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London,
Southampton, QM 2
June 24th, Thursday - Day in London, by DW
The word for the day is “football”. London
is on a different time zone than the continent (1 hour
earlier), so an early breakfast was easy for our group. TD and
I read for a few hours in bed waiting for them though. The
breakfast room is in the basement level of most hotels and
food was the normal fare of bread, cereal, cold cuts and
fruit. The breakfast room itself however was very poorly
decorated with glass top tables and large rattan chairs
filling the room to near capacity, without room for any
patrons. The tables then had beautiful 8 inch tall, square,
glass vases filled with long stemmed white lilies. These items
were prime for spillage as buttocks, bellies and arms splayed
around the tight quarters. The first spill was Phillips apple
juice. Next the waitress reached across a table sending the
vase toppling over as a patron, nearly in unison, dumps the
vase from the table behind us over with a hip bonk. We ate
hurriedly and left before more accidents could occur.
 Parting
company at 10, the Jackson’s and AD went to tour museums,
while TD and I walked around the neighborhood between our
hotel and Harrods. We arrived in the area with 40 minutes to
spare, so we searched for eating options and travel agents.
Luckily, we found a agent with a great Cunard cruise book. We
have e-mailed Cunard with questions and received no answers.
TD had coordinated with Deb to meet at the center entrance
door at 1 pm for lunch. This ended poorly as there are
multiple center doors on side streets and we were each on
different sides of the building, waiting for 20 minutes before
finding the other. By that time the kids were yelling and the
adults had raw nerves so we parted once again but taking AD
along with us.
 We
ate lunch sitting in the sun outside Harrods food court,
munching on bacon and cheese filled rolls. Then we went into
Harrods to tour the gifts and toy sections. I bought Deb a
Harrods bag and AD a book and a magic box set. He has been
reading a continuing saga called “The Series of Unfortunate
Events” and we found the 10th volume. Walking home we went in
search of cheap wine and Harry Potter jelly beans for the trip
home. Deb and family arrived safe and sound, having eaten
lunch inside Harrods and ridden the London Eye, a huge
Ferris wheel. The Queen Mary 2 is on the news with a poor fire
rating standard, but assures passengers that they are working
to improve the rating in order to set sail tomorrow evening.
First thing I’ll do after boarding is find the nearest fire
exits and extinguishers!!
 TD
and I left at 6:45 to meet Andrew Bartrum for dinner at a
nearby pub. England played Portugal in the European Soccer
tournament and the pub’s atmosphere was perfect for watching
the game. England scored in the first three minutes and was
able to hold Portugal for the next 60 minutes. In a rousing
ending both teams scored one more goal in the last 10 minutes
of the game. Since no ties are allowed the winner is decided
by 5 goal kicks for each team, highest score therefore
winning. After the 5 kicks it was still tied so they then went
into sudden death and England lost 7-8.
June 25th, Friday - Departure on the Queen Mary 2, by TD
The sun was shining in London when I woke
up this morning at 6 AM. That’s something you don’t expect to
enjoy very often. The street noise was surprisingly light
outside our hotel. So often the rooms on the street side
suffer from too much activity below. Poor Debbie has the rail
line under her rear facing room. Earls Court is a station for
3 different underground lines which means lots of traffic.
There’s not much you can do on a travel day with an 11 AM
check out. We got the bags stuffed and zipped shut. Adding 4
bottles of wine and a few other purchases challenged the
capacity of already full bags. The kids were in and out of the
room harassing each other as we waited away the morning. DW &
I read and rested. After moving the bags downstairs, DW & I
walked over to the Sainsbury store to buy some more shopping
bags. We found them yesterday and Deb wanted a few. The boys
were outside playing with the soccer ball on the sidewalk.
There is no room in most small hotels to sit around and wait.
 We
picked up a quick lunch on the street near the tube station
and ate it back at the hotel. A driver came with a large
transport van to take us to Southampton where the Queen Mary 2
is docked. She arrived this morning from NYC. The driver was
upset at how much baggage our party of 7 had. He didn’t want
to try to load it and wanted to call another car. I took over
and stuffed the rear, loaded the passengers and the remaining
bag in the middle. It was an uncomfortable ride of 90 minutes
but saved a lot of money and inconvenience over the train.
 The
ship dominated the port as we entered the docks. The QM2 is
almost a mile long. There are 2600 passengers and 1200 crew
members. Check in was extremely efficient and fast. They took
our bags and herded us into a room with 20 stations. During
check in a photo ID is made that doubles as a room key. The ID
is used for all charge purchases. After going through
security, you enter a huge
 waiting
hall for your boarding pass to be called. Our stateroom is
next to the Jacksons on the 4th level. There are 13 decks all
together. The room has 192 sq. ft. and can sleep 2-4 people.
Upper bunks fold up into the ceiling, rather than against the
wall. The bathroom is tight but has a comfortably sized
shower.
 All
ships begin your stay with a mandatory disaster/fire drill. It
seemed like a waste of time to the kids but we appreciate the
value. Especially with the QM2’s recent fire code status! It
was time for our 6 PM dinner setting in the Britannia Dining
room. The food was fabulous and portions sensible. We are
conscious of the “free food” trap that many cruisers fall
into. There are so many places to eat and different cuisines
to choose. A number of the evening meals require formal
attire. I guess AD & I will be eating in the cafeteria for
those nights. Debbie brought DW a dress to wear for those
nights.
 The
ship put on a welcome show for the early diners. It showed a
sample musical review, talked about the facilities, and future
entertainment programs. Cunard is renown for their elegant
evenings and dances. We played marbles at a game table for a
few hours while AD was at a kids’ program. It was fun talking
to different people as they walked by our table. AD showed up
at midnight after we had returned to the room. Every night we
gain an hour of sleep from time zone changes.
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Daniel Journal |
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6-24-04 - London
A full day in London today. Everyone
in our group had been to London already, so we split up
and went our separate ways today. Tom and Dianne went
out walking, Debbie went to the Victoria and Albert
Museum, and I went to the Natural History Museum with
all three kids. The museum was very interesting, but not
as good as the Science Museum IMO. My experience was
diminished due to the fact that I had limited time there
and by the kids fighting. Claire and Andrew came to
blows. Andrew resents being called short or wimpy and of
course Claire can’t resist the temptation.
We rendezvoused with Debbie, then went to Harrod’s. We
waited out front for twenty minutes for Tom and Dianne.
Then Debbie said she would go looking for them and left.
Finally, 15 minutes after that, the kids and I started
walking around the perimeter of the building. We finally
all got together, they had been waiting at another
entrance. The store is so huge that sometimes is hard to
find each other. Everyone was so testy that Debbie, the
kids, and I went off on our own. We ate a leisurely
lunch at Harrod’s, I had fish and chips, then Debbie and
Claire went shopping for clothes and Phil and I went to
the electronics section. I bought him this cool
hovercraft. We then met Debbie in the jewelry
department. Fortunately I got her out of there
unscathed.
Our next stop was the London Eye, which is a relatively
new attraction. It’s a giant 400 foot tall Ferris wheel,
but the pods are all enclosed and very large, room
enough for 20 people at least. The wait to get on was
non-trivial and the cost was pretty steep, but we
figured what the heck, we’re on vacation. Adults were 11
pounds and kids were 5.50. The kid age was 15 or under,
so that reduced the cost somewhat. The cost was worth it
because the view was breathtaking. At the end of the
ride it started pouring down rain. We had our umbrellas.
We had bought a day ticket on the Underground, the
London subway system. London is very lucky in that
regard. The Underground workers are going on strike next
week. I’m glad I’m not going to be here for that mess.
Tom and Dianne had a dinner engagement with one of their
friends who lives in London, so we took Andrew out to
eat. Before that, unfortunately, Phil wrecked the new
hovercraft by flying it into the ceiling fan. He was
pretty distraught. Dinner was at Pizza Hut. Normally I
would oppose going to Pizza Hut, but I was tired.
Surprisingly, the pizza was excellent. After dinner I
found a convenience store and bought some super glue.
That hovercraft fixed up good as new and flies fine now.
After dinner we went back to the hotel and watched the
soccer game England versus Portugal. It was a tie and
was decided by penalty kicks, Portugal won. An England
player named David Beckham gets a lot of attention. I
don’t see why, he’s a soccer player, for one, and he’s a
loser, he choked on an easy penalty kick. I could hear
the people at the pub down the street when England
scored. I was kind of glad that England lost so the pub
idiots would shut up so I could go to bed.
Tomorrow to the Queen Mary!!!
6-25-04 From London to Southampton
 We
crammed seven people and luggage into a minivan for our
short trip (90 minutes or so) to Southampton. The trip
was not too bad, considering we were packed into that
van like sardines. The check in at the Queen Mary was
very straightforward, no problems. The boat is
humongous. There is so much to do that it’s impossible
to do it all. This afternoon we explored the ship.
Tonight we had our first of many gourmet meals. We also
had the mandatory fire drill. We then went to the
orientation program, which was kind of a cross between a
show and an actual presentation. We played cards for a
little while, then I went to the casino.
 Tom
likes to introduce himself to everyone he sees and to
tell everyone he’s on a world-wide trip. It looks like
every day here is dress-up day, which is annoying. I
brought my suit and my tuxedo, but I don’t want to wear
them every single night, and I don’t want to wear them
to the casino. They may lose my business if I have to
dress up to gamble. If I’m going to lose my shirt, I
don’t want to lose my dress shirt.
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Day 1 At Sea on QM 2...» |
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