Days 45-46 Feb 20-21 & PS

Day 45 (Waiting) Wednesday Feb 20

A really good idea, all the people dis-embarking in Auckland went through immigration & customs on board today, the guys joined the ship in Tonga. I discovered that the small wooden carved dish I bought for my sister from the Pitcairn islanders is OK to take in, I just had to declare it, so I’m really pleased, I thought I’d have to ship it home. The luggage is still subject to the sniffer dogs and you may get stopped, but it certainly saves a queue. There are 46 of us getting off in NZ, not very many! There are 800 leaving in Sydney but another 800 joining, quite a few from the Queen Victoria, it sounds like it will be chaos. We plan to stay on board till after lunch, since we are in no hurry to leave, and can’t check-in to our hotel until 14:00 anyway.

Spent quite a time getting my bag sorted out to send home with the ship, it costs $60 to get it through Customs & then it can be stored if it can’t be picked up. My friend Aileen has very kindly agreed to pick it up for me so I’m sending all my ‘posh frocks’ home plus some evening tops, absolutely no call for them in NZ, together with daily programmes from the ship. Despite all this my other 3 large suitcases are pretty full & very heavy, not sure how I’m going to manage on my own with it all!

We had a ‘good-bye’ party on the Funnel Deck, for the people we’d met who are getting off in Auckland, plus Josie & Alan from the quiz team, plus Uwe the dance host (Tricia invited him). The Chilean wine tasted pretty terrible so we threw it away! I invited Bob, and we parted as ‘good friends’, but I’m convinced he has a partner at home in Queensland so that’s the end of that! We are all very sad to be leaving the ship, & a few tears were shed I think.

Day 46 (Time to go) Thursday Feb 21

We got up early to see the arrival in Auckland at 7 a.m. which was pretty spectacular. We were greeted by a group of Maoris doing the Haka, and people out on their balconies to welcome us, it was one of the best welcomes we had. Tricia, Hilary and I decided to stay on board for a bit, but Alan & Sylvia had a plane to catch to Wellington so they left at 9. Alan didn’t say goodbye to Tricia or Hilary, truth to tell I think he found Tricia a little hard to cope with in the last couple of weeks, she is a very dominant personality! I will be staying with T & H until Saturday in a very small apartment but I’m sure we will get along fine!

Hilary had a surprise when we finally disembarked because her sister Theresa was there to meet us, she hadn’t replied to any e-mails or letters so Hilary wasn’t expecting her at all. We made our way to our student accommodation, quite a come-down after the ship, but necessary for the budget. The main problem was the number of steps down to the ‘hotel’ entrance coupled with the amount of luggage we all have (mine mainly I admit!). We were able to store it until check-in time, so we went back to the quay & booked ourselves a boat trip on a charter to say goodbye to ‘the marvellous QE2’.

This evening we joined about 40 others on the charter and eventually had the fantastic experience of speeding alongside as the ship left the dock and made her way through Waiemata harbour. When you’re on the ship you certainly don’t appreciate the speed she goes at, but it was absolutely thrilling to ‘track’ her for about 15 minutes. Eventually we tooted and turned away, & we watched with tears in our eyes as the old lady disappeared around the headland on her way to Sydney. We’ll miss her.

Postscript Feb 23

Buy several good quality T-shirts especially for the cruise, you will wear them a lot and wash them a lot, & the washing machines are not kind.

Do not bother with skirts, unless you prefer to wear skirts to trousers or shorts of course. I took several, & only wore one once.

Trousers and shorts with pockets are a very good idea. You can carry your cabin key & ship’s card around without the need for a handbag.

If from the UK, get your dry-cleaning done on board, it’s very cheap.

I think a world cruise probably is a good place to find a new partner if you’re at ‘a certain age’ and aren’t too fussy! But, if you’re a reasonably attractive female (or male for that matter) be aware that some people are on the cruise for one aim only, and a long-term relationship is not it. It’s nice not to be invisible any longer, but a bit like being a teenager again and very unlike real life!

Highlights for me: Easter Island, New York (because of the historical nature of the occasion), & Rio. Rio would’ve been second if the weather had been better. If we’d made it in, I’m sure The Falklands would’ve been on the list too.

Was it worth it? Yes it was, though personally I think a month is probably long enough to cruise. You will make new friends, some of whom may very well become life-long.

Being on the QE2 on her Farewell World Cruise was a fantastic experience which I will never forget I’m proud to have been a part of it.

Days 41-44 Feb 15-19

Apologies for the delay, no access while in Auckland or on holiday with my sister!

Day 41 (Funny) Friday Feb 15

Everybody is feeling rather tired after yesterday, it must be the heat. It is a steady 82 on deck, but the breeze means it’s deceptive & easy to get burnt. I spent some time on deck today but avoided the sun mostly, trying to get my legs brown but they’re still pasty white!

Christopher Biggins is on board, I think he got on in South America somewhere, we’ve certainly all been aware of his presence, his laugh is very loud! Robbie Coltrane was on the transatlantic bit, but I didn’t see him, he must’ve stayed in the ‘posh’ bit. Apparently Carol Thatcher is on board, she wrote a very good book about the QE2 which Alan was given for Christmas and can recommend. CB gave a lecture on his career this morning which as expected was very amusing, he also offered to have his photo taken with anyone who asks round the ship so I may avail myself of the opportunity. I didn’t watch Jungle Celebrity, but I think his talks about the experience should be worth attending. We should catch one of them before we disembark, only 4 more days to go (we lose tomorrow, see below).

Gary Williams was the entertainer tonight, he’s a very good singer who played Sinatra in ‘The Rat Pack’ in the West End apparently. Not really my cup of tea but he was very professional.

Day 42 (So where’s) Saturday Feb 16?

We crossed the International Date Line so we lost Saturday, very careless of us! Don’t ask me to explain it, I’m sure it’s all very simple, but even the 3^rd Officer had trouble in the noon-day announcement yesterday, I don’t think he understands it either!

Day 42 (Shirking) Sunday Feb 17

The first day on board when I’ve actually done very little. Some people spend all day reading or sleeping but today that’s exactly what I did for most of it. Today was memorable for one thing only and that was my first (& only I think!) ‘date’ on board! Tricia met an Australian called Bob at ‘Singles-Mingles’ after Valparaiso, and he’s been in the ‘boys’ quiz team since then. He asked me ‘out’ for a drink after the show this evening, and I went! Unfortunately he’s not a millionaire either, but he’s a nice guy originally from Cornwall (the rest of his family still live in Saltash), now living in Mackay Queensland. He’s 70(!!!!) but looks younger I think. I like him but I can’t honestly see much future in it, obviously there’s only 3 days left before Auckland and I don’t think he’s that fast a worker!

Day 43 (Mad Dogs) Monday Feb 18

It was a really really hot day today in Tonga, hence the ‘mad dogs & Englishmen’ title! We anchored between 2 little islands & then the 2 large tenders, which carry 150 people, & 4 of the small ones as used in Easter Is took us the very short journey ashore to the capital Nuku’alofa. It looks a pretty poor place, a lot of the houses I saw were little more than tin shacks. Despite this the people we saw all seemed very friendly and smiled a lot. The children in particular were delightful, and sang for us at one of the stops on the tour I took, ‘Historic sites’, of which there weren’t many! I missed the fruit bats and the blowholes, and was sad about that, but it was much too hot to get a taxi afterwards. The others took a taxi independently & had a great time, I wished I had gone with them really. Couldn’t find any postcards either, just bought 2 small packets of ‘Royal’ coffee! All the other souvenirs looked as though they’d be impossible to take into NZ, which has very strict customs rules.

The King of Tonga died last year, and his son will not be crowned king until this August. There were riots in November 2006 here, I believe about the lack of democracy, and our guide hinted that there might be problems with the accession. The prince is ‘not married’, I leave you to draw your own conclusions, and may not be acceptable to the majority. So I will definitely be keeping an eye on the news.

We were all tired once again this evening, & the entertainer, a good Australian singer called Julia Daniels, had a pretty hard time keeping us awake. Warren & Simon (Cruise Entertainment Director & deputy) in their TV morning show joked about getting a cattle prod on the stage, you can sometimes hear people snoring, it must be pretty depressing to try & perform under those circumstances!

I’ve decided not to ‘see’ Bob again, at least not on a one-to-one basis, I’m too busy packing (no room despite sending a bag back with the ship) & thinking about the future. Fortunately he understands my reasons, & it is flattering to be asked ‘out’.

Day 44 (Tired) Tuesday Feb 19

We are feeling very down in the dumps today, I even had a little weep this afternoon, very unlike me! I was packing while watching ‘Two Weeks Notice’ on the TV, it is a sentimental film starring Sandra Bullock & Hugh Grant, which I have seen before. I guess it’s the realisation that I am leaving ‘the marvellous QE2’ the day after tomorrow, & it’s sad. I think we have all become a little institutionalised, we will have to remember how to cook & clean and remember to pick up our own towels!

Fortunately I did have a good morning before the glums set in, went to a Peter Crimes lecture on Auckland, to see if he mentioned anything I didn’t already know about, & he was as always amusing & informative. Then Christopher Biggins talked about the ‘celebrity’ show, and told us what he thought of the other contestants, it was very funny and since I hadn’t seen any of the programme when it was on TV it was fascinating as well. He raised over £300K for charity while doing the show, and then won £125k for himself, not bad for a couple of weeks ‘work’! You certainly wouldn’t get me anywhere near some of the creatures he had to have variously poured over him, to eat etc etc.

The Cunard singers & dancers gave their last performance before leaving the ship in Sydney, and it was absolutely the best yet, by quite a way, simply stunning, fantastic costumes and amazing dancing. They deservedly received a standing ovation. We want some of their energy! I stayed up till late after going to the Computer centre, and joined Tricia and Hilary for the midnight buffet. I didn’t eat anything though, I couldn’t even manage much dinner this evening, I think everything has got on top of me a little, especially the realisation that it’s decision time imminently. I am meeting my architect in Auckland to finalise the initial plans and then go for the build (or not!!!!).

Days 39-40 Feb 13-14

Day 39 (Working) Wednesday Feb 13
Went to a samba dance class this morning, might actually go dancing this evening to try & stop myself spending any more money on stupid machines, which are obviously ‘fixed’ anyway!
Quiz as usual at noon, so many people now want to do it the venue has changed to the Yacht Club, an under-used facility in our opinion. We didn’t win again, this is becoming a habit, too many professional quiz goers on this cruise obviously.
Lunched with Tricia & Hilary, & discussed the possibility of cruising with them from NZ to Australia some time towards the end of May. I will see what the state of my finances is by then.
Then had the joy of fighting for a washing machine once again, we heard that on one cruise, not this one, 2 couples were put on shore as per the guy in Easter Island, because one husband punched another guy’s wife in the laundrette. Things do get pretty heated, but not that bad (so far)!
Kevin Smiles and Martyn Dominique performed again this evening, didn’t think either was quite as good as in previous performances. Didn’t go dancing but didn’t play machines either, went to the Computer Room instead & replied to queries from Ron in NZ(surprise, surprise, my $15 fax didn’t get through successfully).
Day 40 (Tahiti) Thursday Feb 14
Valentine’s Day of course, not at all meaningful to me (except that ironically, it happens to be the date my marriage started to fall apart,c’est la vie!), but of course a very happy and romantic day for most.
We all celebrated by landing at Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, the capital of what are now called the Society islands, but used to be called the Friendly Is, & it’s not difficult to understand why. A really beautiful place, though the nearby island of Moorea is even more like paradise apparently, we didn’t go there but some did. The island is lush & green, and today was very warm with a few sharp showers, our guide said we had brought good weather with us since it had rained for the past 3 weeks. The town feels very European, which of course it is, having been owned by the French till very recently. The people are all very friendly and apparently there is virtually no crime. We heard that on Moorea with a permanent population of 15000 plus a great many tourists there are 11 policemen, one minds the office and the others go deep-sea fishing! We walked round town in the morning, went to the fascinating market, the restored Cathedral which has beautiful bright blue stained glass, and the park, I bought a few souvenirs.
We all went on a coach trip in the afternoon, ‘Captain Cook’s Drive’ which was interesting, what intrigued me was the stop just outside the now closed Hyatt Regency hotel, which is where we stayed as a family en route to NZ 12 years ago. The guide hinted there were lots of problems with it 10 years ago which is when it closed, did I detect the hint of corruption? I need to look this up on the Internet! We went to Point Venus and a spectacular waterfall and a very interesting small museum, the replica home of James Norman Hall who wrote the book Mutiny on the Bounty on which all the inaccurate films have been based. We met his daughter, who read a poem from one of the many which he wrote for her, Tricia & Hilary bought some lovely little dresses for their grand-daughters by refusing to come into the museum and staying in the grounds instead, where there were some handicraft stalls, I wish I had bought one for Elisha but there wasn’t time to linger. This is a problem with coach trips of course, you have to fit in with whatever timetable has been set.
Hilary didn’t feel at all well once we got back, possibly heat exhaustion. We heard another ‘Priority 2’ so it looks like someone died in paradise, not a bad place to choose. The sunset over Moorea was spectacular, we’re all sad to leave such a beautiful place. It occurred to me that there is possibly nothing stopping me from making Tahiti my home, apparently the inhabitants have EU passports so presumably I would have automatic right of entry, worth investigating! I think I would get bored after a time, and I’d have to brush up on my French, but I’m semi-serious! The world is my oyster until I start the build and have to hand over serious money.

Days 36-38 Feb 10-12

Day 36 (very SPECIAL) Sunday Feb 10
Much to our surprise, we made it to Easter Island! We now understand the Captain’s concerns, there is a very narrow channel into the dock, between rocks, which only 1 tender at a time can negotiate. The small tenders from the ship were used, which only take 50 people at a time, so it was some job getting half the ship off in the morning and half off in the afternoon. We take it all back, the crew did a great job. We went in mini-buses on our tours, fortunately ours was air-conditioned, not all of them were. Most of the roads we travelled on were dirt roads, so quite bumpy and uncomfortable, but it was definitely worth a little discomfort!
I went on a tour ‘Ancient Cultures of Easter Island’, which first went to visit the only site where 7 Maui look out to sea, Ahu Akivi, all the other Maui look inland, nobody knows why. The site was restored in the 1960s, so the Maui are standing upright, at one time they were all on the ground,toppled towards the end of the 17th century it is believed. I felt very awed and as our table discussed later, all religious sites have a power which can’t be explained, I certainly felt some sort of connection to something else, it’s impossible to put into words. We then visited a site which is unrestored, Ahu Vaihu. Our guide was very upset that the site has not been fully fenced off, because there are wild horses on the island and they drink the water which collects in the upturned ‘hats’ or ‘topknots’ and so erode them further. Since all the sites are World Heritage sites she thinks they should be better protected and she’s right, I guess either the will or the money isn’t there. Finally we visited an extinct volcano, Rano Kau, which contains a freshwater lake & a micro-climate where all sorts of fruits & vegetables can be grown ‘in the wild’. Very close by is Orongo village, the ‘Bird-man’ village, which is where an annual ritual took place until the 1860s. The young men had to climb down the cliff, swim 1.6km and collect a sooty tern bird’s egg from an island. Whoever returned all the way back with an unbroken egg was the chief for the next year. There are also ancient petroglyphs carved in the rocks, once again I had to overcome my fear of heights, ‘Kiwi’ Keith took my photo to prove it, he’s a sheep farmer from near Christchurch, and was in my bus.
Unfortunately all the tours arrived back at the dock at once, and since only 50 to a tender, &, according to Roger ‘the dentist’ (lectures in dentistry, lives 6 months per year in the former NZ P.M’s David Lange? house in Kiaori in Wellington, I do move in exalted circles!), 5 tenders per hour, you can just work out how long it took to get us back on board. We were expecting to make lunch in the Lido, instead it was a larger tea than normal!
I went to the sail-away party, & because it was really hot, particularly dancing the improvised samba we managed, I drank beer rather than champagne, which is very expensive anyway. Then we all ate in the Lido because it was too late for the restaurant, & the end of a very very special day, the highlight of the cruise I think, but see Terrific Tuesday below, the jury’s still out!
Day 37 (Moaning) Monday Feb 11
Went to 2 lectures today, one given by a former BBC guy who worked on Film Night & Film 70something to 80something with Barry Norman, which was interesting anecdotes about the stars he’d met and/or interviewed, and then Peter Crimes on Tahiti, which was a sell-out again. There were some very rude people in front of us, there was a bit of a contretemps when someone wished to get to a seat inside, which involved them getting up. The lady was slightly disabled, but some people do think they own the ship and are rather selfish.
Heard at lunchtime that a passenger was ‘thrown off’ the ship at Easter Is, & told to make his own way from there. Apparently he had been drunk a lot, sworn at lots of people and made lewd suggestions to (female) members of the crew. When confronted by the captain, he apparently told him to ‘F.. off’, not a good idea! The captain’s rule is law on board ship, which he learnt to his cost. Rumour has it that he’d spent all his money too, Just goes to show that you have to behave on here.
Went swimming again and got sunburnt again, you’d think I’d learn wouldn’t you?
We all got upset at the evening meal because we were told, not asked, that we had to be at our table by 6.15 because of ‘kitchen problems’. We always get there by 6.30, & since ‘last orders’ are supposed to be at 6.45 we don’t think this is unreasonable. Hilary in particular was annoyed, particularly as she managed to squirt garlic butter all over her blouse & silk trousers. We noticed as we left, at 7.30, that our ‘section’ i.e. run by the same waiters, was completely clear, in contrast to all the others where people were still eating. Alan resolved to raise it with the maitre d’ at some point.
Managed to lose almost all the money I’ve won in the casino, oh well, easy come, easy go! Clocks went back 2 hours tonight, in order to be correct at Pitcairn tomorrow.
Day 38 (Terrific) Tuesday Feb 12
This was a really exciting day, and we do feel really privileged to be here (I guess that’s true!). 28 of the islanders from Pitcairn came out in a longboat from their very small island & sold their mostly hand-made wares in a kind of market in the Grand Lounge while we sailed round the island twice. It is a very green & lush island, we were surprised how big the houses were, though since there are only 50 inhabitants in total there aren’t many of them! The great-great grandson of Fletcher Christian gave a talk, I missed it but it was recorded so will watch it later on the TV. The wood carvings were beautiful, I bought a couple but may have trouble getting them into NZ I think. Also posted some cards, which will not be posted from Pitcairn until the supply ship arrives in 3 weeks, so don’t hold your breath! The people were lovely, very friendly and almost all European looking, I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised since Pitcairn is still British and of course the mutineers were British. Almost all the people are descended from 6 of the original mutineers, there are lots of Christians, Hilary bought a wood carving made by Randy Christian (don’t laugh!).
I spent all the money I had been saving for the waiters’ tips, they aren’t going to get any extra now. Alan did speak to the maitre d’ this morning, and there was no central edict, just our waiters trying to give themselves a longer break between sittings we think. Vlada did apologise, but that doesn’t change anything.
RADA graduates gave a performance of Shakespeare’s Richard III, condensed into 50 mins, which was brilliant, they are doing ‘Withering (sic) Heights’ on Sunday (the announcer, James Nelson, is one of the Cunard singers and obviously not a student of Emily Bronte!).

Days 31-35 Feb 5-9

Day 31 (Tantalising) Tuesday Feb 5
Foggy today, so didn’t go out on deck at all. Missed the traditional Pancake race on deck (won by a team of chefs) to go to another lecture by Hilary Kay, on ‘My favourite Things’ which was again very interesting & amusing, she is obviously such a consummate professional communicator.
Met a lady called Veronica at lunchtime, who is going on the ‘overland’ trip from Valparaiso tomorrow which eventually hooks up with the cruise again at Easter Island. 12 people are going, they have been told that they will not go at all if there is a possibility they won’t be able to get back on the ship, so it will be interesting to see if they do go. Veronica has spent most of her time up on deck, so a complete contrast to me, I do feel I should spend more time outside now.
A highlight of the afternoon was going on the costumed Cunard Heritage trail with Thomas and some other members of the staff, they dressed up appropriately and it was shorter and different from the last one I went on so really good, well worth going to.
I missed the whales! I was getting ready for dinner in my cabin about 18:00 when I heard us decelerating madly, my whole cabin shook again. I thought maybe there was a man overboard, but it seemed unlikely given it was quite calm. By the time I got upstairs I had missed the 3 whales that probably most other people did see, very disappointed. We are in the Humble current, which is a cold current which goes up beside western Chile, and that is where they are likely to be.
Big band evening in the Grand Lounge, when the QE2 orchestra (who are 1st class) & the Queens Room Dance band combined & there was dancing too. I sat at the edge with Alan & Sylvia so I didn’t run the risk of being asked to dance by one of the hosts!
I didn’t go to the ‘Putting on the Ritz’ ball because my left foot was extremely painful. Finally booked very cheap accommodation in a ‘student’ place in Auckland, don’t suppose my sister will approve but I may move out on the Saturday to somewhere a bit more up-market, depending on how ‘grotty’ it is. It is at least central.
Day 32 (Wandering) Wednesday Feb 6
Finally arrived at a port, a relief to us all, we were all getting ‘stir crazy’. I must admit that last evening I really wished I was getting off the ship here. If we don’t get to Easter Island (I have been to Tahiti before) then I feel I might as well have flown from Santiago to Auckland & saved a considerable sum of money. We will have to wait & see.
Customs entry in the terminal was ‘interesting’, apparently there had been an announcement about not taking any foodstuffs but we hadn’t heard it in the Theatre while waiting to go on trips. We all had to put our bags on the floor and any food given to an officer, while a sniffer dog went along the bags. Of course there had to be at least one person who ignored the instruction, who was promptly taken away by the police and had to be rescued by the Cunard staff.
I went on an all day trip to Santiago, because I believe I’ll never be in this part of the world again & wanted to see as much as possible. It was an interesting trip and worthwhile, though rather too long was taken over the lunch stop. This involved going up a funicular railway and then half-way down on a cable-car, my children will be extremely surprised that I got in it, especially as it was a very small 4 seater. I didn’t want to, but there was no option. Fortunately a very nice guy called Norman leapt in with me (the operator was planning to let me go down solo) and talked to me all the way down. Needless to say I had my eyes closed most of the way (I am terrified of heights) but Norman took a photo of me with them open to prove that I did it! Hopefully he can get a copy to me somehow, I haven’t seen him since. I hadn’t realised Santiago is so huge, 6 million people live here, it is a very lively city but there is poverty of course. We were advised to leave our bags in the coach when we walked in the main squares and take very good hold of our cameras. On the way back we went to Villa del Mar, which is an upmarket resort next to Valparaiso, a lovely place. My camera battery had run out by that time, so I couldn’t take any pictures. We stopped to buy wine, I wasn’t going to, but then remembered we had talked about having an end of cruise party so I bought 3 bottles, much cheaper than the ship, and a start!
We arrived back late to the ship, but it was still loading supplies. Discovered that Tricia had had her brand new camera, bought in New York (a Panasonic TZ3) stolen while she was walking in Valparaiso. They were in a group, almost back to the ship, when a guy ran into the group, head down with a hood over his face, & grabbed it off her wrist. The strap was also wound round her fingers & she got slight friction burns. It all happened so fast that nobody gave chase, though just as well because he might have had a knife. She was really only upset because she lost the pictures she’d taken that day, fortunately we had put most of the pictures on the card on to my PC yesterday. I now have over 2000 of Tricia’s photos!
Day 33 (To Hilary) Thursday Feb 7th
Today is Hilary’s birthday, a special one, she is 65 but doesn’t look it. See below for what we did to try & make it a bit ‘special’ for her.
Peter Crimes did a very good talk on Easter Island, Pitcairn & the ‘true’ story of Mutiny on the Bounty, it was standing room only & I had to stand. It looks unlikely that we will make it into Easter Is, it is a very difficult approach even by tender, so we are feeling glum. As a ‘sop’ we are going to go around Pitcairn, and a longboat is going to come out to the ship selling souvenirs & stamps. There are only about 50 inhabitants, & as you may have seen in the press, some of them are in prison for sexual abuse & paedophilia, apparently commonplace on the island, not sure I want to meet them!
I spent a happy couple of hours in the laundrette, not realising that since Valparaiso it is open till 22.00, which is better. Late lunchtime does seem quite a good time to go too, if you don’t mind getting to the Lido just before ‘closing time’.
Went up on deck to read a book before tea-time, it was a little chilly but bright.
We clubbed together and got Hilary some flowers & champagne to be brought to the dinner table this evening, she was pleasantly surprised. There is a ritual on board, the waiters bring a cake and sing a unique version of Happy Birthday to anyone who has a birthday while on board, so be warned. I don’t think there’s any way you can get out of it unless you choose to eat in the Lido!
We also got a free bottle of wine tonight, since we were joined by one of the gentleman hosts, Uwe from Hamburg, & they are allowed one free bottle for the table a week. So we were all feeling very happy by the end of the meal!
The clocks went back this evening, as I think they had last, we will meet ourselves coming the other way soon, which of course is exactly what does happen when we cross the International dateline, I believe shortly before Tonga.
A note re dry cleaning: this is extremely cheap on board, for us Brits at any rate. It costs $12 to have a long dress cleaned, I paid £20 in the UK and another £20 to have the dress altered (just taken up a couple of inches). I would have been much better off to leave it to the dressmaker on board (ask at the Purser’s office) who charged Sylvia $15 to alter 2 dresses, (and he did it beautifully, just a member of the crew with a sideline, so I guess not guaranteed on a future cruise!).
Day 34 (Fair weather) Friday Feb 8
Went to a rather dry lecture given by a retired Air Traffic Controller, ‘Why is my Flight always late?’. It made some interesting points but could have done with a little humour, I think we have been spoilt by the quality of previous lecturers. It strikes me that if any reader has a talent for presenting (are you there Aileen?), they should be considering a career as a cruise lecturer, not a bad life!
I now have nearly 3000 of Tricia’s, Hilary’s and my photos on my laptop, I need to do some sorting! There was no Internet connection most of today, so am getting worried won’t be able to send an e-card to Emma, it’s her birthday tomorrow.
I went up on deck, since the weather is wonderful now, and the sea is a beautiful blue. I actually went for a swim in the sea-water pool for the first time, it was a little rough so it’s like swimming in the sea in a confined space, which made me feel rather strange. The jacuzzi was far too hot to get into, like a kettle. I managed to get a little sunburnt by mistake, the sun is extremely strong here, I should have remembered, since my ex got terribly sunburnt in Tahiti a few years ago, and we are at a similar latitude.
This evening was the ‘South Pacific’ ball, I just watched the demonstration of the Paso Doble by Rick & Peggy, who are brilliant, and some guys dressed up in hula skirts. Went down to the Computer centre late & managed to send a silly card to Emma, played music very loudly which was rather embarrassing till I worked out how to turn it off. Have almost used up my second ‘package’ 8 hours internet cost $167.95. I do now get 2 free hours time, having become a ‘Gold’ Cunard member once we reached Valparaiso, along with hundreds of others of course, the only advantage as far as I’m concerned, since I don’t think I can afford another cruise in the foreseeable future,for which I would get some discounts.
Day 35 (Sunny) Saturday Feb 9
The day Emma was born (in the Military Hospital in Aldershot) it was snowing and there was newspaper stuffed in the old sash windows to keep out the howling gale. Who would have thought that 29 years later I would be sailing in the beautiful blue South Pacific in temperatures of 80F on the ‘marvellous QE2’, to quote the captain? Incidentally, there is going to be a passenger mutiny to put him on the Pitcairn longboat if we don’t get to Easter Is!
The dance class was early today because of yet another Art auction at lunchtime, thousands of pounds worth of paintings get sold on these voyages I understand, if you’re into that sort of thing. I ended up waltzing (which I can do reasonably well) with an American called John who hadn’t got a clue unfortunately, so when we learnt a new step I’m afraid I ditched him to dance with Uwe. He didn’t seem to mind but I felt a bit bad afterwards.
Our ‘Good Girls?’ team got the highest total of points in the lunchtime quiz but we were ‘wiped out’ by the wipe-out question, which was what does Laser stand for? Light Amplification something Emission Radiation’ or somesuch apparently, we didn’t know.
I spent an hour or so after lunch working out whether I would send a bag back on the ship to Southampton, I decided I would after all because otherwise I will never get everything back into my suitcases for NZ. I still have 3 large suitcases plus a hand luggage bag plus the laptop so I hope I do get an estate as my hire car, or something equivalent.
Sat on deck in the shade with Sylvia, Alan & Hilary were swimming, & had tea on deck which was very pleasant.
Captain’s cocktail party this evening to celebrate us all becoming Gold members, very crowded but we go for the free champagne! A Welshman called Joe, whom I met at lunchtime a few days ago, asked me to ‘go out’ with him, which meant going to the dance I think. He thinks he’s the poorest man on the ship, and he’s a nice man, but I don’t think we have anything in common & he’s also 69. I refused him politely and then found the safety of Melanie & Martin to talk to, I know I should be flattered but I find this ‘game’ quite hard to cope with!
There was a fantastic sunset, which fortunately tricis managed to capture since I missed it.

Days 28-30 Feb 2-4

Day 28 (Super) Saturday Feb 2
Very early this morning the ship was supposed to hook up with a pilot boat at the entrance to the Beagle Channel, and anchor briefly at Puerto Williams (see if you can find that on a map!) to be cleared by the Chilean authorities. This didn’t happen because the weather was so bad, (I have to admit to taking a sea-sick pill last evening, it was already pretty rough then). At the time there were apparently 50ft waves & a Force 8 gale around Cape Horn. We were cleared by e-mail, and then made our way to a fortunately very benign Cape Horn, the weather changes so quickly in this part of the world. It was cold with a biting wind at first, but brilliant blue skies & sunshine as we rounded it (going the ‘wrong’ way, i.e. West to East, having gone round Horn island to the North at first). This to some extent made up for the disappointment of yesterday (for those of us who didn’t have a more personal involvement with the Falklands of course). Alan took back his unkind words about the captain yesterday, he was convinced we would be so far away we wouldn’t be able to see anything. We are now on our way to the Magellan Straits which we reach this evening, to get to Puerto Arenas tomorrow. Hopefully we will be able to get in there OK, also an ‘anchor port’.
Joined another quiz group today but not so amenable as our ‘regular’ group, felt like an interloper so won’t do that again! Did find out that there are cheats among us however, one of the guys had a little book full of useful facts & figures which he looked at from time to time! The lengths some people will go to for a free beer!
The Cunard singers & dancers at last did another session, ‘Funkadelic’ which was very good, followed by the excellent harpist Shirley Dominguez. Alan bought all 3 of her CDs, Trisha & Hilary bought 2. We had missed Alan & co’s stunning karaoke performance last night so went tonight, not so lively & there was at least 1 singer who sounded professional so not so enjoyable I think. Needless to say I didn’t sing, being possibly the world’s worst!
Day 29 (Sad) Sunday Feb 3
Sad because once again we didn’t make it into port, this time apparently the Chilean authorities said it was too windy for the tenders, and although the water looked pretty benign to us, it was very windy up on deck. A tug brought on an entertainer (though not her luggage, see tomorrow!) & 2 people who ‘missed the boat’ in Montevideo, & then took off Kelly Monteith and Tracey Shield, I didn’t envy them the journey in all honesty. At least we got to see the Magellan Straits in the daytime, I guess we just go slower to our next port. We heard the captain is nicknamed ‘No port McNaught’, now we know why! Spent yet more time looking for accommodation, have emailed my sister for an opinion, will definitely book something tomorrow!
It was actually a plus seeing the Straits in daylight, and apart from the people booked to see penguins, I think most people were pleased, particularly as early on the weather was good and the snow-capped mountains were spectacular. Alan certainly thought it more than made up for not seeing Punta Arenas. Some people saw porpoises (dolphins?) & penguins, unfortunately I didn’t, & nor did my ‘official photographer’, Trisha. I haven’t spent a lot of time on deck, my daughter asked me if I have a tan yet, and the answer is ‘no’, it’s very windy most of the time on deck, even when it was a lot warmer, and there’s always something else to do. Some are tanned, but mostly the Americans who embarked in Fort Lauderdale who were presumably already brown.
The weather turned very rough once we entered the Pacific this evening, the dancers & singers did really well to keep their balance while performing ‘Vanity Fair’ once more. I am feeling a little down tonight, I think a month at sea is really enough, but might be due to the fact that we’ve been at sea without setting foot on land for some time now, we’re getting ‘stir crazy’.
Day 30 (Manic) Monday Feb 4
Not really manic, just in contrast to yesterday when I didn’t ‘do’ much. Lots of people do spend most of the time reading & sitting around, I try not to, though sometimes I guess it’s good to sit & do nothing.
Went to Peter Crimes’ lecture on ‘Glaciers, Glaciation & Global Warming’ which was really interesting. He believes that sun spots are responsible for the weather, & that global warming is a myth, in fact the Earth has been cooling since 1998 and it’s all political speak in order to raise taxes. He may be right, it certainly gave us something to think about, & I bet the Americans love him. Still doesn’t mean we should waste valuable resources and destroy the rain-forests.
I stayed in the theatre for another lecture on ‘Thinking to happiness’ i.e. CBT, which in my present state of mind was a good thing to do. The weather is now lovely, bright blue skies but with a cool breeze, fortunately the sea has calmed down, had to take a seasick tablet last night, it was so rough. My large bottle of water worked it’s way to the edge of my chest of drawers & fell off in the middle of the night, I thought the television had crashed to the floor, the noise was so loud.
Hilary Kay showed the DVD of her programme on Chippendale, which was fascinating & rather sad, because he created such wonderful furniture (if you like that sort of thing) but died a pauper.
It was ‘Parade of the Baked Alaska’ in the restaurant this evening, a rather strange tradition on a cruise ship I always think, & we’re sure they use cardboard not the real thing, on this ship at any rate. It did happen before we reached New York too, only I forgot to mention it! It happens on the penultimate evening of a ‘leg’ so I guess this is the last time we’ll see it as we will have left the ship by the end of the next leg, which we think is in Sydney. Valparaiso is the end of this leg, over 200 people are getting off, which seemed like a strange destination until Trisha told us about the ‘special offer’ in the Mail on Sunday some months ago which had a really good price from Southampton to Valparaiso!
Alfreda Gerald sang ‘a tribute to the divas’ this evening, in a borrowed dress & shoes (she took the shoes off not long into her performance!). I thought she was great fun & a good singer, not a ‘belter’ and very versatile.
I didn’t go to the ‘Putting on the Ritz’ ball because my left foot was extremely painful. Finally booked very cheap accommodation in a ‘student’ place in Auckland, don’t suppose my sister will approve but I may move out on the Saturday to somewhere a bit more up-market, depending on how ‘grotty’ it is. It is at least central.
Made the ‘Midnight Buffet’ for the first time, it was a ‘special’ with fantastic ice carvings & decorated food, luckily Trisha was on hand. I’m going to have great fun adding photos to this blog once I get to NZ. I do intend to write another one once there, about ‘building the house’ (haven’t heard from Ron once I paid him, now there’s a surprise!), & any travelling I do there, rather depends on the house cost as to how much I do.

Days 26-27 Jan 31-Feb 1

Day 26 (Theatre) Thursday Jan 31
Went to the ‘destination’ lecture given by Peter Crimes this morning on Chile, given to an absolutely full house,which was very good. Learnt, as well as some history & geography, that both Puerto Arenas & Valparaiso have many pickpockets, I’m going on trips in both so should be OK, the others are planning to ‘go-it-alone’ so will warn them. I am going to Santiago from Valparaiso since I don’t suppose I shall see it any other way.
Helen Kay from ‘Antiques Roadshow’ then gave a very amusing & informative talk about her experiences doing the show, and some background stories. She is doing another lecture later so must make sure to go.
Hilary wanted to join in the quiz today but there wasn’t room for either of us (already too many in the team) so she went to the dance lesson & I went to try & do my washing, but full up, see above for ‘not enough machines’.
There was a brilliant lady harpist this evening, Shirley Dominguez, who plays the harp like a guitar really (not physically, musically). Apparently she is one of Cunard’s most popular entertainers and it’s not difficult to see why. Missed Alan, Alan & Susan (the latter 2 from the quiz team) performing as ‘adda’ in the Karaoke this evening, they were apparently the stars of the show so must make a point of watching them next time.
Day 27 (Frustrating) Friday Feb 1
Today was supposed to be on shore in the Falklands, so we all got up early. Unfortunately the captain announced just before 7 a.m. that there was a Force 7 wind predicted to increase to Force 8 by the evening so it was too rough for the tenders to ply backwards & forwards. A Sea King helicopter flew out to track our course and even almost landed the winch man on the forward deck (which I didn’t see), but much more spectacular were 2 Tornados who flew past (several times) very low and then flew vertically into the sky with a victory roll at the top. All in honour of the ship, because of course she took troops to the war in 1982 but only to South Georgia, not actually to the islands because she was too valuable a symbol to risk her being bombed by the Argentinians.
Lots of people were very disappointed, Sylvia was very upset & Alan got angry with the captain because he thought he was a ‘wimp’, the seas did not look too rough. But seeing as some of the people on here can barely make it up and down a fixed gangway I’m sure he made the right decision. It is very clear that the Americans on board have no idea how important these small islands are to the British, after all people gave their lives to get them back. There was to have been a memorial service at 12 at the War memorial in Port Stanley for people who had come to bring wreaths, I don’t know if they threw them into the sea instead, it must have been very sad for them.
We almost won the quiz (Trisha & Hilary also joined ‘The Good Girls?’ team), only lost it on the third tie-breaker. I finally managed to do my washing, and then finished my third book, only one to go, but there is a library on board so no shortage of reading matter.
A Celine Dion look & sound-alike performed for us this evening, I thought she was pretty good but Sylvia didn’t like her at all, it all goes to show we have different taste, & what a boring world it would be if we all thought alike. I have given up dancing, though I may go to some of the lessons. I’m just not confident enough to do the actual dances in the evening & I think it’s a bit desperate to hope that a dance ‘host’ will dance with you, when they’d rather dance with the people who know what they’re doing, mentioning no names!

Days 23-25 Jan 28-30

Day 23 (Moving On) Monday Jan 28
Missed a Rumba lesson in order to go to a very interesting lecture on the Falklands, a bit about the war and then about penguins. Decided to change my walking tour (which I can easily do on my own) for a trip to a penguin rookery. Apparently there is only a 50% chance that we will get into the harbour at all, we have to be taken off by tender since this ship is too big, & it can get very windy, sounds fun(not!).
Neither of our quiz teams did very well, but who would believe that the French put parrots at the top of the Eiffel Tower in WW1 to warn of approaching aircraft! Did they screech ‘avions, avions’?!
There was a ‘Ladies Day’ this afternoon, and part of it was a quiz, which amazingly enough we won! So we got a small bottle of ‘champagne’ each & a prize voucher. Apparently about 50 of those will get you a key ring!
Finally managed to amend my house plans and fax with a covering letter to NZ, it cost $15! While in the ‘Business Centre’ there was a ‘priority 2’ call to a cabin on my deck, I learnt early in the cruise that this means somebody has died, not surprising given the age of the passengers, apparently some even come on here to die, and coffins are carried routinely. When I went down to my cabin I saw a guy in green ‘scrubs’ and a mask round his neck just coming out of a cabin so I guess that’s where it had happened. This is definitely a microcosm of a small town.
Entertainment tonight was a Scots singer called Mark O’Malley, whose background is in musical theatre. Consequently he belted out songs very well but sometimes rather too loudly for the acoustics of the Grand Lounge. Then I won $50 in the casino, but I’m only getting back what it owes me! Fun though.
Day 24 (Trip) Tuesday Jan 29
Arrived in Montevideo at 8 a.m. this morning after a very slow entry up the River Plate. The anchor of the Graf Spee is on display very close to where we docked. We all went for a 2.5 hour walk round the town, since the others don’t like being ‘herded’. Interesting but I think you learn more on a tour so am going on one this p.m. ‘Art & Architecture’. What struck us all was the decaying opulence on display, not as run down as Salvador, & definitely more genteel, but decaying never-the-less. This is a recent phenomenon it seems, presumably to do with the economy of Uruguay, hopefully I will learn more later.
On the tour visited 3 art museums, & saw the affluent houses in the eastern suburbs of the city, lovely tree-lined avenues. Walked a bit in the ‘old town’ at the end of the tour, and saw the cathedral and the City Hall which we’d missed in the morning, so was worth it. I was one of only 2 English on the tour, all others American. 3 of the ladies obviously didn’t want to be on the tour at all, and left it once we reached the centre, think the guide was a little upset by this.
Evening entertainment was a local tango music and dance presentation, which seemed to be extremely popular with the rest of the audience, lots of bravos, but not to our taste apart from the dancing. Stayed overnight here, very strange going to sleep without the noise of the engines, & I found it quite difficult!
Day 25 (Watch yourself) Wednesday Jan 30
We all went shopping this morning, to a leather shop recommended by Cunard. I spent lots, bought 4 handbags (not all for me!), a belt for David and spoilt myself with a leather jacket. The sleeves were too long, they said they could fix it in an hour and deliver to the ship. More than 2 hours later, & approaching gangway up time, still no sign. So getting a little worried went to bottom of gangway and fortunately it was just being delivered, not sure what would have happened if it arrived too late. During sail-away party spoke to a guy I met on the Barbados trip, who had been robbed the day before, jumped upon, knocked to the ground (& he’s a BIG guy) in broad daylight and had his wallet taken, so his view of Montevideo was not good. Everybody else thinks it was great, a really pleasant place to visit with an ‘old-world’ feel.
Kelly Montieth was very funny this evening, I remembered him from his TV shows, he looks a lot older now, I guess we all do!
Comments re drink: I make a bottle of wine last for 3 meals (David be proud of me!). This is because it is relatively expensive, and at home I have a glass while I’m cooking! Also the others on my table drink very little (Trisha & Hilary not at all, not because they don’t drink, but to avoid spending too much). I very rarely have alcohol at any other time, sometimes a beer during the quiz, & I did buy a very expensive half bottle of ‘champagne’ for the sail-away. Felt good though, the weather is fantastic, brilliant blue skies & warm, managed to get a little bit sunburnt without realising it during that time.

Days 20-22 Jan 25-27

Day 20 (Future plans) Friday Jan 25
Met a lady at breakfast who is going back from NZ in April on a cargo ship, she will be one of only 6 passengers on board (there is room for 12), they call at 30 ports and it costs £2700, which sounds a good deal to me and worth thinking about for a future trip maybe. Of course there is no entertainment, you have to make your own, and you need a hobby, but apparently most ships have a gym and some have a swimming pool. I did briefly investigate this but couldn’t find out anything, she has given me the name & address of a guy in Napier who arranged things for her. Trisha is trying to persuade me to go with her and Hilary in a 3 berth on ‘The Mary’ in 2010, in order to do the other half of the world cruise, if she is doing it then, we don’t know for sure. I will think about it, but think I prefer my own company really and I won’t be able to afford it anyway!
Went to a really good lecture on Montevideo, apparently it used to be the second safest city in the world after Tokyo, not quite so safe now but up there. 93% of population is of European extraction, I used to work with a German lady from Uruguay, I believe lots of Germans went there after the war, as well as Portuguese & Spanish descendants I suppose. I know a lot more about the geography of South America than I did before this trip.
Had a salsa lesson again, with added steps, did well at the time but can’t remember a thing now, & I didn’t write the steps down so I’m in trouble! Spent time on my house plans this afternoon, have decided to stop at the initial ones until I reach Auckland, because it is impossible to really relax and enjoy myself while trying to decide where the cooker and sink should go etc. I think I need a proper kitchen planner and bathroom planner now, since I can have the windows where I want them obviously but Ron, the guy in NZ hasn’t got the expertise to know all the options and I don’t want to commit until I’ve had the time to think properly with no distractions. Probably sounds odd but I don’t want to be a recluse on here!
Musicians who can play 40 different instruments entertained us this evening followed by the Carnival ball. Enjoyed watching all the dancing but didn’t dance myself.
Day 21 (Spectacular (should have been)) Saturday Jan 26
Got up at 5.30 to see Rio de Janeiro (river of January), which was spectacular in the darkness. The trips all left on time, we all went to the Christ the Redeemer statue this morning, which would have been wonderful if the trip itself had been better organised and we had managed to see anything. We queued for half an hour for the train at the bottom of the hill only to be told we would have to wait another hour to get on it. So (eventually) the bus returned and took us to Copacobana and Ipanema beaches which were great but it was very cloudy. This meant of course that by the time we got to the statue it was shrouded in mist and so was the view. Since I am terrified of heights this wasn’t altogether a huge disappointment to me, because I’d probably have passed out if I had been able to see anything! Actually it did clear a bit just before we left so the others were able to take photos, I managed one! I felt it was the lesser of 2 evils, and having come to Rio you must do one or the other or both, but I would never have managed the cable cars up to Sugarloaf. We did get to see it several times from afar.
In the afternoon, after less than half an hours break and no lunch, we went on another 4 hour trip to the Botanical Gardens and the Tijuca National Park, which was terrific, with a very good guide who was amusing and knowledgeable at the same time. We saw Toucans chasing parakeets and Hilary saw some monkeys too, as well as lots of wonderful plants and trees. We also got several good views of the Christ statue which by this time was not in cloud at all (just our luck).
With no break at all, Trisha and Hilary went off to a Samba show in the town, where there was a power cut and they’ve now got half their money back, despite the fact that the show was almost over. The rest of us watched the local show brought to the ship which was very colourful but went on too long, we were all very tired. The highlight of my evening was being in the queue for the self-service Lido restaurant immediately after the Captain(Ian McNaught) and the Staff Captain(Hamish Sunter), & yes Wendy, the captain is from Sunderland.
Day 22 (Silent) Sunday Jan 27
A quiet day at sea, in more ways than one, see below, after all the excitement of yesterday. Went to a Foxtrot class, was partnered by a very small Japanese American who was about 5ft tall but extremely polite and a very good dancer thank goodness. Beat the guys in the quiz (again), then spent more time putting the rest of Trisha’s photos on my laptop. I look forward to sorting it all out in NZ. We sat on deck to do it (out of the sun) and Hilary noticed that we were going extremely slowly. Then the captain announced that one engine had stopped, we were running on 3, but all engines would be stopped while they ‘put on’ another one, someone said there are nine, but they have to be put ‘on-line’. So we drifted completely silently for what turned out to be more than an hour, it was very pleasant, but I’m glad it wasn’t Cape Horn. When we got going again the Captain said we were not to let anyone on the QV know what had happened, I do think it rather serves him right for all his previous comments! We are now tanking along at a great rate, presumably to make up the time lost, and the ship is rolling quite a bit, fortunately we have now all got our ‘sea-legs’. I missed tea deliberately to sit on deck in the sun, have gone slightly pink where I missed bits with the sunscreen, but nothing to worry about. I do wonder where everyone goes in the afternoons, the ship looks practically deserted, and it is almost full. I think lots of people sleep in their cabins, there are lots of ‘senior citizens’ as I’ve said before, only the under 60s had to pay park entry yesterday and there were only 7 of us out of 2 coachloads!

Days 16-19 Jan 21-24

Day 16 (Murky) Monday Jan 21
It was bright early, and Trisha & Hilary managed to see some flying fish, but it clouded over and we had a very sharp shower, although it is very warm. Trisha and I spent most of the morning loading her photos on to my PC, so I can use them in the future if I want to, and also write them to disk for her. Photography is her hobby, she has won prizes, so some of them are very good. She takes loads, she has about 17GB to back-up, it could take us the remaining month to do it!
I had to do the mundane task of my washing today, not easy despite the free laundrette, because of the number of people who want to use it. There is only one laundrette with about 12 washers, 2 of which weren’t working, not nearly enough for 1500+ people! Apparently the QV has one laundrette per deck and it still isn’t enough. Heard a story which is possibly true, possibly a ‘ship myth’. Someone washed one of her long formal dresses and left it in the washer while she went back to her cabin. When she came back it was gone, only to be seen that night being worn at the Ball! She challenged the wearer, ‘you’re wearing my dress’ only to be answered ‘prove it’! So you see, we are definitely a mini-community, complete with ‘thieves and vagabonds(probably)’.
Did very little this afternoon, we are all feeling tired (possibly the rocking motion of the ship?) and several of we ladies have swollen ankles and/or feet, we don’t know why. Makes dancing in high heels difficult to say the least. Neptunes Ball this evening, since we cross the Equator at 3 a.m. tomorrow, again didn’t dance, This evening rather depressed and getting cold feet about NZ. Had new plans from Ron in NZ, not really what I wanted but we’re getting there. I guess it’s inevitable that I will feel a little down sometimes, and I am missing home already, hopefully better tomorrow when I go to the ‘Crossing the Line’ ceremony.
Day 17 (Tango) Tuesday Jan 22
Thought it would be a good idea to go to the morning lecture on ‘Positive Psychology’ and it did help a bit. Despite what my children think, I believe I am a cautious optimist, rather than a pessimist! Optimists live longer apparently, so I had better try to be more positive in future.
12 noon and it was the ‘Crossing the Line’ ceremony, which involved all ‘Pollywogs’ (well, those who volunteered anyway) being wiped with a clammy salmon, covered in gunk, and then pushed into the swimming pool. A ‘pollywog’ is someone who hasn’t crossed the Equator on a ship before (it happened during last night at around 3 a.m). Of course that includes me, but given I have crossed it many times by plane I excused myself from the experience. It was fun to watch for a while, but there were 160 people in all so I got bored and went to the Tango lesson, which I really enjoyed. Am now writing the steps down so I can practise in private (no memory you see, must be my advanced age!).
An absolutely brilliant magician called Jamie Allen was the entertainment this evening, nobody went dancing because we all have swollen feet. Trisha got a gold pin for becoming a gold Cunard member, apparently we will all reach this exalted state once we get to Valparaiso (it’s determined by number of days). The one advantage, apart from discounts on future cruises which I can’t afford anyway, is 2 free hours internet time. Since I’ve just had to purchase 8 more hours for $167.95 this is very good news!
Day 18 (Warm) Wednesday Jan 23
And it is at last warm and balmy, particularly in the evening, even the wind isn’t so bad, I think we’ve slowed down a little. This morning I saw lots of flying fish, and blue-headed boobies trying to catch them. I also met Roger at last, who seems very nice but not my type, too fit! He runs round the deck several times a day, goes to the gym, & only has an apple and an orange for lunch! We all got our interim bills this morning, a bit of a shock for all of us I think, we’ve all spent too much. Fortunately this bill is actually distorted a bit because we have booked all our tours through to Auckland, except Tonga, where we may do stuff independently since there doesn’t seem that much to see.
Learnt the samba (again), very suitable since we are heading for Brazil. We have heard some scare stories about Salvador de Bahia, Trisha & Hilary met some people who have been before and they had armed guards for their walking tour. Lots of small boys snatching stuff and disappearing, Melanie has decided not to go ashore if it’s so unsafe.
The diva I missed the other night, Dorothy Bishop, and Kenny Martyn entertained us this evening, both brilliant. The standard of the entertainment is very high, I think I expected more shows done by the ship’s own singers and dancers, maybe that usually happens but not on this one.
Day 19 (Touring) Thursday Jan 24
The tours were all delayed this morning after we docked at 8 a.m. because the authorities were slow to check everything. We have all had to hand our passports in and then we just have to fill out forms, not sure if this will continue for the rest of the voyage, I think so. We all went on what was supposed to be a walking tour, which turned out to be a 2 hour coach ride too, mainly because the traffic was absolutely terrible, as bad as London. All the roads are being repaired in preparation for their ‘Carnival’. Salvador is a rather strange mixture of beautiful old buildings, some of which have been restored magnificently (San Francisco church being an example) and extremely run-down houses. It is obviously ‘on the up’, so somebody must be investing here, lots of new apartment blocks. We felt quite safe when walking, the scare stories must have been a long time ago, though there was a considerable armed police presence. There was a terrific drum band playing near the cathedral, so we all did the Samba to it, the other 3 will probably be on the Cunard video of the trip, since I was ‘otherwise engaged’ when that happened! Managed to buy some postcards and 2 small gifts for the grandchildren, I am trying to find something for them in each port.
We didn’t get back till nearly 3, but lunch was continued in the Lido for us all, must have been hard for the staff because then they immediately started afternoon tea. I finally paid my tax bill online, having sent the tax return from Barbados, hope I don’t get fined! The hotel apartment I was hoping to book in Auckland appears to be unavailable, but I will try another website tomorrow, it all takes so much time.
We watched the ‘sail-away’ (Trisha and Alan & Sylvia went to the Sail-Away party, which involved more dancing). Then we had champagne in the Funnel Bar (not been there before). It’s what this type of holiday is all about, great to relax in the warm evening air.
The Cunard singers and dancers put on a brilliant show this evening, we are wondering if they are flown from ship to ship and do the same show in each, because otherwise they are not doing a terrific amount, though each show is a considerable production effort. There is one more show before Sydney apparently.

Days 13-15 Jan 18-20

Day 13 (Fun) Friday Jan 18
Lost an hour last night as Barbados is considerably east of Florida, and didn’t sleep well, I think because sea a little rough. Just made breakfast & then went to half the Rumba lesson, before going to lecture on the Falklands conflict, which I was interested in because we were living in Texas at the time and got a totally different view of the whole thing than the propaganda in the media in England. Unfortunately the lecture was a little like a list of all the ships & planes which took part and little else, apart from some acerbic comments about the Belgians (who didn’t send the ammunition) and praise for our other allies who did provide intelligence information. Met some nice American ladies at lunchtime, Stephanie and Allora, who it turned out are just across the corridor from me. There is a lady in the next-door cabin who keeps banging on the wall even though they don’t get up till 8. They’ve decided to have a party one morning so I’ve received an invitation as long as I take my Ipod. Emma did manage to load up quite a few albums so I’m sure we could give her something to really complain about! Stephanie has been on about 30 cruises and has never had anything like this happen before.
Evening entertainment was Kyle & Adrian, which was extremely good, & I won $50 on the ‘fruit’ machine again.
Day 14 (Serendipitous-is that a word?) Saturday Jan 19
Arrived in Barbados very early this morning, which I was of course aware of because of the slowing down noise but managed some sleep after we docked. Went into Bridgetown with Alan & Sylvia, absolutely chaotic in the terminal because 4 cruise ships arrived today, everybody trying to get taxis or Shuttle buses. We did get one finally, & then took photos, tried to find some lower heeled gold evening shoes for me (unsuccessful), and I finally managed to post my tax return, took a great many ‘Bajan’ stamps, I wonder whether it will ever reach England?
Went on a tour of the island in the afternoon, ending up in an old Plantation house for tea. The island is beautiful, the people are lovely & friendly, I would definitely like to come back some day, if I can ever afford it. We didn’t get back on the ship till 5p.m. & were supposed to be leaving at 5.30, but in fact it was nearer 7 before we left. I missed what was apparently a great show given by locals brought on board for the afternoon, the evening entertainment was not so good, a ‘physical entertainer’, he was a juggler and comedian supposedly, but not funny.

Day 15 (supposed to be sun-bathing) Sunday Jan 20
2 weeks gone already, but at least I have more than another 4 to go, I’m quite getting used to this, I can see why people go on back-to-back cruises now! I am still tired, I am not sleeping particularly well, probably too much food & not enough exercise. Have resolved to walk up the stairs as well as down now, otherwise I definitely will not be able to get my beautiful dresses on! Wore my ocean green satin for the Captain’s reception this evening and lots of people commented on it, I did need Sylvia’s help to do up the zip though! I also told the captain that I was enjoying the cruise very much now, I know he didn’t remember what I said before but it made me feel better. In fact the ship is rolling quite a bit today, I think we are in relatively open water sailing down the coast of South America, we don’t get to Salvador de Bahia until Wednesday I think.
I did go up on deck and sat in the sun for about half an hour, but it is incredibly windy, should have realised that too. I’m sure there are sheltered places on the ship but I expect they get ‘snapped up’ early. Haven’t been swimming yet, the pool is a little too public for me!
Learnt the waltz today, but I am pretty happy with the basics of that. Had the dance instructor as my partner, so that was very good, obviously he is extremely good at leading! I usually end up with one of the dance hosts, some of whom are better than others, and they have to have 2 or more partners because ladies out-number the men (the ratio on Barbados is 3 women to 1 man by the way). I didn’t go to the entertainment because it was a diva which I didn’t think I’d like, but apparently she was extremely good.

Days 11-12 Jan 16-17

Day 11 (Warm at last) Wednesday 16th January
Didn’t sleep much last night, engine too noisy going slowly & then docking at ‘Port Everglades’ at 5 a.m. I got up at 6.30 and did my washing in the free laundrette, I hope you’re proud of me Carol! Have put 2 items in for dry cleaning, prices are almost as cheap as at Avis, so that’s good & surprising. Have packed away most of my winter stuff (though will need some for the Falklands & Chile) and so had to iron most of my summer wardrobe because it had been in the suitcase so long. Didn’t matter because trip to F. L. didn’t start till 10:15. Weather partly cloudy but 22, so I had to remember sunscreen. Went on a paddle-boat trip round the inland canals, looking at millionaire’s yachts and mansions, and then we were taken to the port to see the 2 queens, which of course we already knew very well, but it was an opportunity to photograph them together. I was annoyed when we got back that there wasn’t time for me to take the shuttle bus to the shopping mall, for which I had already paid, so my shopping list was useless. Mostly I can get the essential stuff on board, but I’m sure more expensive than in U.S.
The QV left on time at about 5P.M. three tugs spraying red white & blue water and we ‘saluted’ her goodbye (till Sydney) by blasting our very aristocratic bass horn 3 times, she responded with hers, which sounds like a very loud fart! I took lots of pictures, unfortunately I can’t upload ANY photos, they are too large for the system on board, not good. I will update this whole thing once I get to Wellington, and probably start another one about the house-build. It’s funny, because we were all glad to be able to go faster, but we miss seeing her every day now.
We were extremely late leaving, about 8 I think, we were eating at the time, having given up waiting on deck. The reason was the loading of supplies, which has to be enough to take us to Valparaiso, a very long way, & we are talking American appetites here. I suspect they are now in the majority, though there are still a lot of Brits on board.
Entertainment tonight was a very funny Irish comedian called Adrian Walsh, who certainly knows the cruise ship audience. Not his words, but he is trying to make people laugh who have probably been more active than they usually are during the day, have just had a good dinner and a couple of glasses of wine, so it’s not surprising some nod off!
Day 12 (T-shirt) Thursday Jan 17
Slept well since ship now going at 26+ knots so much quieter. The first day it’s really been possible, apart from the die-hards, to sit out on deck in a T-shirt. Very warm, but extremely breezy, about 45 knots on deck, which I certainly ‘appreciated’ when went for my pre-lunch short walk. It’s good to get fresh air, but I don’t want to be blown overboard!
Went for the advertised cha-cha lesson, which turned out to be the Foxtrot, which was good as I’m reasonably happy with the former, but missed last week’s Foxtrot lesson because the ship was rocking and rolling so much I thought I’d fall over. Had coffee sitting outside the Lido restaurant, which was very pleasant, sheltered from the wind. Rushed off to the quiz, close but didn’t win once again. Went for line-dancing, couldn’t do it at all, despite going Line dancing some years ago, so I’m afraid I wimped out and uploaded the last blog. Found an AKL hotel apartment which looks very possible for the 3 of us, will wait till the price comes down, which it hopefully will nearer to the time.
Kyle Esplin was the absolutely brilliant pianist/singer this evening, entirely self-taught, played Jerry Lee Lewis style and boogied up classics. Lost $20 on the fruit machines, Trisha won $66!

Days 9-10

Day 9 (Money-making) Monday Jan 14th
Only money-making because I made $50 on the ‘fruit’ machine this evening, I’m sure I’ve probably put that much in it already over the week, we do try not to put in more than $10 a night, the last of the big spenders!
Talk on Fort Lauderdale, Miami and the Everglades this morning, the lecturer also showed slides of each place on the whole world cruise, makes me wish I was doing the whole thing. Joined Martin, Melanie, some friends of theirs and Alan (who had met M&M while learning bridge), for the noon quiz in the pub, we did very well, only lost on the tie-breaker. Rushed straight off to the dance class, Samba today, enjoyed it again but probably won’t go dancing tonight, not confident enough.
Tried to find some accommodation in Auckland, Trisha & Hilary are going to share with me until my sister Hilary arrives on the 23rd, to cut the cost, which will be fun and I can show them around a bit. Didn’t succeed, internet connection is very slow and a total rip-off.
Evening show not very good, English ‘comedian’, singer, musician & impersonator, very unfunny jokes.
Day 10 (Thought-provoking) Tuesday Jan 15th
Went to a very interesting, and to say the least worrying, talk about Putin and the rise of the Siloviki in Russia, all that money and power in the wrong hands is not a comforting thought. Then went for a quick walk outside, air temperature about 15 but cold wind, the sea is much warmer as we are now in the Gulf Stream. We still have ‘The Albatross’ alongside (yesterday’s lecturer called QV that!). Going at 17-18 knots, which makes things rather noisy all the time in my cabin. It will be better after tomorrow when we break free and can go faster. Apparently the QE2 can go as fast backwards as the QV forwards! Went to the quiz again, did quite well but didn’t win, then jive lesson, extremely quick lunch and then ‘the Grand National’, horse racing with dice. I won $24 (sort of, it cost me $30!), so my luck may be changing.
Entertainment this evening featured the same comedian, who was actually brilliant, did rather more singing, impersonating Tom Jones, Ray Charles, Andy Williams, and only a few good jokes, finishing with Nessun Dorma, which could have been awful but was actually very good, some people even gave him a standing ovation. Then the Coasters did a shortened session, & had us dancing in the aisles, including quite a few who look like bank managers (old style), quite disturbing!
Food comments: the food is generally very good, though sometimes the fish is overcooked, & I have been eating a lot of fish (don’t want my brain to atrophy!). The portions are not huge, which is good, not sure what the Americans will make of it though. We only have 3 courses on our table, though in theory you could have at least 5, I bet some people do. Also we only have 1 course at lunch, or sometimes nothing (because we can always make up for it at tea-time if we need to). I eat mostly in my designated restaurant, the Mauretania, which is the ‘lowest’ category, it would be interesting to see what the other ‘better’ ones are like. The self-service restaurant, The Lido, is v useful if you want to eat lunch in 10 minutes flat, see above! I do like the waiter service at night, the waiters are mostly Eastern European or Indian, not sure if that will change at some point, we know ‘our’ waiter is going back to Serbia from Valparaiso, which is the end of this ‘leg’ from New York.

Days 6-8

Day 6 (Fantastic) Friday Jan 11th
Fantastic because of the weather, brilliant blue skies and though very breezy, not too rough a sea. Walked 2.5 times round the boat deck, which is only half a mile but I felt much better and very happy to be here, really for the first time I think. Had a tango lesson, partnered by ‘my’ elderly gentleman, think it’s rather fortunate that he’s dis-embarking in New York, or I might have had a bit of a problem, though I may flatter myself! This afternoon went to the ‘Sherlock Holmes Musical Murder Mystery’, which was basically a quiz but was very funny. Partook of the white-gloved tea again, it has become a meeting place for the 5 of us, though not very helpful to the figure. Would help if I had some will-power! The show in the evening was terrific, ‘Vanity Fair’ with the dancers and singers who are all excellent, lovely costumes too.
Discovered Trisha is not married, she did have a long-term partner who unfortunately died from cancer some years ago. Had a bit of a ‘girlie’ talk, probably told almost strangers much too much about myself but Trisha and Hilary are both lovely people and very good listeners! I have been lucky with my dinner companions, Alan now has a ‘shiner’ but is feeling OK, he has been offered help from a witness of his accident if he wants to pursue it further, I don’t think he does, being English. We were joined on Monday by travel agent Chris, from a company called Bath Travel, who have over 100 people on this ship and an equal number on the ‘Queen Vic’ as I have come to call her, all going to New York. He has some amusing stories to tell so we are a very congenial group.
Upset myself a bit by going dancing and not being able to do the Quickstep, as always I’m a perfectionist and I don’t like not being able to do something! It’ll come in time I guess, though we think the American ladies arriving on Sunday will change the atmosphere somewhat, more competition!
Day 7 (Surprising) Saturday Jan 12
Cunard Heritage trail this morning with the Cruise Staff Director, Thomas, who is a unique character and absolutely brilliant at taking us through the history of the Cunard line up to the present day. Very interesting, all of the paintings and artefacts, models etc are going with the ship to Dubai, I wonder if the Arabs will keep them? Somehow I doubt it and it will be a huge shame if so. Had a salsa lesson, Ann D would be proud of me, but decided not to go dancing this evening because believe it or not we are getting up at 4 to witness the progress up the Hudson River to dock. The QM2 will be 15 mins behind us, and the Queen Victoria 15 mins behind her, so hopefully we’ll have a great view of a historic occasion, though some people are camping out on deck all night to ensure they see everything! Since it has now turned cold again in NYC, it will be about 1C with a NE wind, I need my thermals (which of course I haven’t got!).
The very surprising element today was getting back to my cabin at noon to find the message light flashing, of course I was worried there was bad news from home, but then to my delight discovered some very old friends, Melanie and Martin Gillard, are also on the ship. They recognised me last evening but didn’t manage to attract my attention after the show. They are also going to Auckland, but not with the Irish (a Titanic reference in case you haven’t seen the film), they have a fantastic stateroom on deck 2, 2 windows, huge bed, loads of storage, what look like rosewood walls, quite a contrast to my cupboard. Melanie was chairman of the PTA at Longwick when David was at school there, and I was also on the committee. They moved to Hampshire and we lost touch, but we managed to meet up and spent an hour going through 10 years of our lives! We will do some more catching up after New York.
Day 8 (Sight-seeing) Sunday Jan 13
Didn’t need my 4 a.m. wake-up call, the noise of the ship slowing down at about 03:15 was enough to waken the dead, my whole cabin shook! So I was one of the first up on deck, and it was a great sight to see all 3 ships make their way up the Hudson. It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment, but of course we are a terrorist target, so NYPD helicopters were out in numbers, scanning the waves with searchlights. It was rather cold, so we all got frozen hands & feet, but it was terrific to be part of history, going under the bridge was spectacular. I am going to try & add some photos to this blog once I get the hang of the French instructions for my camera!
Had breakfast at 6 a.m. and then went on a sight-seeing coach tour which took in most of the main ‘sights’, with a stop to look out over Ground Zero & the construction which is now taking place there. David was here not long after 9/11, in October 2001, it looks very different now. Most of the buildings surrounding Ground Zero have now been repaired & hopefully the new buildings will be a fitting memorial.
Got off the coach at 42nd St, and walked back to the ship along 7th , buying postcards (which I promise to write soon) and a DVD so I could back up this laptop! I’m fed up with it telling me I ought to do it. Bought a couple of extremely small gifts for Elisha & Charlie, I haven’t room for anything really! Got back to the ship in time for tea at 3p.m. we have VERY early dinner at 5.45 because of the fireworks and musical extravaganza later, very impressive. Met a very nice American lady called Jean, who has just joined the cruise, she is going to Singapore, this is her 5th time on QE2.
The others didn’t make dinner at all, which was unfortunate for me because we were joined by an Italian ‘gentleman’ called Lino, who was polite all through dinner, but asked me for my cabin number afterwards, which I told him I wasn’t prepared to give! I have come to believe that some people come on board these cruises for one purpose only, which certainly isn’t mine! The evening show was ‘The Coasters’ and they were, as you would expect, very professional.
The average age on the ship appears to have gone up by about 10 years since New York, lots more wheelchairs & zimmer frames! It doesn’t have quite the same feel about it, but I shall make the best of it. Trisha & Hilary are joshing me because they reckon they’ve found me a man (not that I’m looking for one). He has a house just north of Wellington which he spends 6 months in, apparently he’s rather shy & won’t go dancing. Poor guy, little does he know they’re match-making! I hope I don’t go red if & when I finally do meet him!

Days4-5

Day 4 (Wet & Windy) Wednesday Jan 9th
Enjoyed last evening, the Captain is very friendly but it must be hard meeting all of us & thinking of something to say. I told him I wasn’t enjoying the cruise much so far, which probably wasn’t quite the right thing! It’s just the weather, and what should I have expected in the Atlantic in January? The Tuesday evening show was good, an Irish soprano who was lovely to listen to. This morning the weather was a little better, but by the evening I needed to take another sea-sick tablet, so much for my ‘sea-legs’. I did manage a dance class, on the waltz at lunchtime, my partner was 80+ and did his best, bless him, but I think I got a little bit cross with him by the end which was wrong of me, cos I hope I’m still dancing at his age! I met some other ladies for a ‘Knit & Stitch’ session, took a jumper I have strated knitting for Elisha, it might be finished by the time I leave the ship.
The big event of the day was Alan slipping over in the Lido restaurant at breakfast, thanks to some spilt milk not being cleaned up properly, and he then needed 5 stitches. If he was American he’d probably sue, since the staff were at fault. He and Sylvia came to dinner and he said he felt fine, the medical staff were excellent. After the show (a comedian who was a better singer) I was persuaded by Trisha & Hilary to play on the slot machines, and since I won the princely sum of $14.90 I wasn’t too disappointed! Then we went dancing, & I managed a waltz & a quickstep with 2 of the ‘hosts’, luckily lots of other ladies hadn’t got a clue what they were doing either!
Day 5 (Tatty?) Thursday Jan 10th
Some general comments r e QE2:
The public areas are not a bit ‘tatty’ but are lovely, sort of Art Deco in style in quite a few areas and very well looked after. The staff are very friendly and courteous, there are 1015 of them to almost 1800 passengers, so a very good ratio. My cabin is a little bit ‘tired’, but I discover new bits every day, today it was the bathroom cupboard behind the mirror. I thought it looked as though there ought to be one there, but obviously pulled on the wrong side when I tried on Monday! Made a bit more room in my chest of drawers at least. By the time we reach New York I should be properly organised, there is such a lot to do I don’t spend a lot of time in my cabin.
Went to a lecture this morning called ‘Kiss, Bow, Wink’ which was about various gestures used in different ways around the world. Good speaker called William Sinanu (I think!) but self-promotional, which was a little annoying, pushed his books and his company.
Learnt the cha-cha today, which I really enjoyed, my lessons at school are coming back! Partner was one of the hosts, Chris, which helped a lot compared with yesterday.
Intended to do more in the afternoon, but had to take up the skirt I intended to wear for the Red, White & Blue ball this evening. It only arrived on Saturday 5th (one of my eBay purchases) and I hadn’t had time to try it on before! Made afternoon tea in the Queen’s Room, a daily event which is lovely, white-gloved waiters, tiny sandwiches and cakes, not a help to the weight problem. I bought my pictures taken on Tuesday, they are good, but I can now see I have a double chin! Resolved to use the stairs more rather than the lifts.
The ball was very crowded, apparently the special events always are, so didn’t get to dance at all, too daunting with lots of people watching. Very colourful though. I should have heard about the other special events before I left, but of course I didn’t, I believe there is a Black & White ball and I don’t have anything for that! Had to buy a white top for this evening’s do, and I’ve got enough clothes already. Fortunately the clothes shop on board is very reasonable.

Days 1-3

Day 1 (Slow) Sunday January 6th 2008
Not a good sart! Arrived at terminal in plenty of time, thanks to Aileen & Nigel. However, but queue so long that took until 15:45 to get to check-in desk (with only one apology for the slow processing from the staff). I must have said or done something, because the system then went down for almost half-an-hour. Consequently not in cabin till 16:30, with very little time to see the fireworks and then the Queen Victoria leave, which was spectacular and sort of made up for the delay. Then a hell of a rush to get ready for semi-formal dinner by 18:30, clothes strewn everywhere in my state ‘cupboard’. Very nice people on my table, fortunate since we are all going to Auckland, presumably why they put us toggether. 2 married ladies, Trisha & Hilary, who are very old friends, have left their husbands behind to holiday for 8 months, and a married couple, Sylvia & Alan. One spare seat, I guess because I’m in a twin cabin. Clocks go back one hour tonight, look forward to a good night’s sleep.
Day 2 (Miserable) Monday January 7th 2008
Didn’t get it! Weather turned rough in the middle of the night, 7 foot swell apparently, felt like I’d had one (or several) too many! Took a sea-sick pill, but did not sleep much after that, then someone had booked a wake-up call to my cabin for 7 a.m. UK time, which didn’t help! Didn’t make proper breakfast, along with most others, but had snack later. Feel better where I can see the sea. We are actually sailing in tandem with QV, she is at most half a mile away, and things over here are apparently probably better than there. She certainly appears to be less stable and probably more are being ill over there. Rumour has it that she has the ‘Camilla curse’, we are feeling very superior over here! Our captain is amusing, makes comments about QE2 being better, she is still the fastest crusie ship afloat, and because she is a true ocean liner rather than a floating hotel, much better at coping with this weather. Lots of talks and stuff going on, but not feeling well enough to go to anything apart from Singles Mingles, where I did meet 2 very nice ladies and one man (not a millionaire unfortunately!). Have booked a couple of tours, yet to decide about the rest. Quite expensive, and we have to pay for all drinks, not just alcohol (website is out of date). So even the cup of tea sitting next to me cost $1.15 including tip, not much I know but will mount up over time. Formal dinner tonight, not looking forward to staggering along corridors in my finery, and not sure I can eat much, no danger of putting on weight in this weather.
Day 3 (Turnaround) Tuesday January 8th 2008
Feel much better today, though sea still ‘moderate to rough’, I must be getting my sea-legs. Also we have slowed down a little, though we feel the captain is desperate to show the QV a thing or two! Managed to get to a talk on New York, a Hair & Make-up demo, & do some souvenir shopping(antiques of the future I hope). Went to afternoon tea as well, so eating at last. Also managed to sort out my cabin a bit, which is very small, I’m really pleased I didn’t go for a single. My summer clothes are still in the suitcase on the spare bed! Dressing up tonight for the Captain’s reception, I’m keeping a record of my outfits because told Trisha on Sunday that I might have 46 different ones which she can’t believe, and I’m checking!