N and N's New Adventure: Day 64 Friday, July 27

Day 64. Friday, July 27, 2012

Today is a big day----a change in transportation and lifestyles for a week. We were up at 7:00 AM, sleeping in at the Ibis was remarkably easy. We went down to breakfast in the hotel. A cheaper breakfast was available at McDonald's, but to preserve our British money for the taxi, we ate at the hotel and charged it to the room. We lay around for a bit and completed the repacking and labeling of the luggage for the next part of the journey home. Around 11:30 we headed downstairs where our cab showed up quite soon.

The young and very nice private hire car driver took us to Gate 4 and the Queen Elizabeth dock where the Queen Mary 2 was moored. We immediately got rid of the heaviest bags and loved to the line for boarding. Our line was the longest and moved very slowly as the priority passengers kept going before our line. It was very hot in the QE2 reception/check-in area with the wonderful cordoned lines that kept the passengers in line.

Eventually our turn came, and we were processed into "passengerhood." That means the passports were verified, the credit card number was handed over, and we had our pictures taken for our on-board identity cards. From this point on all we need is that card. We passed through security which was much simpler than the airport. However, one of my bags had to be opened and the computer and keyboard removed and those items and the bag had to be sent through x-ray again. We were soon headed up the gangway. We were stopped for the official boarding picture----a picture of 2 very warm, sweaty and heavily burdened travelers. We then were able to proceed to board with a minor stop by a security person to check our cars. We finally reached the ship where our cards were scanned, and we were given the ok to step onto the ship.

When we reached our cabin which is two doors down from the one we had on the way over, we were pleased to see that all of our bags had preceded us and were waiting at the door to our cabin. We unpacked and stowed our gear. We put all the formal clothes on hangars and other stuff in the drawers and placed the bags under the bed and out of sight and mind.

We went up to deck 7 to get a bit of lunch and to walk about, getting a ship's view of Southampton harbor. We were scheduled to leave at 4:00. We checked out the four story garages of new autos that were brought to the docks on trains. They were driven off the train and to the storage ramps to await shipment on ships to other places. There was one garage of mini Coopers, one of Land Rovers, and one of Jaguars. We called Pete and Jess to say good-bye. They were at the laundrette, and Jess had just been reprimanded by one of the laundry commandos for not starting her dryer soon enough. We watched a cargo ship leave, and it really appeared that it was going to hit the rear of the QM2. Obviously it didn't, but the channel is pretty tight where the QM2 was docked. The captain came on and explained that they were testing the lifeboats...a requirement of the maritime laws....and we could not leave until it was finished. He told us we would have to wait for the Queen Elizabeth to sail out of the harbor and some other harbor traffic. In other words, we were tardy, lost our place in line, and would have to go to the end of the line. It was rather neat watching the Queen Elizabeth sailing toward us. We went to our safety---muster station for life jacket drill. We were there on time....the drill was not. It was 45 minutes behind schedule. As always it was hilarious watching people not follow the directions.

It was soon time for dinner---only elegant casual this evening. Our table companions are a couple from Cambridge, an American woman, and an English woman who lives in Florida. We seemed to get on well although there are some pretty gross differences in sailing experience and the wealth to do it.

After dinner we went to the theater and watched the introductory production. it was fun as usual, featuring the Cunard singers and dancers.....a very talented bunch indeed. From the theater we went to the planetarium / lecture hall where we were showing the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in London. The lecture hall was full of people. The ceremony was great especially on the huge movie style screen. However, the signal was lost occasionally due to heavy weather over London. We especially enjoyed the forging of the Olympic rings and the humorous parts of the Queen and Mr. Bond and Mr. Bean. We stayed until the parade of athletes was complete, and they showed the Queen nodding off.....we are betting someone loses his/her job over that one. We headed back to our room after midnight. It was a grand and glorious day.

Steps: 5149

loading luggage onto Queen Mary 2