April 26^th, 2023

Southampton

The Daily Programme Port Highlights has a description of Southampton on the front page. This has been the same since Sunday.  I am thinking of offering to try to make it more interesting, reading exactly the same prose every day is boring.

Well, so far today has not brought any information on our onward flights. So we continue to take advantage of what the ship has to offer. There are only 2 Insights lectures today, and only 1 show at 9:15 PM, but honestly that does make a lot of sense. I don’t know how many guests are still on board, but our numbers are certainly dwindling. We learnt at lunch that all dining tonight will be anytime dining on deck 2, that also does make sense. Friends are hoping that they will not enforce the dress code as many guests have packed most of their clothes already, not knowing how much notice we will have about when their transport to the airport will leave. However, the band plays on, and although I sense increasing frustration among the guests, most of us still feel that we are so lucky to be on board. This is still my happy place.

One frustrating thing is that we learned through social media that Queen Mary 2 is scheduled to do a Coronation Celebration voyage to Liverpool, round trip from Southampton, on May 2^nd to May 7^th. Reservations open at 1:00 PM tomorrow. It sounds great – very tempting.

The annoying thing is that the folks on Queen Victoria received a letter about it, and can preregister today, and make their bookings through the future cruise sales office tomorrow. What a great way to spend Future Cruise Credit

However, despite the fact that Chris from Queen Mary 2’s future cruise sales is on board, he is not able to take appointments for selling this cruise, so we can’t preregister. Also I tried to find out if, as our air tickets haven’t been issued yet, they could be changed to fly home on May 7^th. The folks at guest relations don’t know, but they don’t think that would be possible. They really weren’t helpful at all.

The coronation cruise sounds exciting. Unfortunately Brian has medical appointments back home that took months to schedule, and rescheduling them would take months again, so we may just fly home, and have our Coronation party on another continent. But this coronation cruise is tempting………..

Especially if we could transfer our OBC  and FCC to the new sailing……………….

There was no noontime announcement from Captain Hashmi, but David Shepherd, the hotel manager did make an announcement that they were still working on flights, and that they should be done soon. They are also dealing with the issue of getting the dogs on board to their final destination.

So life goes on on board QM2 in Southampton. It looks like it may be difficult to book the coronation cruise  as US residents have to book using the UK Cunard customer service number, and I assume the wait times will be long. Also not knowing when we are flying home, or if we can change our flights to May 7^th adds to the anxiety of deciding what to do. Therefore we will most likely just fly home when told to. A big missed opportunity in terms of the coronation, but that’s life.

Brian does need to go back to the US, and the thought of doing the coronation cruise without him doesn’t fill me with excitement really. I did write a letter to Chris, the voyage sales man, explaining my frustration. There is probably some rule that they can’t sell cruises while they are in port, but I wanted to make sure that this was the case, and that we QM2 people had not just been forgotten if everyone thought we had all gone home.

I was annoyed that the entertainment director , Neil Kelly, interrupted dinner to remind us that the show today was at 9:15. Interruptions happen on a regular basis on other cruise lines, but it is the lack of announcements, unless they are scheduled or essential, that I really like on Cunard. Anyway this was a change from our usual routine and I suppose he was worried that no one would come to the show. Jai Mc Dowall, the entertainer, does have a lovely voice, and I enjoyed the show. However, it must be frustrating to perform in front of a half empty theater.

Not knowing if we need to be packing tomorrow or not, we are still undecided as to whether we will go to the Isle of White tomorrow or not. It looks like it’s going to be rainy, maybe I should be using up our on board credit in the spa. Now that sounds like a plan!

So now I have to obsess about whether I am OK with staying on in Southampton to board the coronation cruise without Brian. Even if I decide to do that, getting a reservation over the phone may be a challenge, and I still don’t know if I would then have to pay for my flight home myself. I do know that I would love to go, however. A once in a lifetime experience.

Then again, what happens if the ship has more issues and we are stuck in Liverpool. Decisions, decisions!