South Queensferry, Scotland

May 26^th, 2024

When I went out on our balcony this morning the weather wasn’t looking great.

Then came the announcement. The weather was too rough and windy for us to go ashore, but hopefully it will improve, so we should just wait for further announcements.

I went to the Commodore Club to wait for further announcements. As it turned out, so did the rest of the ship, it was hard to find somewhere to sit. The weather outside was looking nasty.

We were joined by several officers, including the captain, and there seemed to be some sort of ceremony going on.

Finally 2 hours later the weather had improved, and the tender operations were beginning. People on tours would go first, and then the rest of us could go ashore. Because of the delay in going ashore, we were to spend an extra 2 hours at anchor to give everyone time to do the tours and spend time in Edinburgh.

On port days the Commodore Club usually doesn’t open until 3:00 PM. However, because of all the people sitting there who didn’t look like they had any intention of leaving the room and venturing out into the rain in a bobbing tender the bar opened early. I know this was a money generating move for Cunard, but I also think it was a very thoughtful one. Everyone seemed thrilled, and soon the room smelled of coffee and hot chocolate.

Extra programming was also put together for the folks wishing to remain on board, so for many it was just an extra sea day.

However, not for us. My original plan had been to go ashore for lunch, but I estimated that it would take several hours before it would be easy to get a tender ashore, so lunch onboard was a better plan. Deirdre agreed!

We took the tender ashore in the early afternoon. The rain had stopped and the wind had died down, and we had a calm ride from the ship, under the Forth bridge to the tender dock.

There is a public bus that you can take to Edinburgh, but we decided to stay closer to home, and walked up and down the waterfront.

There was a sign about taxi prices, and if the weather had been better I thought it might have been quite good fun to take a taxi somewhere. Although I wasn’t sure where.

Before we got very far with our waterfront stroll, we realized that the weather forecast was inaccurate, and it started to drizzle. Time to go back to the ship.

By the time we arrived at the tender dock it was pouring. There was no shelter (we had been warned about this), so we stood in the downpour waiting for the shuttle to arrive.

Finally by the time we were totally drenched, it did arrive, and we were able to get back to the ship and dry off.

Not a very successful time ashore.

However, we though it would be fun to host an impromptu soiree, so we phoned some friends and invited them around to our stateroom for Prosecco.

I paid a quick visit to the Artisans Food Hall to get some snacks, and in no time at all we were ready to greet our guests.

When our first guest arrived I went to open a bottle of Prosecco.

Now in the past I have had difficulty opening bubbly. Once when Brian was out of town and staying with our son David, I had had to call him because I was struggling with getting a bottle open. He gave me instructions over the phone, but the cork still wouldn’t budge. I called back for further instructions.

David kindly sent me an email link of someone showing the proper way to saber champagne. I watched it intently and felt I was up to the challenge. Although I didn’t have a sword, I had a particularly nasty large knife that I thought was up for the job. I watched the video a couple of times more, and then felt prepared.

Clutching the bottle firmly I made an almighty swipe with the knife.

All of a sudden there seemed to be an explosion, and there was glass and champagne all over the kitchen. Well at least the bottle was open, and although there wasn’t much bubbly left in the bottle, I was able to strain the contents, and after I had cleaned the area I could sit back and enjoy my champagne.

I thanked David for the video, but let him know I thought this was a very dangerous and desperate way to open a bottle of champagne, sending him a photo of the devastation in the kitchen.

A while later I got a text back from him saying he sent the video as a joke, and he never intended for me to follow the instructions. Now he tells me. I will never trust him again.

Some years later when we were at a winery in Franschhoek, South Africa, we watched as our waiter very deftly sabered our bottle of champagne. There was no explosion, no glass, and not a drop of bubbly was wasted. The secret seems to be that you should use a sabre. And know what you are doing.

But back to our soiree.

Our first guest had arrived and I was preparing to open the first of many bottles of Prosecco. The foil was removed, as was the little metal cage, and I went to the bathroom to get a towel just in case something spilled.

On my return, the cork suddenly shot out of the bottle and hit the ceiling, very narrowly missing the sprinkler head.

The Prosecco erupted out of the bottle in a glorious fountain of sparkling bubbles spreading itself all over the desk and the carpet I was stunned.

Still there was no glass, and I had mopped up most of the liquid by the time our other guests arrived. I then had to very gingerly open another bottle. No problems with that one, or any of the other bottles that ended up being consumed. I must say that despite my early misgivings, it really was a rather successful soiree.

When we returned to our stateroom after dinner there was a sheet with information about the naming ceremony. It did shed a bit of light on what is going to happen, but details are still a bit skimpy. At least we now know the time line.

I am really looking forward to the concert with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Andrea Bocelli. I am sure he will sing A time to say goodbye, which always makes me cry. We will also have a gala dinner on board prior to the fireworks. It all does sound rather good.

The ongoing issue is that although the passengers will have a special space to watch the actual naming ceremony, it will be standing room only. I am just not sure I want to stand for several hours. Will we be standing for the concert as well? I’m still thinking that maybe I will stay on board for the naming ceremony. Decisions decisions.