A Right Royal Cruise with Walking Difficulties

[fabnfortysomething]

59 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I hope you're both OK now.

Thanks again for your posts

He's still positive-obviously one of those who are going to take full 10 days to clear

However he seems to be getting away with it lightly which is a great relief as he is clinically vulnerable and so have been very concerned over him catching it.

[fabnfortysomething]

Thursday day 6

 

Groundhog day

The ships fog horn is sounding and the clocks have gone back an hour!.

 

6 is certainly not along with using a walking stick on this cruise and there are several wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

This is hardly surprising as the demographic is heavily on the elderly side and an Ocean crossing is probably more comfortable for them than a plane ride.

There are however people of all ages and some children.

 

There was a blow out sale in the shops[not really-many items need to be restocked in New York]

 

I attended John McLeans last lecture in illuminations on the Big Bang Theory and did my last spa session[decided not to get one for 2^nd week as so much to do on board]

 

I decided against last art class of the week as teacher suggested we all bring along our work and critique it-no thanks pretty sure will be binning them.

Teacher was very nice but English was not her first language and her monotonous voice was difficult  to follow when she was describing famous artists techniques. It would be a different teacher the following week and spoiler alert she was brilliant!

 

Captains announcement at 12 said temperatures in New York next day were expected to be 32C!

He said this had been an unusually foggy crossing as would expect a couple of days but not full week-we would be returning via a more Southerly route.

We saw several container ships as we were entering the New York traffic separation channels but no other cruise ships

 

Unfortunately our plans to meet up with friends had to be abandoned

She lives New Jersey and it would take her 2 hours to drive to Brooklyn.

She thought we were docking in New York itself which she is familiar with and could have picked us up and driven us to Times Square for a meal-oh well I’m sure we will manage to meet up some time.

 

I found 6 in the quiet Chart room/cocktail lounge and we tried a few different ones[well have to befriend some new bar waiters!]

 

I had tried to book Planetarium show previous day but was told fully booked for rest of voyage.

However a fellow passenger said to turn up on spec and that’s what I did for the 3pm showing

I got straight in!

It was only 1/3 full-apparently there are always no shows so don’t be disheartened if you are told fully booked.

It was a 25 minute show and entertaining.

 

The weather had improved so was able to sit out on the balcony and watch a shoal of dolphins

 

Our final restaurant meal of the week and we made sure we would be seated in same place with our attentive waiters next week.

 

The Golden Lion had run out of Cabernet Sauvignon-had to switch to Pinot Noir!

 

I went up to room to check next day planner and had to pick my way around lots of luggage piled up around lifts waiting to be offloaded next morning

It’s always such as nice feeling knowing you are staying on for the next week!

 

Back at Golden Lion for quiz and our full quiz team of 6[all of us would be staying on for next week.

We scored 18/20 and tied for first place

Unfortunately the tie breaker defeated us as we were of the older generation who had no idea which year girl band Girls Aloud were formed

 

[Host Hattie]

I love that feeling that you're staying on board when everyone else is leaving!

[fabnfortysomething]

Friday day 7

 

We awoke to the most wonderful view of New York when we pulled back the curtains

Governors island directly in front of us and beyond Manhattan island and the Hudson river

To the left Statue of Liberty with Staten Island ferries crossing

Leaning over balcony there’s Brooklyn Bridge to the right

Shall we just say it’s a lot more impressive sight than Southampton docks

I could have watched that view all day from the balcony

 

Unfortunately USA rules say the ship has to be cleared of all passengers to go through immigration in the terminal.Unlike in Europe where if you are on a back to back you can stay on board and enjoy an empty ship

 

Breakfast around 9 was very quiet as most passengers had either disembarked or got up early to enjoy a day in New York

We had visited several years earlier with our daughter and covered most of the sights .We didn’t feel we were missing anything especially as 6 walking issues makes it difficult to get around.

 

There was an announcement for people to stick to their scheduled disembarkation times as the gangways were becoming congested

We returned to the balcony and watched the skyline and river traffic till final call came for passengers to disembark .This was 10.10

 

6 had not used his walker /rollator in earnest as was able to manage with walking stick around ship but it really paid for itself now as has integral seat.

We got off ship having swiped our room cards but progress ground to  a halt for several minutes on gangway    

There were stairs and escalator to ground level in terminal and we directed to the lifts which were extremely slow

We then came to a full stop in a corridor ,most people were wearing face masks but very difficult to maintain social distancing

A member of staff identified those with wheelchairs and walking sticks and directed to front of immigration queue but it still took a long time

 

When it got to our time I went first and had retinal scan and fingertip id .The officer then asked me how long we were staying. When I replied we were in transit and getting straight back on board he didn’t even bother doing same with 6 and waved us through[shouldn’t there be a fast track for this?

So heading down another corridor we set foot outside and asked a staff member where to go next

She directed us 200 yards to right to re enter terminal building

 

There were several people in wheelchairs but no other seating-again walker with seat proved invaluable as we couldn’t get straight back on board

A lady staff member said she would announce when able to do so and she has a loud voice -she was right

11am she shouted for all in transit passengers to line up to get back into terminal

Great!

Except we had to go through security scanners and then directed to seats in the terminal where we sat for the next hour

 

12.10 comes the announcement that all in transit guests could now board-yippee

Hang on don’t these corridors look familiar and there are those really slow lifts with about 6 wheelchair bound people in line for them!

I folded the walker and walked up the stairs with it over my shoulder whilst 6 took the escalator to save time!

12.15 a security guy greeted us back on board and expressed surprise we were back 4 hours early!!!!

Can I just say that is 2 hours of our life we wont get back[and it felt longer]

Main subject of conversation amongst passengers resT of day was how torturous was this process even those who had chosen a ships excursion to pass the time

 

The go to place at this time was golden Lion pub to decompress!

We met up with N and A who had done the 4 hour ship excursion we had originally booked.

They said the on board guide really made it for them but they still had hassle getting back on ship and had to meet early morning in the theatre to join it.

 

We had scheduled video calls with USA friends thinking whilst in port would be able to get better reception-nope-still nothing in room but managed to find relatively quiet corner in lobby/shops area.

 

Back to the pub and memories of the lost 2v hours receeding with increased alcohol.

We were joined by K and S who had done Liberty and Ellis Island then sunbathed.

Unfortunately S had got sunburned so I headed back to room to get her some aftersun

 

4.30 was muster drill which we didn’t have to go through again but still announcements via tannoy so sat out on balcony.

5pm I nipped up to Pavillion pool on deck 12 to get a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy sailaway.

Sailaway was supposed to be 5pm but several passengers names kept being called to contact pursers office-by 5.25 it was down to 1 and we actually sailed away at 5.50.

 

We went down for our regular restaurant time of 6pm but I explained wanted to get some shots especially of passing under Verazzano bridge up on deck 12 so dinner slightly delayed

It really does look a close call!

 

Back in the Golden Lion the Watson Duo recognised us and thanked us for returning

Another full week to go!

[BigMac1953]

There IS a fast track at immigration for in-transit travellers, but you must ask for it as soon as you enter the hall. On our last round trip, we cleared in less than 15 minutes.

[fabnfortysomething]

1 minute ago, BigMac1953 said:

There IS a fast track at immigration for in-transit travellers, but you must ask for it as soon as you enter the hall. On our last round trip, we cleared in less than 15 minutes.

thanks

as you say you have to be in the know to ask for these things

[exlondoner]

You'd think it wouldn't be too difficult for Cunard to alert transit passengers to the fast track. Would it?

[Host Hattie]

Maybe by the time the in transit passengers staying "on board" are called, the terminal is supposed to be empty enough that there's no need for a separate fast track.

Seems an unpleasant experience and reminds me why we only did it once

[ballroom-cruisers]

5 hours ago, fabnfortysomething said:

Friday day 7

 

We awoke to the most wonderful view of New York when we pulled back the curtains

Governors island directly in front of us and beyond Manhattan island and the Hudson river

To the left Statue of Liberty with Staten Island ferries crossing

Leaning over balcony there’s Brooklyn Bridge to the right

Shall we just say it’s a lot more impressive sight than Southampton docks

I could have watched that view all day from the balcony

 

Unfortunately USA rules say the ship has to be cleared of all passengers to go through immigration in the terminal.Unlike in Europe where if you are on a back to back you can stay on board and enjoy an empty ship

 

Breakfast around 9 was very quiet as most passengers had either disembarked or got up early to enjoy a day in New York

We had visited several years earlier with our daughter and covered most of the sights .We didn’t feel we were missing anything especially as 6 walking issues makes it difficult to get around.

 

There was an announcement for people to stick to their scheduled disembarkation times as the gangways were becoming congested

We returned to the balcony and watched the skyline and river traffic till final call came for passengers to disembark .This was 10.10

 

6 had not used his walker /rollator in earnest as was able to manage with walking stick around ship but it really paid for itself now as has integral seat.

We got off ship having swiped our room cards but progress ground to  a halt for several minutes on gangway    

There were stairs and escalator to ground level in terminal and we directed to the lifts which were extremely slow

We then came to a full stop in a corridor ,most people were wearing face masks but very difficult to maintain social distancing

A member of staff identified those with wheelchairs and walking sticks and directed to front of immigration queue but it still took a long time

 

When it got to our time I went first and had retinal scan and fingertip id .The officer then asked me how long we were staying. When I replied we were in transit and getting straight back on board he didn’t even bother doing same with 6 and waved us through[shouldn’t there be a fast track for this?

So heading down another corridor we set foot outside and asked a staff member where to go next

She directed us 200 yards to right to re enter terminal building

 

There were several people in wheelchairs but no other seating-again walker with seat proved invaluable as we couldn’t get straight back on board

A lady staff member said she would announce when able to do so and she has a loud voice -she was right

11am she shouted for all in transit passengers to line up to get back into terminal

Great!

Except we had to go through security scanners and then directed to seats in the terminal where we sat for the next hour

 

12.10 comes the announcement that all in transit guests could now board-yippee

Hang on don’t these corridors look familiar and there are those really slow lifts with about 6 wheelchair bound people in line for them!

I folded the walker and walked up the stairs with it over my shoulder whilst 6 took the escalator to save time!

12.15 a security guy greeted us back on board and expressed surprise we were back 4 hours early!!!!

Can I just say that is 2 hours of our life we wont get back[and it felt longer]

Main subject of conversation amongst passengers resT of day was how torturous was this process even those who had chosen a ships excursion to pass the time

 

The go to place at this time was golden Lion pub to decompress!

We met up with N and A who had done the 4 hour ship excursion we had originally booked.

They said the on board guide really made it for them but they still had hassle getting back on ship and had to meet early morning in the theatre to join it.

 

We had scheduled video calls with USA friends thinking whilst in port would be able to get better reception-nope-still nothing in room but managed to find relatively quiet corner in lobby/shops area.

 

Back to the pub and memories of the lost 2v hours receeding with increased alcohol.

We were joined by K and S who had done Liberty and Ellis Island then sunbathed.

Unfortunately S had got sunburned so I headed back to room to get her some aftersun

 

4.30 was muster drill which we didn’t have to go through again but still announcements via tannoy so sat out on balcony.

5pm I nipped up to Pavillion pool on deck 12 to get a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy sailaway.

Sailaway was supposed to be 5pm but several passengers names kept being called to contact pursers office-by 5.25 it was down to 1 and we actually sailed away at 5.50.

 

We went down for our regular restaurant time of 6pm but I explained wanted to get some shots especially of passing under Verazzano bridge up on deck 12 so dinner slightly delayed

It really does look a close call!

 

Back in the Golden Lion the Watson Duo recognised us and thanked us for returning

Another full week to go!

 

We have been through the process of 'going through' US immigration on a voyage a few years ago on QM2, westward TA, NYC to Caribbean and back to NYC then TA eastbound to Southampton. We too did not want to get off in New York, but as you say the ship is required to be 'zeroed' so we endured the several hours of queuing to get through with face photo, fingerprints and the full security check despite never wanting to get off in the first place - however on the return we were not required to get off the ship, as the passengers on board had already all been 'cleared' on the outbound to Caribbean sector, including those who boarded in NYC.  However the process on first arrival in New York led to us deciding we would never again transit New York on a cruise.   Also some passengers at the time had bought walking sticks, and claimed to be in need of special treatment due to mobility issues, and hobbled looking suitably pained, as they were prioritised through immigration, as we stood for an hour and a half in the queue.  We heard them talking about it once we were back on the ship, as a mechanism for getting through faster.  Why on earth the requirement to zero the ship is there at all is difficult to understand - especially as everyone on board has already been through security in the UK at the start of the westbound TA - but that is life I suppose!

[LittleFish1976]

On 8/20/2022 at 1:27 AM, Host Hattie said:

I don't want to drag this off track into a Covid discussion but a 10 day incubation period seems long.

 

My recent experience was 48 hours from exposure to first symptoms so absolutely agree with you, Hattie.

 

[fabnfortysomething]

11 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

My recent experience was 48 hours from exposure to first symptoms so absolutely agree with you, Hattie.

 

 

the incubation period seems to vary so will never know when exposure actually occurred

good news is that on day 10 he has tested negative and I;ve remained so

[exlondoner]

I would be inclined to point the finger at NY  immigration facilities, which sound rather crowded.

[fabnfortysomething]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

I would be inclined to point the finger at NY  immigration facilities, which sound rather crowded.

and yet that was when we wore our masks religiously

[fabnfortysomething]

Saturday day 8

 

I am awoken by 6 who informs me I’d better get a move on if I want to get to 10am art class.

I go to Britannia restaurant and no one else is there.The clocks didn’t go forward last night.In factthey will change at 12 noon tomorrow and each day after that until we back to our own home time zone!

 

This was confirmed in the gift shop which had been restocked so I bought him a 3 pack of QM2 T shirts for $35 saving him having to wash some out.

I would have clipped him over the head with them if I’d found him [but perhaps not a good idea for a brain haemorrhage survivor]

 

I went back at the correct time for art class and met new teacher Amy and her sister Rita.

They were sailing to London for sightseeing and by offering her services as an art teacher got a cheap crossing.

She originates from New York but now lives in Thailand.She teaches art classes via zoom and I will definitely be keeping in touch as she is a wonderful teacher.

She broke everything down to simple shapes

Draw sketch with light hand and then apply watercolour.

Todays was vase of flowers and already so much better than previous week.

 

I found 6 resting up in the cabin-he still hasn’t realised about non time change!

 

I headed to spa for 12 noon and ladies pamper party.

This is a self administered Elemis facial with hopes you will book treatment later.

Pressure wasn’t great and I resisted massage offer but did splash out on half price sun glow powder[actually most of us did as gives sun kissed look]

 

I attended insights lecture on Audrey Hepburn-very interesting and sobering to realise she was only a year older than I am when she died[my cruise critic name is hopelessly out of date!]

 

I found 6 back in Carinthia lounge with N and A

They had got 32/40 in quiz and came second

However their singing along to one of the answers “Billy don’t be a hero” by Paper Lace went down very well as they were word perfect and quiz master asked them to carry on singing after the partial track ended-pity I missed that and no one recorded it!!!

 

Tonight was Red and Gold gala night and there were some lovely red or gold dresses on display.One gentleman even had a red Tuxedo.

However particularly in Golden Lion there were several well underdressed in shorts in t shirts

One man even asked bar waiter why so many women were wearing red dresses.

Okay pre cruise it can be hard to plough through info on which are gala nights but it is well publicised in the daily planner 

 

[david,Mississauga]

21 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Maybe by the time the in transit passengers staying "on board" are called, the terminal is supposed to be empty enough that there's no need for a separate fast track.

Seems an unpleasant experience and reminds me why we only did it once

 

That is what we were told a few years back. We were not on a transatlantic B2B but a Québec-NY-Southampton voyage - our favourite way to get to England.

 

As instructed, we waited on board until the last call about 10:20 and were surprised to see hundreds in the immigration queue. My wife cannot stand for a long period and uses a stick. A kind woman saw this and directed us to a shorter queue. Being Canadians, we did not have to have a photo or fingerprints taken.  After leaving the building we were allowed back in and after security we were shown to a designated waiting area along with about 200 people.  

[fabnfortysomething]

Sunday day 9

 

2.30am we were awoken by an announcement that there was a medical emergency and that the ship was altering course to turn back towards land to allow a helicopter evacuation-however no need to worry

I got straight back to sleep but talk next day was of many people who couldn’t and lay awake

I woke again at 8am to the familiar sound of the ships foghorn

 

Art class was painting birds

Amy showed how to start with simple egg shape in pencil and add features one by one-hey I was actually proud of how this one turned out once she explained rules of composition.

 

 Immigration procedure is different on the Eastbound crossing in that an immigration officer screens all passengers over several days in Britannia restaurant.

Leaving art class in different part of same restaurant I took stairs to avoid lines of people.

 

Even in second week the ship is a maze of corridors and I stumbled across the terrace bar and pool on deck 8

It was very pleasant weather and several people sunbathing. However I had so much to do never found time to join them!

 

12 noon and Captains address with an update on the evacuated passenger who was receiving care in a Canada hospital. Because we had to turn back slightly the ship was travelling along at a higher rate of knots to make up time which resulted in more swaying motion felt but not too bad.

 

The clocks going forward meant now 1pm-somehow this really seemed to impact on the afternoons activities.

I read out on balcony for a while until it was time for our allotted time of 2pm to present our passports to immigration officer in the restaurant.

 

The line was about 20 people deep and we wore our face masks to be on the safe side and 6 used his rollator so he was able to sit.

The officer checked passports and engaged in small talk to establish purpose of trip

How long have you been away ? he asked

There and back again I replied

I don’t think he got the Lord of the Rings reference.

 

We went to Chart room which was a serene environment but we could watch the line of people queuing=now stretching half way across ship to lobby.

 

3pm I went along to Hobby corner to discover a new group of ladies-all knitters or needlework

One lady had her husbands ashes that Captain was going to officiate at burial at sea later in week. They had been due to celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary on board in 2020 but of course that never happened.

He died before they could do this amended trip so she was doing trip by herself to do this last wish of his-very poignant.

Another lady was relocating back to UK after a divorce and was bringing her dog and cat with her .Unfortunately the dog hadn’t completed his worming treatment so was denied boarding.

She had to call her daughter to pick up the dog and was trying to work out how to get him transported back over.

The cat was in kennels area and she was allowed daily visits

This was her first cruise and she had brought along needlework as she thought she was going to be bored!!!!

 

4.30 I went along to fully booked planetarium and got in easily on stand by

Groundhog day with 6pm restaurant and evening in Golden Lion

Our quiz team had poorest showing yet with subject of movie themes!

[fabnfortysomething]

Monday day 10

 

Another fine sunny day

 

Art class at 10 was painting old fashioned luggage

Again Amy showed how to sketch simple 3 rectangles for composition and add details later-this worked out really well.

 

I found 6 in chart room on a zoom call to a stroke survivors fortnightly session.

Caused a few comments when he explained he was in the middle of the Ocean!

 

I found chefs galley which served burgers and hot dogs for lunch

Apart from buffet for quick meal the Carinthian lounge also served snacks

You certainly wont starve on this ship!

 

I checked my emails and found an interesting one

An “we know where you live” type threatening that if I didn’t pay £1000 in bitcoin within 48 hours video footage of me masturbating to an adult porn site would be circulated to all my contacts!!!

Perhaps if it hadn’t been sent to a 60 year old woman who has never done this it may have been threatening rather than entertaining!

 

At hobby corner I related this tale and we had a good laugh-it was suggested if I offered an extra £50 the blackmailer could send some extra dvds of this mythical event to send as Xmas gifts!

One lady related why you should never discuss politics or religion at a dinner table.

She was travelling solo and on shared table for breakfast.

A gentleman in his 80s pestered her wanting to discuss the political situation in her state  and when she said she avoided news channels told her she MUST watch this particular channel

She had to turn her back on him to get the message across.

 

Another evening as the ones before-predictable but fun.

 

[Host Hattie]

I'm impressed that the wifi was good enough for a Zoom call ....

[fabnfortysomething]

5 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I'm impressed that the wifi was good enough for a Zoom call ....

Yes it varied widely-nothing at all in stateroom

husband is retired IT guy so idetified wireless access points on ceilings of lounge areas

[Covepointcruiser]

Very sorry our immigration and customs process was such an inconvenience.    Last time I arrived at  Heathrow we were subjected to a 2 1/2 hour wait as U.S. citizens.   It was a nightmare but at least we sat on the floor.   It certainly was not pleasant especially after an all night flight.   NYC is very conscious of security and will remain so as long as there is any threat and no, you won’t know when the threat has been elevated.

[exlondoner]

5 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Very sorry our immigration and customs process was such an inconvenience.    Last time I arrived at  Heathrow we were subjected to a 2 1/2 hour wait as U.S. citizens.   It was a nightmare but at least we sat on the floor.   It certainly was not pleasant especially after an all night flight.   NYC is very conscious of security and will remain so as long as there is any threat and no, you won’t know when the threat has been elevated.

 

Why would allowing transit passengers to remain on the ship increase the threat?

[fabnfortysomething]

Tuesday day 11

 

As a joke I took photos of my paintings on facebook and asked for offers

One friend asked how much for the suitcase painting

Very flattering and I offered it to her as a gift.

I told Amy at art class and we exchanged details to keep in touch and to do some of her zoom classes once she gets home.

Todays class was a Victorian London street scene and with technique of wet on wet created slightly blurred effect.

 

Again with clocks going forward at 12 the afternoon seemed really short

2 pm I found 6 in Carinthian lounge listening to harpist

Now time for quiz and 2 gentleman asked if they could team up with us ,

This was a wipe out style whereby you get 100 pints for each correct answer to 12 questions

You can then gamble all or part of your score on getting the correct answer to next question.

We had 700 points so decided to gamble them all

The question was how many Olympic medals did swimmer Michael Phelps win

1 of our new friends guessed correctly at 28 so we doubled our score and won

Despite having joined in several quizzes you only get stickers if you are the winning team. So thanks to these 2 gentlemen we got our first and only ones.

 

At Hobby corner our Cat lady had been to several insight lectures and realised her thoughts of being bored had not occurred and would cruise again-in fact to collect her dog she may have to!

 

Trying to do something different to previous week I went to watch a vocalist in the Grand Theatre before returning to Golden Lion

Quiz time becoming more popular and difficult to find seats for our friends who joined us

 

After quiz many people left so we were able to chatter with of group of 6 for rest of night.

 

[Host Hattie]

I guess it's too late to ask now but how was the cat during the crossing? Was the owner happy with the kennels ?

[escrick]

14 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Very sorry our immigration and customs process was such an inconvenience.    Last time I arrived at  Heathrow we were subjected to a 2 1/2 hour wait as U.S. citizens.   It was a nightmare but at least we sat on the floor.   It certainly was not pleasant especially after an all night flight.   NYC is very conscious of security and will remain so as long as there is any threat and no, you won’t know when the threat has been elevated.

I am glad that you wrote about your experience.  At the beginning of this month, American friends of ours had to fly from the States, making a connecting flight to Germany at Heathrow.   First, after a very long flight there was no gate,  then one opened up, but the mechanics of said gate, were not working,  so they had to walk down and up multiple steps.  In order to make the connection, they had to change terminals and it took two hours to get through security again.  I am not kidding when I say that the plane took off with no luggage in the under belly.  BA pilots kindly helped passengers with carry on luggage.  Be careful when complaining about other countries.  There are decent people here, but . . .

 

[exlondoner]

35 minutes ago, escrick said:

I am glad that you wrote about your experience.  At the beginning of this month, American friends of ours had to fly from the States, making a connecting flight to Germany at Heathrow.   First, after a very long flight there was no gate,  then one opened up, but the mechanics of said gate, were not working,  so they had to walk down and up multiple steps.  In order to make the connection, they had to change terminals and it took two hours to get through security again.  I am not kidding when I say that the plane took off with no luggage in the under belly.  BA pilots kindly helped passengers with carry on luggage.  Be careful when complaining about other countries.  There are decent people here, but . . .

 

 

I think the number of countries, other than the US, that make extra hassle for themselves by making in transit passengers get off the ship is very very few. Singapore perhaps? Unfortunately, because of QM2, Cunard suffers especially.