April 28^th, 2023

Southampton to the US

For the first time in a very long time we had breakfast in the dining room, and jolly good it was too. We usually have to go to the Kings Court and Carinthia for breakfast as the dining room is long closed by the time we venture forth in the morning. But not today, we were up bright and early to catch the 9:00 AM coach to Heathrow.

After breakfast it was time to say good bye to everyone, and leave the ship. It was easy to find our luggage as it was about the only luggage in the arrivals hall. Cunard had paid for the world cruise folks to have all of their luggage shipped back home, so they only had carry-on bags.

We left the cruise terminal and headed for the coach that was waiting there. It turned out that that was the shuttle bus in to town. I thought it was a very nice gesture for Cunard to put on a shuttle bus as City Cruise Terminal is a fair distance from West Quay. It is closer to IKEA however.

We sat in the departure lounge at the terminal for about 45 minutes, and finally our coach arrived. We did have a delayed departure, but we were fine with that as we have a long time to wait at Heathrow. Several of the other people on the coach were grumbling, not because they were concerned that being late would cause a problem with catching their flights, but just because they were simply very annoyed that the coach was late.

Despite the fact that there was a lot of congestion on the M3 due to road works, it still only took us an hour and a half to get to the airport. In the past I always seem to sleep on this journey, but today I was wide awake looking at England’s green and pleasant land outside the window. It really is very beautiful. All off to London early in the morning………………Well Heathrow Terminal 5 if you want to be more precise.

I have to say that having had major issues with Terminal 5 and British Airways in the past, everything went very smoothly. It was an extra bonus for me to stock up on my supply of British chocolates and search for yet more coronation paraphernalia at the airport, we certainly weren’t expecting to be here again so soon.

Even the flight home was good. I was able to work on my union flag thing, and Brian watched movies. A Man Called Otto made him tearful – that’s why I love him so much!

This was not the planned end to our voyage. We wanted to sail into Brooklyn and finish what we started in January of 2020. It was not to be. Fate and funnel rot intervened. We certainly won’t be on Queen Mary 2 in 2024 for her world voyage as we will be trying the Fred Olsen ship Bolette. Who knows what 2025 will bring? Meanwhile I have my supplies for a magnificent coronation party for the family and Brian’s birthday on May 6^th.  Long live the king!