Bon Voyage Bobby1119 !!

[Transatlantic Tom]

Hi Bobby:

 

With the January Crossing underway you will soon be making your way aboard QE2 for your World Cruise !!!

 

Have a great time, and take many notes because I'm looking forward to hearing some of your stories regarding Panama, Sydney, Hong Kong, etc. over a drink or two during the crossing from Southampton in April !!!

[cunardqueen]

Indeed !!! Bon Voyage greetings from across the pond to you Bobby as you prepare for the big daddy of cruises... QE2 is coming to get you!!!:eek:

Will be thinking of you on Monday and for the next 4 months as well as taking an even greater interest in the web cam views.

Hope you have a super time, you deserve it !!!!

cheers :D

Myles

[bobby1119]

Hi Bobby:

 

With the January Crossing underway you will soon be making your way aboard QE2 for your World Cruise !!!

 

Have a great time, and take many notes because I'm looking forward to hearing some of your stories regarding Panama, Sydney, Hong Kong, etc. over a drink or two during the crossing from Southampton in April !!!

 

Thank you, Tom. I am very excited and think I am about ready for this epic adventure. I am going to attempt a few cruisecritic postings if possible. I am looking forward to meeting you and your wife in April. I have your cabin. Be well in the meantime. We are both fortunate to have this grand ship still with us.

 

Bobby

[bobby1119]

Indeed !!! Bon Voyage greetings from across the pond to you Bobby as you prepare for the big daddy of cruises... QE2 is coming to get you!!!:eek:

Will be thinking of you on Monday and for the next 4 months as well as taking an even greater interest in the web cam views.

Hope you have a super time, you deserve it !!!!

cheers :D

Myles

 

Myles, Thank you for thinking of me and sending a hearty Bon Voyage across the pond. I am excited by the prospect that the old girl whom I call "Herself" (with a capital H) is on her way to fetch me. I will be in touch with you during the voyage.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Bobby

[venicecruiser]

Bobby - Have a wonderful time! See you in April..............

 

 

Claudia

[Rok4u2]

Bobby1119,

I too am looking forward to hearing "all about it" after I board in Southampton on 21 Apr for the voyage to FTL.

[bobby1119]

Bobby - Have a wonderful time! See you in April..............

 

 

Claudia

 

Thanks, Claudia. I'll see you in the Yacht Club at 10 PM on sailing night. I think that is what is planned.

 

Be well until then & thanks for the kind wishes.

 

Bobby

[bobby1119]

Bobby1119,

I too am looking forward to hearing "all about it" after I board in Southampton on 21 Apr for the voyage to FTL.

 

I am looking forward to meeting you, too. From what I have heard, the world cruise stories (passenger antics) cannot be made up. During this cruise I will take notes and also verify some legendary stories from past world cruises.

 

...and then I must finally meet Bea!

 

See you soon.

 

Bobby

[travel-to-go]

Bobby,

Let me add my best wishes to the others. I know how much you have been looking forward to this, and it has been so much fun to share your enthusiasm and your retirement!

 

Have a marvelous time, and the Commodore tells me, don't play Bridge with Bea unless your last name happens to be Sharif or Goren!

 

Karie,

who wishes you Bon Voyage (soon!) They come preparing the way for you- those on the WCC.

[Louise D]

Bobby, hope you are packed and ready to go.

 

Just about everyone on board the QE2 World Cruise is eccentric, so you will have fun. But to get the ball rolling, make sure you go to the "Talent" Contest. There seems to be one about every couple of weeks during the voyage. With luck, the "Diva" will be on board again this year - quite an experience to hear her singing at the Talent contest. For the first couple of voyages I did not go to the Talent contest, and when I heard there was a "Diva" on board signing books she had written about her travels and singing I thought that the "Diva" really was a famous opera singer. I think it is really nice that the QE2 keeps alive some of the old traditions such as passenger talent contests, even though some acts are embarrassing. Of course in the old days of the ocean liners there was much more of an obligation on the passengers to make their own entertainment, and this continues on the QE2. A few weeks at sea on the World Cruise is a good opportunity for personal reflection.

 

See you soon, Louise.

[Transatlantic Tom]

Thanks, Claudia. I'll see you in the Yacht Club at 10 PM on sailing night. I think that is what is planned.

 

Be well until then & thanks for the kind wishes.

 

Bobby

 

Bobby:

 

For our "Spring Crossing Club/CC Boards group" get-together...that'll probably be The Chart Room (think of the Queen Mary piano) on Sailing Day (April 21) at 10 PM - it's a little easier to meet the "members" of our club while not competing with the music in the Yacht Club (which many of us end up in eventually, don't we ???)...

 

Meet again first full day at sea (April 22) at 7 PM in the Champagne Bar...

 

We don't want to miss you - or Claudia - after all !!!

[bobby1119]

Bobby, hope you are packed and ready to go.

 

Just about everyone on board the QE2 World Cruise is eccentric, so you will have fun. But to get the ball rolling, make sure you go to the "Talent" Contest. There seems to be one about every couple of weeks during the voyage. With luck, the "Diva" will be on board again this year - quite an experience to hear her singing at the Talent contest. For the first couple of voyages I did not go to the Talent contest, and when I heard there was a "Diva" on board signing books she had written about her travels and singing I thought that the "Diva" really was a famous opera singer. I think it is really nice that the QE2 keeps alive some of the old traditions such as passenger talent contests, even though some acts are embarrassing. Of course in the old days of the ocean liners there was much more of an obligation on the passengers to make their own entertainment, and this continues on the QE2. A few weeks at sea on the World Cruise is a good opportunity for personal reflection.

 

See you soon, Louise.

 

Louise,

 

Thank you for the good wishes. I am completely organized and almost fully packed. I think I overpacked, but what the heck. I am filled with both excitement and apprehension. I know it will be the adventure of a lifetime. I owe you thanks, Louise, for the many times you surfed into the board and answered my (way too many) questions. I am looking forward to meeting you. When exactly do you embark? LA or SFO? Please let me know so that we can confirm a get together.

 

Again, thanks & bon voyage to you too!

 

Bobby

[bobby1119]

Bobby,

Let me add my best wishes to the others. I know how much you have been looking forward to this, and it has been so much fun to share your enthusiasm and your retirement!

 

Have a marvelous time, and the Commodore tells me, don't play Bridge with Bea unless your last name happens to be Sharif or Goren!

 

Karie,

who wishes you Bon Voyage (soon!) They come preparing the way for you- those on the WCC.

 

Karie,

 

Thank you for wishing me a good trip. I have been very moved by the kindness of so many of the good people who appear on the Cunard message board. They have all been so helpful. It is, indeed, like a big family.

 

I am looking forward with an open mind to the cruise. I am excited, for it is a lifetime dream come true; I am also filled with some apprehension about being away alone and so far away from home for so long (and the typical things to worry about such as the house, the mail, the bills, etc.)

 

I may test out the dreaded "to wear jeans - or not to wear jeans" dilema and put that issue to bed once and for all. I have a pair of Abercrombie jeans that have manufactured tears and shreds. Do you think this will work? LOL. I will wear them when I meet Bea!!!!!

 

Seriously, I will attempt a posting from time to time if the costs permit. Be well in the meantime, and hold down the fort! And be sure especially to keep Kindlychap in line.

 

Bobby,

Who hopes to meet Karie someday on a Cunard queen! ***

 

***The relative clause after the signature is a registered trademark of Karie. Used by permission of the author!

[travel-to-go]

Bobby,

First let's put to bed right now the idea that you are (or will be) "all alone." You are among friends, my dear. these are the same people (give or take a few) that got me through the illness and death of my father, and certain job stresses (and are still having to listen to my whines now, without the cheese!)

While the names and embarkation dates and places may change, by and large, the CC'ers you will be on board with have followed your fears and excitement, and shared your highs and lows. You, my dear, are far from alone. Do not be afraid to approach our finest memebrs, here or on board if you feels the pangs of homesickness, or suddenly feel overwhelmed at how much money you have spent/are spending. we have all been there my dear! (well, except for the idle rich amongst us, who are really few and far between, despite appearences) I think most of our cruise critics on this World Cruise (and segments) will firmly agree with what I have said. If worst comes to worst, get on line. You have friends here, who DO understand that although you have embarked upon an adventrure that most of us would be insanely jealous of (and sell our grandmothers were it possible to trade her for a World Cruise) we do realize that it is scary, overwhelming at times, and even possibly boring once in a while. You will not be surrounded by those things which are most familiar to you, and you may well think wistfully of your old "safe" life teaching. Change is scary to all of us, even good change! You will question your choice and your "reckless" decision to spend this money. You will fill you mind with "what ifs..." for the future.

Don't be afraid to talk about it. Don't suffer in silence and let these fears take on a life of their own, looming ever larger, and paralyzing you with fear and indecision. What you will be (and are) feeling is prefectly normal. It only seems like you are the only one in the world with such problems. Trust me, you are not. It's only when you let it take over that it looms monstrous and irrepressible.

Print this out. When you start to indulge in self-doubt and second-guessing your decision to do this, take it out and remind yourself what the wise and sage karie (who, me?<G>) has declared. You are not alone. Nor are you odd, different or strange in comparison to others, who have probably felt the same thing but thought people would think them nuts for vocalizing that they have doubts about the prudence of "blowing it all on a world cruise!"~What you are doing is something most people would never have the guts to do! You are living the dream, my dear. Do not let it overwhelm you. Enjoy, even the doubts. They are what remind us that we are, indeed, alive! How boring life would be if it only had the good times, and never the bad. We would never know how high was high, if we had never experienced the depth of low.

 

As for the dreaded torn and shredded jeans... Be careful who you wear them around. Despite the wonderful people on this board, a few would throw you overboard...AFTER tarring and feathering, then kee-hauling you through the barnacles of the crusted underbelly of the ship for such an affront! Nay! do not even wear them in the shower! The walls have eyes! (kinky, huh?)

 

Or OTOH, Wear what you want! You pays your money, you takes your chances! All those other guys in the tux jackets? Just snap your fingers in their face and yell imperiously, "Waiter!Waiter" And more impatiently, and insistently "*****!" Then (a little more quietly, but still impudently) "I'M so sorry! I thought you were my WAITER, the way you're dressed!" Then smirk. whirl on your heels in a huff, and walk away!

 

Karie,.

who would die before she would do the above. But it could work! honest! <VEG>

[Louise D]

Hi Bobby, I am looking forward to coming on board and meeting you! It is San Francisco for me on the 24th. You will probably see me fending off inquiries by other passengers who just got on board in San Francisco and who think I am one of the crew. This is a particular problem that I seem to suffer, so I will restrict the wearing of white! Yes, you must have guessed by now I am a lot younger than 99% of the passengers. See you soon,

 

Louise