At Sea

May 20^th, 2024

The highlight of the day was the bridge tour. It’s been a long time since we have done a bridge tour on a Cunard ship, so this was a very exciting experience.

The closest we usually get is observing the bridge through the window on sea days on Queen Mary 2, and enjoying watching the small model of the ship move ever closer to the Statue of Liberty on Westbound crossings.

We were lucky enough to have Morgan, the 3rd officer, be our guide. Her enthusiasm for position was infectious. I almost ended up wanting to be a ship’s captain as well.

In many ways the Queen Anne bridge was very similar to that of the Explora 1, except there wasn’t any garlic on the bridge, although there were a couple of little plants, with apparently more to come.

We started the tour at one of the bridge wings.

It’s a long way down to the water, and the deck 4 balconies looked to be a little bit exposed.

I still find it amazing that you can totally control such a huge ship with the Azipod controls.

It is a fascinating place, so peaceful and quiet, yet there is so much going on, not just with the propulsion of the ship, but with monitoring all aspects of the ship.

Luckily there is a little fellow to help them out.

They so not have all of their flags as yet, and I was disappointed to learn that they do not have a Blue Peter. Do cruise ships still use Blue Peters? I suppose that with just one day planned in port, the crew and passengers know to get back on the ship, and not dally too long ashore. Still, I do hope they will find a Blue Peter soon, and will fly it along with the other flags.

The ship still has a steering wheel, although it seems to be driven by joysticks. It is rather small compared to steering wheels of the past. Yay, I got to hold onto it! But I didn’t steer the ship, I think the ship was busy steering itself.

I also got to see the buttons for the whistle. I would have loved to get the opportunity to press them, but I am sure it takes some training to really make it sound loud and long, and it was a privilege enough to actually be on the bridge, I didn’t want to push my luck. Maybe another day.

And then we saw to noon gong. I am glad they still have one. I am usually out on deck at noon on sea days on Queen Mary 2 to listen to the noon whistle, but when the weather is too bad to venture out on deck, I have to make do with the bell in the Grand Lobby.

Yet again, to accommodate all the Cunard World Club guests, there were 3 World Club parties at the Pavilion pool. I still think this is not a great venue, but no one seems to have fallen in to the pool yet, so I suppose it is working out. There is just no atmosphere, but having now explored the ship for nearly 3 weeks, I have to admit that I have failed to locate a better venue, there are just too many people on board. Maybe there will be fewer world club members on future sailings so that a preferable venue could be used.

Anyway, the party was pleasant enough and we sat with friends on the mezzanine level trying to get out of the wind. The problem with the Pavilion sliding roof is that when it is open, it is cold and windy there, but when it is closed, it is hot and stuffy. This is all quite a challenge, and not one that is easily solved, so I stopped worrying about it and had another glass of sparkling wine and searched for a waiter bearing canapes.

The Flyrights did a wonderful show tonight – and they had us up dancing and waving. Clearly a good time was had by all. I really enjoy them.

At the end of the show Neil reminded us that there was a time change tonight. At least he got the time change in the correct direction this evening. The daily programme had the time change in it, and when we got back to the cabin there was also the notification on the TV. At least no one should miss it this time!