Taste of France and on to New York

[rafinmd]

I am just concluding a month trip on 3 ships, Crystal Serenity, Wind Surf, and now QM2. I've been reporting up to now (and will continue) on this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26632390#post26632390

 

but I'll also post the Cunard portion here.

 

The Wind Surf docked in Barcelona about 6:45 after the Norwegian Pearl and Voyager of the Seas. Disembarkation was between about 7 and 8:30 with continental breakfast in Compass Rose starting at 6 and full breakfast in the Verandah at 6:30.

 

I had booked an airport transfer with a tour of Barcelona. It was quite a hectic experience due to the Pope’s visit to the city. Our main attraction would normally have been the Church of the Holy Family, but that was strictly off limits today. This church was begun in the 1880's, and is still in the construction process; the guide estimates about 20 years to go. Today, the Pope will consecrate the church’s high alter. About 7500 people will be in the church, and another 40,000 watching on video screens outside. Fortunately, they have a perfect day for the event.

 

After a short stop at the maritime park with some very modern sculptures, we made our way to the city’s largest park, a large hill wih great views of the city. It is also home to several of the 1992 Olympics venues including the pool, built into the hillside with seating overlooking the city, and the martial arts venue. Continuing through town we saw a number of the buildings form the 1882 (I think) worlds fair and also more Olympic venues. We passed the original bullfighting arena. It was abandoned for a number of years, and now has been raised about 30 feet with a new parking deck below and is being domed and redeveloped as a shopping mall.

 

Our final stop was an archetectural walk through central Barcelona. The city has a varied design history with a number of buildings featuring elaborate mosaics both on the facades and the ceilings, and office buildings designed to look like Moorish castles or with

elaborate sculptures on the facade.

 

I arrived at the airport shortly after noon and had some time to kill before checking in at 2:15 for my 4:20 flight. It was uneventful and we arrived on time despite reports of headwinds. After quickly clearing passport control and baggage claim, I made my way to the coach station, and was ticketed for the 6:30 coach to Southampton. We spent about 40 minutes running between Heathrow terminals, and another 80 to Southampton Central. I walked about a mile to the Mercure Hotel and it was quite late by the time I got dinner and headed off to bed.

 

As today’s parting shot, I have just completed the second leg of my journey experiencing 2 very different cruise ships with a third very different style to come. It is fantastic that we have such a world of choices.

 

 

My next post for embarkation day will be day 25, starting from when I left home.

 

Roy

[north east girl]

Hi Roy, It will be nice to read some more about your journey on QM2.

 

Catherine

[AAAAmerican]

Thank you for your posting. More to follow I hope, as your very good.

 

PS: You may have seen in Cecil County, Md. near Craigtown the first Hollywood location opened.

 

 

 

:cool:

[rafinmd]

While the weather was pleasant Sunday evening, a storm blew through

overnight. When I finally ventured outside the wind had subsided but there was still a substantial rain. The weather cleared mid-morning and I took a preliminary walk around Southampton and made sure I knew where the ship was. There were 4 ships in port, a P&O ship, an RC ship (I think the Voyager), and Queens Mary2 and Elizabeth.

 

I left my hotel about 11:30 for a walk to the ship, docked at the QE2 terminal. I found that my heavy luggage was more of a burden than I was prepared for today, and after about 3/4 miles spotted an unused luggage cart (trolley) and took advantage of it for the remaining half mile to the terminal. Cunard has mostly gone to self-printing of documents. I had printed luggage tags, but somewhere along my previous travels they were either misplaced or discarded. A staff member wrote out tags for my bags and directed me to the bag drop. The checkin area was uncrowded, and I made it through the process quickly and was on board about 12:20. There have been times at QE2 terminal where I have stood in line to board almost as long as the process took today starting with my hotel departure and walk to the ship.

 

Kings Court was characteristically uncrowded making lunch rather pleasant. I explored the bit (not a big deal as this is my 4th time on QM2), and started selectively unpacking.

 

The original schedule called for a 4PM muster drill, 5ish sailaway, and 5PM Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. Announcements from the bridge delayed the drill first to 4:30 and then until just after 5, due to delays on getting everybody on board. The source of the delay was not explained, but there is construction in the terminal, apparently requiring people driving to the ship (and there were many on this short cruise) to park at an offsite location and take a shuttle. The late muster drill played havoc with the Meet and Greet, but I did get to meet Crane and Cap’npugwash. Sailaway was now officially 6, but we waited as the new QE came sailing past us with many flash bulbs popping from both ships and ships horns blazing. We cast off our lines about 6:15.

 

I am booked for the 2-day cruise in Britannia Club. Dinner was less than a complete success. I have a table for 7, but only 3 others showed up before I left about 7:45. One was an elderly woman who was uncommunicative at first but warmed up after a while. This was her last night at the Restaurant. The other 2 had expected a table for 2 and seemed to be in a snit about not getting it. They arrived about the time we were having desert.

 

I had said when I sailed Queen Victoria in March:

At the early seating I found the restaurant less elegant than expected. This may have been an impression clouded by my recent time on the Crystal Symphony, but I thought I remembered the Britannia Dining room on QM2 being much more elegant. In any case, the food was excellent.

 

I stand by that assessment. I have returned to Britannia soon after disembarking a Crystal ship and this time my impression is much different. It’s not a matter of Cunard vs Crystal, it’s strictly my impression of QV. The color scheme in Britannia on QM2 is much brighter, more varied in color, and seems much more cheerful.

 

The evening entertainment was a vocal performance by Allen Stewart.

As today’s parting shot, I think I saw a need for some changes from the Britannia Club Maitre’D. The lady at my table has Britannia Club through Cherbourg and then is moving to the main restaruant. She complained about being told she no longer belonged in the Club even though she still was entitled to another day there. I was asked about my impending move and when I gave my new cabin number was told I would still be dining there, even after I told him I was moving to an inside cabin. Ship’s personnel should know more about their areas of interest than the passengers.

 

Roy

[foxeysandy]

Hi Roy,

 

It was really a pleasure getting to know you on our recent Crystal cruise. John and I look forward to your postings regarding Queen Mary 2, especially since we are tentatively planning a Transatlantic on her next August, from Hamburg to Southampton and then New York. Please let us know if you have any special tips for getting the most enjoyment from this ship--it will be our first time on Cunard.

 

Enjoy the rest of your time at sea!

[rafinmd]

Hi John and Sandy. Hope you had a good trip back home.

 

I went down to the Promenade deck early and walked about 2 miles, concluding my walk as we pulled up to the dock in Cherbourg. At breakfast I was joined by 1 other couple from Southern England who were on board only for the 2-day Taste of France. They had dined at Todd English last night.

 

Cherbourg, part of Normandie, is on the northwest coast of France approximately 200 miles west of Paris. It was at the heart of the Normandy Invasion in World War II, and most of the tours today were battle related. Since this is my only full day in Britannia Club I decided to spend the day near the ship. It was about a half mile by shuttle to the center of town. The prime attraction I saw was the Trinity Church, which has been a major site of pilgrimages from medieval times to the present. An event was just starting as I arrived the first time but it was beautiful inside when I returned later. The port sits about a half mile from the center of town but a basin supporting only small ships comes virtually to the town square. The streets are a mixture of the very modern, along with some very narrow pedestrean alleys making it a nice city for walking. I spent some time at an internet café and returned to the ship about 1PM, in time for my only Club lunch. I was the only one at the table, but Suzanne and Franzie gave me excellent service.

 

Afternoon tea was a bit of a zoo, with a 20-minute wait for seating in the Queens Room. This has not been normal in my experience. I attended a Mass today (my third of the trip). Crystal and Cunard both provide interdenominational services at sea on Sundays, but I have not yet had a Sunday at sea.

 

Sailaway from Cherbourg came promptly at 6, and I had a great view of the proceedings from my verandah. The service was excellent for my final dinner at the Britannia Club although I was the only one at my table. The two who wanted their own table were given their wish. My evening concluded with Crazy in Love by the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers followed by some packing.

 

My parting shot will be one of the things that went really well. Tomorrow I move to a new room but Cunard promises to make the process quite painless for me. I need only package up my stuff and the staff will move everything (even my clothes hanging in the closet) while I tour Stonehenge tomorrow. All my account balance and internet time will be transferred to the new room. How easy can it get?

 

Roy

[Salacia]

Roy, thanks for your posting. I'm going to scroll back and read it again...just wanted to say thanks and wish you a good continued voyage. Please write more, time permitting. -Regards, Salacia

[FIRELT5]

Hi John and Sandy. Hope you had a good trip back home.

 

I went down to the Promenade deck early and walked about 2 miles, concluding my walk as we pulled up to the dock in Cherbourg. At breakfast I was joined by 1 other couple from Southern England who were on board only for the 2-day Taste of France. They had dined at Todd English last night.

 

Cherbourg, part of Normandie, is on the northwest coast of France approximately 200 miles west of Paris. It was at the heart of the Normandy Invasion in World War II, and most of the tours today were battle related. Since this is my only full day in Britannia Club I decided to spend the day near the ship. It was about a half mile by shuttle to the center of town. The prime attraction I saw was the Trinity Church, which has been a major site of pilgrimages from medieval times to the present. An event was just starting as I arrived the first time but it was beautiful inside when I returned later. The port sits about a half mile from the center of town but a basin supporting only small ships comes virtually to the town square. The streets are a mixture of the very modern, along with some very narrow pedestrean alleys making it a nice city for walking. I spent some time at an internet café and returned to the ship about 1PM, in time for my only Club lunch. I was the only one at the table, but Suzanne and Franzie gave me excellent service.

 

Afternoon tea was a bit of a zoo, with a 20-minute wait for seating in the Queens Room. This has not been normal in my experience. I attended a Mass today (my third of the trip). Crystal and Cunard both provide interdenominational services at sea on Sundays, but I have not yet had a Sunday at sea.

 

Sailaway from Cherbourg came promptly at 6, and I had a great view of the proceedings from my verandah. The service was excellent for my final dinner at the Britannia Club although I was the only one at my table. The two who wanted their own table were given their wish. My evening concluded with Crazy in Love by the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers followed by some packing.

 

My parting shot will be one of the things that went really well. Tomorrow I move to a new room but Cunard promises to make the process quite painless for me. I need only package up my stuff and the staff will move everything (even my clothes hanging in the closet) while I tour Stonehenge tomorrow. All my account balance and internet time will be transferred to the new room. How easy can it get?

 

Roy

 

Roy, at your convience, please update us if there will be any delays for arrival time in NYC.

We are on the 11/16 11nt Carribean Voyage :)

 

TNX:

 

Ken

[rafinmd]

We were already docked at Ocean terminal when I went out on deck. After a final breakfast in Britannia Club I went to the Royal Court Theater where out tour was meeting. The 42 of us went out and boarded our coach about 8AM. We took the back roads to Stonehenge, passing through Salisbury and another small town or two. One stretch of our journey took us across an open range area where cattle, horses, and pigs were gracing unfettered, except for a grated barrier in the road at each end of the district. Our guide noted that there had been heavy rains Tuesday but today the sun was out.

 

A “henge” is a form of monument. We know a lot about the dating and construction of Stonehenge but still have no idea of the meaning or purpose. It was actually created in several stages starting 5100 years ago with a big ditch, and then several additional stages of stone formations were added over a period of nearly 2000 years. The site was abandoned about 3500 years ago, and is a UNESCO World Heritage, my second of this trip after Masada in Israel. Stonehenge is also quite a cold windy place. I regretted not bringing the tuque and gloves that were back on the trip but was glad it was at least a reasonably decent day.

 

We spent a couple of hours in Salisbury after our visit to Stonehenge. It is a reasonably small city but has a very impressive Cathedral with one of only 5 surviving copies of the Magna Carta. The site of the Cathedral was enclosed by a wall on 3 sides plus the Avon River. The city itself was an eclectic mix of modern city streets, narrow alleys, and quiet pedestrian passages.

 

We returned to the ship about 3PM. I boarded quickly, got my new room key from the Purser, and started unpacking. My inside room is significantly smaller than my Britannia Club room but much is similar. The major difference is that my old room had a love seat that is not part of my new arrangements. There are 2 retractable upper bunks but the room would be very tight for more than 2 people. I chose to attend the muster drill since I am now assigned to a different muster station.

 

Dinner was a bit confused and a bit of a surprise. I had not received a table assignment and after a check with the maitre’d was told I was still in Britannia Club. I am quite sure that is not right and everybody seemed a bit confused by it but I’m not going to complain. I am at a different table with Christopher and Victoria as my waiters. When I entered I was the only one at a table for 7 but during dinner 4 others came in, a couple from London on their first Cunard voyage and some Cunard veterans from York. The dinner turned out to be very pleasant and was followed by a fairly brief welcome aboard show.

 

As today’s parting shot it’s really amazing how much modern scholars can learn about ancient events but at the same time some questions are totally beyond our understanding. What better example than Stonehenge.

 

Roy

[capnpugwash]

Very nice reporting, Roy. Thanks so uch, pleasure to meet you the other day. Enjoy the rest of the trip.

[rafinmd]

Gale force winds blew in overnight and it is a grey, pretty unpleasant day on the North Atlantic. Despite challenging conditions, I did get in my 5-mile morning walk. I doubt it would have been possible on any other ship. Cunard and the UK appear to put more emphasis on Veterans or Remembrance day than is customary in the US. Poppies were distributed at the front desk and there was a moment of silence at 11:00am. There will be another special observance at the Sunday worship service.

 

There were 3 presentations today in the Cunard Insights Enrichment Program. Bill Miller spoke on “Floating Palaces: The Great Atlantic Liners”. One specific I found quite interesting. He spoke of a 30,000 ton liner which carried 2000 passengers, 500 First Class, 500 Second Class, and 1000 steerage. By contrast, the 151,000 ton QM2 carries 2620 passengers, about 170 each in Queens and Princess Grills, 100 in Britannia Club, and 2,280 in Britannia. With so little space life in steerage on early liners must have been quite miserable. Mr. Miller also spoke of the rugged conditions endured by soldiers on QM and QE in war service with 15,000 plus aboard, a fitting mention on Remembrance Day.

 

Later in the morning Political Commentator Robin Oakley spoke on “Who Rules the World: Politicians or Journalists”, and Astronomer Francisco Diego gave an afternoon lecture “In the Beginning”.

 

We had a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet at 2PM in the Commodore Club. There were probably 25 people attending, the most successful I have experienced on Cunard. Hcrane did an excellent job of organizing the event. We have scheduled our Cabin Cavalcade for 3:30 Saturday.

 

Robin Hill gave an afternoon classical guitar concert. I caught only the tail end of it after the Meet and Greet, and rushed off afterwards for a visit to afternoon tea, a great success in contrast to the one in Cherbourg. All in all, an extremely busy afternoon.

 

During the Francisco Diego talk there had been an announcement but it did not carry into Illuminations. The scheduled evening entertainment was “Crazy In Love”. I planned to skip it and check in on the ship’s other venues since I had seen the show Tuesday evening. After stopping by the Chart Room where Geraldine McMahon was playing the Harp and Winter Garden for a bit of Russell Holmes at the Piano I stopped by my room. Looking at the next Daily Programme, I discovered that the show had been rescheduled due to the weather and got down to the Royal Court Theater just in time for Peter Fischer’s violin performance. He was a great showman playing mostly classical selections.

 

Today’s parting shot starts with Bill Miller’s opening remarks. He talked of making a visit to France in 2003. He reported being there to cover the construction of the Crystal Serenity but the big buzz being on the new Queen Mary 2. Two very different ships. Crystal Serenity remains one of my favorite ships. Queen Mary 2 is a marvelous extension of a great maritime tradition, and it’s performance in today’s gale winds and rough seas shows how perfectly suited it is to it’s unique role. How wonderful it is to be able to combine these 2 great ships in one holiday.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Hi Roy,

 

It was really a pleasure getting to know you on our recent Crystal cruise. John and I look forward to your postings regarding Queen Mary 2, especially since we are tentatively planning a Transatlantic on her next August, from Hamburg to Southampton and then New York. Please let us know if you have any special tips for getting the most enjoyment from this ship--it will be our first time on Cunard.

 

Enjoy the rest of your time at sea!

 

John and Sandy I've posted on Cunard from my viewpoint as a Crystal regular here, it probably has more than you'll ever want to know. My only other tip would be that if you're in Britannia, it would probably be wise to have lunch before embarkation: Kings Court should not be your first impression of Cunard. Let me know of any questions either on CC or I think you also have my email address.

 

Roy

[north east girl]

Hi Roy, Thanks for your update of your voyage back to New York. I must say I also enjoy all the entertainment that QM2 has to offer.

 

Keep your posts coming.

 

Catherine

[rafinmd]

Thank you, North east girl. John and Sandy I just noticed that there is a possibility we'll be on the same crossing. I am certainly on the Prinsendam for their North Cape cruise which ends August 15 and plan (logistics permitting) to continue home on QM2.

 

The sea started out even rougher than usual, with most of my walk on the inner corridors, although I did eventually get in 1 mile on the Promenade deck. There were again 3 speakers in the Cunard Insights program. Francisco Diego started things off with “What Stars Have Done For Us”. Later in the morning Robin Oakley spoke on “The Special Relationship–from Churchill to Cameron and Roosevelt to Obama”. Both my British tablemates and I agreed that this was a superb presentation.

 

The afternoon started with a performance by Classical Pianist David Neil Jones featuring music by Mozart, Debussy, Paderewski, Brahms, Liadov, and Chopin, followed by a presentation by James Griffiths on Navigation at Sea from sextants to satellites.

 

I dined a bit later today and had the pleasure of all 6 of my tablemates present. The show was “Crazy in Love” which I had seen just Tuesday evening. Instead, I visited the other various venues on the ship. We had Campbell Simpson at the piano in Winter Garden and later the Grand Lobby. Greg Sampson was at the piano in the Golden Lion Pub and the Eos String Quartet in the Chart room before dinner and the Simon Galfe Trio was there later. DJ Darren was mixing in G32 while the Big Band Ball was in swing in the Queens Room with the combined Royal Court and Queens Room Orchestras.

 

Today’s parting shot comes from a remark by David Neil Jones. In introducing the Paderewski piece, he noted that the composer, born in 1840, retired from composing and went into politics before WWI. As Poland’s foreign affairs chief, he was the architect of the WWI armistice. What a fitting tribute to the man for the time between Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Waking up to rough seas is becoming a bit tedious, but it is finally starting to ease. My first 2 miles of walking were on the interior hallways but I was able to get out after breakfast for my final 3 miles.

 

The Cunard Insights program continued with Bill Miller speaking in the morning on “The Last Atlantic Liners”, followed by Robin Oakley on “Personality and Politics: How Politics has gone presidential in Britain Too”.

 

In the afternoon the Eos String Quartet gave a classical concert while the first ever live Planetarium show was in progress. I opted for the concert but those attending the Planetarium show loved it and it will be repeated Monday. Later Francisco Diego spoke on “Ghost Universe: The Greatest challenge to modern science” which I also missed due to the Cruise Critic cabin cavalcade. We got a look at cabins from insides to hcrane’s Q2 penthouse: WOW!

 

The evening entertainment was a short show by the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers in a tribute to Sting combined with a vocal performance by Claude-Eric Brunelle. On a 6-night crossing we gain an hour every day but one. Today was the day we did not adjust our clocks. I opted to go to the early show and have dinner afterwards.

 

As today’s parting shot, the conventional wisdom seems to be that Cunard operates on a “caste” system, and that those not in the grills are second class citizens. Like all conventional wisdom this has some grain of truth, but I consider it vastly overblown in this case. With most cruise lines, people who pay more get more and this is no more or less true with Cunard. Yes, with Cunard where you eat is a function of your cabin category. But HAL has Pinnacle Grill and Celebrity has Blu, both of which I believe are assigned to certain grades of cabins, and these lines do not seem to get the same rap. At the closing of tonight’s show Entertainment Director Paul O’Loughlin looked ahead to Sunday’s schedule and said “Apassionata will be shown at 10:30pm”. When I saw the Daily Programme there were actually 8:30 and 10:30 shows. It doesn’t truly prove anything, but it seems to me Mr. O’Loughlin was clearly speaking from the point of view of those in the main restaurant late seating, and the 5/6 of the passengers who are in the main restaurant are fully recognized as the backbone of Cunards business.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Roy, at your convience, please update us if there will be any delays for arrival time in NYC.

We are on the 11/16 11nt Carribean Voyage :)

 

TNX:

 

Ken

 

Ken, it hasn't really been my plan to ignore you, but I haven't had anything to say, and we've been fighting heavy seas. Finally, at today's noon briefing the navigator said we are on track for a timely arrival. Roy

[FIRELT5]

Ken, it hasn't really been my plan to ignore you, but I haven't had anything to say, and we've been fighting heavy seas. Finally, at today's noon briefing the navigator said we are on track for a timely arrival. Roy

 

Tnx Roy, Seas should be in the 9' range you continue your voyage to Brooklyn.

According to Noaa Wave watch 3, it does appear that you went through days of 20'-45'

swells. Currently we also have an area of low pressure east of Bermuda. Tuesday arrival will be cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternnon with temps around 55F.

 

Thanks again Roy !!!! Looking forward to sailing on the QM2 for 11nt to the Carribean !!

 

Ken

[rafinmd]

For a change a very nice morning. I had a great walk on QM2's wonderful Promenade deck.

 

The day’s activities program began with a talk by Francisco Diego on “Aliens”, contrasting the incredibly unlikely combinations of conditions it takes to make intelligent life possible with the infinite number of galaxies in the universe and the limitless potential for other places where life could exist.

 

As is traditional for Cunard on Sundays at sea, Captain Paul Wright conducted an interdenominational service in the Royal Court theater but it was special being Remembrance Sunday. The Security Officer read a passage recognizing the “other” heros, the stokers, stewards, and others who toiled on troop ships not fighting but still putting themselves in harms way, and many losing their lives.

 

In the afternoon there was a repeat performance on the Classical Guitar by Robin Hill and a virtual bridge tour in Illuminations. Just before the bridge tour the navigation chart was auctioned, raising $750 for the Prince’s Trust.

 

The World Club reception was held this evening, and I attended the early performance of Apassionata. This had me going to dinner very early, leaving for the World Reception before any of my tablemates arrived. This is one of the disadvantages of having flexible dining in a culture where nearly everyone is on a fixed early or late seating.

 

Francisco Deigo conducted a stargazing session up on deck 12 at 9:30PM. I had intended to go but completely forgot about it. I am told the event was very successful.

 

Today’s parting shot comes from the closing ceremony at the Remembrance Sunday Service: “They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old; age shall not weary them nor the years condemn; At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them”.

 

Roy

[capnpugwash]

“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old; age shall not weary them nor the years condemn; At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them”.

 

Well done Roy, a timely and very moving thought.

[SeaPeaInn]

Thank you sir for posting that saying. I hesitate to post but feel I must.

 

These are my feelings as I mourn the loss of my son two months ago. He is the fourth one lost of my 6 children. All in their 30s and 40s.

 

Thanks for those words. I shall never forget them.

 

Paul

[Salacia]

Paul, my deepest sympathy on your tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Regards, Salacia

[capnpugwash]

Paul, I echo Salacia's thoughts.

[SeaPeaInn]

Thank you both for your response. I seldom ever reveal this personal matter in a forum such as this but the words effected me so that I felt compelled to. When meeting casually, such as tablemates on a cruise, when the conversation turns to children I always state the number of living children so as not to put a damper on the evening.

 

Thanks again, Paul

[rafinmd]

Paul, my condolences as well.

 

The final sea day started out with the best weather of the voyage about 150 miles South of Halifax. My 5 miles on the Promenade deck was very easy. The final day of the Cunard Insights enrichment program started with Bill Miller speaking on “Gateway to the World: the Great Port of New York”. As the concluding lecture, Political Commentator Robin Oakley took on a change of pace with “Horseracing–the Best Fun You Can Have With Your Clothes On”.

 

In the afternoon, Pianist David Neil Jones gave a concert featurning works of Hummel, Debussy, Beethoven, and Chopin. This was followed by a screening of Mr. Ocean Liner, a biography of Bill Miller, but I had purchased the CD and opted to go to the final afternoon tea instead.

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing. The evening entertainment was a salute to Neil Diamond by the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers along with performances by Violinist Peter Fisher and Vocalist Claude-Eric Brunelle, followed by our farewell dinner and a sad goodbye Christopher, Victoria, and my 6 British tablemates, all of whom will be leaving the ship early Tuesday.

 

As today’s parting shot, I am concluding a voyage on 3 very diverse ships. Each ship has been well suited to a different set of ports and style of cruising, with a great role for each.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Dear rafinmd

 

Thank you, again.

 

The letter will be great to see for all.

 

I am lucky again as we board, God willing, later this month and now will go view it too.

 

 

What have they been serving now in the dining halls and have you gone and eaten in the Chefs Galley ?

:cool:

 

 

 

I'll try (not very successfully) to reply here and keep the other thread related to the rescue. I did not visit Chef's Galley as I was trying to make the most of my upgrade to Britannia Club. I did see a Canyon Ranch day, a Japanese night, and a steak house day on their menu. I do not eat seafood but had a varied menu, including Duck Al'Orange, Steak, Veal, and Lamb dishes.

 

One other food related item. I have never seen Boardwalk Cafe open, but on this voyage it was not even mentioned in the Daily Programme.

 

Roy