The passports that took us around the world in 2018 were due to expire in August 2020, a scant 4 months after our trip to Alaska this coming May. We almost learned the hard way that you can be denied boarding if your passport isn't good for at least six months after you're planning to return home. (It was a seven day cruise out of Boston to Bermuda and we had barely a week's wiggle room on our passports then. I'd had no idea about the 6 month rule and would've been devastated to be denied boarding--without a refund!)
Anyway, we had new photos taken at our local Walgreens. Sadly, I always think if I look like my passport pic, I'm clearly too sick to travel, but the computer assured me that the photo would meet US State Department requirements. We sent our old passports off to be renewed, hopeful that our Indian visas which were affixed in them would be included in the new 56 page passports we ordered. They weren't, but our old passports were returned. So if we ever go to India again, we'll need to present both of them!
We weren't the only ones in our merry band of Alaska trekkers who needed passports. #2 Daughter had let hers lapse almost ten years ago and Nephew had never had one. I convinced them both to go for the passport booklet instead of just the card. Granted the card is a little cheaper and might have been okay for this Alaska cruise, but on the off chance we had to disembark in Canada and fly home, they'd have been stuck. A passport card is not adequate for boarding an international flight.
My parents, #1 Daughter & Daughter-in-Law all have valid passports so our whole party of eight is travel legal now!
Our flight times have changed twice. Now it appears we'll be leaving on the evening of May 8th out of St Louis instead of at oh:dark-thirty on the 9th. So we plan to arrange hotels rooms for everyone in Seattle instead of STL. We'll check every week to keep on top of the flight plans. It could change again.
Staying flexible is kind of a requirement for travel. Especially when you're bringing your own entourage!
“I see that it is by no means useless to travel, if a man wants to see something new.” ~ Phileas Fogg, Around the World in 80 Days
With apologies to Jules Verne, I'd like to offer you another way to see something new. And it won't take 80 days. In fact, it'll take less than 70 minutes. This playlist, assembled by the DH, will slip you into our pocket and take you around the world with us in a video montage of our 2018 World Cruise on the Pacific Princess. You'll thread your way through Polynesia, stop in New Zealand, cruise around Australia, visit Singapore, two ports in India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and glide through the Suez Canal.
Once in the Med, you'll see Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, and the glories of Italy in multiple stops including Venice, Pompeii and Rome! You'll visit Malta, Monaco, two Spanish ports and the Rock of Gibraltar before cruising across the Pond to Bermuda and then back to the US!
Just click on this link and you'll be on your way!
We love sharing our adventures with you and hope you'll enjoy them too.
"Everyone has a crew, a stone cold, never-blink, walk in slow-motion
crew..." ~ Borrowed from a Cadillac commercial
We've got ourselves a crew, too, and we're all heading for Alaska next May! We're taking my parents, #1 Daughter & Daughter-in-law, and #2 Daughter with us. My sister Linda's son (hereafter referred to as Nephew) has decided to join us to make it an even party of eight!
Originally, I'd thought about waiting until January to book this trip, hoping to snag a sale, but we really wanted to have 4 balconies in a row, so we've settled on the May 9, 2020 seven day sailing of the Ruby Princess round trip out of Seattle. This will be our third trip to Alaska, my parent's second, but it'll be the first time for all the kids.
From our 2017 trip to the 49th state
However, even though we've been before, this trip will be different. For one thing, it'll be in May instead of our previous September cruises. Winter will just be leaving instead of almost arriving. I'm curious to see how far into the Glacier Bay National Park the Ruby Princess will be able to sail. I also wonder if we'll see any babies among the wildlife since spring is their usual time to appear.
We have our airplane reservations. We'll all meet in St. Louis on May 8th, stay overnight, and then fly to Seattle non-stop on Alaska Air the next day. Our flight leaves at 6:oh-dark-twenty in the morning, so we'll need to be close to airport to make it on time. I really appreciate a non-stop flight. Less opportunity for our luggage to go off on adventures of its own. Once we touch down at Sea-Tac, we'll be whisked to the port for boarding.
Everyone definitely needs to bring a pair of binoculars!
Another thing that's different about this trip is that we'll feel responsible for everyone traveling with us. Lately, it's just the DH and me, looking after each other, though we did take my parents and our kids to Hawaii in 2012. Eight is the largest group we've led. This time, we want to make sure everyone has the time of their lives, which means hanging out with each other as much or as little as everyone wants. And that mileage can vary. I've asked that we all meet for supper each evening to share what we've done that day, but if we want to run around the ship or go on excursions together, that'll be fun too. It's everyone's choice. We'll have a plan the rest of the crew is welcome to join, but if they want to do their own thing, it's fine. (I do however, want to get at least one pic of us all strutting in that too-cool-for-school formation like the Cadillac commercial!)
The Ruby Princess is a Medallion Class ship, which means it's supposed to have super-fast wifi (for a cruise ship!) and the app we'll all download is supposed to let us find members of our party while on the ship. We'll see. I'm sure all the kids will be able to figure it out, and the DH retired from Google, so I'm golden. But my parents aren't terribly tech-ish. Mom has a phone she uses to text with, but I doubt it's new enough to even upload the Oceans app. Anyway, they'll likely hang with us and that'll be great.
Here's our itinerary:
And just to remind you of some of the glories of Alaska, the DH has put together a montage of our 2017 cruise. Our friends Mike and Joy met us in Seattle and joined us on the Holland America Eurodam for this trip. Enjoy!
Oh! And as usual if you receive this blog by email, you'll need to click over to the actual blog to see the videos. Sorry...
And just for grins, the DH put together some pics from our 2007 cruise to Alaska with my folks!
"Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure." ~ Bob Bitchin
Not all my travel is water-based.
Case in point. A few weeks ago, we drove from southern Missouri out to western Nebraska and South Dakota to take my parents to visit two of my sisters. We took a couple of days to make the 700+ mile trek to the first sister's house near Ogallala, then stayed from a Monday night to the next Thursday morning.
They live on a lovely acreage and keep a small herd of cows. This is Chubby, the newest addition to the group, son of Pumpkin, who I think is my brother-in-law's favorite. All the cows seem to adore him and come running when he calls. (Of course, the sweet corn stalks he feeds them might have something to do with it!)
We had a good visit with my sis and B-I-L, and my niece and her husband. After being over-fed more than the cows for a few days, we headed north through the Sand Hills toward South Dakota.
There is no direct route from Ogallala to Keystone, SD, so we traveled the skinny little lines on the map past Lake McConaughy and further into the back of beyond.
The terrain began to climb as we traveled north, and we enjoyed riding through the lovely Pine Ridge National Recreation Area near Chadron, NE. We were seeing some lovely sights, making good time, and everyone was happy.
Then we crested a hill and just over the top, we saw three large pieces of jagged metal debris strewn across the highway. There was a double yellow line to our left, which meant the DH couldn't invade the other lane to avoid them. Besides there was a big piece there too. To our right, the land fell away into a deep arroyo, so leaving the highway for the narrow shoulder was not an option. Even if the DH had laid on the brake, there wasn't time to stop and braking might have made the front of the van squat down low enough that the debris could have hit the grill and been thrown up into the windshield.
So rather than run into a piece of the metal with a tire and, given our highway speed, possibly flip over, the DH straddled the big chunk. The van rumbled over it, getting its guts torn to shreds as we went. Smoke billowed instantly and the DH braked, steered us toward the shoulder, and killed the engine.
Our passive restraint headrests had blown, but we were all okay.
The DH hiked back up the hill to get a decent cell signal and called 911. The nearest highway patrolman was 100 miles away (Told you we were back of beyond!) so the sheriff's department came out to assist us. They were terrific.
Then we really caught a break when the truckers whose 18 wheeler had dropped the rear drive train from their rig came back looking for the pieces they had lost. The officers were able to get their IDs and, even more importantly, their insurance information! Then, the deputy called for a tow for our van to the Chadron Chrysler dealership, and a small independent car dealership that would come get us and rent us a vehicle in which to continue our journey.
As a side note, said vehicle turned out to be of the "rent-a-wreck" variety. We hadn't gone two blocks when the "Check Engine Soon" light came on. I immediately called the dealer.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "We had that looked at last week and thought we figured it out. Guess not. But don't worry. You won't hurt it by driving it!"
Not my immediate concern, but we didn't have a whole lot of options. At any rate, the clunker got us to my second sister's place in the Black Hills without incident, though we did almost hit a deer. Once we made it to Keystone, we called our insurance company and they began working the problem. Our agent asked if we'd like to have the van towed to our hometown to be repaired. YES! Then she arranged for a more roadworthy ride to take us the 990 mile trip from SD back to our home.
So we were able to continue our visit with my sis & B-I-L without worries. We watched movies in their theater room. My Dad was able to root for his beloved MO Tigers, the Chiefs and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, my B-I-L's favorite team.
We even managed to play tourist a bit and visited the Chapel of the Hills, an exact replica of a Norwegian stave church. We didn't see one while we were in Norway. There's been a rash of burnings in recent years. The few that remain are quite off the beaten path.
So we found one here in the States. As it turns out, the DH had visited this chapel, which still holds vesper services, back when he was a kid.
He put together this little montage of photos for you: (Side note: if you receive my blog by email, you may have to click over to the post to see the little video!)
Then we headed home, stopping overnight to see my nephew in Sioux Falls. As I write this now, our van has been shipped home and is in the process of getting a new motor. As you can see, everything did turn out all right, even if our plans didn't go exactly as we intended.
I can't agree with Bilbo Baggins when he said, "Adventures? Nasty, uncomfortable, disturbing things! Make you late for dinner."
"I have a great distaste for people who always find something to complain about, because life is too short." Sandy Kaplan
I've been putting off writing this post, because I really don't like to be a whiner. It bothers me to listen to others find fault. And I truly hate it when I do it myself. But I did promise to share the less-than-wonderful things we discovered while aboard the Queen Mary 2, so here goes.
Please realize that these things are pretty specific to me. Your mileage will surely vary.
The unexpected consequence of a more formal ship--The DH and I didn't feel the extra formality would be a problem for us. I have the requisite wardrobe and the DH is the picture of sartorial elegance in his tux. Even on non-gala nights, we were expected to dress well (fancy date-night or going-to-church nice). What I didn't expect with the extra formality is that when people dress well, they tend to slather on more perfume, hair products, and after-shave than normal. Along with my lung condition, I have an extreme sensitivity to the chemical smells in personal care products. I can actually taste them in the back of my throat. Riding the elevator or being in crowded evening venues was very difficult for me.
Buffet line practices--On Princess (our most recent cruise line before Cunard), the food is kept completely behind glass and gloved crew members dish up whatever passengers request. On Cunard, the glass is merely a sneeze-guard, and guests dish up for themselves. Everyone is supposed to wash their hands before entering the buffet on the Lido deck, but it's on the honor system. I ended up handling utensils which may or may not have been recently touched by someone who hasn't washed their hands, or is battling a cold. I'm not naturally a germophobe, but because of a couple of medications I take for my lung condition, I have a suppressed immune system. I don't get sick often but a cold will linger for weeks. So I'm religious about hand-washing and avoiding touching public surfaces, like door knobs and elevator buttons and buffet line tongs.
Thinner than expected cabin walls--Our cabin was beautifully appointed with plenty of storage and very comfortable. But for the first time on a cruise ship, we could hear our neighbor's TV. I reasoned that perhaps they had a hearing difficulty and needed additional volume. Then I heard our neighbor give a little cough. It occurred to me then that they could hear us as well (and were probably acutely aware that our "afternoon naps" involved very little actual napping!)
Worst Internet ever--We could never connect to the internet in our stateroom. Even searching out the nodes in public settings wasn't much of an improvement. The only time I had decent connectivity and speed was in the harbor of Southampton when the ship was turning over from one set of passengers to another and there were very few people on board.
Even with these little nitpicks, we had a fantastic time aboard the QM2. My friend Marcy told me when we got home that the blog read like we were on a second honeymoon. (She's so good at subtext!) We had every reason to be delighted by our trip to Norway and England. The experience will stay with us for a very long time.
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it
hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it
should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on
your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave
something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain
Oops! I forgot to blog about the last day. Maybe that's because "disembarkation" is the saddest word in a cruiser's lexicon. But before we had to leave the Queen Mary 2, we enjoyed a beautiful sail-in to the Big Apple! However, to do so, we had to be very early risers. I even set an alarm so we wouldn't sleep through it. (This is one of those times when splurging for a balcony cabin is so worth it! We didn't have to get dressed and venture out to a public deck. We just shrugged on our complimentary QM2 robes and stepped out on the verandah.)
First, the Queen Mary 2 slipped under the Verrazano Bridge. It is the largest cruise ship able to fit under that structure. The bridge sparkled like a string of diamonds in the pre-dawn light.
Then we were treated to a panoramic view of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan. We learned in our on board astronomy lectures about how light pollution means a whole generation of children can't see the stars. The light of the city totally obscures the night sky.
We had packed up the bulk of our stuff the night before, so after our last breakfast on the Lido deck, we hauled our carry-ons to the theatre, which was our assigned gathering place.
There is no good way to leave a cruise ship. For one thing, it means surrendering our temporary status as visiting royalty. No more nearly invisible steward to tidy up after us. No friendly, helpful wait staff to bring us our meals. No "Yes, madame," or "Yes, Sir." We have to go back to being our ordinary selves.
Heavy sigh...
So when our color and number for disembarkation was called, we lugged our stuff out and down the gangway for the last time. Then we found our over-sized suitcases in the right area and waggled our way through the crowd to immigration and customs where the pleasant agent checked our passports and welcomed us home.
In some ways, he was right. After time abroad, any US soil feels like home, but we weren't really there yet.
At this point we had two heavy (about 60 lbs each) suitcases, a rolling carry-on each, a backpack with my spare portable oxygen concentrator, Herkimer (my regular POC) in his rolling cart, my c-pap bag, and an over-the-shoulder bag. It was a long, slow slog to the Cunard bus that transferred us to the airport.
To my surprise, we were not off-loaded on the level where we could avail ourselves of curb-side check in. There was so much construction, our bus dropped us off on the lower level where we had to collect all our bags again. Amazingly enough, there wasn't a single skycap in sight. So we dragged our luggage entourage around the chain link construction fence and across three lanes of traffic where we had the good luck to find an abandoned luggage trolley. Once all our stuff was loaded, it was much easier going. We found the elevator and rode up to the main level to check in to our Delta flight.
Unfortunately, there was a problem. The agent wouldn't gives us our boarding passes because there was nothing on their records about me using oxygen while on the plane. My DH had notified Delta weeks ahead of time and let them know I'd be traveling with Herkimer, but there was no record of it on their computer. My DH pulled up the email exchange he'd had with Delta on his phone and showed them. He'd been assured by Delta that as long as my POC was one of the FAA approved types (which it is), there was no problem. However, the gate agent and her manager said we should have submitted a request through Oxygen to Go, along with a copy of my prescription and a letter signed by my physician. There is nothing about this on Delta's website.
When I first started using supplemental O2 in 2014, I used to have to provide those things to the airline each time. But it's been years since I've had to jump through those hoops, and besides, my DH had contacted Delta and they never said a word about those requirements. I'd boarded a Delta flight in St. Louis without all that hoo-ha-ha just three weeks previous. But the agent and her manager at Laguardia were determined to jerk us around.
It was a good thing our flight didn't leave until mid-afternoon because it took us over an hour to get this non-matter resolved. I hate being singled out for this kind of attention. My goal is to try to feel normal. Most of the time, I'm able to forget I'm using O2. While they fretted and stewed over their administrivia, my "other-ness" was showing big time.
Then we had to run the TSA gauntlet and, hoping to expedite matters since I'd tried to walk through before without much success, this time I accepted the offered wheel chair.
I hate riding when I can still walk. Lots of people with lung issues do end up in wheel chairs, but I'm not there yet. Not even close. Maybe I'll feel differently about it if I do eventually need one. But riding in one now makes me feel so very low. Like an invalid. In-Valid, as in not valid, as in "less than." I try to pretend that I'm just like everyone else and most of the time, I manage to use oxygen with a smile on my face. Airports are places where the lies I tell myself are exposed for what they are.
Guess times like this are what Anthony Bourdain meant when he said travel hurts.
The rest of our flight was uneventful and we were delighted to see #1 Daughter and Daughter-in-law when we reached St. Louis. Then we drove the rest of the way home the next day.
It's wonderful to travel, but it's also wonderful to come home, to the people and pets and places we love.
And I didn't let my "last day blues" linger long. We've already booked our next cruise.
Every cruise line has its own personality and appeals to different sorts of cruisers.
We call Carnival the "Party Ships." The main atrium through which we entered is also a bar which many passengers never leave. 'Nuff said.
Holland America is lovingly referred to as "the old farts' line." (Please don't misunderstand. We love HAL! We've got 106 cruise days with them so they must be doing something right! We feel young every time we board one of their "daam" ships.)
Princess is our "Goldilocks" cruise line--a good mix of everything so it's just about right.
Norwegian is sort of a stealth operation. I never recall much about the ships, just the ports we visited with them.
In the interests of full disclosure, we've also been on Costa, which has been permanently x'd from our list after the Concordia disaster. The now defunct American Hawaiian line has a special place in our hearts. We rounded the Islands for our 25th on that old ship, one of the last cruises it made because the company went belly-up after 9-11. And our first cruise together was on the pint-sized Dolphin which I think is no longer running.
Some lines were not as good a fit for us as others, but we've found something to like on all our seafaring adventures. We were excited to try Cunard. Let me start with the things we love:
Smooth embarkation! As soon as one of Cunard's agents noticed Herkimer (my portable oxygen concentrator), we were guided to a special needs line where we zipped through the process and boarded before noon!
Excellent music! We were treated to performances of classical guitar, and several pianists. A visiting ensemble of young artists (Green Spring) put on several concerts. Every lounge boasted its harpist or string trio or jazz pianist taking requests.
Exceptional ride! Normally I have to use a scopolamine patch to fight sea sickness. Not on the stable-as-my-living room QM2! Even on the one day the North Sea kicked up a ruckus and there were gale force winds, my insides were perfectly content.
Lectures and classes and planetariums, oh my! Whether it was the tongue-in-cheek "Vikings and How to Cure Them" speaker, the visiting RAS astronomy professor, or the young lady who was a prima ballerina AND held a doctorate in quantum physics, the lecture series was exceptional. We thoroughly enjoyed our watercolor classes, did our best in the dance classes, and the planetarium at sea was a delightful novelty, especially when the visiting astronomer gave a live show of the night sky.
Outstanding service! Over time, we've come to expect to be treated like long-lost royalty on a cruise and the QM2 crew did not disappoint. Our cabin steward and dining servers were attentive, thoughtful, and always so pleasant. It's so hard to go back our normal, non-royal lives...
We had a wonderful time on the QM2. Our 21 days were filled with moments I'll never forget. But I'll have to admit there were a few things we loved ... less on board.
He that will not sail
till all dangers are over must never put to sea. ~Thomas Fuller
August 15th Part Two
Now I’m embarrassed because a small retraction is in
order. The directors did finally come up with a way to get us some of the music for choir. They seemed
astonished at how quickly and easily the rehearsal went when we were all on the
same page in regard to pitches and rhythms. (Not that we sang anything strictly
as written. They simplified many dotted quarter and eighth note to straight
time.) But it made me happier to have the notes in my hand.
Then later during a heart-stoppingly beautiful piano concert by
Ratko Delarko, I felt more movement in the ship that any we’d experienced
previously. Later the captain came over the loudspeaker to announce that a
medical emergency had required us to change course and head for Newfoundland.
The Canadian coastguard was sending a helicopter to meet us, hover over the top
deck, and take the ill passenger to a land-based hospital. The rest of us were
forbidden to go out on deck or even on our private balconies during this
procedure.
This reminded me why it’s so important to put to sea with
a cruise line with a track record of taking care of their passengers. We’ve
felt very safe with Cunard, but things can happen wherever you are, at home or
away. It’s reassuring to know this cruise line will do what’s necessary in an
emergency.
August
17th addendum
As we were chugging along toward New York this afternoon
around 1:45, the familiar rumble of Queen Mary 2’s engines went silent. The
captain came on to let us know an alarm had been raised and the matter was
being investigated. In the meantime, we’re dead in the water.
Fortunately, the sea is very calm.
We went ahead to another piano recital. (This time Mr.
Delarko played one of his own compositions. It’s a rare and beautiful thing to
hear a composer perform his own work! It was like listening to Mozart or
Beethoven or Liszt play! And yes, I bought the CD!)
But the QM2 was still floating like a stunned cod.
So we decided to head down to the secret spot we’ve found
on the ship that has the best (read: not good, but better than the nothing we
get in our stateroom) wifi. The elevator doors whirred open and a tall,
capable-looking officer was in there. We joined him and when the doors closed
again, I said, “I don’t suppose you can tell us what’s happened.”
He shook his head, but told us everything was under
control and we’d be underway very soon. He got off the lift on deck 6 and we
were continuing on down to 2.
“You know,” the DH said once the elevator doors closed again. “That would have been much more reassuring if he hadn’t been carrying a wad of duct tape
the size of a basketball.”
Q. If I send out my laundry,
will Cunard shrink my clothes?
A. The crew is very accommodating. If you ask nicely, I’m sure they will.
August 14 ~ Somewhere in the North Atlantic
You hear the darnedest things on cruise ships. The little
vignette at the top of this post came from a conversation with a couple we
lunched with on one of our Norwegian excursions.
One of our current table mates told of her most unusual
dinner companion while cruising. Those gathered around the table that first
night introduced themselves and shared what they did for a living.All except one. She grandly announced that no
one would guess her vocation.
Turns out, she was a self-proclaimed medium. She had a
disconcerting habit of looking over the others’ shoulders and announcing that
there was someone there in the empty air, but they were not to worry. The
spirit meant them well.
She also considered herself a healer and quickly noticed
my new friend’s husband used a cane. The woman began running her hand over his
hip and thigh without asking permission. The next night, he put his metal flask
in his pants’ pocket. When she started her unwanted massage, she encountered
not flesh, but hard metal.
“Oh! I say!” she exclaimed.
Evidently, she wasn’t psychic enough to recognize a
whiskey flash when she felt one.
Now to our small doings. We continue to do only the
things that interest us, singing in the choir and attending astronomy lectures,
and spending lovely times together reading or lounging in our cabin.
But one very exciting development has arisen. I didn’t
realize when we booked this cruise that the British National Ballet company
would be joining us.Yesterday, they had
an open rehearsal in the Royal Court Theatre and we were able to watch the principals
and the director mark through their routines, getting a sense of the space,
arranging the lighting cues and adjusting to the slight rock of the Queen Mary
2. Then they’d actually perform the piece. Such grace, such strength, and in
the case of the contemporary dances, such innovation. They are breathtaking.
We’ll have a full performance on the evening of the 16th.
I can’t wait.
In other news, my gastronomic adventures continue. We
lunched at the Golden Lion Pub yesterday where I had something called Bubble
and Squeak!
And last night, at the urging of our British tablemates,
I ordered the grilled octopus for my appetizer. It wasn’t bad, not unlike
calimari.
Tonight is yet another formal night. I’d never have made it as a Regency lady who had to
change her clothes three or four times a day. But I do love seeing the DH in
his James Bond duds.
She watched the gap between ship and shore grow to a huge gulf. Perhaps
this was a little like dying, the departed no longer visible to the others, yet
both still existed, only in different worlds. ~ Susan Wiggs
August 15, 2019—in a fog bank south of Greenland
As we near the end of our journey, I’m starting to have
homeward thoughts. The gap between us and our loved ones on land is still quite
large, but it’s shrinking every day.
You can barely make out the extended wing of the bridge.
We woke to the melodious low tones of the QM2’s deep fog
horn. I’m sure the bridge has ways of tracking other vessels but from time to
time, the ship sends out the long message that “we are here—stay back!” There is no horizon. Sky and water melt into a grey
miasma and stepping onto the balcony means we’re coated with mist.So today is an indoor sort of day.
We breakfasted on the Lido deck and then queued (Read:
lined up. See how British I’m becoming!) for tickets to the live planetarium
show. We’ve been to several of the canned presentations, but they aren’t much
more than inverted projections of something you might see on the science
channel. Today our visiting astronomy professor (whose 3rd lecture
we’ll be attending later today) will guide us through the night sky. (Eat your
heart out, David Whigham! Wish you and Kristy were here!) We’re really looking
forward to it.
After the planetarium show, we’ll go to choir practice.
Let me preface this next bit by saying music is important to us. We are active
in a wonderful church choir at home and enjoy singing in community choir as
well. When we did the world cruise in 2018 on the Pacific Princess, the choir
practice every sea day was a source of fun and friendship as well as making
music. Our director presented us with full packets of music on the first sea day
and we sang concerts in the theater at the end of each segment.
For choir here on the QM2, we’ve been given singles sheets of lyrics
only (except for Jerusalem, a nationalistic English hymn for which we do have actual
music, but no separate vocal parts other than the melody.) Even though the tunes of the rest of our repertoire are vaguely familiar, no one is certain of the exact rhythm or pitches. It’s
like singing mass karaoke.
We are being directed by three people at the same time—the 2 budding
screamers from the production shows and the least accomplished pianist on board
(he has yet to play the Jerusalem accompaniment as written. We’ve heard him in
the pub taking requests so I’m sure he plays mostly by ear, which is a talent
to be sure, but not one that leads to precision.) But since there are three of
them in charge, and all of them are trying to bring us in at different times,
the effect is disastrous. They are trying to teach the altos, tenors and basses
some harmony parts by rote repetition—things we could learn in 5 minutes if we
only had music.
At one point, they asked if any of us would like to have
actual sheet music. Almost every hand (about 50 people) shot up.
The next day they announced that they weren’t allowed to
use so much paper and anyway the copy machine was broken.
We’d be willing to
pay a fee for music, just as we paid to get the art supplies for our watercolor
class. Cunard is giving their guests who participate in choir very short
shrift.I was ready to give up on it,
but then we started singing Bring Him
Home from Les Miserables.
I can’t walk away from that beautiful prayer.
Later today, we’ll attend the third astronomy lecture and
after supper we’re going to the movie—Bohemian Rhapsody.
Q. If I send out my laundry,
will Cunard shrink my clothes?
A. The crew is very accommodating. If you ask nicely, I’m sure they will.
August 14 ~ Somewhere in the North Atlantic
You hear the darnedest things on cruise ships. The little
vignette at the top of this post came from a conversation with a couple we
lunched with on one of our Norwegian excursions.
One of our current table mates told of her most unusual
dinner companion while cruising. Those gathered around the table that first
night introduced themselves and shared what they did for a living.All except one. She grandly announced that no
one would guess her vocation.
Turns out, she was a self-proclaimed medium. She had a
disconcerting habit of looking over the others’ shoulders and announcing that
there was someone there in the empty air, but they were not to worry. The
spirit meant them well.
She also considered herself a healer and quickly noticed
my new friend’s husband used a cane. The woman began running her hand over his
hip and thigh without asking permission. The next night, he put his metal flask
in his pants’ pocket. When she started her unwanted massage, she encountered
not flesh, but hard metal.
“Oh! I say!”she exclaimed.
Evidently, she wasn’t psychic enough to recognize a
whiskey flash when she felt one.
Now to our small doings. We continue to do only the
things that interest us, singing in the choir and attending astronomy lectures,
and spend lovely times together reading or lounging in our cabin.
But one very exciting development has arisen. I didn’t
realize when we booked this cruise that the British National Ballet company
would be joining us.Yesterday, they had
an open rehearsal in the Royal Court Theatre and we were able to watch the principals
and the director mark through their routines, getting a sense of the space,
arranging the lighting cues and adjusting to the slight rock of the Queen Mary
2. Then they’d actually perform the piece. Such grace, such strength, and in
the case of the contemporary dances, such innovation. They are breathtaking.
We’ll have a full performance on the evening of the 16th.
I can’t wait.
In other news, my gastronomic adventures continue. We
lunched at the Golden Lion Pub yesterday where I had something called Bubble
and Squeak! Still not quite sure what's in it, but I've learned it doesn't do to inquire too closely into the ingredients of English delicacies.
And last night, at the urging of our British tablemates,
I ordered the grilled octopus for my appetizer. It wasn’t bad, not unlike
calimari.
Tonight is yet another formal night. The bloom is off the
rose for me. I guess I’m just not cut out to enjoy bling for the sake of it three
or more times a week.
I’d never have made it as a Regency lady who had to
change her clothes three or four times a day. But I do love seeing the DH in
his James Bond duds. For this cruise, he has the standard black tie, which he wrestles with manfully, a pre-tied purple bowtie, seen at right, a red bow tie, and a red vest with matching regular tie.
“To eat well in England, you
should have a breakfast three times a day.”
~ W. Somerset Maughan
August 12, 2019
I’m not sure Maughan realized he was obliquely condemning
all other English food with that quote, but he’s right about one thing. An
English breakfast is feast. We went down to the Britannia Dining Room this
morning and were treated to the Cunard Get Up and Go plate. It consisted of
scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, English grilled back bacon, a Cumberland
sausage, Bury Black sausage (a relative of the haggis family), hash browns, and
a stewed tomato.
While we ate, we got to know some new fellow passengers,
most notably Pat and Bill from near Southampton. They were both widowed many
years ago, but still loved to travel. Eight years ago, they met during Week 5
of a round the world cruise on the P&O line. You hear about shipboard
romances, but this is the first time I’ve ever met a couple who really lived
it. They’re a lovely couple and we look forward to singing with them when the
passenger choir meets to practice for the first time this afternoon.
This morning we intend further exploration of this
beautiful ship. We’ve yet to find the library. And there’s a fabled glass
elevator that only goes from deck 12 to 7 somewhere near the front of the ship.
We haven’t found the Commodore lounge or the Chart Room, and we’ve been told
there’s a place we can view the bridge but cannot enter. So like Tolkien’s
Fellowship of the Ring (the movie TOLKIEN is currently running in a continuous
loop on our cabin TV), we are off on a quest!
More soon…
Later…(August
13th)
Here are some of our discoveries!
Queen Mary 2's lovely library
The ship's "poop" deck, as it were. There are 23 dogs in the kennel for this segment, plus one service animal that stays with its person in their stateroom. QM2 boasts the only kennel at sea.
We next discovered the Commodore Club, a quiet place to have a soda and relax to some soft jazz.
We weren't allowed on the bridge, but we could look at the bridge crew and all the blinkin' llights through double paned glass. No photos allowed. Sorry.
After a bit of sleuthing, we found the secret glass elevator. Turns out it only goes from Deck 11 to 7.
Oh! Before I forget, I need to give the answer to "what is this stuff?" from a previous post. It's marmite. The jar says it's a yeast extract and it's a bit of an acquired taste, a sort of cousin to the Aussie's vegemite. It's very salty and savory and a little dab of it went well on my omelet yesterday. Not something I'll find in the stores at home, but that's okay. Part of the fun of travel is trying new things!
And now a nautical note! All three Cunard Queens were in Southampton and set sail in a row when we left England, first Victoria, then Elizabeth and lastly the flagship of the line. Having all three of the girls in port at the same time only happens about once a year.
“The pessimist complains
about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the
sails.”
~ William Arthur Ward
August 10, 2019 ~ Sea Day
I promised to talk about Norway’s socialist democracy. As a disclaimer, let me begin by saying this is only my opinion. You're free to disagree. The nice thing about being an American is that we can say anything we like as long as we respect each other.
But because so many people in my own country are proposing we change to this
system, I thought it might be appropriate to share my observations of the Scandinavian version of socialism. (Venezula’s collapse under the same
system is never mentioned by those who hail socialism as the future, but then
it wouldn’t be, would it?)
Our guide in Stavanger assured us that Norwegians are
protected from cradle to grave. They are given many goodies—free universal
healthcare (with a nominal fee for each doctor appointment), free public
schooling (including university except for room, board and books), and generous
maternity leave (full pay for 9 months and a guaranteed job to return to!). If
a person loses their job, they receive full pay for 2 years while they find
another. Salaries average 50K a year. Unemployment is about 4%.
“It works,” our guide told us. (Though evidently not for
all because we were greeted by a homeless beggar in Bergen. I have to admit that surprised me.)
There are a couple of things to consider about the
Norway that are much different than the US. For one, Norway has a relatively small population, only about
5 million people, or 1.8 per square mile of land. The cost of living is 60%
HIGHER than any other European nation. I’m not sure what sort of property and
income taxes they pay, but there is a 25% VAT on goods. With a Value Added Tax,
the 25% is paid each time a product changes hands—producer, wholesaler,
distributer, merchant and finally consumer. No wonder the COL is so high.
The government also receives almost unlimited buckets of
money from oil. In 1969, oil was discovered in the North Sea. The wealth has
been flowing in ever since. This bounty subsidizes the socialist system and
keeps all the goodies afloat.
And here is a bit of a conundrum for the Norwegian
people. As committed environmentalists, they eschew using petrol products themselves.
In fact, even though they have plenty of oil, their gasoline sells for about
15.75 Kroner per liter ($1.00 = @ 6 Kroner), so electric cars are encouraged.
They have so many waterfalls in the mountains, hydro-electric power is their
“white gold.” (However, our guide admits that Norwegians suffer from “range
anxiety” in the winter when running the heater severeIy restricts battery life
in their cars.) Still, the country’s stated environmental goal is Zero
emissions by 2030.
However, while they reject oil, they have no problem
selling it to others. In fact, their way of life depends upon it.
Make of that what you will. But I wonder what will happen
when the oil finally dries up or their Green activists convince them to stop
drilling.
What I glean from what I’ve learned is that while some of
our politicians may point to Scandinavian style socialism as a viable option
for the US, there are many differences that would make its adoption difficult.
We are a much larger population. NYC
alone is many times the population of Norway. We don’t have a bottomless source
of OtherPeople’sMoney (Norway’s revenue from the sale of nationalized oil).
Americans are tax averse. A 25% VAT would be a terrible gut punch to our
economy.
It’s like Margaret Thatcher said, “The problem with
socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
That hasn’t changed. Socialism tends to fall under its own
weight. No matter who tries it.
August 11, 2019
Last night we said goodbye to our friends from Bristol. They were lovely tablemates this week.
John, Alan, Odette, & Joyce
Now for 50 points, can anyone guess what this is on my spoon? I tried it on my eggs this morning at breakfast.
