December 23, 2015
Our first day at sea…
I took the picture through our porthole – too cold to go outside and the effect is interesting. The seas are pretty calm.
Breakfast for the entire cruise will be in the King’s Court Buffet – they have the mandatory waffles and cottage cheese along with a terrific selection of individually bottled preserves. The guests on this cruise do not appear to be early risers so the place is somewhat quiet and calm for breakfast.
I don’t have a lot of time this morning as my first Talk, “DNA Testing: Cold Cases Solved”, is scheduled for 11:15 AM in Illuminations.
The capacity of Illuminations is approximately 500; it is the venue for the planetarium show – however, the projector is undergoing maintenance so there may not be any sky shows this cruise.
I got there a little bit early to chat with the guests (we had done a technical run through earlier and everything worked fine).
After a nice introduction by Paul, I was on my way.
Pre-Talk Chat with Guests
Introduction by Paul
Based on the 500 seat capacity, I estimated the attendance to be in the 350 range. A good turnout considering the time and the fact that there are several other speakers on board.
Tonight, as we will be doing every night, we contacted the Maître D’ as we got to the Britannia Dining Room as to the available seating. He was able to get us a table for two. I should mention that we spent a lot of our dinners up in the King’s Court Buffet taking in the very tasty pizza and pasta and Cesar salads. The food on the ship was very good at all of the venues.
After dinner, we went to the Queen’s Room to watch the Royal Cunard Dancers perform a special Holiday show. As you can see, the ship and its public places are all decked out in Holiday style.
The Headliners tonight in the Royal Court Theater are “The Opera Boys”. This, on the face of it, sounds like a show we would normally avoid. As it turns out, they were terrific. Great voices, lots of humor, and not all opera. The audience loved them.
The Opera Boys
Some piano entertainment and that’s it for the day.
December 24, 2015
Another dreary day at sea.
It was a little warmer so we were able to get out on the deck for some walking and pictures.
At Sea
The weather is still not deck weather so the Winter Garden Lounge is a good place to settle in and read (there are sea views and comfortable chairs and it is usually quiet).
Kindle Time in the Winter Garden
Roger McGuinn is on in the Royal Court Theater this morning before me so I was able to catch a few minutes of his presentation before having to sneak out to get ready for mine. Ellen did get some nice shots of Roger (she was sitting with Camilla in the front row). Roger likes the theater pretty much totally dark (he told me) so it was hard getting to and from my seat.
Although Talk 2 – “Forensics and History: The Mystery of the Romanovs” is scheduled right at lunch (12:15 PM), the turnout is excellent - a full house – approximately 500 guests. The talk went really well and ended on time.
We had the whole afternoon off to read and relax – once again in the quiet of the Winter Garden.
Through the Glass
The weather cleared enough for us to catch a beautiful sunset.
December 25, 2015 – Christmas on the QM2
The seas are a bit rough today
The usual day unfolded – breakfast in the King’s Court Buffet – HMT Room Service for Ellen. Lunch was also in the King’s Court Buffet (we had tried to have lunch in the Britannia Restaurant but it is a long process). Dinner was in the King’s Court as well – the pizza to order is still very good as are the pastas.
We ran into one of the Opera Boys (the tall one) in the buffet and he told us he is traveling with his family. A very nice guy.
We went to Showtime in the Royal Court Theater because the Opera Boys were doing their second show. However, the first part of the show was caroling with the crew – maybe a little too much holiday spirit for some.
Caroling with the Crew
The Opera Boys second show was just as entertaining as their opening act. Simply entertaining – and the mics are not that high as to be ear splitting. We sat much closer this time for pictures.
Opera Boys
Tomorrow, Christmas is over and we are in St. Thomas.
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