Friday January 31^st, 2020

The Third Queen

I had planned to spend the morning wandering around QE2 taking photos, but it was not to be. Deirdre asked me to accompany her to the hospital, so naturally I obliged.

Kim is in a small private hospital that apparently specializes in pediatrics and orthopedics. We took the lift to the floor where his room was, and initially thought we were in the wrong place. There didn’t seem to be any patients or staff anywhere. Finally we found Kim, but still no staff in sight. Eventually a nurse appeared and announced that she needed to take a temperature. I had assumed she meant Kim’s vital signs, but I was wrong. She took the temperature of the empty refrigerator in his room and left again. I assume the fridge was in good shape.

We spent the morning trying to get through to Kim’s medical insurance company and finding a doctor who could update us on Kim’s condition, and what the plan was. Mostly we wanted to know if he was stable enough to fly back to Australia and receive his medical care there.

Deirdre was also trying to work out whether she should stay with Kim or return to the ship. This was becoming more urgent as time was fleeting and we would soon need to return to the ship as all aboard time was rapidly approaching.

Finally the hospitalist did appear, and although she didn’t examine Kim, she declared him unfit to fly. She said that his surgery was scheduled for tomorrow, and discharge plans would depend on what happened with the surgery.

After much discussion between Deirdre and Kim it was decided that Deirdre should return to the ship, and fly back to Dubai if needed. Not an easy decision.

Feeling very conflicted we took out transport back to the ship.

I had seen a mini mart at the cruise terminal so I decided to stop by and purchase supplies before I went on board. It was closed. Luckily there is a very well stocked convenience store in the terminal, and so heavily laden with chocolate and Coca Cola I went back on board in time for the sail away.

It was a lovely sunny day and we had lunch at the Boardwalk Café. The weather has not been great on my recent voyages, so it was great to finally be able to sit out on deck and enjoy the café.

Previous sail aways from Dubai have been in the evening, so it was great to sail off in brilliant sunshine.

We blew 3 blasts on our whistle (or is it horn, I’m always confused about this), and off we went. I listened hard to see if there would be any reply from QE2. She remained silent. I know that she would have saluted us if she could. I was so upset not to hear her. This departure would be the last time QE2 and QM2 are together. On QM2’s next visit to Dubai she will not be in Port Rashid, but at a new cruise terminal 20 miles away. This was the last meeting of the 2 Queens. I felt quite sad.

However, here I am back on QM2 for the next 85 days. Life is good.

We watched Dubai disappear into the dusty distance, and set off to reacquaint ourselves with the ship. She really is magnificent. Seeing the Queens of 3 eras over the past few days, I can’t say which one I prefer. All three are beautiful examples of nautical engineering. They are all very classy and just being on board makes you feel special. However, only one has the Commodore Club, and I am glad that I am on that ocean liner.

We passed through the Straits of Hormuz in the evening, with a navy ship close by, but our passage was uneventful.

We had asked for a table for 8, with singles, for dinner. We did get the table for 8, but there are 2 couples and only 2 singles. I had secretly hoped that the man of her dreams would be at our table, but no such luck. Still, they look like an interesting enough group so I think we will have a good time.

After dinner we decided to miss the show – it had been a long day and that super comfortable Cunard mattress was calling. I answered the call.