June 18th
At Sea

We must have both been very tired because when I awoke it was 9:30, and we had had big plans for the morning. It was not to be. Ruth went to an excellent talk by Eric Flounders on the role of the Carpathia in rescuing the survivors of the Titanic, and I went to the Commodore Club for the Cruise Critic meeting. This was not well attended, but I met up with a couple I had really been looking forward to meeting, so I was happy. Later I thought that perhaps we were on the wrong side of the Commodore Club so that’s why we didn’t see the other people. That would be so typical of me.

After the meeting we went to the Kings Court for a late breakfast. The main food area was closed as it was almost lunchtime, but we found out that the La Piazza area was still serving breakfast. I never knew about this before.

We decided to go to the afternoon quiz, and asked a man sitting next to us if he wanted to join us. We ended up making a good team, as we won the quiz. I was very excited as I though we would soon be the proud owners of a bottle on Pol Acker or Contessa, but no such luck. We just received some stamps in a book. Well, maybe we will win something again and be able to cash them in for a decent prize.

All of a sudden it was 3:15, so we went to the Queens Room for tea. There was already a very long queue – but once they opened the doors at 3:30 the queue moved very quickly and we were soon enjoying a nice cuppa and cucumber sandwiches. Life is good.

After tea, Bill Miller gave his usual talk on the Queens. I always enjoy his talks, although he didn’t say anything new. Then it was time to work on one of the jigsaw puzzles, and the next thing we knew, it was time to get ready for our first formal night (the black and white ball), and the Captain’s cocktail party. This time instead of getting individual invitations, the invitation was in the Daily Programme, and I nearly missed it. I’m not sure whether I approve or not. It does cut down on wasting paper on the ship, and ensures that all on board get invited, not just those who have recently embarked, but I do miss getting my personal invitation. It makes me feel like the captain has personally invited me to his party, although I do know this is not the case!

We wanted to get to the cocktail party early because there is always a long queue, and tonight was no exception. Then it was announced that you could avoid the queue by going in the other entrance, and all of a sudden everyone disappeared and in no time at all we were chatting to Captain Wells. He gave a great speech at the party as usual, and had us all laughing. He has a wonderful sense of humor.

The party was not as crowded as I had expected, and we got to chat with several interesting people, including the Communications Officer and her parents. They were tremendous fun, and all of a sudden we realized that we were all going to be really late for dinner.

We were the only ones at our table again. The meal was my favorite one: crab and shrimp appetizer, chateau briande, and hot lemon soufflé. All extremely delicious.

We had some time between dinner and the show, so we watched the dancers in the Queens Room and then walked around the ship taking photos of ourselves and other people, and generally having a good time. It was so nice to see that everyone was dressed appropriately, and most were wearing black and white.

The show was Broadway Rocks, and I don’t know if it was just because I am tired, but it really wasn’t up to their usual standard, and we left early. As much as I like everything about QM2, there is no doubt that Royal Court Theaters on QE and QV are much better. The view of the stage is much superior in those theaters, and the design just seems to work better.

It is even windier tonight, and we can hear the sound of the wind whistling through our balcony door. It is actually a pleasant sound, so no complaints there. Also it is 11:30 and it is still light out. It’s not quite the land of the midnight sun; you need sun for that. Maybe we will see the sun tomorrow………