Sunday, February 16^th, 2020

Yup, Still at Sea

There was still no message from guest relations regarding our plane tickets. Ruth was also getting very frustrated about the lack of information about disembarkation on Tuesday.

Ruth is a lot more assertive than I am, so she took the Tour Desk and Purser’s Desk by storm, and almost emerged triumphant.

She thought she was able to get the plane ticket issue sorted out by demanding to have contact there and then with guest relations, and was able to get information about the plans for Fremantle. Her issue is that she is expected to disembark by 9:30 AM and her plane isn’t until 11:00 PM.

The Tour Office is providing free transport to the airport. They are also providing a free day room at the Pan Pacific or Novotel Hotels, and are offering a 4-hour tour of Perth that ends at the airport at 2:00 PM, for $60. It would be nice if they could offer late disembarkation and a late transfer to the airport, but this does not seem to be possible. However, Ruth is working hard on improving the options available for the passengers who are disembarking so that they do not have to spend 8 hours waiting at the airport.

Passengers do seem to be becoming increasingly upset that they have not been offered money back and/or future cruise credits because of our missed ports. However, one man I was speaking with suggested that we just continue on the Queen Mary 2 (which he referred to as the Clean Mary 2) until the coronavirus epidemic is over. No one would be allowed to board the ship, but those who wished to disembark could do so when we stop to re provision and refuel. He feels that this is the only way for all of us to avoid the virus. He mused that we might end up being the last people on earth. Sort of like a Roach Motel in reverse – you can’t check in, but you can check out.

We had a large lunch, but 2 hours later we were hungry again. Ice cream time! We went to the Kings Court and filled our cones with chocolate ice cream. Then feeling a little guilty we thought we should do a lap around the Promenade Deck. This turned out to be a mistake. When we started our walk around the deck all seemed well, except our ice creams were trying to melt in the heat. Then as we rounded a corner we were confronted by very fierce winds, and our little cones were no match for them. Suddenly there was chocolate ice cream everywhere. We tried valiantly to finish the cones, but to no avail. Luckily the mess was on us, and we didn’t have to rely on the deck staff to clean up after us. I think we will make ice cream consumption an indoor activity from now on.

After cleaning up, we headed to the pool. Despite the wind, we found a very sheltered spot on deck 7, and settled in to enjoy the great outdoors, and a bit of a nap.

I came back to the cabin after I finished my book, and decided to check on Ruth’s flights home. She had been told that they couldn’t just remove me from the booking; they would have to cancel it, and rebook the flights for Ruth. Well, when I went on the Qantas web site, there I was, still flying to the US on Tuesday. I do hope they will sort it out soon.

Dinner was excellent yet again – there always seem to be at least 2 appetizers and 2 entrees that I would really like, and any one of the desserts would suit me just fine. I am trying to avoid the desserts, but it’s not easy alas!

Purple Haze was playing in the Queens Room, and there was quite a swinging party going on there by the time we arrived. The room was packed and it was hard to find a seat. It was a fun evening.

Still no sign of the Southern Cross however, it was another very cloudy night.

I checked the Qantas web site one more time before going to bed, and yes, it looks like I am still flying home on Tuesday with Ruth.