At Sea

May 30^th, 2024

I think you absolutely need a sea day after 2 ports days, and then there is a full schedule of events, do it’s not as restful as you think it is going to be.

The insight talks today were given by Alistair Greener on “The Clyde – birthplace of 120 Cunarders, Rachel Kolsky on “The Kitchen Sink to Careers: 1950s women”, and Dr Chris Martin on “DNA Forensics and the Law”. All excellent subjects – I love the variety of topics being discussed on board. I love Alistair Greener, especially as in a couple of days we will be on the Clyde.

We decided to have a light lunch at the Café Carinthia for a change. Lunch is so good in the restaurant that it is hard to not to overeat, and I had seen tonight’s menu. Lots of good things there!

Although the tables near the Grand Lobby Atrium at the Café Carinthia feel like you are in the middle of a corridor, I wasn’t too put out by this. You have a great view of the lobby and also have a view of the world outside. Blake plays the piano a deck below outside the Chart Room, and it is a great place for people watching.

I finally managed to get to the Commodore Club after lunch, but as soon as I got my laptop going I was approached by a lady who wanted help in contacting her friends she was hoping to meet up with in Liverpool.

She didn’t have a mobile phone or laptop, and had just found out the cost of making a ship to shore phone call. I was very happy to help her out finding her friends phone number and email address. We then sent them an email. She was very chatty, as I suppose I would be if I was traveling alone and knew no one else on board.

She made me realize how dependent I have become on my phone and computer. I’m not sure what I would do in her situation. There were computers you could use on the other Queens, but I haven’t seen any on Queen Anne. Maybe they are there, but I haven’t seen them, and clearly the folks that this lady approached in the Pursers Office were unaware of them as well.

Yay for technology, but it really makes things difficult if you don’t have access to it.

The highlight of today was meant to be scenic cruising by the Scottish Islands. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best, and we were a long way away from the islands, so it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. There are a lot of very unhappy people who thought that the scenic cruising was going to be the highlight of the trip. They were wondering if they could get compensation for the missed islands as you would for missed ports. I very much doubt this would happen.

Tonight was the roaring twenties night, which is always a lot of fun. In our restaurant, Deirdre and I were about the only 2 who were is roaring 20s outfits, although everyone else certainly was in formal clothes.

Our waiters are way too efficient, and we finished dinner an hour before the show was due to start, so we decided to spend the time sitting on the bar stools at the Chart Room. This was excellent for people watching, and we did see many people who had followed the roaring 20s theme – and lots of little black feathers on the ground that had escaped from their boas.

We also spoke with the man who has the bottle of champagne in his cabin, all ready to be broken on Monday in Liverpool. Alas, we couldn’t find anything out about who was actually going to do the naming.

I am fine with the name of the godparent being kept a secret, but I do wish we knew more about what to expect in Liverpool. It all remains a mystery.

We bid the champagne man farewell and walked to the Royal Court Theater to find good seats to watch the production show, Let’s Dance.

Our seats close to the front of the theater gave us a fairly good view of the stage, and I enjoyed the show much more than I did when we watched it from seats near to the rear of the theatre on the previous cruise. I felt so much more connected to the dancing and music. I do prefer the more traditional production shows, with live music, but the singers and dancers are very talented, and are a joy to watch.