At Sea – en Route to Southampton

April 18 - In the Mediterranean

Christine presented a lecture on Pompeii – excellent, with all the naughty bits of the mosaics censored! Saw them all in the Naples museum last time!!!!


Spent most of the day at the stern pool, listened to the band and had my last cheeseburger with fries and onion rings.
Booked to come home on the QM2 – am on waiting list – just in case I can’t fly home. Getting very worried and it is really putting a damper on the last few days.


We had a cabin cavalcade before dinner, which was fun. At least we have a terrific group of people at our table: two English widows; two Aussie girls from the Perth area and a British couple. So all the laughter detracts from the problems in Europe.


April 19 - cruising Gibraltar

We all had formal breakfast in the Britannia…..first time for me since the World Cruise. I never go there! Still, it was fun.


At about 1:45 we sailed slowly through the Straits of Gibraltar. It was a gorgeous day with brilliant blue skies, but the rock was partly obscured by clouds at first. We were able to see the Moroccan side very clearly as well. It was very exciting. Shortly after, we played Scrabble with the five girls for most of the afternoon – we had three games going and then we rotated partners and continued.


4:30 brought the World Charity Auction. Compared to two year ago, they were practically giving items away – and the choice was not…..well, choice! Hahaha. I did not bid on anything – some of the others did, but were outbid.


After dinner, we went to the Crew Show, which featured some terrific talent. The man who sang “Unchained Melody” brought the house down.


April 20 - in the Atlantic.

It is hard to focus on anything with the problems at Heathrow. Every other airport and air space seem to be lifting restrictions. Still, we all had another formal breakfast in the dining room. Then we watched the final nautical charts auctioned off for big bucks. That was followed by the Guest Talent Show which was actually one of the better ones.



I started to pack….we are all rather bored! The captain has just announced that the ship has been given permission to make a quick stop in Cherbourg tomorrow night. Cunard has been working on this for a few days. The 250+ Germans will certainly disembark as will other continentals. The Brits have no problems. It’s mainly the Americans, Asians and Downunders,


I’m taking my chances at this point and we’ll see what tomorrow brings. I doubt I’ll get on the QM2 with 1,000 on the waiting list. At least I’ve got family in the UK.


This evening was chock-a-block: private tour of the bridge…I’ve done it on a casual basis, but who turns down an invitation!!! Then cocktails with the Senior Officers, followed by Indian night in Alternative Dining with the entire table. We had a blast, laughing ourselves silly.




April 21 - in the Bay of Biscay and the Channel.



My last post. Heathrow is open, so fingers crossed. The AA flight to Boston is cancelled today - so who knows what tomorrow will bring. We had a champagne breakfast this morning, followed by a wonderful lecture on Henry Moore. Christine is such a good speaker. She brought Moore's work to life for me. Over the years, she has done restoration work on the reclining figure in the reflecting pool at Lincoln Center. Ross and I are had a farewell lunch in Todd English. Tea at 4 with the whole gang and then dinner. Ross will be running around the decks checking out Cherbourg and will join us later.


So, that’s it. We are in the Bay of Biscay now and seas are calm. We have been going top speed for the past few days so that we can stop in Cherbourg and still get to Southampton on time. Can’t wait to see you all.