Finding our way around the ship

Deck 1 near Purser's office

It’s now Day 4 of our cruise to the northern hemisphere and we are at last getting into the swing of things, starting to find our way around the ship, meet people and working out what we like doing and what we don’t.

On Wednesday afternoon we arrived at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay about an hour ahead of the designated time, but were able to check in immediately and then leave the ship again to take photos. The process was so much smoother than at airports – a Cunard ID card enables us to purchase anything on board without money exchanging hands, to quickly embark at ports and also allows us access to our “stateroom”. All cabins are called staterooms, so it’s nothing special.

Queen Victoria at Circular Quay 5 March 2014

Our room is on the inside corridor – no windows – but we are very happy with it. It’s a room with plenty of space and a great bathroom – just a shower, toilet and practical vanity unit with bench space. There is also a flip up seat attached to the shower wall – a good idea for many people. Cupboards and wardrobes are generous and there is also under bed space. In fact the room is much bigger than many motel rooms we’ve experienced.

So far the sea has been calm – like a millpond sometimes – and although we can hear the ship’s engines and feel a slight rocking, it is easy to get used to. The engines sound like an air-conditioning system does.

We usually request breakfast in our room, anytime from 7:00am to 9:30am. The coffee is dreadful, so after the first day we changed to tea. The variety of food is very good, but I’m having trouble working out which is soy milk and which is dairy milk – my sense of smell has never been good and nothing is labelled.

We’ve tried out the evening room service and that was OK too, with variation to the printed menu not a problem. In fact, nothing seems to be a problem for the crew; they are very well trained indeed.

The first two evenings were “informal” but even in the Lido bistro, men are still supposed to wear a jacket, something John did not bring since we had only one semi-large suitcase for all our clothes. Too much other equipment and medical consumerables to bring… But he got away with a long-sleeved shirt in the main restaurant, and we were seated as requested at a table for six, and met a nice couple from Yorkshire. There are many English aboard, Americans, Canadians, German and some French. Quite a lot of Asians too, but I suspect they are Australians or Americans. 90% of the passengers are seniors – probably because it’s school term everywhere, and Cunard – a more conservative and traditional company than say P & O or Princess Cruises.

Friday night was a “formal” night – John has decided to avoid them – so we dined in room, and John had been in bed all day anyway, resting up to avoid a skin problem. Tonight is also a formal night so we will try out the Lido Bistro instead – it serves meals 22 hours a day. We had breakfast and lunch up there today, watching the New Zealand coastline and meeting new people.

Deck 9 sundeck

Yesterday I was on deck by myself and met a very nice woman, Maxine, a retired teacher from Lincoln in the UK. We chatted for a couple of hours, took to each other, and this morning whilst cruising the Milford Sound, I introduced her to John. She and her partner had a nightmare of a start to their trip in Sydney – they opened their cabin door to find someone else’s possessions in there. They were double booked! Cunard was most embarrassed – something had gone seriously wrong – but since the ship is not fully booked, they were upgraded both for their room and their dining table.

At lunch today (Saturday) we introduced ourselves to a couple like us – a guy from Brisbane using a wheelchair and his retired physiotherapist wife. Fred and Jenny are also travelling to Southampton, but are old hands at cruising, unlike us. We will probably join them on some tours – Cunard has arranged wheelchair accessible vehicles for some tours in New Zealand and Honolulu. We won’t be doing tours at every port – can’t afford to.

On Saturday morning we cruised the Milford Sound for two hours - stunning scenery.  It was very overcast and later it rained.  Lots of low cloud.

John making the most of Milford Sound

                Here is a photo of the library on board.

Margaret making a book selection