So we are now settled in for the world cruise on the QM2
NY to Southampton 3/1/23
Medical emergency on our first morning necessitated the altering of course sending us further North to enable the US coastguard helicopter to transfer the patient to hospital. A frequent occurrence these days. Down to the age of demographics of the cruise.
Met up with our friends for dinner then a game of hand and foot. Superb game taught to us by four lovely ladies we met on the Norwegian Joy.
Dinner in the main dining room is mixed, well for our tastes. Fortunately we can always have a piece of Salmon grilled alongside a Caesar salad. We are on a table of nine, and we have a mixture of interlopers to join us. Most are interesting, but some are complete arses. From the minute they sit down, they are bragging about how better their previous cruise was, and how Cunard and the QM2 has gone to rack and ruin since Carnival bought it. People forget that Covid with a big C and near bankruptcy has had a certain effect on all cruise lines.
Anyway, plenty to keep us busy on the way to Southampton. As per usual, masses of talks and varied musical entertainment is fantastic.
Set sail, 102 days on the QM2. The commencement of the world cruise
Manage to find a new stubble and hair trimmer in Southampton. Just to keep me looking half decent for the extended trip round the globe on the QM2, only necessary due to me displacing a bag full of chargers, including one for my toothbrush. For the past seven days sailing to Southampton have had to cope with an electric brush relegated to the old fashioned manual manoeuvres. Thank god, Steve managed to bring one of his spare chargers, otherwise my shopping list would have included a replacement.
Can’t imagine where l lost the bag of necessities. The Norwegian Getaway, one of the hotels in NY or even the QM2. Anyway, they’re lost. As Judith keeps saying, don’t cry over spilt milk. Just so annoyed, forgetfulness, an age thing.
Impressed with the walk into Southampton, quite historic and plenty of green spaces. Masses of new developments taking place, apartment blocks overlooking the docks shooting up, left right and centre. With the amount of cruises we keep taking, may be worth buying one, and using it in between cruises. Then renting out on Airbnb when back in Scotland for the summer. Just an idea. Not sure it has legs, but perhaps worth looking into. Especially if property prices fall due to the recession.
As we go hunting for essentials around Asda, find three tubs of Tom yam noodles, last on the shelf, so snap them up for our little waiter in the Corinthia.
Our new cabin is tremendous. It’s quiet, which couldn’t be said for our previous hell hole, situated next to a pantry. Not only did we have staff doing a joyous jig with china and coffee pots before 6am and late at night, we also had the torture of the sound of dripping water into a pail at the same time. They never discovered were that came from. Took a note directly to the hotel manager to get it sorted. But it was instantaneous.
Pleasant gift from the manager
Our favourite resting place, the Corinthian is still popular for light breakfast and lunch. Too popular at times, especially when we are near to the gaggle of independent single women travellers. All seeming to out speak their fellow cruiser. It starts off at a normal volume but reaches a crescendo within minutes. There seems to be around forty on this trip, a mixture of Australian, American and of course U.K. ladies.
The Queen Victoria was setting off on a world cruise just slightly before us, heading West towards the Caribbean before entering the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean. To celebrate the event, Cunard had organised a Firework display.
Everyone was sheltering under lifeboats as the rain fell in bucket loads. The display from a moored barge was tremendous. Must have cost a fortune. In reality, it cost us, the passenger’s. Nevertheless it was excellent.
Whilst standing amazed at the spectacular, you could hear a verbal dual going on close by to us. Three hooray Henrietta’s were trying to outdo one another.
“ Not a patch on those we saw last New Year whilst moored in Madeira. Oh! I thought the ones in Sydney on the Queen Vic were better than those. My god nothing could beat what we experienced whilst on the Seaborne in Cape Town.”
Why can’t they just enjoy the moment.
Around midnight they called the medical team to the pub for a medical emergency. Mind immediately shot to the little old man who perch’s on the bar stool from dawn to night, trying to eat into his $1000 dollar drinks package. Thoughts of him slipping off in a drunken stopper, cracking his scull open on the brass foot rail.
Luckily it wasn’t him, he was busy drinking his beer at 9.30am. Not so lucky for the other person.
Arrive in Lisbon,Portugal. Awoke to an animated film called SOUL.
Fantastic jazz, but the storyline of lost souls inhabiting peoples bodies, truly amazing. Kept us in bed for a while, before getting out onto the deck into an overcast day.
Met up with Raymond, the Irish dentist, as we sat in the departures lounge using the free internet. Told us a story regarding dentures, and the reason why young women from wealthy families would opt to have all their teeth removed as a 21st birthday gift. It seems that dentistry was exceedingly expensive. And if they could show prospective suitors that they would be free of dental charges, they would be more likely to be wed. Often on meeting their boyfriends parents, they would remove their dentures and place them on the mantelpiece.
Rough seas between Southampton and Lisbon. The ship was moving quite a bit, but fortunately not as bad as it could have been if we were on a standard cruise ship.
Lisbon
Walked into the centre, then ventured even further North, through the upmarket shopping area. Must be money here. The tree-lined Boulevard is definitely the home to many exclusive stores (Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Chanel, Prada, Armani, Gucci) to name just a few.
Why is it that whenever we walk through cities we get caught up in demonstrations.
Kept hearing whistles, then the beat of a drum, followed by chanting. Not good with Portuguese, so haven’t a clue what it was all about. Had the impression that it was related to the public sector cuts. Especially surrounding schooling and Universities. All seemed in good spirit, most were picnicking, a little food washed down with copious amounts of wine.
As we hopped from one area to another, groups of supporters could be seen in cafes or restaurants, making the most of their day out in the city.
On returning to the ship, all the protesters buses were lined up along the promenade.
Later in the evening we could hear them returning, whistles and trumpets sounding through the thronging mass of protestors, who seemed to have enjoyed their days outing to the capital.
On our way to Greece
Quite varied selection of speakers during this sector from Southampton to Dubai.
Talks from a Egyptologist and Historian - Covering The Wonders of the World both ancient and modern as well as the suez canal, it’s formation and turbulent history and the Valley of the Kings.
Director and filmmaker Andrew Cooper who used to work with Richard Attenborough. Talks about his life and the filming of the natural World.
Then we have a couple who are reading excepts from The Odyssey. Along with talks on the Romans and Greeks, Mythology, cultural history and the Ottoman Empire. So not light going. But perfect for Judith who cut her teeth on Homers Odyssey & the Illiad as a young child. I preferred Biggles and Sherlock Holmes.
Dr. Chris Martin - Discusses the Concepts of Medical Law and Ethics through principles and Case Law. Touching on negligence, principles of DNA when used as proof of connection. And lots more. What a fascinating career, although his presentations are not to everyone’s liking. Our friend feels he is a poacher turned gamekeeper. A Doctor who couldn’t cut it at the pointed end and moved into law. Nice pun.
And one of our favourite speakers, Giles Ramsay - Theatre Director and Producer - Our friend who keeps popping up on the QM2 on a regular basis. This time entertaining a group of Americans with his lively talks on great celebrities of the theatre. Plus a few for all the guests. Today it’s Christopher Marlowe: Poet and Spy and tomorrow a follow up with an insight into Shakespeare and his rise from obscurity to fame and wealth, even though he never attended Oxford or Cambridge. Supposedly a prerequisite for writer’s during that period.
New day, new dawn, different location in the Mediterranean, and the sun is trying to sneak through.
Judith didn’t sleep well so she’s not up for public consumption today. Will say no more. Just keep my head down.
The more l walk round the decks l get the feeling that this cruise isn’t doing the world, it’s on a one way trip to Valhalla. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear the captain announce that the ship will be ignited at dusk and will sail into the sunset of life.
One of the questions at the quiz yesterday was “guess the average age on board the ship”. The answer was 77, yet in truth the mental age of most is a fingernail away from death.
Too many are wrapped in blankets, mouths distorted, saliva dripping from the corner of their lips, blissfully snoring away.
A tide of ageing humanity. Possibly encouraged by their children to head out on a world cruise. An idea to offer their parents the possibility of a last fling. Or a respite from care duties for those left behind at home.
Have been thinking lately that perhaps we need to review our future cruising itinerary.
Yet, only certain people of a certain age can afford the time and money to cruise for 102 days. Should possibly go on a ship with a younger demographic. Seaborne, Norwegian or our favourite company of old, Celebrity. But these don’t do world cruises. A real quandary.
Cunard relaxed their ban on social gathering.
We returned to the Captain’s party night in spectacular fashion. The Queens was decorated with a Venetian theme. On both sides of the dance floor they had laid out a superb display of miniature eats, fantastic wee morsels releasing the staff to drinks service, and ensuring a never ending supply of champagne. Only 40 minutes before dinner, so kept well away from the food and concentrated our efforts on drinking and talking. Nothing new.
Meet the nicest people leaning against the outer rail that surrounds the dance floor.
After a very interesting time among young at heart intelligent people, headed into the dining room, only to find that our table of eight had been swamped by interlopers. Single ladies of a particular age, plenty of money, but no immediate graces or niceties.
The Maitre D was so embarrassed, but to be honest, it wasn’t a problem. Just sat on another table. Especially as the food isn’t that amazing anymore. Prefer the offerings in the Kings Court. You can graze through the vast array of delectables, or pop into the Italian for a freshly made pizza or pasta.
Arrived at 8am in Heraklion, Crete part of Greece. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but the port and city just spread out in front of us. Clouds hid all the mountain ranges to the South. But those to the East were covered in snow. Spectacular sight, totally unexpected.
The temperature was cool with strong a wind blowing, but it was great to see the sun.
Headed out once we had spent time on the deck, just mesmerised by the vastness of the city. From all accounts, 200 thousand people live in the city. That’s double the size of the city of Carlisle. A good reference point to us, as we lived there for many years.
Caught the local bus, with the help of locals, who explained how to purchase tickets from the automated machine at the bus stop. Our initial instructions garnered from the internet lead us to the main bus station. Fortunately the majority of the locals speak English, so they soon pointed us in the right direction.
€1.50 each, a snippet, especially when you consider the ships tour was around $95.
Crawled through the thronging streets, clogged with traffic. The commercial centre of the city was just like any other European municipality, same international store brands, same mass produced goods from China.
Eventually escaped the built up area and emerged into the hills studded with olive groves and the odd orange and lemon tree.
Started getting excited with anticipation of seeing part of the rural part of the island when bus came to a grinding halt. We had reached our final destination, the ruins of Knossos.
It’s winter so it was only €8 each, to get entry, only half price.
Walked along the timber decking and was blown away by the size of the excavations that seemed to spread into the foothills.
From reading the information boards, the West Wing of the palace had been found by a local archeologist, but the systematic excavations didn’t start until 1900 when an English man Arthur Evans, then Director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford took control.
It took him two years to virtually complete the task. After which he tried to protect the delicate construction.
But before us was a complete miss mash. Instead of leaving the ruins intact, he decided to reconstruct the temple using reinforced concrete. Reconstructing what can only be described as a Disney World interpretation of what the palace had looked like.
Floors and whole architectural units were reconstructed in concrete and rendered with paint.
More importantly these reconstructions are totally irreversible. And they are just Evans own personal idea of what the palace would have looked like. But these were not based on any fact.
Unlike the the U.K. of today, where a light touch is always preferred. Especially as computerised graphics can do a far better job of displaying how a building would have been erected and decorated. However Crete was happy as it attracted money into the cities commercial pot through its tourist visitors.
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