At Sea

July 14^th, 2025

As we were going to sleep last night, the ship started rolling. I wondered if they hadn’t deployed the stabilizers yet. It was certainly quite rocky in our stateroom. However, I was thrilled by the motion. It really is starting to feel like a crossing. Finally.

There was less motion this morning, but there is still a heavy swell and large waves. Outside it definitely looks like we are in the North Atlantic.

We won’t be for much longer. At 6:30 tonight we should pass by the lighthouse on Bishop’s Rock in the Scilly Isles. That officially marks the end of a transatlantic crossing, and our entry into the English Channel. A sure sign that Southampton can’t be too far away.

I had my final Coke in the Commodore Club. They had run out of crisps, so it was definitely time to disembark.

I went back to our stateroom, and alas it was all prepared for packing.

Packing took longer than usual, but at least it was done. One suitcase has all of our formal gear and stuff we won’t need in London or on the river cruise. This should make packing at the end of the river cruise easier – they don’t give you a sea day to get your act together. That’s a real shame. I’m not sure how I am going to cope with daily shore excursions after a really lovely relaxed crossing.

I suppose river cruises and crossings are the exact opposite of each other. I am interested to see what I think of the river cruise. Will this become my new passion? Could a river cruise boat replace an ocean liner in my heart. Time will tell.

Meanwhile the corridors become more and more difficult to navigate with all of the oversized suitcases taking up much of the space. Only 200 people will be staying on board, so that means a lot of people disembarking tomorrow.

I went down to the shore excursion desk and finally sorted out what time our transfer will pick us up tomorrow. To disembark by 8:30 we will need to carry our suitcases off ourselves. This should be interesting, but it will save time. We will be arriving 2 and a half hours later than expected. I am sure there will be many guests in a hurry to get off the ship. But I am not going to worry about that, I will just enjoy my last moments on board Queen Mary 2.

With the packing done, I wandered around the ship taking more photos. I already must have thousands of photos from Queen Mary 2 over the years, I treasure them all.

It was sad to say goodbye to our tablemates after dinner. We have had such a wonderful time with them all, the best table ever. I will miss them tomorrow night!

We were late finishing dinner again, so finding seats in the theater was a challenge, but we didn’t want to miss Just John and Paul, who are a sort of Beatles tribute duo. They had played in the Queens Room a few nights ago, but we had missed them, and I love anything to do with the Beatles.

The show was great, and we had a good time.

By the end, everyone was up and dancing in the aisles. A great way to end a cruise.

We stopped by the Commodore Club for one final night cap. A final chocolate affair. Until the next time!