Jan 6 – Aboard the QM2. This morning I got up early because I have some administrative duties to accomplish. Upstairs for the usual breakfast and then down to the Internet Manager’s office to make sure that I’m not charged for my internet time. Our Cunard level gets me 4 hours of internet free but sometimes the credit falls through the cracks so I check with the manager to be sure it’s been recorded.
Second admin item. Since we are going directly to the Paris Eurostar Chunnel train we have to get from Southampton to St. Pancras Station, London. This year the QM2 is offering a transfer to that station so I want to book it. Easier than taxi to Southampton station, train into London, taxi to St Pancras, and most likely lots less expensive.
I loafed around the various lounges until lunch time and then headed to the King’s Court for my usual sandwich. I don’t like to eat a large lunch while at sea. Too easy to pile on the poundage.
From lunch I went up to Deck 12 and the Pavilion Pool. For one hour every day Vibz, the modern band aboard, plays steel drum style at poolside. While they do play some traditional steel band and reggae music, they also play oldies, standards and country-western music steel band style. It’s all very relaxing. For the first time, Diana joined me in this venture and she had a good time too. On most crossings the pool area is packed. All the lounges are full and the hot tub is SRO. Today about half the lounges were empty and two in the hot tub was a crowd. It’s a covered pool and very warm inside so I’m not sure why more people weren’t there today. Maybe something exciting was going on that I didn’t care about.
After this music break I did some reading. I fought getting a Kindle because of my love for books. However, the Kindle has simplified my travel reading enormously. First, it’s much easier to lug with you than a stack of 8-10 paperbacks. (I know, I can hear you saying, “Ships have libraries!” and indeed they do. I don’t like reading hard back books because they are a pain to lug around and the selection of paperbacks on the ships tend to run to romance and other genres I detest, self-help psychobabble for example. Thus I am forced to pack paperbacks and quite a few of them. I’ve got about two dozen books on my Kindle and it’s the same size and it weighs the same as it did empty.
Secondly, since Diana likes the room to be totally dark to sleep and I like to read before trying to sleep, I carried a spelunker’s headlight to read by. The Kindle is self-illuminated, thus no headlight and no batteries to worry with. As an unexpected bonus, there’s no charger to carry either. Both my computer and my cell phone charger top it off just fine. That plus you can read about 50-60 hours on one charge. I bought the Paperwhite and I’m glad I did, best reader ever. In addition to having a long battery life, bright sun is no problem at all. Seriously! It’s not a tablet but then I really don’t need another computer.
The evening show was Philippa Healey, a West End type singer with a good sense of humor. Her voice was wonderful and her program was not overloaded with Andy Webber’s overdone compositions so I was very happy. She did throw one in at the end. Oh well, can’t have everything.
Jan 7 – Aboard the QM2 (Is this title getting boring?). We lose another hour at noon today so we’ll almost be on London time, only two more hours to loose.
In the wee hours, I think it was about 2AM the ship’s alarm sounded sending investigative crews to the laundry room. Turns out there was a leak in the dry-cleaning machine that caused a liquid spill. Cunard policy is that in all out of the ordinary problems the alarm will be sounded ship-wide. The captain made three announcements over the next 20 minutes or so including a last one telling us there wouldn’t be any more.
Oddly enough, at about 9AM the alarm sounded again and teams were sent to the passenger launderette. Turns out one of our fellow passengers didn’t turn off the iron and it scorched the ironing board cover at that set off a smoke alarm. Now honestly, who irons at home anymore? But to iron while on a cruise, that is a bit silly.
Otherwise a normal day today, didn’t attend any lectures or movies, just read and walked around.
Jeff Stevenson, a British comic, gave the show this evening. He does a part ad lib and part scripted show. He’s funny but some of his humor is so inside that it’s not possible to get. Enjoyable, none the less.
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