This was the official turnaround day for Queen Mary 2.
I slept until about 5:30 and went up to Deck 13 to catch the sunrise about 6:45.
My first morning was a bit strange as there was an issue getting Cruise Director Raphel’s morning update on my TV and after my Butler (Tristan) worked for a while he put in a call to the tech crew. At times there were up to 4 of them working for about an hour until the issue was finally solved.
Lunch was my normal Grilled Ham and Cheese with additions from the Marketplace. (Waterside was closed for the port day).
Pier 102 is about 1 ½ miles upstream from the center of town and we were docked next to Sky Princess. I was undecided about going in to town but did decide to leave about 1:30. The shuttle was provided by the port and as far as I could see the pickup point was midway between the ships which was a fairly long walk. As I got off I noticed a very long line to board the return shuttle and was dreading the idea. I walked up to the ferry terminal and as I got there discovered that I had actually been on the Princess Shuttle. There was a very nice shuttle back to Serenity, comfortable as opposed to a school bus, and I was easily able to get on the first shuttle which dropped me right at the gangway.
I went up to Afternoon Tea in Palm Court for tea and a scone. Unlike Old Crystal where waiters came around with trays of items from various categories (sandwiches, pastry, scones) they now delivered everything at once on a tiered caddy. Violinist Nadia Matiunina provided the music.
At 5 we had my first old school Muster Drill since 2020, actually going down to our stations following the Emergency Alert signal. My station was in the Galaxy lounge.
All aboard was 5:30 and we were due to leave at 6. I went down about 5:40 and the gangway was still out. One couple arrived about 5:45 but we still waited (not sure why). It was just about 6 when an officer stepped out and gave the signal to leave. A crane removed the gangway and we let the lines go about 6:05, and we rotated around to face the ocean. Louis sang at 6:10 (For those new to me and Crystal, the Crystal tradition is that at sailaway “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is played over the PA system, and “Louis sang” is kind of my shorthand for a departure. I stayed on the Promenade deck until about 6:30 when we passed Pier 22 and I got one last look at QM2.
There were 7 of us at the shared table. My choices were Vegetable Soup, Braised Beef Short Rib, and Strawberry ice cream.
The featured entertainment was James Fox presenting the music of Billy Joel accompanied by the show band and the Crystal Ensemble of Singers. As it has always been it was a fabulous show although it was way too close to my bed time when it ended.
As my parting shot it is wonderful to be at sea on a Crystal ship once again.
Roy
Roy's Grand Voyages 