New York Cruise Days 3&4
Sunday 26th June
Our second night’s sleep was no better than the first but at least we had some rest. Dining plays a large part in cruising particularly on a long voyage like ours. We had already decided before we left that all our meals would be taken in the main restaurant. We could have upgraded for a small supplement to have fine dining at the Todd English restaurant but we thought this was a step too far and everyone who did go said that the food was no different to the main restaurant. We could also have gone to the buffet restaurant but we had decided not to visit this one because of hygiene considerations. You should use the handwash provided but a lot of people do not bother and as the buffet area is a walk through area people are walking past all the time. Some people also pick up a plate then change their minds and put it back again. You might think that people on an expensive cruise are wealthy enough to have good habits when it comes to personal hygiene but this is not the case and in fact the reverse is often true.
Anyway we always went to the Britannia restaurant for a sit down meal which meant two hours for breakfast, two hours for lunch and even longer for dinner. At dinner we always sat at our specified table but at breakfast and lunch you turned up when you liked between the opening times and were allocated a table depending on whether you wanted to share an eight seat table or eat alone on a small table. We always opted to share and by doing this we met different people for each breakfast and lunch and although we did not always like them we met many interesting characters.
One such example occurred at breakfast which we shared with a Scottish couple. She had to use a wheelchair and he was on a restrictive diet after suffering heart trouble. He went to great lengths to make sure his every need was catered for. The tea had to be delivered ‘hot hot’ at the right time. His toast had to be fresh and hot and his butter had to be Benecol. I did agree about the toast which was always warm and dry having travelled by a circuitous route from the preparation area but the tea could be replenished at any time. In general I always thought that complaining spoilt the meal for everyone and it was best to keep ones mouth shut. We did learn that his wife had been instrumental in the design of wheelchair access for the Queen Elizabeth liner and they were regular travellers with Cunard so I suppose they were only getting their money back.
Sunday morning was celebrated by doing four circuits of the deck. The sea was moderate and the fresh breeze made it quite cool. We went to Giancarlo’s lecture on the Sistine chapel with reference to the frescoes on the wall and ceiling. In the afternoon we went to the Illuminations theatre which was set up for a planetarium film called ‘Cosmic Collisions’. We had to obtain tickets for this show as the screen had to be lowered over the centre of the theatre and there was restricted seats which reclined so you could look up to the ceiling.
At dinner we started on our second bottle of red wine and the dress was semi-formal. This was followed with a show by the ‘Cunard Singers and Dancers’ with an Italian theme. It was visually very attractive and well produced.
Monday 27th June
After our normal breakfast we went for a six lap walk around the deck or 2.2 miles. The sea was very calm and the weather sunny with a cool breeze. We then decided to take a walk round the ship taking photographs and trying to find as many rooms as possible. Unfortunately there were other people on the ship and they kept getting in our way. When we went on the top deck part of it was barriered off because the ship’s crew were doing an exercise which involved evacuating a casualty by helicopter from the top deck. Obviously not many helicopters have enough fuel to get to the middle of the Atlantic but I suppose it could come in handy sometimes. There was a line dancing lesson in one of the ballrooms, a bridge session in part of the library and a talk on the pictures of Rolf Harris in the Art Gallery.
This particular cruise also had a competition whereby any passenger could join a small group to write and perform their own song. We did not join this competition or go to the concert at the end of the cruise but we frequently came across small groups in the corridors playing mouth organs or guitars and singing short phrases. Nevertheless we managed to take quite a few photographs and see most of the accessible parts of the ship. Although we were not allowed on the bridge there was a small viewing gallery in which we had to shuffle sideways to allow other passengers to rotate towards the viewing window.
One of the rooms we came across was the internet café where we managed to log on to access our e-mail inboxes. After lunch we went to the theatre for a short hour long production of ‘Hamlet’.
Our dress for dinner was semi-formal but we had to dress an hour earlier as we had to attend a cocktail party given by our tour operator ‘Bath Travel’. Bath travel had a man and wife representative team on board for the whole trip. They were very helpful although we did not have any major problems during our holiday. Free champagne was a big attraction for the party but being rather a small contingent we got to have a long chat with the Commodore and his wife. We talked about the Queen Mary 2 of course but also about the Hythe Ferry which we were both familiar with. I realise he has other things to think about but for a few minutes we could have been having a chat in our local pub.
In the evening we went to a show featuring an Irish comedian. He had been doing the job for many years but he still had to work hard to get any laughs from the multicultural audience.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
New York Cruise Days 1&2
New York 2011 Part 2 the Voyage out Days 1&2
Friday 24th June. This was our sailing day; the day we had been looking forward to for a long time. We knew our boat was there because we had seen it when we had walked down to Hythe village in the morning. It was called Queen Mary 2 and although it is the oldest Cunard ship it is still the biggest and the only true ‘Ocean Going Liner’ in their fleet. We were supposed to be at Southampton Ocean terminal for 3pm but it opened at 1pm and by 1.10pm we could wait no longer and packed the bags in the car and left. There had also been a lot of road works on the A326 and we were a bit worried in case of delays but in the event the roads were clear all the way to the terminal.
On arrival at the cruise terminal we drew up to the hanger like building and took our luggage out of the car. The luggage was put on a trolley, we handed over the car keys and got a receipt and walked up the escalator to the arrivals lounge. Here we were given a ticket with ‘D’ on it and told to sit down amongst the hundreds of other passengers. Passengers with the letter ‘T’ were being called when we arrived so we had to wait about an hour before A, B, C and then D was called. At the check in desk our passports were checked together with our cruise tickets and credit card then we were issued with a cruise card each. This card was used to open our cabin door and had to be produced for any purchase such as drinks or other items. We did not get a receipt for any items but on the last day of the cruise we got a paper print out of everything we had purchased which was totalled up and debited from our credit card.
We then walked on to the ship having our photo taken on the way and straight to our cabin 5.142 which was on the port side. A vase of flowers was waiting for us together with a half bottle of champagne courtesy of Cunard. Our cases arrived shortly after and Joan did the unpacking. There is a lot of paperwork associated with a cruise. You get a daily written program of events and a newsletter placed on your bed every night and just outside your cabin on the wall is a docket for any personal communication that arrives when you are in bed. The first item of interest was the sail away celebrations on the aft deck which we decided to attend. Unfortunately the drinks and nibbles were not free so after looking round and noting that Southampton Water looked much the same as it always does we returned to our cabin. We could have broken open the free champagne in our cabin but we had to attend the safety exercise almost as soon as we got back. This involved picking up a life jacket from the wardrobe in our cabin and walking in an orderly manner to the muster point. Here we were shown how to put it on and what to do in an emergency.
The next event was the early sitting for dinner at 6pm. This was in the Britannia restaurant and we were allocated table 152 which we used for dinner during the rest of our outbound voyage. Two other couples made up the compliment of six for the next seven dinners. Our dress on the first night was informal. The first and last nights are always informal as the cases may not have arrived on the first and have probably been packed on the last. We had a bottle of Beaujolais which we drank over the first two nights.
After dinner we wandered around trying to get our bearings and looked into the theatre which had an introductory show in progress. We did not stay long before we went upstairs to the Winter Gardens for a drink. The Winter Gardens is a large room with country scenes painted on the walls and ceilings and potted plants dotted about between cane chairs and tables. One wall has a water feature running down. The room was used later to show Wimbledon on a large screen television during which it was very busy. On this occasion however the room was nearly empty and we were able to sit looking out the windows as lights came on in the dusk along the south coast. This was the last time we would see land for the next six days.
Saturday 25th June. We had a poor night’s sleep mainly due to the noisy ventilation which we had to put up with throughout our trip. There was a large ventilator outside the cabin door and together with the in cabin ventilation provided a humming noise which we could not get used to. The ship was very stable however and did not move in even the moderate seas. Moderate was the largest seas that we experienced over both trips but we were told by some passengers that even in the roughest seas the ship hardly moved. I took a half of a seasickness tablet as soon as we got on the ship and took further half tablets if I felt it coming on. Seasickness does not seem to get worse in rougher seas but there is a slight roll that you are not aware of. Once whilst sitting on the toilet I noticed the shower curtain move about an inch one way before going back and repeating itself.
After breakfast we went for a walk round the promenade deck and did three circuits. Three circuits was equal to 1.1 miles. During the morning we went to a lecture on ‘Art Deco’ by the painter/historian Giancarlo Impiglia who had actually painted some of the pictures hung around the ship as well as a portrait of the queen apparently. In the afternoon we went to a classical concert by a Japanese pianist called Hiroaki Takenouchi who was very good.
Our dinner dress for the evening was formal in tuxedo and black suit. This was also an opportunity to meet the captain with free champagne or wine. In practice we had to join a queue, were introduced, had our photo taken then whisked away for a drink. This was also our introduction to the class system on board the ship as part of the room was barriered off for the first class passengers. They did not have to meet the captain he had to meet them. After the drinks we went to our normal table for dinner and the second half of the Beaujolais bottle. We then went to a concert by a female singer who had played the lead in ‘Phantom of the Opera’. She had quite a powerful voice when singing but her narrative was a bit drawn out. So ended our second day at sea.
Friday 24th June. This was our sailing day; the day we had been looking forward to for a long time. We knew our boat was there because we had seen it when we had walked down to Hythe village in the morning. It was called Queen Mary 2 and although it is the oldest Cunard ship it is still the biggest and the only true ‘Ocean Going Liner’ in their fleet. We were supposed to be at Southampton Ocean terminal for 3pm but it opened at 1pm and by 1.10pm we could wait no longer and packed the bags in the car and left. There had also been a lot of road works on the A326 and we were a bit worried in case of delays but in the event the roads were clear all the way to the terminal.
On arrival at the cruise terminal we drew up to the hanger like building and took our luggage out of the car. The luggage was put on a trolley, we handed over the car keys and got a receipt and walked up the escalator to the arrivals lounge. Here we were given a ticket with ‘D’ on it and told to sit down amongst the hundreds of other passengers. Passengers with the letter ‘T’ were being called when we arrived so we had to wait about an hour before A, B, C and then D was called. At the check in desk our passports were checked together with our cruise tickets and credit card then we were issued with a cruise card each. This card was used to open our cabin door and had to be produced for any purchase such as drinks or other items. We did not get a receipt for any items but on the last day of the cruise we got a paper print out of everything we had purchased which was totalled up and debited from our credit card.
We then walked on to the ship having our photo taken on the way and straight to our cabin 5.142 which was on the port side. A vase of flowers was waiting for us together with a half bottle of champagne courtesy of Cunard. Our cases arrived shortly after and Joan did the unpacking. There is a lot of paperwork associated with a cruise. You get a daily written program of events and a newsletter placed on your bed every night and just outside your cabin on the wall is a docket for any personal communication that arrives when you are in bed. The first item of interest was the sail away celebrations on the aft deck which we decided to attend. Unfortunately the drinks and nibbles were not free so after looking round and noting that Southampton Water looked much the same as it always does we returned to our cabin. We could have broken open the free champagne in our cabin but we had to attend the safety exercise almost as soon as we got back. This involved picking up a life jacket from the wardrobe in our cabin and walking in an orderly manner to the muster point. Here we were shown how to put it on and what to do in an emergency.
The next event was the early sitting for dinner at 6pm. This was in the Britannia restaurant and we were allocated table 152 which we used for dinner during the rest of our outbound voyage. Two other couples made up the compliment of six for the next seven dinners. Our dress on the first night was informal. The first and last nights are always informal as the cases may not have arrived on the first and have probably been packed on the last. We had a bottle of Beaujolais which we drank over the first two nights.
After dinner we wandered around trying to get our bearings and looked into the theatre which had an introductory show in progress. We did not stay long before we went upstairs to the Winter Gardens for a drink. The Winter Gardens is a large room with country scenes painted on the walls and ceilings and potted plants dotted about between cane chairs and tables. One wall has a water feature running down. The room was used later to show Wimbledon on a large screen television during which it was very busy. On this occasion however the room was nearly empty and we were able to sit looking out the windows as lights came on in the dusk along the south coast. This was the last time we would see land for the next six days.
Saturday 25th June. We had a poor night’s sleep mainly due to the noisy ventilation which we had to put up with throughout our trip. There was a large ventilator outside the cabin door and together with the in cabin ventilation provided a humming noise which we could not get used to. The ship was very stable however and did not move in even the moderate seas. Moderate was the largest seas that we experienced over both trips but we were told by some passengers that even in the roughest seas the ship hardly moved. I took a half of a seasickness tablet as soon as we got on the ship and took further half tablets if I felt it coming on. Seasickness does not seem to get worse in rougher seas but there is a slight roll that you are not aware of. Once whilst sitting on the toilet I noticed the shower curtain move about an inch one way before going back and repeating itself.
After breakfast we went for a walk round the promenade deck and did three circuits. Three circuits was equal to 1.1 miles. During the morning we went to a lecture on ‘Art Deco’ by the painter/historian Giancarlo Impiglia who had actually painted some of the pictures hung around the ship as well as a portrait of the queen apparently. In the afternoon we went to a classical concert by a Japanese pianist called Hiroaki Takenouchi who was very good.
Our dinner dress for the evening was formal in tuxedo and black suit. This was also an opportunity to meet the captain with free champagne or wine. In practice we had to join a queue, were introduced, had our photo taken then whisked away for a drink. This was also our introduction to the class system on board the ship as part of the room was barriered off for the first class passengers. They did not have to meet the captain he had to meet them. After the drinks we went to our normal table for dinner and the second half of the Beaujolais bottle. We then went to a concert by a female singer who had played the lead in ‘Phantom of the Opera’. She had quite a powerful voice when singing but her narrative was a bit drawn out. So ended our second day at sea.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
New York Cruise Part 1 introduction
Holiday Cruise to New York 2011
Part 1 Introduction
It was towards the end of 2003 that we moved from Southampton to Hythe on the Waterside and it wasn’t until early 2004 that we started looking for a dentist. We had trouble with our NHS dentist in Southampton before we moved; the practice was going private and although they kept us on we had to make do with a German locum. The chances of getting a NHS dentist in Hythe however was even more remote and the nearest we were offered was about thirty miles away. This was even more frustrating by the fact that a dentist had a private practice just around the corner. We therefore decided that the private practice might be the better option but we were worried that we might not have enough money if we had to have extensive dental work.
We could have got medical insurance or a dental plan but in the end we decided to do it ourselves by putting aside so much money every month into a Cash ISA. Initially we paid for the routine check-ups as we went along so that the money could build up and we continued to do this over the years as fortunately we did not have any expensive treatment.
The money in the Cash Isa built up until in 2010 we had enough for an expensive holiday and we set about finding somewhere to go. We had been on P&O cruises over the years and visited most of the cities of Europe but P&O did not sail to America. Cunard did do this trip however so we decided to investigate whether a trip to America might be possible. The Cunard brochure gave a cruise to New York, Boston and Halifax before returning to New York then back to Southampton. We thought we might be able to sail to New York and spend the five days in the city before picking up the boat for the return journey. When we put this idea to Bath Travel they phoned Cunard and confirmed that we could do this by booking one journey to New York and a second journey from New York to Southampton.
We went ahead on this basis and booked the two trips with the idea that we would book our accommodation at a later date. However about an hour after we had returned from Bath Travel we got a phone call to say that the company had already thought of this option and had a package with hotel and tours for the full trip. Since this would save us having to look for our own hotel and the hotel they used was the Marriott Marquis on Times Square we booked the whole tour.
As the time of our cruise drew nearer we tried to get as much information about New York as we could. We borrowed books from the library and spoke to the travel agents who were very helpful. Also we bought a book from Waterstones called the AA ring book of New York which we found very useful and carried it with us wherever we went in New York. We wrote down a list of the places we would like to visit and the day we would like to visit bearing in mind that we would be there on July 4th which is a public holiday in America. The hotel in common with most places in America was on a room only basis so we would have to look for somewhere to eat our breakfast, lunch and Dinner on each day. Having done all this we knew that by the time we reached New York our plans might be changed.
Part 1 Introduction
It was towards the end of 2003 that we moved from Southampton to Hythe on the Waterside and it wasn’t until early 2004 that we started looking for a dentist. We had trouble with our NHS dentist in Southampton before we moved; the practice was going private and although they kept us on we had to make do with a German locum. The chances of getting a NHS dentist in Hythe however was even more remote and the nearest we were offered was about thirty miles away. This was even more frustrating by the fact that a dentist had a private practice just around the corner. We therefore decided that the private practice might be the better option but we were worried that we might not have enough money if we had to have extensive dental work.
We could have got medical insurance or a dental plan but in the end we decided to do it ourselves by putting aside so much money every month into a Cash ISA. Initially we paid for the routine check-ups as we went along so that the money could build up and we continued to do this over the years as fortunately we did not have any expensive treatment.
The money in the Cash Isa built up until in 2010 we had enough for an expensive holiday and we set about finding somewhere to go. We had been on P&O cruises over the years and visited most of the cities of Europe but P&O did not sail to America. Cunard did do this trip however so we decided to investigate whether a trip to America might be possible. The Cunard brochure gave a cruise to New York, Boston and Halifax before returning to New York then back to Southampton. We thought we might be able to sail to New York and spend the five days in the city before picking up the boat for the return journey. When we put this idea to Bath Travel they phoned Cunard and confirmed that we could do this by booking one journey to New York and a second journey from New York to Southampton.
We went ahead on this basis and booked the two trips with the idea that we would book our accommodation at a later date. However about an hour after we had returned from Bath Travel we got a phone call to say that the company had already thought of this option and had a package with hotel and tours for the full trip. Since this would save us having to look for our own hotel and the hotel they used was the Marriott Marquis on Times Square we booked the whole tour.
As the time of our cruise drew nearer we tried to get as much information about New York as we could. We borrowed books from the library and spoke to the travel agents who were very helpful. Also we bought a book from Waterstones called the AA ring book of New York which we found very useful and carried it with us wherever we went in New York. We wrote down a list of the places we would like to visit and the day we would like to visit bearing in mind that we would be there on July 4th which is a public holiday in America. The hotel in common with most places in America was on a room only basis so we would have to look for somewhere to eat our breakfast, lunch and Dinner on each day. Having done all this we knew that by the time we reached New York our plans might be changed.
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