Greetings everyone. I'm sat on our balcony in beautiful Bar Harbour. The temperatures are enough to warrant a nice thick QM2 dressing gown but the sun is warming my feet just nicely. If you are coming on this cruise I would highly recommend thin jumpers/cardigans for the mornings and evenings as it does tend to get a tad cool, but, it's a lovely cool, low humidity, sun beaming out of the sky every morning to wake us and it gets warm enough during the day to warrant a visit to the deck to sit, read, chat, drink coffee or whatever the mood takes you. The weather typically reminds me of a beautiful English autumn day.
The seas have been so calm, the hardened sea mates out there would be bitterly dissapointed. Even whilst travelling the atlantic the seas have been so smooth sometimes I would have to look out of the window just to ensure we really are moving. We have not had one choppy day - fo r which I am truly grateful (thank you god) )
The tenders are now down ready to take my ship mates to Bar Harbour, it's only a short trip to shore as we are quite close. What a beautiful place it looks too. So green and surrounded by forrests of trees but beautiful houses interspersed between. I'm looking at a gorgeous house that is on the shore surrounded by trees and thinking wouldn't I love to live there and have the QM2 parked at the front of my garden.
Last night you may recall we had room service with full on butler attendance. The steak was divine and melted in my mouth and was just so good - there was just too much but it was a crying shame to leave the meat on the plate. So hubby (crying at the thought of the leftover meat being taken away) promptly sliced it up, put a couple of rolls aside and is having this for breakfast!!!! (yup, we're classy us Cornells) ) Despite protestations that I would not have a birthday cake with singalong, when pudding arrived (apple strudle to die for with brandy custard and vanilla ice-cream) along with arrived our butler and his assistant singing Happy Birthday and a rather large chocolate mousse cake with Happy Birthday written on the plate and a candle in the middle, thank god they didn't attempt to put the number of candles on equivalent to my advancing years - the cake would have melted and been a soggy mess.
I note on another board that there have been a few minor complaints regarding food in the QG. Well here are my thoughts. Our table is right next to the serving station where the waiters collate. It is very very rushed and you can tell they're run off their feet. A few times we have walked in and have had to wait for a while before we received attention (despite being so close to the waiters service station). QG seems to be busier and more hurried than the PG which we were in at Christmas, the waiters less attentive but I put this down to [ perhaps ] the higher demands of being in QG. In PG our waiters couldn't do enough for us, rolls were presented often and our likes and dislikes noted from day one. In QG there doesn't seem to be the detailed attention we received in PG. Perhaps my expectations are too high? Later on I will be comparing QG with PG and giving my pro's and con's for each.
Today we are going to shower and take a walk around the ship and most probably sit on the deck and read. We plan to hit Bar Harbour later on today (around mid-day). I understand that Bar Harbour is quite small, we have no trips planned, we just want to walk around and browse the shops and soak up the atmosphere so we plan to leave around mid-day and come back later in the day closer to sail away. Tonight is formal night - we have an invitation to the Queens room for cocktails (for gold + members) plus another invitation to cocktails on Wednesday night. Not sure what the Wednesday night drinks are about - may be a grills passengers drinks?
Oh, and I did get my name mentioned during the morning TV round up with Ray (the ships entertainment director). Quite amusing to hear him pronounce my name - I mean how hard can it be to say Penelope ? well after a few attempts he finally managed it and then onto the surname which was also a struggle - Cornell?! still, it brought a big smile to my face. Overall I had a fantastic birthday, one I won't forget in a hurry. Big shout out to my husband who was fantastic, followed me around Boston as I hit the ships and went on a shopping spree - it was a rare privilege for me as he didn't moan once (he hates shopping) and in addition, carried all my bags - my own little birthday butler :O) It really was a fantastic day. For those of you that have ever been to Bermuda will know that shops are not exactly known for their selection (you are catering to a crowd of 62'000 people who do prefer to shop abroad so choice is minimal) so to hit the shops in Boston was a rare treat and I maxed it out to the full visiting some of my favourite shops.
Well that's me signing off again and am going to enjoy the beautiful day that lies ahead. Oh, and hubby is over the moon, the internet is now working so he can catch up with his cricket scores, the news that Wayne Rooney has been batting away from home and our obsession with the miners that are stuck down that dark hole in Chile, it is heart warming to know they are alive and well but I'm hoping that their confinement won't be for too much longer (our butler is from Chile and we talk about it often)
** note, Butler goes up more and more in our estimation. He really is the best. So so glad we managed to get over the hump of the first day.
All plans to leave for Bar Harbour later on in the day went out of the window when we realized it was too gorgeous a day just to stay on the ship and rather than leave late and get back late as we had originally intended we set off for the tender at 10 a.m. and hoped to get back early to watch a film or sit on the deck and read – but that didn’t happen.
Firstly – yeehah, I went to the gym – I actually went and was so glad I did, it helped shake off that stuffed up feeling you get when you do nothing for a while. One slightly amusing incident while in the gym, I was doing some weights and a guy came in – obviously he had just been for a run around deck 7 and had come in the gym to warm down. He was wearing a rather short pair of shorts (running shorts – nothing offensive about that) but they were quite baggy as well and I don’t think he was wearing anything underneath!!! He proceeded to stretch his legs by touching his toes and in the process (how do I phrase this so as not to upset anyone?) well…………… when he bent over and touched his toes everything, I mean everything just kinda fell outta his shorts. I had to look a few times to make sure I really did see what I was seeing, I mean, it wasn’t hard to miss. Anyway, after that, I skipped breakfast and went back and had a shower.
We took the tender to Bar Harbour and I’m so glad we left early, I loved the place, so quaint, lots of lovely little shops (and lots of tourists – both locals and QM2 passengers) the place was very busy, which I like to see as it supports the town during the very cold winters when there are no tourists.
Prior to this holiday we had planned on getting a bi-plane booked up, but with the omnipresent Hurricane Earl looming over us we decided it might not be such a good idea. But when we turned up at the port there was the advertisement for bi-planes so we decided to go for it. We had a crazy taxi driver called Mo who talked non-stop, she was a real character and as we were driving along stopped along the way to squash the spider on her windscreen. We shared the taxi with two lovely young girls from South Africa and Liverpool who both work on the ship, had a lovely chat with them along the way as they too were going up in a bi-plane. We had a bright yellow bi-plane, the driver [ pilot ] was brilliant and took us all over Bar-Harbour and we flew over the ship a few times and I think I may have managed to get some cracking pictures of the QM2 from the air. Hubby’s knuckles were white from gripping the side of the plane (although what good that would do him if we did crash I don’t know) The flight was awesome, the pilot took us a few times over the QM2 and all around the islands of Bar-Harbour, it truly is a beautiful place and if you can see it from the air, I would highly recommend it. Being a bi-plane we weren’t enclosed in glass and I was truly grateful that I didn’t bother doing anything with my hair before departing. A deep conditioning hair treatment is on the cards for my shower tonight.
We had Mo pick us up and take us back to the main town – during the ride, the young girl next to me said “don’t move, stay very still……………….” As I turned [ very slowly ] there crawling up the back of my seat was a huge big black bug thing – not a spider, more like a giant blooming beatle – very black and very ominous looking. Fortunately, being an ex squaddie and always aware that the enemy may be lurking round the corner I only let out a little squeal and jumped forward in my seat, almost hugging Mo in the front seat, in fact I’m sure she got just as much of a fright as I did as I nearly ended up in the drivers seat with her! Mo stopped the taxi and was determined to help rid us of the [not so little] critter but I being brave decided that onward and upward, we must proceed back to town, but I did sit with my back to the driver to keep an eye on the seat in case it popped out again to see what all the fuss was about
We said au revoir to the two girls and proceeded to browse around town, there are a lot of touristy shops but nice touristy shops, with lots of pubs, eateries and ice-cream parlours. I opted for a ‘medium’ size ice-cream (one up from the kiddie portion) and was glad I didn’t opt for the larger size, it was blooming huge and of course I spilled some down my shirt along with the coffee stain from the morning. (a really classy look)
We stopped at one store and brought a couple of really nice pictures of Bar Harbour boats, very colourful and all painted by the shop owner’s husband. We love to buy pictures wherever we go if we find something nice to remind us of our travel to that particular part of the world, luggage allowance permitting of course.
The weather truly has been gorgeous today, it’s so refreshing not to have high humidity and high temperatures, the shone has shone all day and not a cloud in the sky and the sea remains as calm as can be. We set sail tonight at 5.30 off to our next port of call – Halifax, where we are meeting a couple of friends that used to be in Bermuda with us. It will be great to catch up and hear how they are getting on and of course they would be the perfect tour guides for us.
Tonight is formal night. I noticed the other night at the B&W ball that formal really does encompass all dress codes. I think the Christmas cruise was definitely more ‘showy’ and ‘dressy’. There are more people in suit and ties this time around, but still a high percentage of people wearing tux’s. The women too are a very mixed bag, both long and cocktail length/short dresses abound and those who don’t enjoy formal, walking around and eating in the Kings court in a very varied style of dressing from shorts, to tracksuits. So to all of you that don’t enjoy the formality of getting dolled up, there is the Kings Court or room service available and you won’t feel at all uncomfortable.
Well that’s it for another day, I must admit I enjoy getting on the PC and writing up the days events, a diary without the writer’s cramp! So I’m off to my bed to read a book [as my father in law will tell you – an excuse for 40 winks (nap)] and then changed for tonight’s formalities.
Happy Labor day everyone and I hope that it was as good for you as it was for us. Another memorable day.
The seas have been so calm, the hardened sea mates out there would be bitterly dissapointed. Even whilst travelling the atlantic the seas have been so smooth sometimes I would have to look out of the window just to ensure we really are moving. We have not had one choppy day - fo r which I am truly grateful (thank you god) )
The tenders are now down ready to take my ship mates to Bar Harbour, it's only a short trip to shore as we are quite close. What a beautiful place it looks too. So green and surrounded by forrests of trees but beautiful houses interspersed between. I'm looking at a gorgeous house that is on the shore surrounded by trees and thinking wouldn't I love to live there and have the QM2 parked at the front of my garden.
Last night you may recall we had room service with full on butler attendance. The steak was divine and melted in my mouth and was just so good - there was just too much but it was a crying shame to leave the meat on the plate. So hubby (crying at the thought of the leftover meat being taken away) promptly sliced it up, put a couple of rolls aside and is having this for breakfast!!!! (yup, we're classy us Cornells) ) Despite protestations that I would not have a birthday cake with singalong, when pudding arrived (apple strudle to die for with brandy custard and vanilla ice-cream) along with arrived our butler and his assistant singing Happy Birthday and a rather large chocolate mousse cake with Happy Birthday written on the plate and a candle in the middle, thank god they didn't attempt to put the number of candles on equivalent to my advancing years - the cake would have melted and been a soggy mess.
I note on another board that there have been a few minor complaints regarding food in the QG. Well here are my thoughts. Our table is right next to the serving station where the waiters collate. It is very very rushed and you can tell they're run off their feet. A few times we have walked in and have had to wait for a while before we received attention (despite being so close to the waiters service station). QG seems to be busier and more hurried than the PG which we were in at Christmas, the waiters less attentive but I put this down to [ perhaps ] the higher demands of being in QG. In PG our waiters couldn't do enough for us, rolls were presented often and our likes and dislikes noted from day one. In QG there doesn't seem to be the detailed attention we received in PG. Perhaps my expectations are too high? Later on I will be comparing QG with PG and giving my pro's and con's for each.
Today we are going to shower and take a walk around the ship and most probably sit on the deck and read. We plan to hit Bar Harbour later on today (around mid-day). I understand that Bar Harbour is quite small, we have no trips planned, we just want to walk around and browse the shops and soak up the atmosphere so we plan to leave around mid-day and come back later in the day closer to sail away. Tonight is formal night - we have an invitation to the Queens room for cocktails (for gold + members) plus another invitation to cocktails on Wednesday night. Not sure what the Wednesday night drinks are about - may be a grills passengers drinks?
Oh, and I did get my name mentioned during the morning TV round up with Ray (the ships entertainment director). Quite amusing to hear him pronounce my name - I mean how hard can it be to say Penelope ? well after a few attempts he finally managed it and then onto the surname which was also a struggle - Cornell?! still, it brought a big smile to my face. Overall I had a fantastic birthday, one I won't forget in a hurry. Big shout out to my husband who was fantastic, followed me around Boston as I hit the ships and went on a shopping spree - it was a rare privilege for me as he didn't moan once (he hates shopping) and in addition, carried all my bags - my own little birthday butler :O) It really was a fantastic day. For those of you that have ever been to Bermuda will know that shops are not exactly known for their selection (you are catering to a crowd of 62'000 people who do prefer to shop abroad so choice is minimal) so to hit the shops in Boston was a rare treat and I maxed it out to the full visiting some of my favourite shops.
Well that's me signing off again and am going to enjoy the beautiful day that lies ahead. Oh, and hubby is over the moon, the internet is now working so he can catch up with his cricket scores, the news that Wayne Rooney has been batting away from home and our obsession with the miners that are stuck down that dark hole in Chile, it is heart warming to know they are alive and well but I'm hoping that their confinement won't be for too much longer (our butler is from Chile and we talk about it often)
** note, Butler goes up more and more in our estimation. He really is the best. So so glad we managed to get over the hump of the first day.
All plans to leave for Bar Harbour later on in the day went out of the window when we realized it was too gorgeous a day just to stay on the ship and rather than leave late and get back late as we had originally intended we set off for the tender at 10 a.m. and hoped to get back early to watch a film or sit on the deck and read – but that didn’t happen.
Firstly – yeehah, I went to the gym – I actually went and was so glad I did, it helped shake off that stuffed up feeling you get when you do nothing for a while. One slightly amusing incident while in the gym, I was doing some weights and a guy came in – obviously he had just been for a run around deck 7 and had come in the gym to warm down. He was wearing a rather short pair of shorts (running shorts – nothing offensive about that) but they were quite baggy as well and I don’t think he was wearing anything underneath!!! He proceeded to stretch his legs by touching his toes and in the process (how do I phrase this so as not to upset anyone?) well…………… when he bent over and touched his toes everything, I mean everything just kinda fell outta his shorts. I had to look a few times to make sure I really did see what I was seeing, I mean, it wasn’t hard to miss. Anyway, after that, I skipped breakfast and went back and had a shower.
We took the tender to Bar Harbour and I’m so glad we left early, I loved the place, so quaint, lots of lovely little shops (and lots of tourists – both locals and QM2 passengers) the place was very busy, which I like to see as it supports the town during the very cold winters when there are no tourists.
Prior to this holiday we had planned on getting a bi-plane booked up, but with the omnipresent Hurricane Earl looming over us we decided it might not be such a good idea. But when we turned up at the port there was the advertisement for bi-planes so we decided to go for it. We had a crazy taxi driver called Mo who talked non-stop, she was a real character and as we were driving along stopped along the way to squash the spider on her windscreen. We shared the taxi with two lovely young girls from South Africa and Liverpool who both work on the ship, had a lovely chat with them along the way as they too were going up in a bi-plane. We had a bright yellow bi-plane, the driver [ pilot ] was brilliant and took us all over Bar-Harbour and we flew over the ship a few times and I think I may have managed to get some cracking pictures of the QM2 from the air. Hubby’s knuckles were white from gripping the side of the plane (although what good that would do him if we did crash I don’t know) The flight was awesome, the pilot took us a few times over the QM2 and all around the islands of Bar-Harbour, it truly is a beautiful place and if you can see it from the air, I would highly recommend it. Being a bi-plane we weren’t enclosed in glass and I was truly grateful that I didn’t bother doing anything with my hair before departing. A deep conditioning hair treatment is on the cards for my shower tonight.
We had Mo pick us up and take us back to the main town – during the ride, the young girl next to me said “don’t move, stay very still……………….” As I turned [ very slowly ] there crawling up the back of my seat was a huge big black bug thing – not a spider, more like a giant blooming beatle – very black and very ominous looking. Fortunately, being an ex squaddie and always aware that the enemy may be lurking round the corner I only let out a little squeal and jumped forward in my seat, almost hugging Mo in the front seat, in fact I’m sure she got just as much of a fright as I did as I nearly ended up in the drivers seat with her! Mo stopped the taxi and was determined to help rid us of the [not so little] critter but I being brave decided that onward and upward, we must proceed back to town, but I did sit with my back to the driver to keep an eye on the seat in case it popped out again to see what all the fuss was about
We said au revoir to the two girls and proceeded to browse around town, there are a lot of touristy shops but nice touristy shops, with lots of pubs, eateries and ice-cream parlours. I opted for a ‘medium’ size ice-cream (one up from the kiddie portion) and was glad I didn’t opt for the larger size, it was blooming huge and of course I spilled some down my shirt along with the coffee stain from the morning. (a really classy look)
We stopped at one store and brought a couple of really nice pictures of Bar Harbour boats, very colourful and all painted by the shop owner’s husband. We love to buy pictures wherever we go if we find something nice to remind us of our travel to that particular part of the world, luggage allowance permitting of course.
The weather truly has been gorgeous today, it’s so refreshing not to have high humidity and high temperatures, the shone has shone all day and not a cloud in the sky and the sea remains as calm as can be. We set sail tonight at 5.30 off to our next port of call – Halifax, where we are meeting a couple of friends that used to be in Bermuda with us. It will be great to catch up and hear how they are getting on and of course they would be the perfect tour guides for us.
Tonight is formal night. I noticed the other night at the B&W ball that formal really does encompass all dress codes. I think the Christmas cruise was definitely more ‘showy’ and ‘dressy’. There are more people in suit and ties this time around, but still a high percentage of people wearing tux’s. The women too are a very mixed bag, both long and cocktail length/short dresses abound and those who don’t enjoy formal, walking around and eating in the Kings court in a very varied style of dressing from shorts, to tracksuits. So to all of you that don’t enjoy the formality of getting dolled up, there is the Kings Court or room service available and you won’t feel at all uncomfortable.
Well that’s it for another day, I must admit I enjoy getting on the PC and writing up the days events, a diary without the writer’s cramp! So I’m off to my bed to read a book [as my father in law will tell you – an excuse for 40 winks (nap)] and then changed for tonight’s formalities.
Happy Labor day everyone and I hope that it was as good for you as it was for us. Another memorable day.
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