Unscheduled Sea Day
English Harbour is a tender port and this is our first time here. We are also both on tour today – Ellen has a very early tour so she ordered room service. I am on the afternoon version of the same tour so I had breakfast up in the Kings Court – the usual.
As I looked out the window upstairs, I noticed a little chop in the water but I also noticed that many of the tenders had not been lowered.
Ellen was in the Royal Court Theater and I was on my way down when the Captain said that because the vertical rise of the tender vs the pontoon was in excess of 3 feet, it was considered unsafe. There would be no tenders in the water today and no tours – instead, QM2 was going on a “Voyage of Discovery” i.e. a cruise to nowhere or an unscheduled sea day.
When I got back to the cabin, the phone rang and it was Chris, the assistant EM. Because of the new sea day, he wanted me to move up my next talk. “The Search for the Unknown Titanic Child”, to this afternoon at 2:15 PM in the Royal Court Theater. Chris also told me that all the talks would move up and the extra talk I brought along would be given on the final sea day. He had a copy of all the titles and we were set.
Dave, the Production Manager called next and asked me to come to the theater at 1:30 PM to check out the equipment.
Paul came on the PA system and announced the changes for the day and a new Programme was rapidly published and brought to the staterooms.
The weather was nice and we spent the morning on Deck 7.
The turnout in the theater was difficult to gage – Chris was supposed to introduce me but he didn’t show so I self introduced. The turnout was good (considering the short notice and the crowd would have filled the Illuminations venue). The lower section was essentially filled and there were lots of people in the balcony. The talk went well and finished in 48 minutes to a really nice extended round of applause.
The rest of the afternoon was spent out on the deck. Since we moved our deck chairs back to get away from the breeze, this is my view of the ocean.
Storm at Sea
Dinner in the Britannia Room was very different tonight – we got a table for two but it was sandwiched between two other tables for two. The dinner was great tonight (I think because it seems my fork was always in mid air). Once one of the couples introduced themselves we knew that this would not be a quiet dinner. When they found out I was the lecturer, then both tables entered into a dinner long discussion. I never ate much of my delicious mushroom/cream pasta. Both couples left before we did so we had a moment to settle down. They meant well and it was nice to chat with them. In our discussion with our table mates, we found out that the ship offered a vegetarian menu (some nice soups and a Caprese flatbread appetizer). We would check that out in the future.
The Entertainers tonight “Power of 2 – Ilia and Olesia” were supposed to board in Antigua so the show tonight became “Variety Showtime” – “Royal Cunard Singers and Dinners Jive” and Violinist Katarina Rossa – I liked her show this time out. I guess we will have to wait for another cruise to feel the Power of 2 and to visit Antigua..
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