This Morning, A Pirate Drill!

"Code Alpha Papi!  Code Alpha Papi!   for exercise, for exercise only"  announced the Commodore at 10 this am.  We received a letter advising of this drill a couple of days ago.   We are all now sitting or standing in the corridor outside each stateroom while the bridge pretends that we are being chased by a small boat of Somali pirates.    On the 23 January we exit the Red Sea and enter the Gulf of Aden,  where the bad guys operate.   The plan for the 23rd and 24th is to run at high speed through the area.    At night all the exterior decks and curtains on the windows will be closed, and lighting reduced to the minimum  required.by maritime law.   As no ship has ever been taken that is moving faster than 14 knots,  no one really thinks we have any thing to worry about, but in this day and age you don't really know, do you.   I can't imagine that any  pirate would want to mess with 3800 hostages (passenger and crew),  angry at missing dinner or their bridge game or what have you.   I've learned you don't mess with bridge players-- they are MEAN!     There's a story that the woman Bea who lived (yes lived) on the QE2 was banned from bridge for a week once for improper behavior and it about killed her.   I digress    The Commodore has announced his satisfaction  with the drill and that we may stand down.     I"m looking forward to the high speed part of it all,  I figure it will be a chance for the Commodore to put the pedal to the metal--the bean counters at Cunard be damned!    I do have a pirate outfit all lined up to wear , but I'm rethinking the wisdom of that!

Speaking of the Commodore, the reason he's Commodore and not Captain is that he's the Senior Captain of the fleet and that's the Commodore.   That's just how it is.   Never mind it's a fleet of two--soon to be three.   Queen Victoria and in the fall Queen Elizabeth are the two younger sisters of Queen Mary 2.  Not to be disparaging,  but they are not the equal of this great ship.   They are shall I say-- off the rack, more or less standard vista class cruisers tarted up a bit,  built at Fincantieri shipyard near Venice, Italy.   They resemble more floating apartment blocks, with a stubby bow, a much slower operating speed, less of a promenade deck and lower ceiling heights in the public spaces.   Cunard has dumbed itself down with those two.         Back to the Commodore.  His name is Bernard Warner and he's very nice and friendly.  He gives a very informative noontime announcement each day.   He has a great speaking voice,  if you want to hear him he narrates the virtual tour of QM2 at Cunard.com.   The cocktail party he gave last night was for  past passengers who had been promoted at Southampton from silver to gold in their rewards program.    Besides the champagne and shrimp I get two free hours of internet access.    Yippee!     At the party a couple came up to me and asked if I had been on QE2 with the older gentleman in the wonderful uniform--my dad of course.  I felt at the time folks would remember him.   The tie of his that I wore was a hit!

So tomorrow it's already the Suez Canal.  Like I said yesterday I've got a lot of catching up to do.   Since crossing the Bay of Biscay we've spent a day in Lisbon (driving rain), through the Strait  of Gibralter (saw the rock) past the islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca (weather's getting better) squeezed between the islands of Cypress and Sardinia (middle of the night) docked at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome since the days of Ceasar,  past the island of Stromboli (active volcano- -glowing and spitting and puffing a bit) through the Strait of Messina which separates the toe of Italy from Sicily, past spectacular snow covered Mt Etna and this morning past Crete.  It's beautiful out today, sunny and 65 at noon.   A sushi buffet for lunch!

A Few More Thoughts About Crossing the Atlantic

First off it's a blast!    Just the departure from New York alone makes it worthwhile.   Secondly, it's historic--Cunard has been making the run since 1840.  The fact there is a ship built in this century for the very purpose of crossing the Atlantic is in my mind nothing short of remarkable.    It took us six days to cross but in the heyday of liners it took four days--going slower now to save fuel.    The tank  on Queen Mary 2, by the way,  holds  1.4 million gallons of heavy diesel fuel and it takes all day to fill her up.   That powers four massive diesel generators, supplemented by two gas turbines that are fueled by a higher (and more expensive)  grade of marine gas oil.    This altogether produces 150,000 horsepower that is delivered to 4 Rolls Royce electric motors inside pods that are attached to the hull.   On each pod are four stainless steel propeller blades, each weighing 9,900 pounds.  Each pod weighs as much as a 747!     The ship carries eight spare blades ,  and a spare anchor,   all mounted on the forward area of deck 7.   They are cool to see,  and touch--over nine feet tall, very graceful and finely crafted.    QM2 is the first liner to be built with four propellers since the s/s France was built in 1962 (at the same shipyard, by the way--Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire, France, where also was built the great liner s/s Normandie.   She has a fine lineage!      A few more notes about the crossing:   we didn't see another ship the six days,  we passed 14 miles north of where the Titanic sank,  each day was 23 hours long-- the effect of which surprised me.  You wouldn't think you'd notice much,  but  each morning I woke up later til Thursday I woke at noon.   I couldn't believe it!    The days seemed to just fly by,  as they still do.    We are deep now in the Mediterranean and I've got a lot of catching up to do.   Today, January 17, is  my dad Morris' birthday.  He'd be 96.    We plied these very waters together just over two years ago on the Queen Elizabeth 2.  He liked to tell people on board that he was on his third Queen, as he had been transported during the war on the Queen Mary to England and the Queen Elizabeth home.   Well now I am privileged  to be on the fourth great Queen.   I brought his coolest tie along (the dark green one with martinis and geisha girls) and I'll wear it in his honor tonight to the Commodore's  cocktail  party and dinner.

The Sea is Making Herself Felt Today--Crossing the Bay of Biscay.

This is the huge area defined by the west coast of France and the north coast of Spain.   Here the might of the Atlantic Ocean gets trapped , if you will, causing swells, today in the 15 to 20 foot range.  The commodore in his noon announcement described them as confused, as in coming at the ship from all directions.   Deck 2 is the lowest passenger deck and it's great fun watching the wave action from there as the ship slices through the water.  You get a real feel of just how fast this ship goes.   Her top speed is 30 knots, which she rarely does, her average is usually in the 22 to 24 knot range, which is 25 to 28 mph or so.  No other ships built today go this fast,  or handle heavy seas as well.    In Southampton yesterday  around  700 people  disembarked,  including the gentlemen from Morocco.  Everyone at our dinner table had grown fond of them--they are missed.     Replacing them are a couple from Liverpool, who I think will settle in just fine.    A lot of people got on in Southampton, mainly British, but also quite a number of German and French.  I heard that 200 people missed the ship due to the bad weather in Britain, and that they will be boarded in Rome.  At whose expense I don't really know,  but I would guess that if you had made your flight arrangements through Cunard they cover it all,  otherwise you're on your own.    It would be really awful to miss the boat!   It's one of the reasons I went to NYC three days early.

Southampton, Home Port of Queen Mary 2

We docked around 5 am, and by the time I got up at 8 the sun was still not!   Very grim and grey out there.   They say of England, 9 months of winter and 3 months of bad weather!    I bundled up and caught the shuttle that Cunard provides into the center of town.   The city was bombed during the war so there's a lot of newer buildings-- what does remain that is cool are the original walls and gates of the city, dating from the middle ages.  After wandering around town, and after doing the computer thing I ended up near the docks.   I saw a place called the Bosun's Locker with a sign out front advertising room's from 30 pounds.   I thought well if I was ever to depart from here again it would be perhaps a good place to stay, so I went in.   It turned out to be memorable.   I had cashed a 20 dollar bill into pounds earlier, and had spent all but 2 pounds of it on 8 AA batteries and 2 donuts--each donut was $2.50 (which might have given my dad a heart attack),   England is expensive!   Turns out the Bosun's Locker is a pub with rooms above.  There was a fire in the fireplace and half a dozen locals enjoying the afternoon, so I asked if 2 pounds bought a beer and the barkeep said it would buy half one.   Next to me was an older gent who said,  "i'll buy the lad a beer".    Wow!     I of course started to chat him up--told him I was in port for the day.   Well, turns out he had been a waiter on the Queen Mary in the 50's and 60's,  and I was all over him with questions.   The Queen Mary is my favorite place to visit in Southern California (with the exception, of coarse,  my brothers and sisters homes , of coarse).   Robbie was his name,  he had worked all three dining rooms, tourist, cabin and first.  Well we talked and talked.  He bought me another beer and then another bloke did.    It was endearing!     I had my laptop so I showed him movies that I've taken on board in the beautiful dining room on QM2 and in the pub onboard and elsewhere.  He was fascinated!   Thank goodness I had a twenty dollar bill still on me and gave it to the barkeep to buy drinks the next day.  Another afternoon I will never forget!   It was a short walk to the pier, where a band played and fireworks were set off as we headed out into the night.

Sunday Afternoon in the Library

I'm parked in my favorite forward facing spot here in the library, and we are just now coming into rain.  The sky has been a leaden grey all day and the wind's been brisk across the bow.   This afternoon we will see the lighthouse that marks the end of the transatlantic portion of the voyage and we enter the English Channel.    In just the few minutes it's taken me to type this the rain has picked up quite a bit.    Lunch was really good today.    I picked the Italian buffet for the first time  Lamb chops in a really nice sauce with vege stuffed tomatoes and roasted potatoes and a bit of salad--mmm!     The buffets are just inside of the promenade deck 7 ,which is one deck up from my cabin.     Never far from lunch!     There are 4 different ones to choose from:  Lotus features Asian dishes,  I've eaten there twice--nice and spicy,   the Carvery serves English style roasts and chops etc,  the Chef's Galley is sandwiches during lunch but at night is a chef's demonstration venue--reservations required,  and then there's La Piazza where I had Lambchops today   The seating areas more or less flow into each other, the best spots are in the little glassed in bays that jut out onto the prom deck.   Nice and sunny if you pick one on the starboard side ( well if you're heading east and the sun is out!).     Twice across the Atlantic they've put something special out for lunch-- a sushi buffet one day and a chocolate extravaganza another.     The Britannia Restaurant is open for lunch as well and is of course very nice,, been there thrice!    The Golden Lion Pub serves fish and chips and other pub fare for lunch as well,  I ate there yesterday-- a jazz band playing along.       There is live music at various times all over the ship.  Never a dull moment!

Mercury and Zeus Watch Over the Entry to the Planetarium

Pretty Eh?

Plowing Through the Swells

She Carries Spare Propeller Blades

It's a Sixth of a Mile to the Back Door!

So That's Enough of NYC!

I'm sitting in a Krispy Kreme in Southampton on a very chilly grey day.  My dad would be proud --he loved donuts.    I'm taking advantage of the free internet to catch up posting photos,  I hope all the postings out of sequence don't confuse things too much!    Southampton is a busy small city, there's a maritime museum with Titanic related exhibits so I'll head there after I post a few items, and then it's back on the ship by 5 pm and we sail at 6 for Lisbon.    Our course across the Atlantic took us 14 miles north of the spot where Titanic sank.    We didn't see a single ship the six days it took.     The sea was beautiful, what surprised me was how different it appeared each day   Here come some photos!

Cafe Un Deux Trois, Times Square, I Used To Tend Bar Here!

The Great Diego Rivera Ceiling Mural at 30 Rockefeller Center

A Holiday Window at Bergdorf Goodman

Here's Something New in New York!

Polka dot traffic free spots and bike lanes everywhere--go Mr Bloomberg!