Notes from Queen Mary 2 to the Med (& back)

[Victoria2]

24 minutes ago, Mr H. H said:

She is concentrating on correcting and marking my spelling and grammar, looking forward to my reward when I manage to achieve 10/10.

I don’t dare ask!!!😁

[DaisyUK]

Here we are on day 4, and still trying to work out the layout of this ship! After breakfast, we armed ourselves with the ship layout and set off exploring. Bumped into several people who asked 'do you know if 'xyz' is this way?'. One evening we left the show a little early, tried to walk back to our room and found ourselves back at the theatre! Very confusing.

Tonight (thanks to advice from another poster - Victoria2 I think - we are having Peking duck. Fingers crossed it is good. 

[MrsPeel55]

@Host Hattie @Mr H. H please, please, pretty pretty please? come to our cruise in September?

We would NEVER blank someone like you!!!!!! (I mean, we assume Mr H H has to be as great as Hattie even though we have not read about you till now) we love food, but we love people almost as much, have mastered the art of conversation over the best food in the world..... and having dinner on a Cunard trip with you would be amazing!!!!!! ❤️

 

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, tony s said:

We are going in October. Having been to Barcelona recommend the food hall at El Cote Ingles. Could give Harrods competition in the prepared food category and more reasonable 

The food court in El Corte Ingles at the top of Ramblas is very good but gets very busy and can be difficult getting a seat.

Edited June 13, 2023 by majortom10

[Mr H. H]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Well, that is exciting. I always wondered if he actually existed. His saintly behaviour over Covid on your last cruise made me wonder if he was real. 🙂🙂

I'm the one sitting on the table. 

 

[exlondoner]

I don’t think so. I said you might be saintly, not that you are adorable, as the bear is. Sorry.

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

I don’t think so. I said you might be saintly, not that you are adorable, as the bear is. Sorry.

and feet on the table too. T'would make  elbows positively good mannered!

[Host Hattie]

He's definitely more adorable than saintly 😂.

 

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

He's definitely more adorable than saintly 😂.

 

Well, isn't that a piece of good luck.

[Host Hattie]

We ordered room service breakfast for the latest time available 9.30-10.00 and ate on the balcony. It was a beautiful morning so we stayed out there until going to the 12.15 lecture on Supersonic Flight.

It was very enjoyable although I was in tears by the end.  We found a table in a busy Carinthia Lounge and had a couple of light plates and desserts.

 

[Host Hattie]

3 hours ago, MrsPeel55 said:

@Host Hattie @Mr H. H please, please, pretty pretty please? come to our cruise in September?

We would NEVER blank someone like you!!!!!! (I mean, we assume Mr H H has to be as great as Hattie even though we have not read about you till now) we love food, but we love people almost as much, have mastered the art of conversation over the best food in the world..... and having dinner on a Cunard trip with you would be amazing!!!!!! ❤️

 

Thanks for the thought but we have other plans for September!

[techteach]

The Cruise Critic roll book. Still no sign of it? Is it time to replace it and start a new one? What think you @Host Hattie? Remember, I’ve never seen it…just thinking about all of the people in this thread who would have signed it, and would sign it in the future if it existed. HH I hope you and Mr. HH are having as much fun as we are following your adventures.

[D&N]

9 hours ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

Quick answer about dance hosts on this voyage. There is a couple who are official dance hosts, and they do indeed have badges, and have been dancing with anyone who needs a partner. Dancing has been fabulous and the Orchestra are superb musicians in the Queens Room, playing great music for dancing, including a wonderful Big Band night last night.

 

It's a glorious pleasant day today with lots of people relaxng on deck as we sail towards Barcelona. Great on the blog and pics, HH.

And if you come across 'Habit To' Band, perhaps you could comment on how much of their stuff is danceable?

 

I looked them up on YouTube. They have some original stuff that's quite heavy. I can pick out a beat from much of it that we could dance to. They'd probably be mortified at the thought of folk doing foxtrot or quick step to it! 😀  But they do covers as well and have demo videos to get cruise and hotel work.

[Host Hattie]

We went back to our balcony and then caught up with the morning lectures on the TV. The Navy Officer did a Q&A with Amanda Reid, she asked the questions, he avoided giving a straight answer to most of them ! We got to the Commodore Club early enough to get the last seat with a view. The String Quartet were playing and I had enough time for a QE2 and a Mary Pickford. No canapés, just crisps, nuts and olives.

The table next to us was empty, I enjoyed my Rainbow Trout main course but Mr HH wasn't that impressed with his gammon. 

We went to the show, plenty of waiters in the theatre.

 

[Host Hattie]

Our nearest lifeboat went on a little outing this morning which gave me a brief view of Sagrada Familia 

[exlondoner]

It’s nice for the little lifeboats to have a runaround - preferably without passengers.

[Host Hattie]

We had room service breakfast again and headed out for our 11.00 excursion to Sitges. All excursions meet at the exit of the terminal now. Our coach was less than half full and we left a little early. I tried to take a picture of the back of the ship from the coach.

We pulled up at the Coach stop in the town and followed our guide to a meeting point on the promenade. There was a bit of grumbling about the walk but I think it was pretty much as advertised. 

We paid for loungers at the nearest point of the beach and had a very pleasant few hours. We had lounger service of food and drinks and I braved the sea. It was a little refreshing but very gently sloping and easy to get in and out. We set off back towards the coach a bit earlier than the official time to give me time to rest on a couple of the benches on the way uphill to the coach park. 

There was some slow traffic on the way back but we were back onboard in time for 5.30.

 

[Host Hattie]

[Host Hattie]

The Captain has promised us some windy weather tonight, so far it's been very calm.

We left a bit late waiting for a ferry to arrive. It's not the most scenic sailaway but the planes roaring overhead on their approach to the airport add some excitement!

 

[ballroom-cruisers]

And in Marseille today a group of fire fighting aircrrft flew past the neighbouring ship presumably to fill up with water for a fire fighting exercise.

[Altrincham Charter]

First time I've been able to log-on to the forum as I've not been on the Internet often this last week. 

 

I am in board and having a fab time. All ports are new destinations for me, except Cadiz. I was blown away by Barcelona yesterday. I did an open-top hop-on bus, and was on it for several hours. I will definitely be back to visit Barcelona. 

 

I have ventured to G32 most nights as there's always seats available and there's been a band on too. 

 

I had a fabulous view last night port-side from my cabin of the sunset a couple of hours after leaving Barcelona. The Captain's forecast last night of the mistral wind was spot-on as there was some movement in the early hours.  

 

Just had a fab morning in Marseille on the little train. 

 

Best wishes to you all, 

 

Linda. 

[Altrincham Charter]

[Altrincham Charter]

Enroute to Barcelona on Tuesday. 

[D&N]

7 hours ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

And in Marseille today a group of fire fighting aircrrft flew past the neighbouring ship presumably to fill up with water for a fire fighting exercise.

They train in our bay quite frequently.

 

[Host Hattie]

Barcelona Part 2

We enjoyed sailaway on our balcony and went straight to dinner. There was a table of 4 next to us who were more sociable than recent occupants of that table. 

My lamb main course was a bit tough and fatty but Mr HH enjoyed his so I was probably just unlucky. We went to the Golden Lion to listen to the duo before the show started but ended up staying there.