Atlantic Coast Adventure Q133Q 15th Nov 2021 - Jimbo's Blog

[BigMac1953]

That's very early this year!

[Liberal_Baggie]

I'm booked in this grade of cabin for Christmas/New year 2022 New Zealand so its interesting to see the space inside. Great to see the Christmas decorations going up as my son and I are on QM2 on 28th next week for a short break so maybe they are going up on QM2 Too? we will see can't wait...

 

 

[rakkor]

Gala Dinner

 

It’s Gala night on Tuesday with a Black and White theme. I really wish I’d tried on more of my outfits before coming on the cruise. As I’ve already intimated lockdown hasn’t been kind to my clothes as most of them seem to have shrunk through a lack of wearing! I squeezed myself into my Tux trousers and dress shirt for tonight’s dinner, at least my bow tie still fits OK. I don’t think they will see the light of day again on this cruise. 

Dinner was excellent, a complimentary glass of fizz on arrival to compensate for the lack of a welcome party, followed by an amuse bouche of chilled leek and potato soup, followed by chicken terrine, chicken ballottine and cherry pancakes all washed down with a nice Reisling. We were far too full and sleepy for the show, so headed back to bed via a check of the Britannia menu as Jane wanted to see if it was the same menu as the PG one, it isn’t Britannia had escargot and a Beef Wellington on offer which we never had.

 

 

Blog At https://blog.rakkor.uk

Edited November 17, 2021 by rakkor

[rakkor]

1 hour ago, Liberal_Baggie said:

I'm booked in this grade of cabin for Christmas/New year 2022 New Zealand so its interesting to see the space inside. Great to see the Christmas decorations going up as my son and I are on QM2 on 28th next week for a short break so maybe they are going up on QM2 Too? we will see can't wait...

 

 

Were In 5001 which as Rosco says is a oddity as they are very large for PG - it’s all lovely though 

[rakkor]

Leaving Biscay - 17th November

 

I slept a bit better overnight, as it was our second night on board. The room it’s is very quiet but we do have a annoying squeak, it’s got an irregular interval and seems to outside the room somewhere as I can’t pin it down. Jane joined me for breakfast in the PG dining room, so we were a little later getting there. I tried the devilled kidneys on sourdough toast, nice. After breakfast we went to relax in the sun while I waited for my first lecture of the day. We were just off the North Spanish coast near Vigo and the weather is warming up nicely.

Poor Dr Sheona Urquhart, she’d only just started her SETI presentation when there was a random crew announcement that cut her off mid flow while the Captain told the crew they needed to fill in an environmental questionnaire - I’m not entirely sure this was meant for public broadcast, but it killed the slideshow and took quite a while to get her back on line. 

This was followed by Dave Mallinders Dean Martin talk where I was joined by Jane. 

After the lectures we decided on a walk around the promenade deck for our daily constitutional, it was a more pleasant walk than yesterday’s, the sun is out and it’s nice and warm. We had an escort from the US warship John S Peary ???? which slowly passed us on the port side. 

After that excitement we had worked up a appetite so headed up to deck 11 and lunch in PG. I had quiche, spaghetti bolognaise and tarte tatin. Jane is having a bit of a quandary, whether to go to the wine tasting at 15:00 or to save herself for cocktails at Commodore o’clock, we decided to lie in the sun on the loungers until she could make up her mind.

[bluemarble]

12 hours ago, rakkor said:

 

We had an escort from the US warship John S Peary ???? which slowly passed us on the port side. 

 

Really enjoying your blog, @rakkor. Just for the record, I think this is the USNS Robert E. Peary, named for the American arctic explorer whose expedition claimed to be the first to reach the north pole in 1909. The Robert E. Peary is described as a replenishment or dry cargo/ammunition ship and has been sailing a similar track to yours in the Bay of Biscay.

[roscoe39]

Hi Liberal Baggoe, I might have misunderstood but did you mean that  you have a booking for NZ for new year 2022?? you might want to check as our ports will not be open for cruise ships until at least march 2022.......

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by roscoe39

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, roscoe39 said:

Hi Liberal Baggoe, I might have misunderstood but did you mean that  you have a booking for NZ for new year 2022?? you might want to check as our ports will not be open for cruise ships until at least march 2022.......

 

I expect it's December 2022 

[rakkor]

Very excited to be stepping off the ship into another country for the first time since December 2019

 

Lisbon is one of the most attractive approaches on a winters morning with the sunrise lighting to the sky

 

 

More later on my blog at https://blog.rakkor.uk

 

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by rakkor

[Host Hattie]

Beautiful

[Liberal_Baggie]

Thank you Roscoe 39 and Hattie host..She was right, its December 2022/Jan 2023 that we hope to be on QE around Tasmania and New Zealand. We are booked but who knows if we will actually be able to fly (due to Covid) to Australia. Never been south of Greece before.

[rakkor]

Lisbon - 18th November

 

The entrance into Lisbon was gorgeous with the sky on fire as the sun rose over the April 25th Bridge. It’s getting warmer, but it was pretty cold grabbing the photo in my pjs as we sailed up the Tagus. 

We had an early start today as we had the “Taste of Lisbon”  walking tour booked, departing at 09:15 so we had an early breakfast in the PG dining room. As it was a tasting tour we kept it light, just eggs Benedict for me and avocado on toast for Jane. 

We were slightly delayed leaving the ship as there were sky bridge issues but the were soon over and we were off and onto the minibus to Belem for Pastel de Nata. Once we’d ticked that off my bucket list, we were back onto the coach and heading back into Lisbon old town to start walking. We had another stop for Ovo Moles,

another egg based delicacy.

One more stop for Portuguese “tapas” and then back to Restorantes to catch the minibus back to the ship. In between all the food was lots of descriptive observations about Lisbon’s many landmarks. We booked this as a walking tour, so we’re surprised to find two of the party had mobility issues and it was a very slow affair getting around. 

[roscoe39]

14 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I expect it's December 2022 

thanks hattie!....even then it would be fingers crossed!!......

Edited November 18, 2021 by roscoe39

[roscoe39]

8 hours ago, Liberal_Baggie said:

Thank you Roscoe 39 and Hattie host..She was right, its December 2022/Jan 2023 that we hope to be on QE around Tasmania and New Zealand. We are booked but who knows if we will actually be able to fly (due to Covid) to Australia. Never been south of Greece before.

you will be welcome here....we love tourists...hopefully they will be back before to long but who knows......if the cruise is going through the sounds in the South Island you are in for a treat!

[Oahucruiser]

7 hours ago, roscoe39 said:

you will be welcome here....we love tourists...hopefully they will be back before to long but who knows......if the cruise is going through the sounds in the South Island you are in for a treat!

Aloha, Roscoe, my Queen Victoria world cruise friend.  Nice to see your comments on here.  Cheers, Patti

[roscoe39]

44 minutes ago, Oahucruiser said:

Aloha, Roscoe, my Queen Victoria world cruise friend.  Nice to see your comments on here.  Cheers, Patti

awww patti....emailing you as we speak.....

[exlondoner]

It is a bit late to mention this, but I'm very pleased to see embarkation day lunch for the Grills has been reinstated - unexciting though the menu may be.

[rakkor]

No Cadiz Today November 19th

 

It was extremely lumpy during the night as we hit 45 KT winds traversing from Lisbon to Cadiz. I was woken at 00:45 by a massive crashing and then through the night multiple times. At least I managed to get some sleep, Jane didn't. There was announcement by the captain at 08:30 informing us that the winds at Cadiz were outside the safety limits for a ship of out size to dock and that we would be carrying on to Valencia instead. We had nothing booked for Cadiz so another sea day is no hardship for us.
I went to breakfast alone as Jane was exhausted, with the instructions to bring her something nice back. Sachin dutifully supplied me with an American bacon and Avocado Bagel, even volunteering to get room service to deliver while I had my fry-up. I declined as I wanted the plaudits for delivering.
After breakfast I popped down to the Pursers office to pick up revised daily programme. There were two new lectures planned, firstly,  Dr Sheona Urquhart explaining everything about the Cosmos, or asuch as can be fitted into 45 mins. I've really enjoyed her lectures on this cruise.
Secondly Dave Mallinder spoke on Doris Day. Jane came to this one, so he's honoured as that's the second of his she's been to now.

 

[exlondoner]

Sorry you missed Cadiz. I think it's one of the nicest ports. But, as you suggest, there's never anything wrong with another day at sea.

[majortom10]

8 hours ago, exlondoner said:

It is a bit late to mention this, but I'm very pleased to see embarkation day lunch for the Grills has been reinstated - unexciting though the menu may be.

Must be introduced for this cruise as we were on the last one and when we embarked we had afternoon tea in PG restaurant.

[exlondoner]

29 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Must be introduced for this cruise as we were on the last one and when we embarked we had afternoon tea in PG restaurant.

 

Isnt it nice to see things gradually returning to normal?

[elmsliebev]

Dave Mallinder used to do music quizes at the Bay Horse in Thornton Cleveleys near Blackpool that I occasionally went to! I believe he's been doing the ships for a little while now. 

[rakkor]

I finally have logged in and updated my blog for yesterday’s miss port of Cadiz and Lisbon on Thursday - more can be seen at https://blog.rakkor.uk

 

 

[rakkor]

Valencia, A Day Early - 20th November

 

We broke the storm overnight, it was much calmer and although I was woken a couple of times by waves crashing into the bow we slept much better. We are arriving in Valencia ahead of schedule and will be docking at 12:30. They have put on some extra shore excursions for today, but we're not going to bother. The weather looks pretty poor all day, so we may not even go ashore today.
We had a light breakfast before heading down to the theatre for today's insights lectures. First off was Dave Mallinder speaking on the life of Sammy Davies jnr. Jane joined me for this one again as she likes a bit of pop music. The second one was Dr Sheona Urquhart with a fluffy lecture covering the mythical side of cosmology.
After that I headed back to the stateroom to meet up with Jane before lunch. We were arriving into port, as I got there, so we're back with a phone signal, this allowed me to catch up with work and do some geeky housekeeping.
It was pasta for lunch, so we both opted for the Carbonara, I had spicy crab cakes as a starter and custard tart for dessert. We went back to the stateroom to watch Chelsea's demolition of Leicester. Jane rapidly got bored by this, so we went up to the Garden Lounge for the quiz, even though our quizmates we're off on a tour. We didn't win, but we didn't disgrace ourself with 15/20.
After that we went to the Grills Lounge for Commodore O'clock where Jane met up with a lady who we'd met while on our Lisbon trip so had a good gossip with her.

[rakkor]

Valencia Actual - Sunday 21st November 

 

The rain had abated overnight and we’d both had a better nights sleep with the ship docked overnight in Valencia. We had another walking tour booked ashore with an early start so the alarm was set for 07:30 ready for breakfast at eight. The Dock at Valencia is a bit of a distance from town, I’m not even sure that you’re allowed to walk out as a pedestrian, so we had a bit of coach ride to get to the start of our tour, hampered also by some road’s being closed for a Marathon. 

We start the tour just across the river from Torres de Serranos and walked around the centre of Valencia being shown the sights by a very informative guide. Past the Cathedral, multiple bell towers, the central market and the Silk Exchange with its pillars of depravity.

Valencia was very nice, a bit too crowded for Jane to feel comfortable, so rather than going for a womble around town we headed back to the ship for lunch.

After lunch it was sunbathing time for Jane as it was quite nice with a little broken sun, I was rather boring and headed inside to watch the Grand Prix instead.

I was summoned to the Commodore Club for cocktails at 5 where we were joined by one of the ladies from our Lisbon tour. This suited me as Lorna and Jane could chat amongst themselves while I caught up on some reading. A couple of Old Speckled Hens later we headed off to the stateroom to get ready for dinner.

It was rack of lamb tonight so Jane was happy. We’ve decided that Sachin, our waiter, is a feeder. He came along with a second portion of lamb rack as he knew it was Jane’s favourite, and is constantly trying to get me to have two desserts, and I really don’t need any encouragement on that front. There was a lot of flambé activity again with Crepes Suzette on offer.

https://blog.rakkor.uk

 

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by rakkor