New York Cruise days 5,6&7

New York Cruise Days 5, 6 and 7

Tuesday 28th June 2011
When we awoke on the fifth day of our trip there was fog outside the window. This was not unexpected as we were travelling through the Grand Banks off Newfoundland which are notorious for their misty weather. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream are directed by the land mass into a north easterly direction off Newfoundland where they meet cold air coming down from the arctic. Cold air above warm water means condensation and hence the foggy conditions.

The area is also well known for its abundant marine life. Fishing stocks have been depleted over the years but there is still sufficient to attract predators such as whales and dolphins. We came across hump backed whales and pods of dolphin. Turtles were also swimming quite close to the ship and once we saw flying fish. Generally the only birds we saw were Shearwaters which spend almost their whole life at sea and even rest on the surface of the water.

We were told that the Titanic sank in this area although obviously we did not stop to have a look. Small snippets of information were given in the daily news sheets that were posted in our cabins last thing at night. At noon each day we also got a report from the bridge telling us of our position, weather forecast and sea conditions but all this information was shown on a channel of our in- cabin television and continuously updated.

We had our usual social breakfast then Joan went to the lectures while I went for my usual six laps of the deck. The air was warm but wet when I started, the deck was very wet, and as I went round the mist turned to rain and the water dripped off the lifeboats above so I was very wet when I eventually got back to the cabin.
Lunch was again at a large table with people we had never met before. This time there were a couple from Wales, a couple from New York and a single man from New York. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the Americans we met on the ship. I had expected them to be brash, self-important and loud mouthed but they were for the most part quiet and sociable. We got to talking about New York and I was particularly interested in places to eat; a subject I had thought about before we left but decided to try and find more information. The lady from New York, who I think was called Karolyn, took time out to write a list of six or so restaurants that she could recommend as places to eat. In the event we found this list very useful and came to appreciate her choices when we reached New York.
Most couples on the boat were regular cruisers and a lot of them Cunard Cruisers. They were usually retired business people who had owned their own company or lawyers and accountants. To many a cruise was just a way of spending money so they did not have to pay so much tax.

After lunch we went to the second classical concert by the Japanese pianist. When we got back to the cabin my laundered white shirt was waiting. I only took three white shirts so had to have two of them laundered for wearing with my formal suits. Dinner was a formal black and white affair and I had a nice lamb main course. This was the only dinner that we did not have any wine. However when we got ready for bed we decided to open the half bottle of champagne given to us on boarding. It seemed the height of decadence to lie on the bed in a white bath robe drinking champagne and eating chocolates. When we got back to our cabin each night the bed was made up and the next day’s program with a chocolate lay on top. We had saved these up but could not resist eating them with the champagne.

Wednesday 29th June 2011
Clocks were put back an hour the previous night so we had an extra hour in bed. Clocks had been put back every night except for the Sunday and Monday. On Sunday the morning sermon had to be cancelled because the priest had put his clock back an hour and was still in bed. Information was given about the time in GMT and the time in the last and next port of call. In addition ships generally work to UTC time which is a universal standard time given by an atomic clock. The earth’s rotation is slowing down so UTC time is falling behind GMT and has to be adjusted usually on New Year’s Day. If it was not adjusted midnight would be at midday in 36000 years’ time.
The day dawned with a calm sea and a warm breeze. New York is on the same latitude as Naples and we had already left the great circle route to head in a south-easterly direction so we expected the temperature to rise. We did the usual six laps walk round the deck after breakfast then went to a lecture by Giancarlo on Byzantine and Roman art.

In the afternoon we went to the internet café to book tables for our dinner at two restaurants for the coming Saturday and Monday the 4th of July. There were several work stations for computer users located around the ship and internet access was via a ship to shore radio link. You had to subscribe to one of three accounts, either pay as you go or block booking. As we did not expect to be online very long we chose the pay as you go option. The system generally worked very well but if too many people downloaded at the same time the bandwidth became full and anyone else trying was denied access.

Looking at the list of restaurants given us by Kathryn we decided to try an Italian place called ‘Vice Versa’ for the 4th of July but according to the web page it was fully booked. We did however manage to get a booking for the Saturday 2nd July. Our second choice was for ‘David Burke townhouse’ and this had places available on the 4th of July so we booked that as well.

Walking back to our cabin we came across a row of tables with jigsaw puzzles in various stages of completion so we sat down at one table and spent half an hour putting in a few pieces. Dress for dinner was the last formal one of the trip over and as per tradition a chef’s parade took place. Apparently there are more than 160 chefs on board the ship cooking and arranging the food for our meals.

Thursday 30th June 2011
At the back of our minds all day was the fact that we would arrive in New York the next morning. There was nothing to indicate any change. The sea was still as calm as it had been for the last six days and we had not seen any other ships in all that time. Christopher Columbus must have been mad?

Trusting in the fact that we would in fact arrive we had to make sure that all our documents were in order and the correct luggage labels attached to our cases. After breakfast we went down to the Bath travel representatives to double check that the correct labels had been fitted to the correct number of cases so that our luggage could find its way to our hotel. We also had a customs form to fill in for our entry to America but we were warned that we still had to actually go through customs.
Our next thing was the usual six laps of the deck. The air temperature was a mild 22 degrees but with a chilly breeze which was surprising as it was supposed to be very hot in New York. During one of our laps we saw another ship and later in the day we began to see several more as we entered the sea lanes to approach New York.
We attended a political talk by Geoffrey Weinberg on the Obama presidency. It was quite an interesting talk but he was especially good at answering questions from the audience. In the afternoon we did nothing but our packing or rather Joan did the packing while I did nothing. Dinner was in informal dress as anything other than our hand luggage was already packed and sitting outside our cabin door.

In the evening, as on most evenings, we went to see a show in the main theatre. After a while we found a spot just around the corner from the main entrance which had a small table and a rail in front which meant that we did not have to get up to allow anyone else past and we had a good view of the stage. All subsequent evenings we went to the same place including on the way back. We got to know the waiters as well so they knew what drinks we liked. I always had a bottle of Lager but Joan liked to vary her drinks a bit. One evening she thought she would try a vodka martini. The waiter asked what sort of vodka, then what sort of Martini, then what sort of glass, then if she wanted anything in it. In the end they settled on ‘vodka martini straight up with olives’ which he remembered on all subsequent nights.

We tried to go to bed early that night knowing that when we woke up we would be in America.