New York Cruise days 3&4

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.