At Sea

June 6^th, 2024

Today is my final day on board. I really should have been packing, but as always there is way too much to do.

To commemorate D Day there was a memorial service in the Royal Court Theater. This was very well attended, and it was wonderful to see the respect that was shown by the passengers. Many of the gentlemen wore jackets and ties, and the ladies were in smart clothing. I found that quite moving.

The insight talks today were by Dr Chris Martin talking about medical ethics and the law, Alistair Greener spoke about 185 years of Cunard, Rachel Kolsky talked about the Beatles London in the 1960s and Keith Hanson talked about ghostly goings on in the Tower.

I particularly have enjoyed Dr Martin’s talks. He is a doctor and a lawyer who worked in South Africa, and having spent many years in Southern Africa myself, I could relate to his anecdotes. They brought back many good memories.

Keith Hanson has a great self depreciating sense of humor, and I loved his descriptions of faux pas he had made working as a yeoman warder at the Tower of London.

And of course Alistair Greener is always great no matter how often you hear his talks, and I also really enjoyed Rachel Kolsky. We really were treated to excellent speakers this voyage.

I went to the Commodore Club to get some computer work done. Yay my favorite table was available, and no sooner had I sat down than my Coke and crisps arrived. That’s what I call service. The crisps went down well, and I finished them in no time and went on with my work. When I looked up from my computer, the crisp bowl had been refilled without my asking. I really did not need 2 bowls of crisps, but not wanting to offend anyone I ate them anyway. I do love the way they take care of you in the Commodore Club.

I was meeting Deirdre for lunch so I sat in the Lounge awaiting her arrival. I made a great discovery. If you aren’t out on deck, the Lounge is the perfect place to listen to the noon whistle. I could hear it loud and clear from the comfort of the lounge. Alas, it’s the last time I will hear that great whistle for some time, so I am so glad I was in the right place at the right time today.

After lunch there was no other way of looking at it, packing had to be done.

I returned to our stateroom and reluctantly filled my suitcase. With a bit of encouragement everything fitted in to my suitcase, so that was a bit of a relief, but I still needed to work on my carry on bag and backpack.

In my 5 weeks onboard I had not been able to locate the sundry shop. When I took a break from packing, Deirdre said she needed something from there, so I took the opportunity to set out to locate it.

I didn’t think it would be in the jewelry and watch shops, the perfume and cosmetic shop, or the overpriced clothes emporium, and definitely not in the logo shop. They don’t even have room for logo items there.

That left the liquor store, so I went straight there. However, I couldn’t see it. I asked the salesman, and he showed me where it was. It is a small selection, behind one of the counters in the liquor store, hidden from view. Is Cunard embarrassed that they sell such mundane things as well as $5000 strings of pearls? It is very odd. Anyway I was able to make my purchase for Deirdre and return to my packing. Later in the evening Deirdre was going through her onboard account and questioning her purchase of “liquor and cigarettes’. Still, now I know where it is should I run out of hairspray.

We had ordered rack of lamb and crepes Suzette for dinner on our last night, and as always they were absolutely delicious. I am really going to miss the food; it has been excellent. I am also going to miss the dining room staff. One of our waiters seemed genuinely sad that I was disembarking. He said I had been with him since his first day on Queen Anne, and now I wouldn’t be there anymore. It was very sweet.

The Beatles Experience were playing in the Queens Room tonight, and of course it was absolutely packed, but I was able to find a seat on the upper level.

They did an excellent show, and it was the perfect way to end the British Isles Festival cruise. I thought it was so lovely that when the band played “Hey Jude”, the elderly couple sitting in front  of me held hands and waved them instead of waving their arms in the air like the rest of us. I wondered what memories they had of the Beatles and of good times together long ago.

The show ended way too soon, but then I realized that they had been playing for over an hour, and I bet they were only meant to be on for 45 minutes. The audience just didn’t want to let them go. When they were over was the cruise over, the cruise was over? We weren’t ready for that just yet.

Next up in the Queens Room, it was silent disco time. Time to leave.

When the Beatles Experience  finished, my cruise wasn’t over, it was time for one last drink in the Commodore Club.

Sitting in the Commodore Club I thought that this has been an interesting cruise. I am still disappointed by the naming ceremony, and if that was the only reason I had booked this voyage, I would be most unhappy, as are many of the other passengers on board. Somehow that naming ceremony symbolizes all that they have disliked about Queen Anne and Cunard in general. They state vehemently that they will never be back on a Cunard ship. Interestingly enough, for many of them this is their first Cunard voyage.

However, for most of the people I have spoken with, there are certainly grumbles and disappointments, but this will not stop them from sailing on Queen Anne, and they have booked future cruises on her on board. For myself, our next Cunard voyage is on Queen Victoria, and I am always looking for an excuse to be on Queen Mary 2, but if we see an interesting itinerary for Queen Anne, we will certainly think about booking it.

Then, realizing I had a very long day tomorrow I decided to say farewell to Brian Pamphilon and head back to  our stateroom.

Getting there wasn’t easy, you had to negotiate your way through the mass of suitcases in the lift lobbies.

As I got to our stateroom I saw there was a woman in a robe and curlers desperately searching for our cabin steward. It was past midnight and they needed a couple more luggage labels.

I offered to go down to the pursers desk to get some for her.

Ever since we boarded there has always been a huge crowd of people waiting to be heard at the pursers desk. Although there was an organized queue it spread out into the lobby and at times it was difficult to work out where exactly the end of the pursers desk queue was, and who was queuing at the nearby coffee bar.

Well, no doubt in preparation for the masses that will descend on them tomorrow, there is finally an attempt to make the queuing more organized. It was not needed tonight luckily.

When I returned with the labels they were so happy to see me, and we started talking. It turned out that they were a very interesting couple, as are many passengers on board, and we stood in the corridor chatting for ages.

Then we accepted that it was time to say goodnight and wished each other safe travels back to the US tomorrow.

Yes, this was it. Time to say goodbye and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day.