Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Queen Mary 2 at Sea

Another smooth sailing day, although the weather has turned cooler, reaching only the high 50s.  But the humidity that followed us from New York seems finally to be gone.

After the usual breakfast (today in the King’s Road Buffet), I attend another film history lecture, this time on Greta Garbo, about whom I did not have much knowledge.  She had a remarkably long film career, in silents and talkies, before she retired still very young.  The lecturer presents a large number of film clips that trace her career and the process of glamorization forced upon her by the studios.  She was extremely beautiful and a talented actress; no wonder everyone was astounded when she just walked away from the industry and the height of her popularity.

Afterwards I do a more systematic morning of picture-taking, starting on the upper decks and moving down toward the lower; I won’t bore you with all of them until I return to Tucson.  The highlight of lunch in the Britannia Dining Room is a nice spaghetti Bolognese with sherry trifle for dessert.  I have mixed feelings about the food on the QM2.  For one thing, it is superior to that on the other Cunard ship I have sailed on, the Queen Victoria.  It is always beautifully presented and usually appropriately hot.  But the choices are a bit stodgy and typically British and the salad dressings have been thin and watery (I did complain about that and created quite a fuss amongst the dining room stewards and managers).  The steak and chicken have been excellent, but the duck and pork were tough and without much flavor.  On the whole, the appetizer courses have been the best; I am over-indulging on patés of various kinds.

Tonight’s dinner is a rack of pork that is delightful to look out, but not very enchanting to eat.  I’m glad I had a big lunch.  I do start a bottle of a French Sancerre Rose (Christian Thirot-Fournier, 2012), that is wonderfully crisp and light.

The other highlights of the day are the sending out of laundry and talking to Will by cellphone—so at least the phone is working on this trip, unlike the last one.  More later.

Britannia Dining Room




 

Illuminations Lecture Theatre and Planetarium