Queen Mary 2 Day 1

Woke bright eyed and ready to sail. No after effects from Dom's 90th birthday dinner last night. He and Ceil loved their scarves and the holiday quilt I gave them. Ceil immediately put it on their bed, then kept patting it. I discovered later that she has never received a hand made quilt. And she's 86!!!! I did a good thing here!

Emailed the photos Sheila promised the designer when she sold Sheila her rubberized rain ensemble...only a French woman would have created this. And only Sheila could carry it off! I just wish we'd had better light, but the day was gloomy and depressing! 

 

As we decamped from taxi at the pier, Tim walked up and we had a mini-reunion. We boarded Queen Mary 2 with no problems and were settled in staterooms before 1:00, so lots of time for a latte at Sir Samuels then walking around so Sheila could see the changes made during the refit. 

At Muster, I met Liam and Sam two Liverpudliians who were Cunard floorers and on board to fix problems with carpet and tile. What an amazing job!! They travel all over the world with the line repairing flooring while racking up frequent flyer miles and sailing in luxury, as they are contractors, not crew!

By the time I unpacked, it was sail away, always awesome as we pass by Miss Liberty!  I went to Observation deck, but only lasted about 15 minutes....too damn cold and not even a lot of wind! Chatted with Maggie and her daughter Liana on holiday from Surrey. 

Then ran into Tim and we walked the deck visiting, went to Deck 13 and The Look Out to stand there as the ship went under the Verrazano Bridge...the clearance is about 8 feet...QM2 was designed to fit under this bridge so she could enter New York Harbor. I always wonder what the people driving over the bridge think as they watch this mammoth ocean liner steam stoward them!

Dinner was excellent. Despite an original seating mixup, Sheila, Tim and I are at Table 46 and we hope Sheila works her magic so no one else joins us. The evening went by convivially and ended with a snap as we went over to greet two legendary Cunarders Dick Faber and Hank. I remembered meeting them on a previous cruise and was stunned almost speechless when Hank hugged me and asked if I still lived in Florida!?!?!?!!!

Stopped by the Queen's Room to check out the dancing and ran across Monique from Montreal. Sheila and Tim settled in for a QEII reminiscences fest with her. I bailed and am almost ready for bed! 

I adore that I can feel tension leave me as I have not one responsibility!!!