Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are ?

[Kynance]

17 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Bon Voyage @Kynance

Thank you Hattie! Will separately post some thoughts but arrival went smoothly & we are onboard. Mr K has ordered himself a pizza from the Lido pizzeria. 

[Millieloulou]

Driving down to Southampton this morning. No ,we are not going on a cruise 😂 We are meeting up with some lovely friends we met on the  Christmas Caribbean Cruise 2021.We are going to spend a couple of days exploring the area, before they sail on the QM2 back home.We will meet up again at Christmas.Lovely!,,

[NE John]

We spent a few hours in Cardiff today but left early with tens of thousands of teenage girls in pink cowboy hats and boas heading to the Harry Skyles concert. Total madhouse in town. 
We did get a nice tour of the Castle though and enjoyed some local cakes. 

QM2 on Friday! Can’t wait for seven nights at sea. Also, picked up a great red dragon rugby shirt to wear on the Crossing, before 6pm of course…

[Host Hattie]

Sorry that your visit clashed with Harry's but I hope you enjoyed your castle visit 

[ronpes]

Had a great day today walking round the Balmoral Estate to see the Cairns that Queen Victoria erected for her family and her beloved Albert.

Amazing.

[ronpes]

Oh, and I was also able to finally log on to our QM2 cruise and complete our boarding details etc. 

I did this at 7 AM this morning, nice and early on the first available day and was gobsmacked to see that we were allocated a boarding time of 3:45 PM !

Oh well,....it is what it is.......

[Bigmike911]

 

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Good Morning. It's July Fourth, the 247 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the (now) United States. It will be a day filled with family, food and this evening Fireworks.

 

Queen Mary 2 is in Boston today (one of the key cities in the war of Independence) for the celebration once again emphasising the strong bonds between the US and the UK which go on, and will into the future.

 

To Americans, everywhere, Happy Fourth. To the rest of the world, thanks for your friendship.

[Kynance]

@Bigmike911  & your fellow Americans - have a wonderful day today and thanks from across the pond for your friendship too! 

[Millieloulou]

Have sent best wishes to family in Ohio and friends in New York.So glad over the years we have strengthened the friendship between our two countries.

[D&N]

We're having a few days "canicule" (heatwave) just now, where temperatures never drop below 20C at any time of day. Indoors isn't too bad as there is a breeze off the sea.

My wife returned from her walk and informed that a small cruise ship was anchored off Antibes.

Marine Traffic are showing EUROPA 2 there today. Transponder programming must be mixed up between the ship and a tender. It appears to have been in the marina part of Port Vauban and may have mounted the quay at the customs post 🤣

I'm sure some of you, such as @bluemarble may find the past track mildly amusing.

[D&N]

Introducing Ursel, who has been with us since Saturday afternoon. She's still a bit frightened by all the town noises. She was raised at over 1000 metres altitude in countryside. She is exploring extensively when not catching up on her beauty sleep.
She's trying desperately to get Carmel to like her. The relationship is progressing but I think it may take another couple of days yet.

We have no travel plans. The case is surplus to our needs and awaits being moved to the cave.

 

[Host Hattie]

She's a beautiful girl, I hope she settles in well. 

[techteach]

She’s beautiful @D&N. How old is she?

[D&N]

12 minutes ago, techteach said:

She’s beautiful @D&N. How old is she?

Just over 5 months.

[NE John]

We had a nice lunch the other at our house with a new friend we met on our recent TA. He’s a wine journalist so I hope the Chianti I served with my wife’s homemade lasagna was up to snuff. All was finished so I believe so!

We meet interesting people on Cunard ships. 

[ronpes]

We are currently sitting in our hotel in Southampton with a refreshment after earlier waving goodbye to friends who sailed in Celebrity Silhouette.
 

We board “Mary” tomorrow. 
We are very much looking forward to a very relaxing week as we sail across the pond. 

[exlondoner]

12 minutes ago, ronpes said:

We are currently sitting in our hotel in Southampton with a refreshment after earlier waving goodbye to friends who sailed in Celebrity Silhouette.
 

We board “Mary” tomorrow. 
We are very much looking forward to a very relaxing week as we sail across the pond. 

Very windy tomorrow and Saturday.

[Kynance]

I’m very fortunate to have tickets for the ladies’ singles final at Wimbledon on Saturday. Judging by the weather forecast it looks like the match will be played under the roof. That’s probably going to be better for the players anyway as gusty winds are also predicted. After a hot, dry June I suppose it was typical of the British weather to do an about turn in time for the tennis! 

[Lanky Lad]

I have just had a few days away and visited Beverley (near Hull) with it's beautiful minster and Harrogate. A nice break from work and thankfully, it was dry most of the time. 

[ronpes]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Very windy tomorrow and Saturday.

Yes, I’ve just seen the weather forecast. 
Looks like we won’t be on deck for sail away then. Oh well,…it is what it is. 

[D&N]

I think we're nearly there. It's six days since Ursel's arrival and three since her first distant introduction to Carmel. When Carmel jumped up to find Ursel sleeping on 'her' blanket early this evening she made a few noises to show her displeasure, but her Mum persuaded her to curl up at the other end of the blanket. Another day or two and they'll probably be snuggling up.

The photo is deceiving, there is a much bigger size difference. Carmel being tightly curled up makes her look smaller and Urcel is sprawled out a bit more.

 

[D&N]

Went for a nice lunch yesterday to a village just inland from our town. We often get the bus there and ramble cross country by a variety of routes back to the coast.

It was a small restaurant owned by a youngish chef who apparently prepares his dishes with a nod to Basque cuisine. We don't know anything about Basque cuisine but it was all beautifully presented and very tasty.

I did plan to wear a tie but it didn't look right with the light grey linen trousers and it was too late to change. Well at least one of us looked good.

And we got the bus back too. Those heels wouldn't have handled rambling well.

 

[techteach]

@D&N Yum. Wasn’t it terribly hot?

[D&N]

@techteach In direct sun yes, but it felt surprisingly fresh yesterday. Even managed to pace Nora to a faster morning 10km than previous Sunday, which was slightly cooler.

Wearing trousers rather than shorts or three quarter lengths didn't feel at all cumbersome, and it saved stickiness of sun block. We ate outdoors in a shaded street.

[techteach]

2 hours ago, D&N said:

@techteach In direct sun yes, but it felt surprisingly fresh yesterday. Even managed to pace Nora to a faster morning 10km than previous Sunday, which was slightly cooler.

Wearing trousers rather than shorts or three quarter lengths didn't feel at all cumbersome, and it saved stickiness of sun block. We ate outdoors in a shaded street.

That looked like a nice bottle of wine…:)