest I couldn’t quite work out. He was doing some pretty raunchy dancing with the ladies, was that his idea of making them feel special or did he have other things on his mind? Whatever it was Kath and I made sure he never got near to us. Just like every other night there had been a real party atmosphere in the nightclub n dim sure it was going to continue until the wee small hours. I think it was about 2.00am when we heard the hot chocolate calling and that was another treck, but oh so worth it.

Back at the suite I have to get the last few things into the cases before they are stacked outside the door for collection. Last nights are not good, but its been an amazing 4 days.

Wednesday 9^th December 2009 – Southampton

We gained an hour last night but it wasn’t much use as I felt we were up at the crack of dawn to get breakfast. Breakfast was being served until 8.00am in the Grills so hence the early start. Of course we could have chosen to have breakfast later and eat in the Lido Buffet but, really, was that going to happen? Ive never been a lover of any self serve restaurant on any ship and I was not about to bring myself back down to earth with such a huge bump by having breakfast in the Lido. Every meal in the Grill has been perfect and this morning was no exception, hot first class breakfast. The weather outside was grim and we watched as the mist rolled in around the ship and soon we coud see nothing but grey, which kind of reflected our grey.

Disembarkation was by deck and grade, with Princess Grill being the second group invited to disembark. Grill guests were invited to meet in the Grill Lounge and escorted to the gangways at 8.45am. a very slick operation which took no time at all.

I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t disembark as I had a function to attend onboard later, but I used my time wisely. While Mr C sat up in the Grill lounge browsing the internet while I took the time to go off and explore the Queens Grill Suites. Now, I have seen many different top grade suites in my time but these were up there with the best of them.

My first stop was those double doored suites we had come across on deck 7 midship Q2 grade Master Suites. I was greeted by a marble entrance hall, a lovely lounge seating area with comfy sofa and arm chairs. A dining area with full dining table and chairs. The separate bedroom had a huge king size bed and off there was the full walk in wardrobe. The huge balcony could be entered via the bedroom or lounge are and the balcony furniture was deepmatress wrought iron and looked amazingly comfortable. The butler was in his kitchenette are making sure that everything was ready for the next guests.

As I trecked to the aft of the ship I passed many different grades, Wheel chair adapted balcony, Q6 Queens Grill suites, which are best described as a variation of the Arcadia Mini suites only taken up a notch or two, with central flat screen back to back TV’s. I also checked out the inside grades along the way which were all identical to the inside D grades onboard Queen Mary 2. The A grade balcony staterooms that I passed were all very nice, adain similar layout to the equivalent grade on Arcadia but the choice of colour scheme and décor made them far more welcoming. At last I head reached my destination, the Q1 Grand Suite at the aft of deck 7. there are 4 in total of this grade and have exactly half of the width of the aft of the ship. Two on deck 7 and two on deck 8. Now how much would I like to travel in one of these one day? This is what I call a suite. No cheesy gimmicks just sheer luxury and an amazing homely feel. The outside balcony was stunning. Extremely deep and as I said spreading over the entire half of the width of the ship. The balcony furniture would just mean that you never wanted to leave your suite, it was more like an apartment and terrace. There was a full dining area on the balcony, then two deep padded armchairs, to deep padded sun loungers and an pretty impressive double mattress sunlounger. Inside there was what almost appeared to be a fully fitted kitchen that I would die for at home. Dining room, lounge, entrance hall, stunning bedroom and a bathroom to die for. One day I will travel in one of these – I simply have too!

Queen Victoria is by far one of the most elegant ships I have ever been on. I would cruise onboard her again at the drop of a hat. She is undoubtedly my ‘new favourite’ and I cant wait to return to her. As much as I love Queen Mary 2 I thin its fair to say that I now look at her more as a liner compared to Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria has a timeless elegance that will see her through all the quirky changes that other cruise lines choose to introduce. Everytime we walked around her I was in oar of every corner we turned. As we came out in the evenings I loved to stand on the gallery above the Queens Ballroom and watch the elegance of the dancers below. We never actually made it into either the Champagne Lounge or the Cart room for a drink, but both were lovely rooms and it was only time that prevented us from doing so. The Grand Lobby and atrium type areas were stunning and if you took the time to just stand and look at the surroundings you could see how well designed and thought out the above decks with curved lines all were. There was not a room that I disliked or was not keen on. The Casino was just about my only no go area and that was because smoking was allowed in there and at the nearby bar area. It didn’t affect me as I never go to the casino anyway, but to a non smoker the smoke aroma was very noticeable. We loved Commodore Club, it was in a different league, design wise to all of the other Vista Class ships I have had the pleasure of sailing on or visiting. Every single staff member that we encountered (ok with the exception of one which I will tell you about in a moment) offered consistent first class service. It didn’t matter what time we turned up in a bar and how busy they were we were always greeted by a waiter almost as soon as we were seated. I often asked advise re Martini Cocktails for instance and each time they took the time to listen to my needs and recommended accordingly. If there was to be a delay because the bar was particularly busy etc an apology was always made in advance, but to be fair their idea of a delay was a couple for minutes.

Unfortunately my only gripe was with the ships photographers, which I can almost excuse as they are a concession and not exactly members of the ships company. But it really pains me that I do have any type of grype at all from what was an otherwise faultless voyage. Their photos were not cheap, far from it. All photos were 10 x 8 size and charge accordingly at $24.95 each. One of my gripes was that the actual photo in question was actually only about 6 x 4 in the centre surrounded by varying unrelated shots of the ship etc. I wanted to buy a photo of all four of us for my office wall and knew that only two such shots of us existed. I found the formal photo of us at the dinner table which I could have been really pleased with, as it showed all the public rooms with us four in the middle. But the ‘professional’ photographer hadn’t taken the time to get us in focus and although the men were in focus, Kath and I were a bit of a blurr. Disappointed I tried looking for our embarkation photo, but just like another lady I could not find it. I asked the photographer serving if he could show it to me on the system but he could only manage to snap at me in return and sent me back to search for it. Eventually I returned to the counter where the other lady also searching was about to be served, but he totally ignored her and moved onto a man looking to purchase a camera. I thought she was going to flip, and I wouldn’t have blamed her, he was incredibly rude. Eventually I was served by the manager who immediately found our embarkation photo on a guide sheet. Now why couldn’t the other chap have done that 20 minutes ago? He did offer to print it up for me again and I could return by 11.00pm but I honestly did not think they deserved my $24.95 so I didn’t bother. For $24.95 I would expect a pretty high quality photo, and given the fact that our photo had been taken in the Princess Grill where he didn’t have masses of people to get through I really would have expected him to ensure they were at least in focus.

But not lets end on a negative, the photog’s were a one off and to be honest are the same on any ship. Many of the staff excelled for me. Nel the Concierge definitely shone. Nothing was too much trouble and when I asked for some assistance and help with helping me make arrangements for our own late disembarkation she took everything out of my hands and dealt with every last detail. I had asked her on day one if we were supposed to have a pillow menu as I was sure I had read itsomewhere. The next day she checked with me to see if a pillow menu had appeared, as she had obviously chased it for me. Within minutes of me returning to the suite that second time I was met by the housekeeper coming to check why I hadn’t got a pillow menu and personally delivered the pillow of my choice to me five minutes later. Our two table waiters were far more discreet than any others were had in the past, but at the same time always willing to chat andk new exactly what the menu recommendations were. Kevin the Sommelier was just a one off a true professional, butk new that when he reached table 103 he could have a little bit of banter. I really do wish I had taken in all what he tried to teach us, but how does one remember after a few champagne cocktails, a bottle of wine and a round of liqueurs?

Highlights…. If Im honest the whole Voyage was a highlight. It far exceeded any expectations I had. I had already very briefly viewed Queen Victoria one day in Southampton so I knew roughly what to expect, or at least I thought I did, but I realise now in that whirlwind tour that I had not actually seen anything, I was too busy comparing and trying to work out where I was in relation to being onboard Arcadia. I now realised she is not Arcadia and could not be any further removed from her.  Nothing will ever come close really based on cruise experience. But if I were to choose a highlight it would have to be the Royal Box Theatre experience. Im fully aware that I could have watched the whole show from any seat in the theatre at no extra charge, or I could have sat in the same box on any other night but a Royal night free of charge, but it was $50 well spent. The special treatment we received, the champagne, the chocolates etc it all just added to a very special night. a very memorable experience and one that I highly recommend.

So, will I return to Queen Victoria? Oh you bet I will! I would go back on her in a heartbeat. It has been a magical trip that far exceeded my expectations. But the thing is, can I travel as anything less than a Princess Grill Guest? I really hope I get the opportunity to do it all again, preferably somewhere hot and sunny, and of longer duration, but I wouldn’t turn my back on any chance to do any voyage on her again. For me she was my perfect ship, Traditional, elegant, timeless, attentive service, comfortable staterooms, cruising as it should be without any gimmicks. The new Queen Elizabeth, I’m sure, will be equally as special.

The brochure is out on my desk……now where shall I go?

Check out my full album of Queen Victoria photographs on the ‘Photos’ tab at the top of the page. Ive tried to labvel as many as I can.

If you have any questions at all about Cunard or Queen Victoria dont hesitate to email me. Now is a very good time to book for 2010 with some great offers available in the ‘Cunard Sale’ so dont hesitate to contact me to check for fares and availability!

Hope you enjoyed my insight of my most recent cunard experience and I look forward to your comments.

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to Congratulate me on winning my recent award. I always aim to deliver high levels of customer service and ensure that every booking is as exactly as it should be, so to have my efforts rewarded in this way is greatly appreciated.

Here are just a few snippets from the lovely messages I have received over the last few days ………..

Hi Jane

Congratulations on getting the salesperson of the year award.  It is richly deserved.  It is always a pleasure dealing with a very nice person who is extremely knowledgeable and fights hard for her clients.

Many thanks for years of excellent service.

All the best P & J

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Jane

J & I send our congratulations on your wonderful achievement.

Who else can compete with your knowledge and general cossiness that we feel when booking with you.

Well Done

J & J

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Hi Jane.

Many congratulations on a richly deserved award.

Best wishes from,

J & M

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Jane

So pleased that all your hard work has been recognised in this way! It’s a joy and a pleasure to book with you.

M & J

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Jane

Huge Congratulations you are an absolute Star! Which is what we say every time we book with you.

L & A

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Congratulations! Thank you for the absolutely first class service you provide. You could teach a lot of people in the travel business a thing or two about customer service. An award that is richly deserved in our opinion.

M

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Please feel free to leave comments or questions on any of the posts on this website.

Alternatively you can contact me via email janechadwick@gocruise.co.uk or call 02476 742135

WOW! 24 hours have now passed since I was awarded the very prestigious title of Cruise Sales Person of the Year 2008 at yesterdays UK Cruise Awards for P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard and Ocean Village. Im pictured here receiving my award from Giles Hawke, Sales Director, and Mark Pilkington, Head of Sales, for all four brands.

The award is something that I have worked hard for, but my clients make that hard work a pleasure. I thought I would share with you these few photographs that capture moments from a very memorable day hosted by the cruise lines that I love work with, and of course take the ‘occassional’ cruise with ………….

Enjoying a glass of pre lunch champagne with Regional Account Manager for all 4 brands, Alex White.

Congratulations Jane!! Winning such a prestigious award is testimony to your continued commitment and enthusiasm to all of the Complete Cruise Solution brands.

I would like to say how proud we all are of your accomplishment at yesterdays Cruise Awards – your genuinely thrilled reaction to winning was a joy to witness!

Once again congratulations on what was an extremely well deserved achievement.

Best Wishes,
Alex White
Account Manager, Complete Cruise Solution

 And pictured here again with Alex and also Geoff Ridgeon, Franchise Manager for GoCruise, oh and of course just a little more pre lunch champagne!

Another highlight of the day for me was learning even more about Azura which is due to be launched in 2010, but I will update you with that at a later date …..

Jane

Tuesday 24th July 2007 – Holiday Inn Southampton – QM2 Mayflower Terminal

I woke up this morning at 4.30 itching to get up and look out of the window, but somehow I just couldn’t manage it.  I drifted in and out of sleep until 6.30am before getting up and throwing back the curtains.  Wow! The sun is shining and Artemis and QM2 are right outside our bedroom window sitting there in the sun.  How cool is that for a view on a Tuesday morning?  I’ve fully surveyed dock gate 8 by now and no whats what for my check in a city Terminal in 18 days time.  Eavesway are already lined up to take the Artemis passengers away.

I jump back into bed while Mr C makes me the vilest cup of tea I have ever tasted!  I’m straight on the phone texting Karen to tell her to get her ass down to Southampton while the going is good.  No need to worry they are already on their way, but I only relax an hour or so later when Karen texts me to say she is this side of Oxford as there is server warnings of the river being expected to burst its banks anytime now due to the horrendous weather we have had latley.

9.00am and its rendevous with Amanda & Mick to walk into town for breakie.  Decide that John Lewis restaurant is the best place for the views of the ship and they serve good food.  One scrummy bacon sandwich later we are all feeling a little more alive.

Karen & John have made it to Southampton and arrange to meet us in the restaurant.  Karen walks around the corner and whats the chance of this? – We have identical outfits on!!!  Just shows what excellent taste we have!

Im itching to finish our tea and muffins and get to the ship. So at 10.30 they all cave into my demands and we are hot footing it back across to the Holiday Inn.  We collect our many suitcases and are checked out and on our way to dock gate 10 in record speed.

No queues at checkin but things weren’t going smoothly.  The technology was playing up and was taking a few attempts to produce our cruise cards.

We are issued with embarkation cards B and asked to sit and wait.  Eventually Queens Grill passengers are invited to board, then Princess Grill, then Gold!!  Blimey how many important tiers are there with Cunard?  Eventually A’s are called and Im watching for the A’s to finish to be the first B to go through.  Of course the rest of the gang are hot on my heels!

We are on board! Wow Wow and Wow again!  I know I have been here before, but this is one of those ships that has that Wow factor!! We are greeted onboard by teo immaculate red uniform Bell Boys, and a line of smart black uniform stewards who are happy to assist us to our stateroom if we need them to.  We reach the lift and another crew member is on hand to call a lift for us and as we leave the lift there they are again to point us in the direction of the staterooms. Straight to our Balcony stateroom and Wow again!

Hand luggage is quickly unpacked and it must be time for some drinks.  Rendezvous at the back of deck 8, by the pool.  Cocktail of the day is the first choice and a good one at that – strawberry daiquiri.  Time to introduce Karen and John to a long island iced tea – oh yes John is liking these.  Alabama Slammer is next on the list and now we know we are on a cruise.  The sun is blasting down on us and we are just so well chilled.  We decide its only right that we show Karen and John the rest of the ship because so far all that they have seen is the lobby, the inside of a lift, the cabin and the back deck. We start off at the top and work our way down to the bottom – oh how convenient our little tour ends at the Golden Lion!  Mai Tia seems like a very good idea.  The waitress is very impressed with mine and Karens dress sense and asks if we are twins – well we are both very attractive! Poor girl has no idea why we are all in hysterics – Mmmm must be the alcohol kicking in!

4.15pm and those 7 short blasts start to kick in!  We head off to collect our life jackets to attend muster.  I unpack so quickly its unreal – how come it took me 50 time longer to pack it?

Muster and unpacking complete we head back to the aft pool bar for sailaway.  Just after 5.00pm Artemis is being pulled out by tugs and it becomes clear that QE2 is also on her way.  Bit disappointed that we didn’t get to sail past QE2 but hey who cares after a bottle of Verve Ciquet?!  The thing is we haven’t even finished turning in the basin before the champers has run dry.  Have to go back on the cocktails then!  Strawberry daiquiri it is then.  The sun is shining, the band is playing all sorts of lively Caribbean tunes – are we really only going to Hamburg?  John F declares what a fantastic cruise it has been so far, but we are still turning in Southampton water!  But yes, we have to agree that we have all had a fab day.  We decide to have a seat and yes that means another drink lol.

There are all sorts of boats and passenger vessels in the water, one of which is great fun shouting England and waiving.  We pass Hythe Marina and waived to Caryll on her balcony across the water.

Time to retreat to the cabin and prepare for the night ahead.  But where’s Totters?  All day the lads have been shouting Totters in the hope that someone would turn around, but all to no avail so far. In fact, where’s Totters has turned into a bit of a game now, and we get some very funny looks when someone shouts a random ‘Totter’

I’d suggested pre dinner drinks at 7.30 in the champagne bar but I think the others are starting to think I have a drink problem ha ha, so they decide 8.00pm will be early enough.  8.00pm on the dot we walk into the Verve Cliquot bar, and what do you know, they are all sat there drinking!!!  I ordered a glass of Verve but the waitress is keen to suggest I try the rose version, after her hard sell pitch I decline and ask for my favourite.  Its then that she tells me that they have actually sold out!!  Gosh, we must have had a heck of a sailaway.

Dinner isn’t announced onboard QM2 so we arrive on time at 8.30pm.  Hooray!  Totters and Joy are at the table already.  Im sure he wonders why we are all falling about giggling but he doesn’t realise just how many times the lads have shouted ‘Totter’ at the various locations we have been in all afternoon, but then the lads have been rather tipsy all afternoon.  The shows on here are before dinner for the late sitting meal passengers, so Ive got even less chance of seeing a show.  But Totters has been to the show and he informs me that it was amazing.  Very good and professional, so he will be our official shows critic.

Diner was very nice.  I had requested a central location table, and that’s what we got. Service was excellent and the food could not be faulted.  Although John and Mr C seemed to let the Waldorf Salad cause them great amusement and kept muttering something about Fawlty Towers?  I had the chicken Consomme which was very tasty followed by the loin of beef which was superb.  The rack of pork, lobster risotto and cod all got equally good feedback.  Sweets came in all varietys but I had the strudel, mainly because it had brandy sauce with it. Head waiters seem to be very concerned all evening and no sooner had one asked us if everything was ok, than there was another one on the way.

Nobody was very sure what the varying forms of entertainment were this evening, so we decided the best thing to do was to have a walk around and see what was going on.  The Golden Lion was in the middle of a quiz and for some reason the lads decided that all the answers were the Simpsons!  Time to get them out of there, and we are drawn to the Commadore Club.  Superb choice – the pianist from last cruise is tinkling the ivories which makes Mick happy.  Im happy just to see that Martini cocktail menu again!  I really cant remember what I had but our waiter enjoyed the challenge of recommending me different ones everytime another round was ordered. The piano player was on form this evening and when he decided it was bed time, he treated us to vary forms lullabys and sleep related tunes.

Gosh we’ve had a long day and done extensive bar research, so it has to be time to turn in.  But first we have to go for curry, cookies, and hot chocolate!  No curry was on tonight but they did have chilli and taco’s.  I enjoyed building myself a big burger stack but was defeated 3 bites in! John F decided he wanted a cheese burger so he went to great lengths to dismantle a ready prepared cheese roll and carefully place into his burger stack, silly billy could have just put a slice of cheese onto his burger, but he hadn’t noticed those.  I was obviously more sober than he was! Hot chocolate and cookies were good.

Ahhhhh bed!

Wednesday 25th July – At sea

I drift in and out of sleep for most of the night but it doesn’t seem long before the breakfast is delivered.  I throw back the curtains to find blazing sunshine. Breakfast on the balcony for us then. Hot buttered toast and jam on the balcony in the warm morning sun was wonderful.  Full English breakie with several cups of tea, set me up nicely for the day.  But why rush?  I crawl back into bed.

First stop this morning is the library to setup internet connection.  You can set up internet connection quite easily from any of the ships computers and then use wi-fi very easily from a laptop at any of the many wifi hotspots over the ship. Fortunately for us we can get a good signal from our stateroom just along from the library.

Coffee in Sir Samuels this morning followed by a browse through the shops.  Before we know it, its time for lunch, in the Golden Lion.  Amanda & Mick are already there, and Karen and John aren’t far behind us.  We have a long Island Iced Tea because it would be rude not to, now that it is Cocktail of the day, closely followed by another because one is never really enough is it? It really didn’t matter if we were hungry or not, but we simply had to have the pub lunch.  Amanda chose the Korma, John F sampled the bangers and mash and the rest of us went for the fish and chips.  The best fish and chips you would get anywhere.

Karen and Amanda are suffering from quite bad sunburn today which looks quite painful.  Both catch the

sun a little too easily, but sitting out in the sunshine at sailaway drinking all those long island iced teas had numbed the senses in the their skin and they never felt it start to burn!  Whoops!  My skin must be hardened to it by now because I wasn’t affected.  Anyway, we decide its just overcast enough to go up and have a game of deck quoits.  It’s a bit of a drunken stagger to try and get to deck whatever it is up in the gods but we make it. We’ve worked up a thirst, so it’s a good job there is a waiter on hand to take our order for 6 more long island iced teas. Our game attracts a pretty decent size audience again, with   people videoing and taking photo’s – going to have to charge royalties soon.  Any way the Captain must have heard about us all having fun because he came strolling along to comment on our game and have a chat with us.  What a truly charming Captain he is too. I would say that all of the officers have been equally as friendly, if not more so, than any I have come across on any other cruise line. Captain was quite happy to stand around and have a laugh and a joke with us. Just after that a young lady came by who also asks about the game, turns out she is doing research into cruising and the passengers. Well she gets plenty of input for us, and we like to think that we have helped to change the future of cruising.

One deck below we spot a black Labrador going for walkies.  He is a very dapper doggie and he wears the same colour neckerchief as his owners teashirt every day. He is certainly attracting a lot of attention on his walkies, but then he would wouldnt he, because its not everyday you see dogs walking the decks of cruise ships.  I believe that they are very well catered for onboard the ship and I understand that there are a few doggies onboard for this cruise.

There is a lot of people up on top deck sunbathing today, or should I say that there is a lot of towels and books sunbathing today?  No prizes for guessing who’s they would be then?!  Ever since we arrived on deck I placed my bag and camera on the end of a sunlounger with a towel and book already on.  Oh deary me, just how upset can one big german guy get when he gets back to his lounger to find a little bag and camera perched on the end.  I wasn’t sure if deckchair war was about to break out or my stuff was going over the side to see how long it took to hit the water.  Needed another long island iced tea after that little experience!  But I can confirm that Amanda can still walk even after 4 long island iced teas.  She had always imagined that her legs would dissolve after the 3rd, but no. We will have to push the boundary a little further tomorrow to see how 5 affect her.

You would think we have had enough on the agenda for one day wouldn’t you, but its white glove tea time! Oooh it must be at least an hour and a half since we last ate. Queens Room was a little busy when we first arrived and the tea dance was in full swing, but a table was soon found for us and the wonderful service that we remember from last time followed.  Plenty of tea, cucumber sandwiches (I love cucumber sandwiches) tomato sandwiches, ham, beef or egg.  Oh and the cakes – so many to choose.  I opted for warm scones beautifully served with a little tray of preserve and piped fresh cream.  The waiters were so attentive and were always topping up our tea, and providing more sandwiches and cakes.  I think that they must have known what an appetite we had worked up on deck.

Eventually we make it back to our stateroom and it has to be one of those power sleeps today.  I calculate that I have exactly 1 hour to sleep before I wake up and get ready to attend the Captains Cocktail Party.  I do wonder if I stand any chance at all of ever waking up again after all the alcohol intake we have consumed this afternoon, but spot on the hour I wake up and look at my watch and know that I must throw myself in the shower or Im going nowhere tonight.

7.30 is our rendezvous time and we wind our way down the decks to the Queens Room.  No need to queue up to meet the Captain as he came and met us this afternoon, so skip around to the other side and walk straight in.  We are immediately greeted by a tray of champagne and we take up a nice seat in the window, excellently positioned for people watching and a full view of the room. The Captain doesn’t let a small detail like the fact that we are entering the mouth of the River Elbe with only 42 ft below us, stop him from attending the party he has kindly invited us to, and he makes a lovely, very well spoken welcome speech. We are invited to this party from 7.30 right through until 8.45, so its just as well we have a chair.  The drinks service is superb and waiters are constantly slowly walking past our table checking to see if we would like more champagne or wine.  I ask for a vodka and diet coke and the lads convert to beer but nothing is too much trouble for them and we are immediately replenished with the drinks of our choice.

We haven’t spotted Totters all evening so we decide that we better not be late for dinner.  What a wonderful sight greeted us when we arrived at the table.  One of us was celebrating a special birthday and Cunard had done us proud.  A beautiful 6 arm candelabra adorned the table with lovely flowers, confetti and pink and silver balloons. Our table is simply perfect.  A fantastic location in this magnificent restaurant with two superb waiters! The food and service again this evening was excellent.  I had the beef consommé followed by Norwegian fillet of grilled salmon.  Many chose the beef madalion with stilton sauce and judging by the comments I think it was an excellent choice with nobody disappointed.  Me and Karen experience a little of the White Star service when we were served with lemon for our salmon. The lemon wedge was squeezed between a spoon and fork, into a second spoon before being drizzled over our salmon.  How did she do that?  If I had have done it the wedge of lemon would have squirted all over everyone and Id have made a right hash of it.  Very impressive!

As I say, Cunard have done us proud tonight, but they haven’t finished with us yet.  The table is cleared and Karen is greeted by a chorus of waiters who have a beautiful hand made cake for her. Im impressed, in fact Im very impressed!  We finish off the singing with two chorus’s of P&O version of Happy Birthday Clap Clap Clap!  Just when you think they have finished impressing us for one evening, they serve the cake.  But they don’t just serve a slice on a plate with a cup of tea, oh no that wouldnt be the White star way!  The cake is served in square portions and surrounded by fresh forest fruits and berries.  Oh yum!  I never eat the birthday cake but I almost licked the plate clean it was so lovely. Again all evening the head waiters and Restaurant manager have been hovering around checking on every detail of the smooth running of this vast restaurant.  The Restaurant manager looks very dapper in his white waistcoat and bow tie, topped off with a tails coat.

All in all, a superb evening so far, but the night was yet young.

Our transit of the River Elbe has already started so we head up on deck to see land close by either side.  The light is just falling but the sky is still a clear deep blue.

Rock at the Opera is the show in the theatre and it is decide that we should attend.  Im not one for shows but we get some very good seats up in the gods, but still with excellent views.  I asses the seats for comfort and sleepability because Im sure that my eyes will close at some point during the performance.  Not because I expect it to bore me, but because, I know Im tired and have drank a few cocktails. The show took us on a journey from Motzart to Queen and what a journey.  I have never seen anything so lavish produced onboard a ships theatre.  The performers were superb and not a step was out of place.  Their timing was spot on and I wouldn’t have thought it possible for everything to be spot on and so in time.  The stage effects were amazing with things constantly rising and falling and turning, lighting etc and the chandelier that unfolds from the tiffany light above is just beyond belief.  My eyes did close very briefly at one short point, but I was too nosey needing to know what was going on.  So I survived a theatre show onboard a ship.  Everybody who cruises QM2 has to make the effort to go to the shows because they are not to missed, and that comes from someone who doesn’t do shows!

So by now the alcohol content is slipping and its time to head for the Commodore Club.  Orange Martinis are the Martini of the day so that’s my choice, closely followed by a strawberry Martini.  I just love the way they serve them shaken from mini shakers at the table.  Some time later the lighting goes up a few notches and I get the impression they are suggesting we depart, but they are still serving so that’s ok.  But eventually they do come around and ask if we would like more drinks as they are about to close.  Oh dear it cant be bed time already?  Of course not G32 will still be open.

It’s a bit of a walk to G32 and we have to stop for a rest and photo opportunities in the Grand Lobby.

G32 is buzzing but I have no idea what time it is.  A bit of a debate follows about whether we should stay or turn in for the night, but lads being lads they decide that maybe we should just have one for the road! Well that one turned into a few – as it does!  Me & Karen spot a bit of a stalker in the room.  He keeps hovering and staring and looking and smirking, oh hes weird and creepy.  Mr C meets him in the Gents but he isn’t aware that he is bothering us at that point and the weird man kicks off some bizarre conversation about Mr C’s shoes!  Mmmmm weird indeed!

Several drinks later we decide its Scooby snack time.  Oh how do you navigate to Kings Court at this time of day?  But we made it.  Kings court is busy and Scooby snacks are thin on the ground.  The Germans are all up and about and waiting to disembark so they have ate QM2 out of house and home.  No cookies!!! Even when I request some Im told they are all gone.  I made do with a plate of chips, while Mr C tucked into a plate of curry.  The thieving gypsys (it’s a Mr C expression) have also drank Kings Court dry of Hot chocolate.  I ask the restaurant manager if there is any chance of him finding me some but he informs me that they are about to serve breakfast!! Really what time is it?  Well, there was a 5 in there somewhere, and like I say the decks were packed with Germans ready to disembark so it must have been late, or early, or whatever.

Stalker man is back, hovering around.

Outside the pleasure boats and steamers are along side us escorting us up the river packed with people shouting and cheering.  What a bizarre atmosphere at silly o clock in the morning!  By the way the Captain is reversing the last 4 miles of the river because he doesn’t want to turn the ship when we leave, because of all the small boats in the water I guess?

Im just coming back in from the deck and stalker man appears again – ooh creepy!  The lads have got there eye on him though.

Time for bed, so we treck back to deck 8 – oh how long are these corridors?  Mr C decides to save time and undresses on his way back to the stateroom.  First thing I do when  I get into the room is order some cookies and hot chocolate.  Trouble is that Im asleep by the time it arrives though.  No idea how I woke up to drink it but I managed it and two cookies.

Did I go back to sleep, or did we just dock and then constant announcements just started to those disembarking today.  Unfortunately there is a tannoy speaker right outside our door so I don’t miss an announcement.  Mr C must have drank stronger stuff than me though because he sleeps through it all.

Next thing I know there is another knock at the door and breakfast has arrived – Im confused?  Is it today or tomorrow now?

Thursday 26th July 2007 – Hamburg

Where were we, oh yes breakfast!  Mr C has the full English but Ive gone for cornflakes and fruit platter.  Didn’t want it to be too healthy though so we had blueberry muffins and Danish pastrys too!

It’s a pleasant enough morning so we sit on the balcony listening to the german bands at the festival below and watch the various comings and goings of the spectators below.

Eventually we are organised enough to venture ashore.  The shuttle bus drops us in the town centre. First thing I spot is four men in lederhosen and ‘where’s Totters’ starts to ring through my head and it makes me have a little chuckle to myself!  It’s a lot busier today and the shops are open.  If we hadn’t have had such a late night last night I might have felt like doing some retail therapy, but I just couldn’t manage it today.  We walk across to the river with the fountain in the middle and sit in a lovely bar watching the comings and goings of the small pleasure boats. Some firemen came by on pedalo’s – really not sure what that was all about.

Feeling a bit peckish so we order some baguettes washed down with beer for Mr C and a couple of glasses of wine for me.  Amanda and Mick text me to say they have found the Duckstien Beer festival, now that sounds good! But they are trecking across town to come and join us.  Of course more beer and wine has to flow before we can even think about what to do next.  It’s a glorious day and the sun is beating down, so everything takes twice as much effort.

But we decide to go in search of the burnt out church, via the beer festival of course! Once we arrive at the festival, the boys head off in search of a loo (why didn’t they go at the last place?) so Amanda and I come over all civilised and stop off at the champagne tent for a couple of glasses of their finest. Not to be out done, the lads head off to the beer tent.

So this church, Im not sure what it is called, but its known as the Burnt out church.  It reminded me very much of old Coventry cathedral which has remained as a monument to the second world war.  75ft up the church spire is fantastic views across the city and photo opportunities of the QM2, Mr C doesn’t like heights though so we are soon back down on the ground.  A short walk back to the square and we are soon back onto the shuttle bus back to the ship.

Once through the cabin door my bed is calling me.  Sleep!  Oh what joy, my eyes will get some rest, but oh no!  I had no sooner climbed under the duvet and the tannoy kicked in.  If it had been outside in the corridor I could have pulled the duvet over my head and ignored it, but as it was a safety announcement for all those who embarked today, it was coming through the cabin, and it was constant!

But after speaking to Amanda on the in cabin phone she has a bright idea – champagne party round at their cabin.   I haven’t got the energy to get dresses so I turn up in my QM2 bathrobe and nobody seems to mind. All of the little pleasure boats are still buzzing around us, even Aurora sails by! Two bottles of champagne later we roll out of there and just about have time to shower and leave for pre dinner drinks.  The Golden Lion is the venue this evening as the Winter Garden is closed but we need to fit that into our schedule somehow. Belini’s is the cocktail of the day, which is just as well as we have been drinking champagne all afternoon.

Dinner this evening is well just out of this world again.  There is no way you can fault the food.  I have the Asparagus and truffle soup followed by rib of beef.  The beef just melted.  I really don’t know how they get the consistency of cooking to perfection, when there are such vast quantities involved.

Outside the weather has turned and its raining, oh dear it cant ruin our sailaway.

We retreat to the Commodore Club where we continue with Karens Birthday celebrations as the pianist plays her 15 versions of Happy Birthday – what a way to celebrate.

Cosmopolitans are the martini of the day – how good are they at selecting my favourite cocktails!? Karen has taken quite a liking to the Citrus Martini so she sticks with those.

Me & Amanda keep nipping up in the glass lifts to check on the weather and see how the decks are filling up.  About 20 minutes before sailing the rain stops and the prom deck below is starting to fill up quickly, so we go and drag the rest of them out of the Commodore Club, drinks in hand.

Considering we arrive late we don’t do too bad for a spot close to the rails and it isn’t long before one or two of us have muscled into a railing position.  Just after 11.30 she lets go her lines and we gently push off from the side.  Now we can see all the pleasure cruisers and paddle steamers ahead waiting to cruise down the river with us. The residents of Hamburg don’t let us down and we gently sail past a firework display and then we are surrounded by small boats again.  I would say that there aren’t as many boats as there were last year, maybe because we sailed later? But there are equal amounts of spectators shouting, cheering, whistling and waving flags at us all along the river for miles.  Camera flashes are going off all along the streets and up hills.  Karen, John, Andy and Joy are not disappointed by the sailaway and they can understand now why we were so excited.  The balconies above us are crammed with screaming cheering passengers and it must have been an amazing sight to see from the shore.  Just imagine the QM2 gliding past you all light up in the dark full of cheering passengers.

But the fresh air has killed me and I have to go to my bed.  It has gone 1 ‘clock so Ive lasted well on an hours sleep.  Im straight out like a light.

Friday 27th July 2007 – at Sea

Im woken a little early by the howling wind trying to blow the balcony door off!  Gosh it looks rough out there so I pull the curtains together and get back into bed, before nodding off before breakfast arrives. Full English and a pot of tea – ahhhh that will do nicely. Plus my toast and jam of course. There is rather a swell on the sea but you can’t feel us moving.  It just isn’t touching us.  I tried to get out on the balcony but the wind pushed me back.  Then I notice that there are 3 crew members out there cleaning the lifeboats.  Are they mad?  I would have told my boss to clear off if anyone suggested that was on my rota today!  The things they do to keep a ship looking good.  Still, they seemed to be enjoying themselves laughing and joking as they went. Every time they dipped the cloth in their bucket they were getting soaked, but they were having fun.  They looked very funny too, because they had goggles on to protect there eyes and the wind was blowing their cheeks around to their ears.  They just progressed from one boat to another and made the most of the time they had out there – rather them than me!

I decided to take the laptop down to the Rising Sun today as I had a fair bit of work to catch up on and thought a drink might aid me today.  Mr C had remembered that there had been some discussion about going to the Planetarium this morning but he really was unsure what the plans were.  I did suggest he went along to the Planetarium to try and find out but I think the walk was too energetic for him. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it this morning and just wanted to get my work out of the way. Mick Amanda Karen and John arrived in the pub at about 12.15 and had just come out of the Planetarium giving it a raving review.  Still I wasn’t complaining I had been sat in a pub working with an endless supply of Zombie Cocktails.

We simply had to do pub lunch again and it was the superb fish and chips for me.  Mr C had the beef and mushroom in ale pie and it was delicious.  John F really couldnt make a decision when he realised that there were two things on the menu he couldn’t make a decision between, so he had both!  He had 3 or 4 Zombies to wash it all down though – I really don’t know how he will get through a day at work next week without eating and drinking.

At 2.30 the lads had a golf game booked on the simulator, so the girls decided it was Jacuzzi time.  A quick change back at the cabin into our gold emblem Cunard robes and slippers and we decided to check out the best Jacuzzi option.  We went to the back of deck 8 which was quite sheltered from the wind, but there were kiddies in each Jacuzzi so decided to head up the decks to check out those on deck 12 and 13.  We headed up the 4 deck outside staircase, which was a bit of a killer after a Zombie or 3.  We arrived at the Princess Grill private deck followed by the Queens Grill Private deck, but hey we weren’t going back down to come up again.  Gosh when we hit deck 12 we were nearly blown back down again!!

How come the wind is so strong and the waves are so high and yet this ship shows no indication of rolling or pitching.  We know that if we were on something of Orianas size we would be all over the place and perhaps in need of a lie down.

We popped our head into the covered pool on deck 12 and all was quiet in there, but we felt we needed more of a challenge.  Now I think only 3 crazy females who were full of Zombies would try this, but we decided to climb another outside staircase to deck 13!  We very nearly ended up back on our backsides fast tracked to deck 12 or worse still over the side of the ship.  It was so scary it was funny, in fact it was hilarious.  We stood on the deck and were just getting blown along, you couldn’t stand still you were blown along.  I tried to take a photo, (as you do when your life is in danger) which created even more hilarity!!  Anyway, we made it to the Jacuzzi and surprise surprise, they were both closed.  Well, who in there right mind would go up this far on a day like this to have a Jacuzzi?  Blimey, it wasn’t over yet, we had to make our way back down the outside stairs.  We made sure our robes were tightly secured this time as we nearly lost them first time around and held on for our life to the railings – it’s a wonder you didn’t hear the screeches and squeals!

At last we are settled into a Jacuzzi inside the comfort of the dome on deck 12. The hunt for a Jacuzzi was worth it because the jets were so powerful all aches and pains were being soothed away from my toes to my poorly back.

Just then the lads appeared out of the Fairway, there game was over.  They had played while we had been wondering around the ship in fits of giggles.  Oh well, no surprises for guessing where they headed next?  The bar!  They were generous and understanding to our needs though and sent us over 3 Belinis to enjoy from the comfort of our Jacuzzi.  Ahh Bliss!

It took us a while to get over our exciting time out on the open deck so we just chilled for a while, then sat in some comfy seats with the sun blasting through the roof before joining the lads at the bar, for yes, another glass of Belini.

Now its hard to believe but there is a bar we haven’t been to for a drink yet, and that’s the Winter Garden, so it has to be done.  A quick change back at the cabin and we arrive at the Winter Garden to find an art auction in progress, well almost finished actually, so we go in search of a few scoobie snacks while they clear the room.  Kings Court is great because you can get anything anytime in there.

When we return to the winter Garden it isn’t quite ready but they quickly arrange the sofa and tables for us by the waterfall.  It doesn’t matter how many drinks we order, the realisation of packing is closing in and we have no choice but to go and get it sorted.  It really doesn’t take long and after a shower and change to our informal attire we have a rendezvous in the Chart Room for this evenings Pre dinner drinks.  The string quartet provide our background music as we sit and review our time on QM2. All in agreement there that it has been truly fantastic.

They don’t announce dinner on QM2 so you have to keep an eye on the time, but I think we have been pretty good at arriving just about on time. We had another celebration at the table this evening – Micks Retirement, and once again the Restaurant Manager had done us proud and decorated the table again for us. We had taken it in turns to choose the wine each evening and tonight it fell on me – luckily for me our nice Californian wine waiter was on hand to recommend a couple of bottles QM2 wine from their own winery or something.  It was very nice what ever it was and it had a doody QM2 label on the bottle which looked impressive.  I think every one had the sirloin steak this evening with onion marmalade.  Oh how do they do it?  Cooked to perfection and so tender it melted.  The food has been perfect this cruse, well probably more than perfect if Im honest.  No restaurant ashore has ever matched those standards so consistently for me.

We were allowed a sweet before cake time this evening so I chose the bread and butter pudding, a little sweet but nice non the less.  Micks cake was presented and we all sang ‘Happy Retirement to you’ well we were merry and we don’t know many retirement songs! Another pleasant and jovial meal had come to and end.

A quick call into the photo shop as we needed to buy the QM2 DVD – we had a staring roll on the sail away party section.  Funnily enough John F couldn’t even remember being there LOL!  It had been such a wonderful cruise that I also bought the embarkation photo of us all and the presentation folder showing the ship.

We head off for the final time to our favourite bar – the Commodore Club.  As usual we are greeted by the waiter who shows us to a table and then proceeds to gather 8 chairs from around the room as he knows how many of us there will be despite whether we all arrive at the same time.  Ive nearly completed the Martini Cocktail list, but as he has done every night, he gives me his recommendation of which I should go for and the choices have always been excellent.  I really cant remember what they are all called but my final selection of the evening was the best choice off all!  Obviously saved the best until last.

Mr C is flaking tonight and its his turn to turn in first, but none of us are that far behind him.

Once in the cabin a few final bits of packing are completed, then its time to call room service for a pot of hot chocolate and plate of cookies.  It doesn’t matter what time it is, the tray is always delivered by an immaculate white gloved steward.  Oh I just love this level of luxury.

Saturday 28th July 2007

A sunny morning and we are back in Southampton.  For the first time this cruise I have to go in search of breakfast as there is no room service on the final morning.  We decide to choose Kings Court.  Im not a fan of self service restaurants as the food is normally luke warm and dried up and a lot of pushing and shoving of trays seems to be the main sport of these types of venues, but not in here.  It is all very calm, I make a nice selection of cooked breakfast, omelettes looked good, the chef frys my egg to my liking, and the steward at the end has my toast ready and piping hot for me.  Tables are quite busy in this section so I head into the next section which has plenty of vacant tables.  Once Im sat down I realise Im next to Amanda and Mick lol!  Must be the concentration of having to do something for myself for once.

Our disembarkation time is supposed to be 9.45, but at 8.45, just as we finished our breakfast, we were invited to disembark.  In no time at all we had collected our hand luggage from the stateroom and were checked out via the lobby.  A very slick and swift procedure. We collected the cases, loaded them onto the trolly, picked up the car keys from CPS and were in the car and on our way for 9.00am.

It should have finished there with us waving goodbye to QM2, but I was in for a treat as we headed through Southampton.  Navigator of the Seas was sat at City Terminal and I realised that next time she is there I will be embarking on her for a 2 week cruise!  No time for post cruise blues this time around.  But whats that in at the Mayflower Terminal?  Grand Princess is in!  What a treat for a ship spotter like me, three big mega liners all in dock on the same day.  Southampton slipped away as we drove out of town and I was a very happy bunny.

So all in all it was a superb cruise.  We had a fantastic time on QM2 last year, with no complaints but this year the enjoyment level was defiantly higher. Maybe because we were more relaxed and felt we didn’t need to investigate the ship as much, or maybe we had such excellent company? But there is no getting away from the fact that the ships company work hard to make that ship tick like clockwork.  Service was first class but it seemed so effortless.  Everytime we entered the Commodore club a waiter would put down his tray and gather 8 chairs and a couple of tables for us, even if it meant fetching them from the other side of the room.  There was no chance of any of the gents making an attempt to help them because the waiters would get quite upset.  They knew I liked my Martini Cocktails and helped me with my selection every night.  When I asked for a southern Comfort and coke, the coke would be served in a little jug to the side of my drink, they didn’t just drown it like most bar staff would.

Room service was just brilliant.  Logistically, just how did they get my breakfast to the front of deck 8 all the way from the galley and still serve it hot?  Every morning it arrived on time, delivered by a very smart dapper, white gloved waiter in immaculate black uniform.  I left hubby to answer the door to him every morning, but the steward was always as quiet as a mouse and cheerful and polite.  I ordered tea a couple of times and that was delivered faster than I could have boiled the kettle.  Same with hot chocolate and cookies at silly o’clock in the morning.  I passed a steward one evening in the corridor with a room service delivery and was so impressed by the look of the sandwich on his tray that I got to my stateroom and looked it up to see what it was.  I decided it was the Cunard Club Sandwich – it looked good, very good!

Food in general on the ship could not be faulted in any way, no matter where you ate.  We were allocated the main Britannia Restaurant which is a huge place spread over 2 tiers with a further raised level.  I fail to see how they could have served any better food in either of the Grill Restaurants. It was plated service, but I have to say that there was more than enough of it for me, and it didn’t matter how perfect the meat was sometimes I just couldn’t finish it all.  The soups were delicious and always loaded with flavour.  Sweets you simply had to try just because they looked so good. Even though it was such a large restaurant, the ambience in there was excellent.  We were sat in the centre of the restaurant and never once felt as if I was in a vast hall. Each evening we were greeted by the sound of the harpist or the string quartet playing on the upper balcony, then as first course was served the lights would dim to a moody shade of blue.  On Captains Gala evening we entered from the upper level and came down the sweeping staircase, the sight of our table with the lovely flowers and silver candelabra will stay with me for a long time.  The waiters had made such an effort to make the table special for Karen’s Birthday with the balloons and confetti I was very impressed.

Another thing that I noticed was the fact that I felt like I was still a guest onboard right up until the moment I disembarked. On other cruise lines things start to disappear from your cabin, almost as if they feel they cant trust you with them.  Things like the leather incabin directory would be collected, bathrobes would disappear, and then when you return from dinner on the last night, the empty draws would be full of clean bed linen and the next cruises entertainment schedule. Not on Cunard, bathrobes still hung on the back of the door until I left the cabin for the final time. The leather directory was still there for me to refer to.  On the last morning I had left a small case on the bed while we went for breakfast, meanwhile the steward had crept in to change the bedding, but he had placed my case back on the bed which he didn’t need to do.  Its just the very small things that make all the difference.

But Cunard have made a big impression on me! Yes, not so long ago I would have said I didn’t like the idea of a class system (even though that it what I was used to years ago) but in all honesty, you do not notice it.  Queens Grill, Princess Grill and bar are tucked so far away that you would have to go and look for them. Our cruise was very multinational because it was part of the Hamburg Transatlantic, but again it never bothered me at all.

QM2 is rock steady.  We were right at the forward end of deck 8, and that’s a long way up, but she never hinted at rocking in a force 8 gale.  We sat in the Golden Lion that afternoon with waves jumping about outside but you would never have known.  Anybody who suffers with sea sickness from the slightest movement should give QM2 a try because she has to be one of the most stable ships at sea.

I could go on and on telling you how much I love QM2, but you need to try it for yourself if you haven’t tried it already.

QM2 offers Eastbound and Westbound Transatlantics, cruises to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, North America & Canada, and Northern Europe.

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