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Live from the RCOA - on QM2

Whitemarsh

By Whitemarsh,
in Cunard Line

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Leucothea

Leucothea

Posted
Posted

With regard to talking about tablemates, I think it's just a matter of being tactful. I have said things about tablemates, I think once, but on crossings I was on years ago, and I tried to be polite in my descriptions, and not too precise. This is also an advantage of keeping some anonymity. Normally, however, I think one should be careful about this.

 

And, Whitemarsh, I never thought anything you said about fellow passengers was ever inappropriate in any way, quite the contrary. I don't see how anyone would think that.

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soobs

soobs

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Fantastic really enjoyed reading on a wet Sunday afternoon in the UK. Keep it up I will check in after work each night.

On our first rip to Oz we stayed a week in Cairns and went to Port Douglas to do an afternoon trip out to the Reef - until we saw the morning trip arriving back green so gave it a miss.

 

The lady with the sunglasses reminds me of the lady on the December QM2 crossing last year, she had long blond hair and appeared to be travelling alone (she ate alond anyway) is she one and the same do you think??

The snorklling sounded amazing would love to see some piccies when you return Oz is very close to our hearts, OH lived there as a young boy and we have friends and reletives dotted about. Roll on 2013 our next trip.

 

Keep up the good work and enjoy

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Pushka

Pushka

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Nice to see you back Peter.:p

 

I was hoping you hadn't seen the comments while you were in Cairns, and good to see the comments have been banished forever from this fabulous blog. Much better than locking the thread, thanks Mods!

 

We were in Cairns a few years ago and it didnt really inspire me much, although it improves out of the city. And of course the rainforest is beautiful.

 

So, Darwin in a few days. After a bit of R and R on the ship. A shame about the memorabilia only being restocked in Sydney as it wont do much for those people in between. Maybe they still have small sizes available for me though.:D

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Pushka

Pushka

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A question for those of you still accessing your personaliser. I noticed on my e-ticket that the itinerary states: March 7 - full day and evening (in Sydney). Is this an error or do we not disembark first thing in the morning?

Itinerary.jpg

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Aussieflyer

Aussieflyer

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My understanding is that passengers disembarking will do so on Wednesday 7th so that new passengers can embark on the 7th and then also remain in Sydney to depart on the 8th. I have been on cruises where this has happened before and am pretty sure that this will be the arrangement. Those who are on QM2 now and disembarking in Sydney will no doubt be able to confirm what will happen.

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Whitemarsh

Whitemarsh

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What a wonderful day it's been so far. I woke up at the very civilised time of 8:45 and lay in bed for the next 15 minutes. And why not, after the last two hectic days, today and tomorrow are going to be all about me….. me relaxing by the pool, relaxing in the spa etc etc. Robin ordered some tea and we enjoyed a cup prior to getting ready for the day. As the two days where we were not allowed to use the laundries had passed, Robin went down to the laundry on deck 10, near stairwell A, to put some washing on. He returned shortly and advised me that as he was leaving the suite he was stopped by another passenger in the hall who had wished him good luck with his laundry and told him that there was a lineup for the laundry machines. I told him to send it away to get washed, there's no point wasting your holiday queuing to use a washing machine. I suppose if one were on a world cruise then it wouldn't make much of a difference but if you're onboard for a shorter period of time why spend it doing chores you do at home.

 

Leaving the stateroom I made my way down to the Canyon Ranch Spa as I had a massage appointment at 9:30. After checking in I wait in the waiting lounge and watch the people go by. Whilst I'm there I think about the different artwork on each staircase. Staircase D has the worst artwork of them all. The paintings are all of food items and the technical ability of the painters seems to decrease with each level you climb. There's one painting, I not sure on which deck, that looks like a child painted it. Knowing what I know about modern art it's probably the most expensive of them all. Stairwell C has some excellent paintings, all of ships. This voyage I've found we use staircase C a lot. It's the nearest one aft to our cabin and ends at deck 7. We then hang a right, then a left, and walk through Kings Court down to the Princess Grill. Speaking of routes on this ship, it occurred to me last night that there are some lovely vistas that we don't see much as we're in the Grills. As I never go to the Britannia Restaurant, I never take the walk from the Britannia restaurant through to the Royal Court Theatre after dinner. We simply go down stairwell D from the Princess Grill, which as you can imagine (what with the children's paintings and all) isn't as glamourous. Traversing that lovely corridor down on deck 2 each night would be a nice thing to do I think.

 

The massage was not as relaxing as I imagined it would be. It was more like a remedial massage as the therapist was getting out the knots and focusing on tension points. Still, that will probably make me feel better in days to come. After the massage I use the Canyon Ranch Spa. I follow the same process as I did before; Herbal sauna, rub ice all over, Swedish sauna followed by steam room. The steam room is noticeably hotter today than it was a couple of days ago. I remember the conversation I had with the lady in the steam room the other day, she had mentioned that a couple of people had complained that it was too hot and that they'd cooled it down. I'm glad they've increased the heat as it's a proper steam room now, it was probably too mild the other day. Afterwards I use one of the showers. It's not like a normal shower as you have a choice of where you want the water to come from, there's 'rainfall' and 'sideways' and about three other options. I decide to go for rainfall, the water is on the cold side so I get out before the rain-shower has finished. The next step, as you will recall, is lying on the metal bars in the pool while the bubbles and jets do their thing. It's very relaxing and it occurs to me that this is exactly what a cruise on Queen Mary 2 should be like, relaxing and completely at one's one discretiion (as in do what you want - when you want). There are four ladies in the centre of the pool using the spa-like ring which blows bubbles and has other jets going. They are chatting away and having a very good time. I notice that of the four women, the three ladies of a certain age all have short hair whilst the younger one has long hair. It occurs to me that there is some consistency to this (on and off QM2) and I wonder why that is.

 

There's only so much time I can spend in the spa before I want to move on, and so I get changed and head back to the stateroom. On my way I near the laundries on deck 10 and overhear a penetrating voice say " Excuse me, I'm in line here as well, you know". "It's okay, she just doing the ironing" comes the response. As I pass the entry to the laundry I see the lady from the catamaran (remember, the "What are you doing? We've been looking for you" lady) sitting on the floor. "Oh okay then, I just get paranoid" she says. Oh dear, it's only 10:30 and already the laundry has descended into Cunard's version of fight-club. I wonder what would have happened if the other person had in fact pushed in. I don't imagine catamaran lady would have taken it sitting down.

 

Returning to the suite Robin informs me that he's been down to Sir Samuel's and that I'll never guess who came up and joined him for a coffee? Well it was Mrs Rynd the Commodore's wife. He says that she has been following and enjoying the blog. Robin said she was really nice and they had a good chat. Well that's pretty cool isn't it. We went down to Sir Samuel's (as I haven't had a coffee there yet) and Robin ordered two cappuccinos. The service was really good at Sir Samuel's, they give you water and biscotti with your coffee order and are very attentive. It was quite busy as well, so it's obviously a popular place. The fact that you can sit and watch the ocean from the windows probably has quite a bit to do with it. Whilst we are having our coffee the Commodore's midday announcement comes on and we listen as the Commodore tells us we are about to pass through the Prince Charles Channel and head up to the Torres Strait. In some parts of the channel the water depth under the keel will be as low as five metres and in some locations only three metres! For this reason we are going to be going very slowly at particular times. We're informed that by 10:30 we'll be out of the woods and will speed up accordingly.

 

We decided to go and see what voyages we might want to book in the future and set off in search of the Voyage sales office. On our way out we see Jane having a coffee and we stop to chat. Jane informs us she will be late to lunch today. We continue on our way and by the time we've reached the Queens Room we realise we're going in the wrong direction. We didn't get little maps in our stateroom on the first day and I haven't been bothered to pick one up from the pursers desk. At this point we're getting pretty good with refamilairising ourselves with the ship so I probably won't bother. We headed forward but for some reason went up to deck 3 and found ourselves near the shops. We ran into some of the 'Dorothian's' as William would say, and have a good chat about the days events so far. They invited us to lunch at the pub but we declined; we'll probably do that later.

 

After the wrong turns and chats with 'Dorothians' it was 12:30 and time for lunch. Heading into the Princess Grill we are met at the door by the head waiter and escorted to our seats. Our chairs are pulled out for us and the napkins unfurled and laid across our laps. The flowers on the table have changed and each table has a lovely red rose. Louise hasn't arrived yet (and Jane will be late) so we take our time with the menus and chat with the waitstaff. They are very nice indeed. In fact they always seem very pleased to see us for breakfast and lunch, that's something I've noticed over the past couple of days. Louise duly arrives and we cheekily chastise her for being late. She looks lovely and is wearing an outfit that has shades of soft pink and we compliment her on it. Some colours just work really well on some people. I know purple works well on me. I mention the roses and Louise informs me that 4000 roses were loaded in Fremantle. They must have been in cold storage somewhere as they look perfect. Jane eventually turns up and we all enjoy a very relaxed lunch.

 

Louise and Robin discuss the course the ship is taking today. They have both been outside on their balconies and noticed that the wake of the ship is curling this way and that, like a snake. It's a good thing the pilot is onboard as clearly this is a very demanding route that we're taking. I've been out on the balcony today as well and the first thing I noticed was that the heat fogged up my camera lens. The second thing was the lovely light green colour of the water, it really is magical. There are lots of little islands dotted through the scene and we are not very far away from them. I'm glad the ship is going via this route instead of just heading out to sea, there is so much more for the passengers to see. Robin mentions that when he went to the library this morning he was told by the librarian that they still can not find the Cruise Critic book. He also reports that half the books to loan have been already lent out and that people are getting kind of narky with what's left.

 

After lunch we head back down to the sales office. The Circumnavgation of New Zealand is selling out like hotcakes so we get some pricing on our preferred category. On the way back we pass the the Grand Lobby where a crowd has gathered for the 'Groovy Choir'. It's billed as a 'contemporary repertoire from the Bee Gees to Bacharach, with live acoustic musicians under the direction of Mark Hodgson. Everyone is welcome to come and sing along'. Well it's obviously a very popular activity as there is quite a crowd. We listen to the singing as we pass. Everyone looks like they're enjoying themselves, which is the main thing.

 

Back in our stateroom we get changed and head down to the pool on deck 8 for some swimming and sun baking. The pool has about four people in it already when we get in. Strangely, the people in the pool don't swim back and forth in a straight line, they swim all aver the place for no reason whatsoever. I'm trying to do some breaststroke laps and the other swimmers just cut right across you. It's very weird and ends up with three or four of us all heading into the same corner of the pool leaving the other side completely empty. Oh well, different rules for different pools I guess. Whilst I'm doing laps I do a double-take on a man leaving his towel etc by the side of the pool and getting in the spa. It looks like Harold from Neighbours. I ask Robin for his opinion and he agrees that the man looks very much like Harold. I continue doing laps and on the reverse lap continue to try and work out if it is Harold or not. Ian & Russell (I've been calling them Ian & Jordy by mistake) from the RCOA roll-call stop by and we ask them if they think the man looks like Harold. They agree he does and we discuss the day so far. They continue on their way and the man in question gets out of the spa and makes his way across to the other side. I decide to simply ask him (after all, the worse he can say is no he's not) and so say "Excuse me, are you Harold from Neighbours?". 'Yes, I was" he replies. I ask him if he's enjoying his trip and he says he is. Well there you go. Forget about the lady with the dark sunglasses, there is an actual celebrity onboard.

 

We get out and relax on the sun lounges. Robin points out one of the Q1 suites and informs me that the blonde lady with the dark sunglasses is in that suite. He knows because he saw her on the balcony once. You will remember her from the previous day when we passed her in Sir Samuals. She has blonde hair in a bob and wears dark sunglasses day and night. She's accompanied by a gentlemen who I think was giving her some kind of expensive gift (when we saw them in Sir Samuals) as she said "ooh thank you" in one of those well spoken Australian accents that you used to hear on Sons & Daughters in the 80's (think Pat the rat) but aren't so common now. In any case, we still can't figure out who she is.

 

After a swim and a sun bake we head back to our suite via the steps up to deck 11. When we reach the Grills deck we notice that everyone is enjoying little tubs of ice-cream. It certainly hot so I ask for some too, which they duly order up. It's very nice on the Grills deck. We haven't spent any time here on this voyage but we will do so from now on. They have food available, cold drinks and a bar set-up. What they can't make I believe they order up from the Terrace Pool Bar.

 

We head down to the Queens Grill lounge for afternoon tea. Our usual seats are available and we watch whilst the head waiter informs the staff of which sections of the lounge they will be working in. Afternoon tea is very nice, as always, and today we have Darjeeling again as we quite liked it from the other day. The woman that warned Robin this morning that the laundry had a line up stops by to see if he managed to get his washing done. He tells her that he just got Cunard to do it. They discuss the various trevails of the laundry (apparently a machine has been broken since Southampton) and she wishes him good day.

 

We decide not to the go to the gym this afternoon, in homage to our day of rest. This gives us a bit of time to rest until the FOD meeting at five. Perusing the Daily Programme I see that tonight's headline entertainment is 'The Royal Cunard Singers & Dancers' doing a variety act with David DiMuzio as a special guest artist. There's a show at 7pm & 8:45pm. We decide not to go but I make a mental note to stop missing all the shows. All we've seen so far has been David DiMuzio. That's got to change or we'll up getting off this ship without having seen any shows.

 

The FOD meeting is enjoyable as always. It's a bit weird in that we meet at five, all dressed in day wear, and there are other passengers in the Commodore Club already dressed for dinner. Oh well, nothing we can do about that.

 

Having changed for dinner (into suits as it's semi-formal tonight - the first one for this voyage) we make our way down to the Princess Grill. As requested yesterday, our table has changed from a four seater back to a round six seater. They have evenly placed the four seats around the table and I have to say that Jane was right on the money with this one. There is much more room for everyone. It's nice of the staff to indulge our table fetish. So far we've gone from a six, to a four and back to a six again. Louise arrives and looks smashing in an animal-print inspired top and matching shoes. She's wearing a gorgeous necklace set with the most amazing stones. I compliment her on it and she tells me the stones are citrine. Louise tells us that she too went past the 'Groovy Choir' and they duly inspired her to pay a visit to Howard Stern to cause some mischief and she relates the hilarious tale of her shopping expedition there. Jane arrives after the end of the headline act and all enjoy a very nice dinner. Tonight I order the soufflé as a starter and the Peking-marinated Barbary duck Breast with sweet soy and plum sauce as a main. Louise, as an experience Cunard passenger, knows there is always fruit plate available and so orders that for dessert. We follow her example as it's such a good idea for such warm weather. The two tables for two across the way have followed our lead from last night and pre-ordered the crepes suzette.

 

I've been told at the FOD that one of the Dorothians (who's also in Princess Grill) has a partner who is not endowed with tremendous height unlike the other partner. No one has apparently seen the smaller partner so I make my way down the runway to see if I can catch a glimpse of the more petite partner. Happily I catch a glimpse but my direction down the runway takes me past the maitre d's desk and out into stairwell D. So as not to be too transparent I have a quick look in the Queens Grill to see if I can see Ian & Russell and upon not finding them make my way back into the Princess Grill. On the way in I see our ex-mystery table mates seated at their new table. I wave and smile and they motion me to stop. The lady tells me she is missing us terribly and being in a cheeky mood I respond "Well you mustn't focus on the past. You must concentrate on the future and try to enjoy your cruise". I'm only joking, well half joking. If they're missing us so much why did they ask to move. In any case, I let them know I'm joking and wish them a good night and return to the table. Tonight everyone had their funny-hats on and the table rocked with laughter. We were in such a silly mood that we even found cause to find the refilling of Louise's mineral water glass hilarious. Such good fun. It turns out that our table for four, on a table for six, is the perfect combination after all.

 

Next stop bed. It's been a wonderfuly relaxing day and I've enjoyed every minute of it. The staff have been wonderful , the food excellent and the ship a dream.

 

As I write, the ship is currently doing 22.2 kts with 659.3 nautical miles to go to reach Darwin. The outside air temperate is 81.6 degrees Fahrenheit and the sea conditions slight. We have already passed Cape York and are in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

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Bell Boy

Bell Boy

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Hello Peter, I know it's early days yet, but I hope you'r keeping some notes back to be used at a later date for a QM2 'Review' on this site.

 

Those last few Cunard/QM2 Reviews on this site are ridiculous ! ( particularly tulloch 123) However, I'm sure we can rely on you, in your inimitable way, to put the record straight.

 

Bell Boy ;)

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Leucothea

Leucothea

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I notice that of the four women, the three ladies of a certain age all have short hair whilst the younger one has long hair. It occurs to me that there is some consistency to this (on and off QM2) and I wonder why that is.

 

Traditionally, older women always seemed to have shorter hair when they reached a "certain age", I suppose because they thought long hair wasn't dignified for an older woman, and perhaps also because they were told shorter hair gave the face a more uplifted illusion. Many women still do this, but many also now keep their hair long, or mid-length, especially in places like NYC, LA, London. Also, women are staying younger looking longer because of healthier habits, and then of course some resort to facial fillers, botox, and surgery. You can make yourself look old at 20 if you want to, so the same is true in reverse. It's an attitude.

 

Louise tells us that she too went past the 'Groovy Choir' and they duly inspired her to pay a visit to Howard Stern to cause some mischief...

 

For a minute there I thought you were referring to our famous "shock jock" radio host Howard Stern...

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Pushka

Pushka

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Another wonderful blog, I am floating in the tropics with you.

 

I am going to break the theory on short hair and age. I have always had short hair and the one time I grew it as a younger girl it didn't work. Even at my age, which shall not be spoken, ;) but it is still as thick as in my twenties, and it was very thick back then. Though I am not a fan of long hair on older ladies as I think a short bob cut or similar looks more sophisticated.

 

Its interesting your comment about the Britannia and it does surprise me that Grills guests don't have some opportunity to experience the ambience of that room even though the service is different.

 

Oh dear, I wouldn't know a neighbours star if I met them. Well, maybe Kylie I guess. And Jason. And thereby ends my knowledge of neighbours. They were in Neighbours weren't they? :o.

 

It is rather cool to see you have a highly regarded Cunarder reading your blog. Justly deserved too.

 

I'm not quite down to single figures until I join you, but getting there. Just wish I'd booked Fremantle and not Adelaide embarkation but I didn't think I'd be as excited about this trip as I am!

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Aussieflyer

Aussieflyer

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Hello Peter, I know it's early days yet, but I hope you'r keeping some notes back to be used at a later date for a QM2 'Review' on this site.

 

Those last few Cunard/QM2 Reviews on this site are ridiculous ! ( particularly tulloch 123) However, I'm sure we can rely on you, in your inimitable way, to put the record straight.

 

Bell Boy ;)

 

Each cruiser has his or her own view or experience of a ship. I do not consider them "ridiculous" at all. Because they do not paint the QM2 in rosy tones as the most wonderful experience in the world does not mean that they are not valuable. Each to his own. The engine problems and the axing of Mauritius would have certainly taken the gloss off my trip.

I enjoy reading Whitemarsh's blog posts but just because he is enjoying the ship does not mean that everyone will and they are perfectly entitled to make their own opinions known. As with all reviews one should look for the middle - pay less attention to the overly glowing and negative and more attention to the realistic.

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Whitemarsh

Whitemarsh

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Hello Peter, I know it's early days yet, but I hope you'r keeping some notes back to be used at a later date for a QM2 'Review' on this site.

 

Those last few Cunard/QM2 Reviews on this site are ridiculous ! ( particularly tulloch 123) However, I'm sure we can rely on you, in your inimitable way, to put the record straight.

 

Bell Boy ;)

 

I will put write a review. At this point it's been a wonderful seven days and we're having a great time. The food & service has been excellent, the company (table mates) to die for and the ship herself is just spectacular - what more could anyone ask for?

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