Host Hattie

A late night meant missed breakfast so we made do with tea and biscuits. 

We thought Mark Foster's talk would be busy so we'd catch up on the TV later.

Mr HH went to the Black Jack tournament and I enjoyed the sea and, once the clouds cleared, the sun on the balcony. 

We met up for lunch, just the 2 of us at our table again. 

He went to the Black Jack final (no joy this time) and I checked out the shops. 

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

David Gower is the one I live I hope of, but I keep missing him.

Me too

I think it depends on the terminal at Southampton, there were porters at Ocean Terminal on Sunday. 

We headed to the Queens Room where the dance floor was busy and no sign of a spare table. The Golden Lion was the same so we joined another couple and helped/hindered them to second place in Black and White Trivia. 

We headed into the theatre just after 10 for the second show, it was busy and lots of brave people turned up late. We've seen Mike Doyle before but enjoyed the show. Not many people can make me laugh and cry.

We headed to the Bright Lights for a final drink of the evening and got to bed just after 12. Clocks go forward tonight. 

I had an afternoon nap and we went to the talk on Art thefts in the Queens Room. It was busy and entertaining. Mr HH went to the Purser's office to ask them to print a document for him.

It was Black and White night and Mr HH discovered that he'd left his black dinner jacket at home 🤦‍♀️. He'll be wearing white every formal night then ! We headed to the Chart Room, it was very busy so we ended up with seats outside. Good for people watching and listening to the String Trio, not so good for getting served. We got our drinks eventually and headed into dinner just before 8. One couple on our table were just starting desserts, the other missing.

Food was very good and everyone in the room seemed to be dressed appropriately. 

Thanks again for such a great report of your cruise. The amount of detail you included was amazing. 

Have you tried the Carinthia Lounge ? Their Light menu items are nice, doesn't really help with dinner at 5 but can be helpful if you miss lunch or breakfast. 

Room service breakfast and brunch are available. 

Indeed ....

Mr HH went off to register for archery and I watched the start of the Barbie film. So if you want to know who goes on a cruise to watch television you have your answer!

I listened to the pianist outside the Chart Room for a while and we went for lunch in Britannia Club. Fish and chips twice in 2 days for me. The restaurant was fairly quiet and the staff were setting up for afternoon tea as tables were emptied. Our waiter explained that they use the restaurant as overflow for the Queens Room as the first few days are very busy. He also recommended going for dinner as soon as the restaurant opened if we wanted to go to the early show. We're happy with the Late show.

Mark Foster was in the lift after lunch so I guess he'll feature as a Speaker at some point this week. 

3 minutes ago, MylesS said:

Doors open at 9:30, but in our experience by then the queue is going down into the Queens Room

OK thanks, I'll report back. 

1 minute ago, worldtraveller99 said:

This is brilliant Hattie thank you. Looking forward to all your insights!

 

PS Is it just me, or do the lectures sound not very exciting? Are there no comedians?

Mike Doyle is a comedian.

I'm not a fan of queueing, what time do doors open ?

It's a rather grey morning but we made it to the restaurant for breakfast. We were the only ones on our table but had an enjoyable Eggs Benedict.

We had a wander around, almost gate crashing the solo travellers' coffee morning in the Chart Room and then going to have a look at the Panaroma pool club, Cabana and the Pavilion via the buffet. It seemed busy but there were plenty of spare seats.

A few first impressions-

Cabin is fine, balcony seems bigger but that might just be because the table is very tiny! Now we've realised that my battery charger was keeping the night light on we might sleep better.🤣. It's a good idea though. I like the information on the TV. It's good to be able to turn the aircon off.

Apart from when we first got onboard we haven't had any issues with the lifts and I like the 2 sets of controls.

Good morning from Queen Anne 

13 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Glad you are settled on O K. Looking forward to hearing about your dining tonight. Book Bright Lights as soon as you can. Might be open today for booking. 

We've booked for the 9.30 performance tomorrow. By the time I checked yesterday the late show was already full.

We opened the Pol Acker and tried it naked for the first time in years. We sailed away more or less on time past the Japanese warship visiting. 

We went to dinner at around 7, early for us but we wanted to beat the rush. As it was one couple was on their starters and the third arrived very soon after. All the men wearing jackets so it looks like we're going to be maintaining high standards on the table. 

The sommelier arrived promptly and we managed to get a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, but only one glass each - Plenty for tomorrow !

Couldn't fault the food and service was efficient. 

We went up to the Commodore Club to listen to the piano player. I was a bit disappointed in the new cocktail menu but my Brandy Alexander was good. 

We called it a night around 10, the ship is rocking nicely. 

Here's your ship leaving Southampton taken from Queen Anne. 

Cases arrived promptly and I asked for extra hangers. Storage didn't seem too terrible and we managed to put everything away. Mr HH went to the Britannia Club Restaurant to check our table.  We've never bothered to do this before but we had problems on our last cruise and there was no table number on the card in the cabin.

Apparently they hadn't yet been allocated but he was shown to a table of 6 near a window.

We'd checked in at our muster station before lunch, no full drill today.

The weather hasn't been as bad as the terrible forecast but we had a good view of the rainbows from our balcony. We're due to sailaway at 6pm.

Our taxi was around 20 minutes late but their website kept me updated and the journey time was also 20 minutes so we arrived at 12.30 for our 12.45 arrival time at Ocean Terminal. Everything progressed fairly smoothly and we were onboard in a busy Golden Lion by 1pm.

We were given a card to say that cabins wouldn't be ready until 1.30 which was fine as we didn't have much hand luggage. 

We had an enjoyable Fish and Chips followed by Lemon Sponge pudding. There was a queue for the lifts so fortunately we're only on Deck 5 and we used the stairs. 

We came down to reception and got the last seats so now we're playing guess which ship these hotel guests are sailing on. Choices today are QA, Anthem of the Seas and Disney Dream (which apparently has a clothing range).

First drops have arrived in this part of Southampton. 

When we checked in last night we were warned that it was going to be very busy today and to allow an hour to get to the terminal!

We had a pleasant dinner in the hotel restaurant "Beefy's", another cricket reference!

The room is very comfortable and was quiet last night, breakfast was a bit hectic but we only had to queue a little while for a table.