Our Fantasy Cruise Part 2 April 2nd QM2 8 Night

[Chuck & Phyllis]

Finished part 2 so here it is. There will be a part 3.

 

I got a little mixed up with the day of the Senior Officers party as I mentioned on the Part 1 thread, the Captains reception was on the second sea day which was again formal. The senior Officers Party was on the last port day. BTW, on the first sea day, I took one of three new formal shirts out of the package and realized that they needed pressing. It was about 1 PM and ran out to find Ana Lisa. She said she would bring them right down to the laundry and find out if they could do them quickly. They did and had them back to us just before we had gotten the call about the Captain’s Dinner. They normally charge about 4 bucks each but add a 50 % surcharge for urgent service. Was well worth it to have fresh pressed shirts for the formal nights.

 

On the second sea day we played in a shuffle board tournament, came in second, and got a coupon. If you go to the activities, the winner and runner ups get coupons that you trade in for gifts on the last sea day. Just a note about the shuffleboard courts: They have to be wetted down for the discs to slide easily down the court. Don’t try it on a dry court. The disc barely moves if not wet. The kennels were open and there were 3 dogs in the run area (they put up 2 portable fences closing off the deck). They didn’t seem to be service dogs so some passengers couldn’t leave them somewhere back home we guessed. Not positive but I think I remember Betty mentioning something like $195 for pets. The kennel is next to the Boardwalk Café, which is just a small indoor buffet for hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and onion rings. It’s all outdoor seating with tables and chairs, some with umbrellas. As mentioned before on the threads, the hot tubs on Deck 13 don’t get much action so you might want to try it out, we did later in the cruise. One thing though, it’s a bit windy up there so tie your towel up to the railing. After another 2 hour, 3-pint lunch in the Pub, we browsed around the shops picking out what we would later buy and explored the ship some more. Before we knew it, it was time to start dressing for dinner. Time was going too fast.

 

At any of the parties or receptions, they distribute glasses of champagne or juice. However, if you want a certain drink, just ask the bar persons walking around and they will get you what you like. We were hoping that we could have our picture taken again with Captain Wright but they stopped about taking them before we got to the head of the line. Oh well, we would have our Captains Dinner picture anyway. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our small still camera because the Captain will pose with you for your own picture. He did that for awhile at Thursday night’s Senior Officers Party with many passengers. After dinner, we went to the casino, won a few dollars at Black Jack and then went to the show.

 

In St. Thomas, we did the Cas Cay excursion. It was at a marine preservation island where we walked awhile and then snorkeled. Afterwards, we tendered back to the ship and after a quick shower and lunch, went back to shore. Having been to St Thomas before, we know that it’s like a big jewelry flea market. As you walk down the street, storeowners are at the door saying "come in, I’m almost free". LOL After walking for awhile and calling our son at home, we headed back to the tenders. Having a few hours before dinner, we called room service for a sandwich. They too addressed me by name when they answered the phone. We ordered the pastrami sandwich, which was very good. Even room service delivery knew who we were and greeted us by name upon entry. He noticed our ice bucket was empty and went to refill it for us. OK, for all you waiting to hear a gripe about something, here it is. The ice buckets in the cabins are like toys. They only hold enough ice for about 2 drinks, especially if you use the tap water. When I mentioned that to Ana Lisa, she brought back a wine chiller filled with ice. Lasted two days.

 

BTW, it’s easy to use the email on the interactive TV in your cabin. Take as long as you want, and write as much as you want, and it’s just $1.50 to send. Also $1.50 to receive. We communicated with our son everyday that way. We ate at Todd English that night at 7:30 PM and it really filled up quickly. Glad we made reservations on the first day. The food and service was excellent. All different types of bread and a type of dipping large pieces of tortilla (?) was brought out with an olive dip. They make a salad that sits up on the plate like the top of a tophat about 6 inches high. Wondered how they did that. We had the filet, which was at least 4 inches high and cooked perfectly. The fallen chocolate cake was nice also. Nice wine selection too. After dinner, we hit the casino and Phyllis lost 50 dollars playing the slots. I won 40 dollars playing Black Jack. On the way back to the cabin I remember mentioning to Phyllis that I hope the Captain remembers the bridge visit.

 

We docked in St. Kitts the next morning and had our picture taken in front of the ship. We met other people wanting to share a van to go to the beach. I asked a Police Officer which beach was the best beach to go to, and she said Turtle Beach. NOT. When got there it was terrible. The driver agreed to take us to another beach called Friars something or other and that was pretty nice except for people hawking beads and massages. I always just say that "when we go to the beach, we bring only enough money for cabs and a bottle of water". They didn’t bother us anymore after that. We had to pay the cabby 2 bucks extra but that was OK. We got to see the mountains, as we had to go over them to get to Turtle Beach. The road was filled with goats of all colors. Fallen rocks littered the roads. It was quite exciting. When we returned to the ship it was then that we received the invite to the Officers party (I think?). I thought it was the invite to the bridge but not yet. Dinner, shopping, casino and turned in for the evening.

 

St Maarten was the best of all ports. We wanted to get of f the ship early so went to the Queens Room early. We were to pick up tender tickets there. We got there about a half an hour early and a crewmember asked if we wanted to go ashore now. He sent us down to the gangway and someone there radioed back to him not to send anymore passengers down (by then there were 8 others on their way). The tenders were ready and some crew had to go ashore so they let us go with them. We hired a cab right away and off to Orient Beach we went. We spent almost the entire day there. It’s the best beach we ever visited. We left to make our way back about 3:30 PM and got a cab right away. 5 dollars each plus tips. We got back to Phillipsburg about 4 PM and started to walk around. I said, maybe we should get back because we have the party tonight and should dress for it. Lucky thing we did because when we got back to our cabin, the invite to the Bridge was slipped under our door (He remembered!), and might had missed it if we got back at sail time. We were to meet Krystal at 5:30 and she would bring us there. When we met her, she said we were waiting for 2 more passengers. I thought, WOW only 4 people on the ship are getting a Bridge visit and we are two of them?!!

 

Then the elevator opened and there was Victor and Nancy! Krystal brought us onto the Bridge where we were greeted by Captain Wright and introduced to all the officers. We were shown around and the First Officer (who was off duty at the time) explained all the equipment to me. A call on the radio to Captain Wright reported 5 passengers missing. The Captain was very concerned. He watched the pier with binoculars and had someone call the port agent. No one in sight and the port agent said no one was at the pier. We waited a little and the Captain explained that with the turbines going, an hour delay equates to 7 or 8 thousand dollars worth of full. Not wanting to leave the passengers behind, he ordered a tender to circle the entire harbor looking for people who might be rushing back. We have sailed on ships where people had been left behind and still we sailed on time. Seeing how much Captain Wright was doing to avoid leaving anyone behind really impressed us and as passengers, we really appreciated having had a Captain like him. When the tender was about half way there, a radio call said the passengers were located onboard and the tender was called back. Since we were a little late leaving and other ships were pulling out before us, we were saying goodbye sounding the horn. Nancy sounded the first goodbye and Phyllis sounded the second goodbye. That ship tooted back again so Victor said we should toot back again. I tooted it this time. You have to press 2 buttons on the control console at the same time to sound the horn. As we were getting ready to really get under way, the Captain said he would see us at the Officers Party. We thanked him and made our way back to the cabin. It was now 6:45 PM, we hadn’t eaten all day and we missed dinner (well worth it though). We decided to run up to Kings Court and grab a bite before the party. There we had the most delicious prime rib we ever had with real good mashed potatoes, grilled tomatoes. Great served buffet dinner in 20 minutes. On our way to the Queens Room for the party, we picked up our group Captains Dinner picture and bought a nice frame for it. We sat with Victor and Nancy, sharing our picture and thoughts. They are a very nice couple. The Captain stopped over to talk a little. We had a couple of drinks and Victor and Nancy left for dinner in the Queens Grill. We left shortly after and had a drink in the Commodore Club where we listened to piano playing and then the Chart Room for one more listening to a trio play. We then went to the casino afterwards and we both won playing Black Jack.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Zipper25]

This is making me more and more excited! How on earth am I going to be able to contain myself between now and August??? I really found Cruise Critic far too early for my own good! I worked it out just now and we have 124 more sleeps yet till we set sail in August!! :(

[tandemtourer]

We are enjoying your wonderful and thorough review. Thank-you for taking the time to post such a detailed description of your trip. Only one more installment? :(

 

tandemtourer

[iceman666]

Chuck and Phyllis,

 

Thanks for part 2. Part 3 can't come quickly enough for us. We leave Southampton on Saturday 16th and cannot wait - we're so excited !

 

Hope you can manage to post part 3 before we depart as your info is really useful as well as helping to make us even more eager for Saturday.

 

Andrew and Pat

[twinkletoes915]

Please tell us about the balls! We leave for our transatlantic on 4-22, and would love to know what to pack!

Thanks,

Elly

[ciaobella]

I can't wait to go in July! I am also interested in the Balls! I also want to know if you have seen everything "That's not to be missed" and is there anything else to add to the list?!

Thank you for sharing your experience with all of us!