Day 35 - Embarkation Day, May 17th
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Wendell Updates From Southampton
We're shipping out of Southampton on QM2 in about an hour. We should be posting updates from the ship - EMails sent/received from the ship cost around £2 each, so expect a few really long emails.
This contrasts to the hour of free web access I'm using at the Southampton Public Library.
Fat Tire bike tour of Berlin was quite a lot of fun, the Aussie tour guide did an excellent job. That evening we night-trained to Paris and the next AM we checked into the apartment that I craigslisted - 200 Euros for 3 nights, and it was an outstanding deal. Studio apartment just North of the Marais and a 7 minute walk from the Bastille Metro station (the apt actually had a metro stop 1 block away, however we walked to Bastille so that we didn't feel like total slackers.)
We had an awesome time in Paris. Sunday we skipped Versailles and we joined 18,000 Parisians and Parisennes in rollerblading from the Eiffel Tower through the Left Bank, over the Seine, down the Champs Eleysee etc.
Unfortunately we got tangled up in a bad crash going downhill (skinned and bruised knee for me, a wrenched knee and bleeding hand for Hobbit) and had to abort before we finished the full 17km route (more details to follow.)
Monday we visited the cultural Chernobyl of France - Eurodisney. It was fun, but missing a few key pieces - no Jungle Cruise, no Matterhorn and the Nautilus and Indiana Jones rides were closed.
I'll report later about our 160 Euro lunch at Restaurant Jules Verne - the story is quite amusing.
Embarkation Day
I have read horror stories about embarking, however in our case they weren’t true. The line moved quickly then we walked on and found our cabin almost immediately. We even spotted our B.A.B. on the way and took it with us, so no waiting for our clothes to show up.
Hobbit Looks Skeptical At The Length Of The Line
We Get Bunped Up To Grill Level Checkin
Unfortunately we do not get upgraded to a Grill level room ...
Our Cabin
Our cabin has a window that looks out over the grand lobby. There’s no outside light, but the window gives the room a better sense of openness. Also we are at the center of the ship so we don’t get tossed about as much. The first and second class suites are at the front and they are wishing they were in my inside cabin right now. The little table in here raises up and down and the bathroom is a good size. Wendell and I both fit into the shower at the same time.
Our Cabin
Window that looks out over the grand lobby
View Out The Window Into The Grand Lobby
The Bathroom
Hobbit Inspects The Cabin, Then Tours The Ship
Our cabin was bigger than I expected it to be. I’m not saying it’s big, just that it’s bigger than I expected.
I unpacked our stuff. I thought that I’d be the only one in the laundry room, but there were many others doing the same thing. Then we went to the life boat muster which consisted of a lot of standing around. After lifeboat muster we had some time so we walked around the ship
Sometimes it can be hard to know when you’ve gone from one public space to another as they are not delineated very well. Somehow we ended up getting to the very top deck forward lookout point which as we went back discovered it was closed due to high winds. Also we ended up walking through the first class deck which wasn’t marked as such where we went in, but was where we went out!
The outdoor pool and tubs were open but we didn’t get in.
We went to dinner, we have 2nd sitting and were supposed to have a 2 top, but instead we were at a 4.
Since no one else was assigned to our table the Maitre d' closed our table so we’ve got it to ourselves but if we want anybody to join us we’ve got room.
Dinner was: mushroom soup, salad (salad is different every night but I never say what’s different about it), pan seared cod, and something chocolate. After dinner we pretty much went to bed.
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