Back on Queen Victoria

[foodsvcmgr]

I’ve noticed on HAL and Celebrity the last few years that the twenty something’s generally made a great effort to dress up in very fancy attire for formal nights when sadly many of the older crowd couldn’t be bothered.

[ajpeter]

9 hours ago, DaisyUK said:

Great, thank you. We will be in 7150. Will be following along vicariously and looking forward to your reports/comments.

 

That is a wonderful suite you choose. Have fun and enjoy. When are you sailing? we are leaving on the 3th of August in cabin 7051

[D&N]

We attended a family wedding in the spring. Everyone was well dressed, but we were particularly impressed by two young men in their early twenties and their girlfriends.

They are our cousins (technically first cousins once removed). Both were wearing three piece lounge suits and their ties and pocket squares matched the outfits that their girlfriends were wearing.

Apparently the style guru of the group is the younger of the girlfriends who insists that outfits are coordinated if they attend formal events as a group.

She boasts that there was an event in her family involving thirty-two couples and every couple wore outfits to coordinate with their partners.

[NE John]

8 minutes ago, D&N said:

We attended a family wedding in the spring. Everyone was well dressed, but we were particularly impressed by two young men in their early twenties and their girlfriends.

They are our cousins (technically first cousins once removed). Both were wearing three piece lounge suits and their ties and pocket squares matched the outfits that their girlfriends were wearing.

Apparently the style guru of the group is the younger of the girlfriends who insists that outfits are coordinated if they attend formal events as a group.

She boasts that there was an event in her family involving thirty-two couples and every couple wore outfits to coordinate with their partners.

This echoes what I’ve been saying about my interactions with folks who are in their 20’s-30’s that they would love the opportunity to get dressed up and have an elegant time. The Cunard Gala nights caught their interest. 
Hopefully we’re seeing a reaction away from the Covid sweatpants days back to people caring more about how they look like. 
Once summer is over, I can also get a better sense of the NYC office dress and looking forward to workers looking professional again. 

[DaisyUK]

2 hours ago, ajpeter said:

That is a wonderful suite you choose. Have fun and enjoy. When are you sailing? we are leaving on the 3th of August in cabin 7051

Thank you. Hope you have a fabulous time. We have to wait until November

[david,Mississauga]

5 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Now I def. know how to post photos, be prepared 😄, although no passengers will feature. Another photo for info.

 

 

The list we had on the QE in June had only about half the choices as on the above list. That wasn't a problem, though, because we chose Bombay gin form the list and our request for Baileys was honoured. I did wonder, however, why the list was so much shorter than on the QM2 and QV.

[Victoria2]

Obviously I didn’t see every passenger on the ship last night, but I could count on one hand the daywear. The restaurant was a picture of black and white elegance, and walking around the ship afterwards, there were very few not Gala'd up. Lovely.
 

[Victoria2]

14 hours ago, ajpeter said:

That is a wonderful suite you choose. Have fun and enjoy. When are you sailing? we are leaving on the 3th of August in cabin 7051

We stayed in 7171, the mirror image of 7051, earlier on in the year. As you say, wonderful.🙂

[DaisyUK]

2 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

We stayed in 7171, the mirror image of 7051, earlier on in the year. As you say, wonderful.🙂

Do you mean the mirror image of 7050? Hope the seas have calmed down!

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, DaisyUK said:

Do you mean the mirror image of 7050? Hope the seas have calmed down!

Oops, replied to wrong post and mixed up numbers.

We stayed in 7171 which is the mirror image of 7150.

 

Weather has been very kind today. Mixed sunshine and fluffy clouds and there are actually people wandering around the ship. It was almost a ghost ship at times yesterday. We found comfy chairs and read and tried not to gaze at the horizon too much as it moved up and down out of view such was the rocking and rolling. I found it great fun but I might have been in the minority of thought there.🙂

[Victoria2]

Having packed everything including the kitchen sink, I forgot to pack the plug.

 

Heads up on Cunard medical centre.

 

The sanitisers around the ship, which I have been  using assiduously, have caused an eczema flare up and even with emollient which I did pack, my hands and fingers have cracked open, with a knock on effect elsewhere.

 

Cue the Cunard doctor.

They haven’t got the ultimate steroid cream I have at home but they do have a strong one and some strong anti histamine tablets but, the main point here is, if they have no effect, they can detail their port agent to go and source the steroid cream I use, from the local pharmacy  for me. It helped to have my NHS app which details my medications, from steroid cream to Covid jabs and I could refer to the app when filling forms out.

Worth knowing.

 

Just another day in the life of bad skin issues and please, if you see me dodging the sanitisers to protect my open wounds, don’t  give me any black looks.🙂

[exlondoner]

Perhaps Cunard could get the medical centre to sort out their IT in quiet moments.

[techteach]

@Victoria2 I hope it isn’t painful, but I bet the sanitizer on broken skin doesn’t feel good. I’m glad they’ve sorted out a solution for you in the next port. What book are you reading as you relax on your veranda?

[Pushpit]

3 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

They haven’t got the ultimate steroid cream I have at home

Do you mean Ultravate? That's halobetasol propionate, and the nearest alternative is Temovate. I work in this area and normally I wouldn't advise the use of hand sanitisers for someone at risk from an eczma flare up, since that inhibits the immune process big time, compared to the not well identified benefits of sanitisers. It is worth having a conversation with your GP about this. Sanitisers have a part to play with combatting norovirus but isn't a big help with respiratory viruses as far as we currently know. Your preferred soap (Pears is often used) and water would be more effective anyway.

[Victoria2]

10 hours ago, Pushpit said:

Do you mean Ultravate? That's halobetasol propionate, and the nearest alternative is Temovate. I work in this area and normally I wouldn't advise the use of hand sanitisers for someone at risk from an eczma flare up, since that inhibits the immune process big time, compared to the not well identified benefits of sanitisers. It is worth having a conversation with your GP about this. Sanitisers have a part to play with combatting norovirus but isn't a big help with respiratory viruses as far as we currently know. Your preferred soap (Pears is often used) and water would be more effective anyway.

No, no not halobetasol but I agree with sanitisers and skin allergies. Hard to ignore the disgusted looks of others but I will have to.🙂

 

[Victoria2]

12 hours ago, techteach said:

@Victoria2 I hope it isn’t painful, but I bet the sanitizer on broken skin doesn’t feel good. I’m glad they’ve sorted out a solution for you in the next port. What book are you reading as you relax on your veranda?

It is painful but it will ease. It’s the itch which drives you crazy at times. ☹️

Mybook is a Simon Sebag Montifiore novel, Sashenka

[tacticalbanjo]

I think a lot of people don't realise that washing with soap and water is far more effective than the sanitisers. I tend to dodge the sanitisers because I prefer to wash my hands properly before consuming food and drink so I don't judge anyone else doing so. Unless I'm on a ship with handwashing stations and spy someone walking past without using either!

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I think a lot of people don't realise that washing with soap and water is far more effective than the sanitisers. I tend to dodge the sanitisers because I prefer to wash my hands properly before consuming food and drink so I don't judge anyone else doing so. Unless I'm on a ship with handwashing stations and spy someone walking past without using either!

1000% agree. We don't use sanitisers when about to do surgical procedures, we wash our hands, as everyone would expect. Sanitisers have a limited role when soap and water are not available, but on any cruise ship sinks and hot water are readily available, in cabins and in public areas. Incidentally, washing hands after eating, as well as before, is a really good way to help control the spread of noro and many other bugs.

[Host Hattie]

I hope your hands improve soon and the sea has calmed down.

[Victoria2]

On 7/25/2023 at 4:06 PM, exlondoner said:

Lucky old you. We are on again next month, hopefully without the benefit of Covid.

 

As there is another thread about this, do let us know what the party position is, even if you don’t attend.

 

How was embarkation?

There’s a WC cocktail party tonight. We shan’t be going. If there’s a smaller do later on in the cruise, we might attend but this will be busy!

[Victoria2]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I hope your hands improve soon and the sea has calmed down.

Thanks. An absolutely beautiful day today. Couldn’t wish for better. 
I have taken a photo of my hands for my dermatologist to look at as I happen to have a six monthly appointment in two weeks.

[techteach]

Sashenka looks like an interesting story. Is it well written @Victoria2?

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Thanks. An absolutely beautiful day today. Couldn’t wish for better. 
I have taken a photo of my hands for my dermatologist to look at as I happen to have a six monthly appointment in two weeks.

 

Happy to hear that it's a good day. I hope your hands heal quickly. 

 

Shopping question. Does the ship sell any kind of Cunard journal, maybe with the ship's name on it? I very much miss the Ocean Books journals with the wonderful pictures. For a while after they were gone, the journals that were available looked cheap. But the ones I've seen more recently on QM2 and QE are pretty good. They're red or black with the ship's name on the front. Anything like that?

[Victoria2]

10 minutes ago, techteach said:

Sashenka looks like an interesting story. Is it well written @Victoria2?

It’s very well written but not a book to be picked up lightly. I love Russian history and also love his wife's ( Santa Montefiore) books so thought I’d give this one a try. Google him. He has a very impressive entry in Wikipedia.

[NE John]

23 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

There’s a WC cocktail party tonight. We shan’t be going. If there’s a smaller do later on in the cruise, we might attend but this will be busy!

Good decision.
The World Club shindig on our TA was too much like “Times Square as the theaters are letting out” commotion. I like a calm drink.