LFL AT SEA

Thursday, 2 May 2024

At Sea on QM2

This morning we awake to deep fog outside our veranda. It is much to cold (low 50's) and blustery to spend any time out there, but we do get a first-hand look at the weather. During the night the ship rolled port to starboard quite a bit. At one point I was awake enough to feel myself rolling toward the edge of the bed. The rolling action has pretty much subsided today.

Today's posting will cover two days in Southampton and boarding QM2.

Saturday, 27 April 2024

Southampton, UK

Our one full day in Southampton brings us typically British weather, cold and rainy most of the day. We have a relaxing morning at the hotel after the buffet breakfast. It's not much fun outdoor exploring in this kind of weather so we take the five-minute walk to the shopping mall, where we exchange a small amount of euros for British pounds and pence.

The Westquay Mall is very large and very busy on this Saturday shopping day. There are branches of Marks & Spencer and John Lewis department stores, as well as many American and international brand stores; lots of places to eat as well.

Entrance to Westquay Mall and Cinema

Mall Interior

Pedestrian Walkway Connecting Two Parts of Mall
(Medieval City Gate in Background)

We have a light snack before returning to the hotel to start rearranging our luggage for boarding the QM2 (different regulations than for boarding airline flights). And since the heavy rain continues, we return to the mall for excellent burgers and fries, accompanied by more excellent German pilsner, at Carlucci's restaurant.

And that's it for our day in Southampton. Tomorrow I will have a chance to see more of the city since we aren't scheduled to board until 3:45 in the afternoon. In fact, I will continue this blog entry:

Sunday, 28 April 2024

Southampton, UK, and Boarding QM2

There is no rain this morning, although it is still windy and cold. After breakfast we set out to walk to the neighboring port area, but the weather is too rough for Will. He returns to the mall, where I will meet him after an hour's walk to the ports and the few remaining sights in the old town. Although we are not scheduled to board QM2 until 3:45pm, we have to check out of our room by noon. We will need to be back at the hotel before noon to vacate our room and bring our luggage to the lobby for storage until we are ready to leave.

The walk along the waterfront takes me past the large number of docking terminals, several with large ships roped to them.

Some buildings still in use date back to the 19th century . . .

. . . while others across the road are even older.

I even have a distant view of the QM2, behind a large P&O ship, from the City Pier.

From here I walk away from the water and up the High Street. Just a few blocks away are some period buildings remaining from earlier times. There isn't much history left, because Southampton was bombed continuously during WWII.

Some of these buildings abut against the remains of the medieval city walls, which extend all the way to Westquay Mall.

At noon we bring our luggage down to be stored until we are ready to leave for the QM2. We have reserved a taxi for 3pm--advance taxi reservations are absolutely necessary when ships are in port. Then we hike back to the mall for a light lunch in the Marks & Spencer Cafe.

Our taxi arrives on time for the short ride to the pier; I give him a generous tip since I have a little bit of British money still in my pocket. Boarding procedures are quick and easy, although the walk from the terminal up several ramps to the ship is quite long. And the walk to our stateroom, in the way-aft section of Deck 5, seems to go on forever. Unlike most cruise ships that hide distances by creating bends and walls in corridors, on QM2 you can see the entire length of the ship as you look down the hallway.

The cabin is very nice, although much smaller than the ones we are used to. But we have all the amenities (bathrobes, slippers, etc,) and electric outlets we need. We have a short rest before our 8:30pm dinner in the Britannia Restaurant. Cunard still separates diners by the price they pay for their stateroom. We cannot eat in the Princess or Queen's Grill Restaurants; they are reserved for the "nobility." Besides the Britannia Restaurant, which is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we may also eat in the King's Quarters, a huge self-service facility which always has a huge and pushy crowd. We try to avoid it as much as possible.

I will give further reports from the QM2 as we continue to sail westward. For now I leave you with some photos.