'QUEEN MARY 2' BIRTHDAY CRUISE to BAHAMAS - 2008

Pam and I took an extra-long weekend holiday sailing aboard the Queen Mary 2 from New York to Bahamas.

Just before Christmas 2007 I received an email advert from Cunard telling me they were selling off Princess Grill suites on the QM2's four day voyage to the Bahamas in February 2008. I booked on Christmas eve, and paid on Boxing day. Cunard works in mysterious ways, and I was so delighted with the price and the eventual upgrades I did not think I could keep this a secret from Pam. Yes, this was a birthday, Christmas, and Valentine’s present all rolled into one. And my intention was to keep it a surprise all the way to the port if possible. That did not happen, as she had to know we were going on a cruise in order to pack. But she knew nothing of it until the Wednesday before we departed. So I think keeping it secret until 24 hours before departure qualifies as a success.

The only thing which nearly ruined the surprise was the fast service by Cunard. They couriered the tickets on 3 January, and Pam signed for the package just before I walked in the door and whisked it away from her. There was no Cunard marking on the package, so she did not figure it out: but it was a close call.

Thursday 14 February 2008

We started the day by my going in to the office, and Pam staying home after promising she would not add anything else to the luggage. We had one checked bag for both of us (mostly containing our shoes and snorkel equipment), and one carry-on each (containing clothes), and we both suspected we had taken too much for the five days away.

With a 14:30 flight, we dashed to the airport at 12:30, and found no line at all. So we were checked-in and ready to go through U.S. immigration at Ottawa airport within minutes of walking into the terminal. The U.S. immigration agent, a very articulate lady, upon learning this was a birthday present cruise for Pam, said I had done well (for a clueless male). Now to wait.

The Air Canada flight (AC7732 YOW-LGA 14:25-15:55) was delayed as La Guardia airport was busy (surprise) and was not letting aircraft take off which were headed to LGA. The couple across the aisle from us in row one are going on an 11-day cruise from New Jersey to the Caribbean on another line. The sky was bright when we landed, and we had great views of central and south Manhattan as we circled for final approach. we had already done a lot of circling, as LGA put us in a holding pattern north of NY due to congestion on the airfield. we saw the same lakes and rivers many times. At LGA our one bag was one of the first off the belt, so we were out the door very quickly. This time we took a taxi into midtown as it is about the same price as the shuttles and busses, and much quicker. Why do they call the Brooklyn-Queen Expressway an expressway? What is it about 25 km/h that seems like express to people in NY? We arrived at the Radisson Lexington (511 Lex Ave at 48th, NY) before the sun set.

The Radisson Lexington hotel room was purchased only the night before arrival, 13 February. I had waited more than a month for the prices to drop, but the really great hotels never dropped far enough. So I took the Lexington, right behind the Waldorf, when it reached US$125 per night for a “petite” room. Now New York hotel rooms are notoriously small, but to actually call it petite means the simple act of bending over must involve opening the door to the hallway. The front desk clerk took pity on us and upgraded us to a queen room with enough space in which to do some yoga and stretches located on the 18th floor. After hanging up the tuxedo, we race out of the room as we are headed north for a Valentine’s Day dinner, if possible. On our way we pass a Godiva chocloate shop near the Waldorf which is overflowing with men. There is a line of men going out the door. All are buying extravagant amounts of chocolate so they will be allowed to sleep in the bed tonight. Pity on the poor man who shows up at 5 minutes past closing time.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most expensive dessert is sold, with 48 hours notice, at “Serendipity 3" (225 East 60th Street behind Bloomingdale’s). This place starred in the movie “Serendipity” a few years ago. It is always crowded, and of course this was Valentine’s Day. A month earlier I had been unable to secure a dinner reservation at other than 5:50pm or 10:30pm. My hope was to walk in and be able to at least eat dessert if not a whole meal. This was also a surprise for Pam. She did not know where we were going, other than it was urgent we get there as soon as possible due to the date. It is a walk of 12 blocks north up Lexington then east a block and a half on 60th. Only once we arrived did she know it was the place from the movie we had watched in early January. We waited three minutes, then found ourselves seated at the very table used in the movie: right beside the marble fireplace on the second floor. Wait staff were great, and the dinner quite delicious. Then it came time for dessert. We could not finish the piles of ice cream and chocolate sauce overflowing the large glass bowls. When we leave behind chocolate and ice cream, you know it was too much! Pam had a hot fudge sundae, and I ate most of a Forbidden Broadway Sunday. Our desserts cost only US$10, as I had no intention of entering the Guiness record book as the world's biggest fool.

I admit my guilty pleasure in hotels (well, one at least), is the television. I tend to watch a lot of television in U.S. hotels. This evening I became temporarily addicted to a show called “Bridezilla”, and watched at least three episodes before not sleeping enough due to the excitement of the upcoming voyage. I probably should have watched more of these almost psychopathic women pulling a nutty on their friends and families. Lesson: get married in private.

Friday 15 February 2008

This morning we had to buy some film and dental floss and a tooth brush. So naturally we started by going for breakfast at Bloom’s Deli (355 Lex at 40th near Grand Central Station). They were reviewed in the Guardian as having a great gluten-free menu, and this was indeed true. Pam was very happy with the breakfast, and I really enjoyed the breakfast blinis. Then it was off to the shops for dental floss and film, and the post office for a stamp, and finally back to the hotel to clean up, re-pack, and catch a taxi to Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The taxi cab ride from midtown east takes the somewhat scenic route from the United Nations south on FDR Drive expressway and over the Brooklyn Bridge, from which we could see the QM2 at the Red Hook cruise terminal dock. The ride is about 15 or 16 km long, and takes only a few minutes and costs very little. Taxis may be the best bargain in NY. The change from the awful old and smelly cruise terminal in Manhattan (pier 90 at 49th and 50th streets) is welcome. The new building is confortable and clean and does not stink. It does suffer from less-than-constant taxi service, as it is in Brooklyn. Still, it is closer than the one in New Jersey used by some other cruise lines who also escaped Manhattan.

At the dock I shooed Pam away so I could put the luggage tag with our real cabin number on the one bag. As I had told her we were in cabin 4001, the cheapest and lowest of the outside cabins, it would spoil the surprise to learn of the real cabin in store for us. Strange how you just abandon your baggage on the curb. All you do is deposit the bag on a trolley which you hope some longshoreman will eventually take to the ship. It is like this every time. How bizarre.

We are herded into the short line for Cunard platinum (plutonium? geranium? platypus?) members who are going grill class, and wait only a few minutes to be checked-in. There is no waiting and no line. A sign announces the cruise is sold out and all cabins are taken, so there is no opportunity for changing cabins. You get what your ticket says at this point. About 2500 passengers are sailing with us today. Digital photos of our faces are taken at the check-in desk for security purposes, but the photos are no longer printed on our cruise cards. Our clerk calls ahead to arrange for our butler to meet us at the gangway, then we head straight to the ship.

Inside the grand lobby a harpist is playing. We have to wait a few minutes until Pierre the chief butler comes and escorts us to our suite. Now Pam is really impressed. Penthouse 9067 is the last suite on the starboard side of 9 deck.

There is a lot of room in our suite. Upon entering you walk directly into the dining room with a table for four. To the left is a guest bathroom. Around the corner in the dining room is the bar and refrigerator. Champagne (Perrier Jouet's Grand Brut) is already chilled in an ice bucket, and Lily, our butler, takes our order for stocking the bar and fridge. Pam wants cranberry juice, and I want root beer: guess which one was not available. Mine. Further ahead is the living room with a bizarrely deep chesterfield and chair set. Beyond that is the glass wall to the full length balcony. To the left is the sleeping area with a king bed which splits in two for separate sleepers. There is also a walk-in closet and a master bathroom sporting a bidet, a rainforest marble shower, and a deep jacuzzi spa tub. The desk is well stocked, and the television comes with five different electronic boxes in the console underneath. There is a stereo, DVD player, xbox, and some other things we never use or even figure out. Before we messed it up, I made a video of the room using the digital camera.

We are in the room so quickly our one bag has of course not made it through security and been brought to the suite. So we set off for a walkies around a ship we have not set foot on in four years. First stop: the grill dining room two decks directly below our cabin. Yes, it is lunch time in the grill.

We are dining in Queen’s Grill, table 22, at the far end. It is a private table for two beside the starboard window near the back wall. This is the best table we have ever enjoyed. I guess the higher suites get the best tables. Our waiters were Izabela and Amit. Lunch is mediocre, as the chicken is tough and tasteless. That was very disappointing.

In the grill concierge office on nine deck we are delighted to find Tatiana, who we met her last year on the QE2 world cruise where she was a waitress in the grills. We met her when she was serving tea and wheat-free scones to Pam. In the cruise sales office we find Barrie, who last year was being yelled at in the purser's office on the world cruise. He said his new job involves far fewer unhappy people.

Now we are off to see some people who do not know we are on board, and who may not even remember us.

In about 2003 we met a chap in Toronto airport who was the chief sommelier for Hilton hotels who was just back from a wine buying trip to France. He invited us into the first class lounge. We got his card. On the Wednesday before this trip I was in a mall and met a chap wearing a QM2 jacket. He said his son was the chief sommelier on the ship, and he gave me the card. It was the same person. We went to the purser’s office and asked to see him, having learned hew as promoted to assistant public rooms manager. He was confused at first, then remembered meeting us. He certainly was surprised by the story of my meeting his father and remembering him from the airport five years previously. We tell him of the food experience, and he then chats with the grill maitre 'd. Our concierge (Ms Parker) also noted the problem and spoke with staff about it. From now on everything is as it should be, and the food is terrific.

Our next stop was the hospital on deck one. No, we were not sick; we wanted to see Doctor Farouk Parker. Farouk was the doctor on the QE2 world cruise in 2007, and managed to keep everyone alive the entire journey. This is unheard of, and we think he should have got some sort of medal for it. Usually there is a death every ten or 14 days. For part of the world cruise he was joined by his wife and sister-in-law, whom we both enjoyed greatly. Wow was he surprised to see us. He had been told he was to see someone in our suite, but his computer did not yet have passenger names. We of course immediately invited him and Zakira to join us for dinner on Sunday night after our day in the Bahamas.

Now we explored the ship until sail away time was upon us. We were to leave at 17:00. The ship was surrounded by police boats and helicopters. The hive of activity stayed with us as we moved into the channel between Red Hook terminal and Governor’s Island. We stayed on our balcony drinking good Perrier Jouet champagne, and cranberry juice, and waving at the police helicopter pilot who paced the ship and kept his arm outside the window waving at passengers. I guess any job can be boring if repeated daily.

As we approached the Verazzano Narrows bridge we went up on deck for the view. This is the lowest bridge in any QM2 port, and at high tide clears the funnel by only three metres. People gasp and cheer as we pass under the impressive structure. The lights on the ship cast a shadow of the funnel on the underside of the bridge, showing just how close we have come. Now we are at sea, and after dropping the pilot near Ambrose Light, we begin the journey south to the Bahamas.

The staff captain is Othello Ghoshroy, but the ship is right now under the command of Cunard’s commodore, Bernard Warner.

Saturday 16 February 2008

At 08:00 this morning we are almost directly off Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, but far too far away to see it. Visit the outer banks if you have a chance. NC is very beautiful. We will be reminded of that place when we arrive at the outer bank on Eluethera. We are on a heading of 162 making about 27.2 knots. Over the night we crossed the strong current of the Gulf Stream, which meant we had to alter course eastward before heading south again.

Our first sea day is grand. I spend much of it resting, and have made a conscious decision not to think about work. This worked, and I did not think about work until we left the ship. Food is now excellent, and service quite attentive.

QM2 is now filled with plaques and memorabilia from her first years in service. When we were first on board in 2004 for the inaugural trans-Atlantic sailing, there were not yet any souvenirs from ports and organizations. Now the ships abounds with gifts from ports and countries and other maritime bodies.

As this is billed by Cunard as a "President's Day Cruise", and it sailed from New York, there are understandably a huge number of passengers from the USA aboard, with the vast majority being from in and around New York itself. There are very few foreigners. If I hear the NY expression "forget about it" one more time I am going to lose it!

Pam played and lost various deck games which I forgot to attend. The teak deck gripped the shuttlecocks, and had to be wetted. I had met various people and was talking about ship and travel things? Why am I am political scientist instead of a travel specialist?

At tea time today in the Queen’s Grill lounge we met Thomas and Rene', a cute couple from New York with wonderful conversation skills. She wanted to try everything and go shopping as well. Perhaps we will receive an email from them someday.

Unlike on the world cruise, we are not the youngest paying passengers this time. The short duration and beach destination and low prices have worked to guarantee a younger crowd. This is a welcome sight. There is only one mobility scooter aboard ship. There is also a motorized wheelchair, and the lady in it uses a companion dog (black lab). There are a few canes, but it is hardly god's waiting room on this voyage. It is a nice change, and gives us lots of opportunities to speak with more people in a short time.

Tonight’s dress code is formal. This means the evening gown and the tuxedo. I like these evenings, as everyone looks proper and fits in with the decor. Pam brought her sequined evening gown which can be worn backwards for maximum display of assets; and I brought my bog-standard tuxedo and the red plaid cummerbunny and black bow tie.

This evening started with a cocktail party hosted by the commodore and senior officers in the Winter Garden at 18:30. Guests were almost outnumbered by staff, and it turned out to be the party for plutonium members and Q Grill guests only. There was a much larger party for most others later that evening, so the officers had to eventually rush off to the other end of the ship. We finally had a chance to have a good talk with Farouk before he too had to dash. This was the first time we sailed with Commodore Warner, and it was a pleasure to be introduced to him by the doctor. There is no talk about the new build, already announced as the "Queen Elizabeth", or as I call it, the QE-New.

During the day this room is usually filled with bad art. Why do cruise lines hold these annoying auctions of bad art? Probably because the auctions are so profitable for the lines. But the vast majority of the art is truly butt-ugly! It should not be sold; it should be burned. It seems the winter Garden is an underused room, and can easily be sacrificed to daily art annoyances.

The hours of darkness tonight will be spent sailing down the coast of Florida. Strangely we have not seen any shipping traffic.

Sunday 17 February 2008

Eluethera Island, Bahamas, 24 38.32' N 076 00.77'W

We approach the anchorage from the east side of the island. Eluethera has a massive shallows to its west which prevents sailing large ships along the more convenient coast. So we sail down the east side and pop around the southern tip to come to our spot just west-south-west of the tip.

Snorkel snorkel snorkel. We plan to snorkel quite a bit today. The weather is expected to reach a high of 28 and be mostly sunny, with clouds later in the day. We are slathered with sun screen.

There is another benefit to being in a suite: priority tender tickets. Our concierge has given us two priority tender tickets for use first thing this morning. We do not have to wait in the theatre and get a timed ticket and be herded downstairs. We can simply walk right through the line and board the first available tender for the 20 minute trip to the shore. This works really well! No waiting. No lines. Off we go. The tenders are actually some of QM2's lifeboats, and carry about 150 people in an emergency, or 100 people as a tender. Each is very large, and has its own maritime registration and navigation equipment. The ones used as tenders are also catamaran hulls, so have extra stability.

The first thing we do is head for the north beach beside the reef for some quality snorkeling before the crowds show up. This works really well. We have brought snorkel equipment from home. My mask is from 1979 (first trip to Maui) and works perfectly. The masks for Pam do not work well as her face is too small and water gets in the side and under her nose. Also, the new snorkel design is awful. I prefer the old J-tube.

Try doing this in Ottawa in February!

Pam noted she had trouble getting into the water due to what seemed a low temperature. But it was warm once immersed. Her trick was to stand in knee-deep water, put her face in the water, then find a fish. She would then follow the fish out to sea. Many fish, and some especially forward fish, came to greet her. They rubbed up against her in some weird fish frotism ritual. Her response: "Do I know you?". No, but come and meet all of our friends! The fish would swim right up to the glass on our snorkel masks. The water is filled with thousands of tropical fish. All shapes and sizes swim close around us.

We have three underwater cameras with us. Two are cheap disposable things which probably have nothing but shadows on the film. The third is a real flash camera in a waterproof case using 800 ASA film. I take three rolls of film, and hope for at least one good photo per roll. We are now waiting the results of the processing. Don't hold your breath. Well, it turns out that most of the fish photos were not all that clear or colourful, but the above photo of us worked rather well. On the five rolls there are about ten good photos. The digital photos on the ship are far better, and I should include some in the diary.

I am glad we went in three time in the morning, because by noon the water was crowded and as the waves had clouded the water. Visibility was low and photography difficult (well, the difficulty is partly due to cheap camera equipment). Our waterproof container is not so waterproof, and Pam opened it to find $41 in very wet money. She hung the bills over our clothesline. Does that qualify as money laundering?

The sand is white and fine and clean. The grounds are very well kept. Cunard spent the morning transferring food and drinks ashore and setting up the covered BBQ area. By 11:00 the lines are open, and passengers, who have never seen food before, are lined up fifty deep, to get hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken legs. So much food is wasted. Lots of people take some of everything, then toss the majority away. We saw this time and time again. Some of the staff said this habit was at its worst with passengers from the USA. I suspect the Brits and Canadians are almost as bad. The fresh fruit was wonderful, and in fact better than the cooked beach food. The oranges were so good I could not resist eating at least three.

We walked out of the private island, through a small security and immigration checkpoint, over the gravel causeway to the Bahamas. This place is actually just the southern tip of the western outer banks of Eluethera Island. Princess Cruises has bought the area and turned it into a “private island” just for their cruise ships, and occasionally for Cunard ships. They did a good job. The southern tip is rather isolated, so there is nothing to walk to from “Princess Cays”, only a gravel road and a sign announcing the private beach..

What we needed now was a nap. All the swimming and sun and the fresh air and the fruit (specially the flavourful oranges) have us totally worn out. Back to the ship we go on one of the last passenger tenders

Tonight we have arranged for a special dinner for our guests Farouk and Zakira. The Queen’s Grill maitre ‘d has assured us we can have anything on or off the menu, but that there is no halal meat aboard. So we are going with three different fish dishes. Lily will serve, and she and Carlos arrive an hour early to prepare the dining room in our penthouse. It looks lovely, and but the cutlery seems to have bred more cutlery. There is so much cutlery it looks as though little room is left for plates.

Farouk and Zakira arrive at eight, and are followed by Lily with the first course: several soups (cream of asparagus and gazpacho). They are great. Soon the salads (green salad with apple slices and carmelized walnuts) have arrived, and they definitely do not disappoint. Now it is time for the main dishes. Lily and Carlos bring in two macadamia nut coated mahi-mahi, one grilled salmon steak, and one dover sole. Wow. Fish done correctly is such a joy. Dessert is a chocolate symphony of wheat-free cakes and sauce and ice cream. Then we retired to the living room and talked for hours. Ship's doctors see all sorts of things, from broken bums to heart failures in gambling drunk people. It was perhaps the best dinner party ever. I give my thanks to Cunard for organizing everything and for providing great food and perfect service.

All re-energized, we did later pop in to see the Buccaneer Ball in the Queen’s Room ballroom where Pam somehow summoned the energy to dance her face off for a while. She wants you to know that for the record, her face is still in fact attached.

Monday 18 February 2008

Sea days are great. They are relaxing and allow you to do as much or as little as you want.

Again I visited the bridge. Well, not actually the bridge itself, but at least the viewing area behind the bridge. Cunard designed in a glass room behind the bridge so interested people could watch bridge happenings which are usually pretty boring. Nothing happens, and that is really best, to be honest. The ship is also run by all of three people, so it usually looks almost vacant. There is a small helm wheel (smaller than in a car), but the real controls are set on panels for the autopilot. Fine control, such as docking, can be done using the roller ball mouse in the armrest of the captain's chair.

According to Pam, this solid glass dress is quite comfortable, provided you are not actually inside it. This is one of two glass dress statues on display inside the main doors of the Royal Court Theatre on QM2. The other dress has enormously wide hips, and is not flattering. The glass is very thick, and imbedded with shards of different colours.

Tea time is Pam time. She firmly believes she should be able to enjoy tea time anywhere on earth. The Q Grill pastry chefs have made wheat-free scones for her tea, and she is delighted. The Q Gill lounge on QM2 is not as nice as the one on the old QE2. I guess the original has had a few decades to become what it is today, while this one is a mere copy less than four years old.

Wow, only two hours until dinner. How will we survive?

Today we finally spotted another ship: a medium-sized container vessel probably sailing out of Savannah USA enroute to Europe. It passed across our wake.

Dinner in the Q Grill was perfect. The roast rack of lamb was nearly as good as in New Zealand. Service and presentation really help make a meal. Everything tasted fresh. Ingredients are so important to a fine dish.

The show in the Royal Court Theatre this evening is “Apassionata” by the Cunard Singers & Dancers. This is a terrific song and dance show of romantic and firey music we had not seen since 2004. We sat at the very back and had a great view unobstructed by any pillars, yet still close enough to see everything. Wait, we did see it last year on the world cruise after Sydney. Pam recalls at Syndey there was a mad rush to switch the dance companies between the two ships when we met in Sydney harbour.

Passing through the Golden Lion Pub we found a late-night pub quiz just starting, so we informally joined a family and helped them with answers. We later discovered many of them were in fact correct. The sun did not kill all of our little grey cells. Horray!

Tuesday 19 February 2008

The sun has not yet risen over the horizon above Long Island, and at about 05:45 while laying in bed I see us pass under the Verazzano Narrows bridge. This is the entryway to New York harbour, and marks the end of our voyage. We have sailed approximately 3685 km from the cruise ship terminal at Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York, to Eluethera, Bahamas, and back to New York.

It is a sad day, as the cruise is ending and we have to leave. Pam says she wants to stay here forever. That might get a bit boring. The happy news is the final bill. We only owe $52 each for the entire cruise, that being the gratuities. All our drinks were free this time, as they are included with the suite and stored in our kitchen. We did not buy anything in the shops, and did not use the casino.

Breakfast is a quiet affair, as most people have not made it to the earlier opening on disembarkation day. There is ample opportunity to get a few last photos of the Grill before it fills with diners. I had a great full English breakfast, and Pam had her usual with gluten-free toast and marmalade. Then she discretely tips the waiters. It was very discrete, as I never saw it happen.

Back in the suite we leave a bottle of wine for Lily and a bottle of vodka for Carlos, as well as tip envelops for each. The tip is usually paid for as part of the bill, but we give extra for extra good service. They seemed so pleased we came to suspect most people stiff them.

All Queen’s Grill passengers are allowed off as soon as the priority baggage is ashore, and our call came at 08:30. We were off in minutes, then found our one bag in the Yellow One section of the baggage hall. The line for U.S. immigration was split between citizens and foreigners. The foreigners line was far shorter than the citizen line, so we were through in minutes. Now we had to wait for a taxi. The chap ahead of us had so much luggage we suspected he must be carrying for at least two people. He was. His partner had dashed off the ship first thing to go to work, and had already been working for one hour when we met in the taxi queue.

With so much time left before our flight, we decided to do something new. We took a taxi through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel so we could visit Ellis Island. The $15 cab ride dropped us at the Ritz Carlton where they refused to check our bags. So we walked to the Embassy Suites hotel where the staff was more than happy to make a few dollars by tagging our bags for four hours. They even gave us directions to the Ellis Island ferry terminal at Fort Clinton in the Battery. We walked there along the Hudson River side of lower Manhattan, meeting many large dogs along the way. How can you keep such large dogs in such small apartments?

We were second in line for tickets, and got on the ferry boat already loading passengers. Get the full ticket with audio tour. Since Pam had been to the statue of liberty in 1976, and I was uninterested in the thing, we did not disembark until Ellis Island. Did you know the statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are both in New Jersey, and not in New York? This was the single largest and busiest immigration point in the United States. Now a national historic place, and run by the U.S. park service, it tells the story of mass immigration from Europe to the USA between 1880 and 1924. Interestingly, if you came by first or second class, you did not stop at Ellis Island. Your ticket on the ocean liner was also a ticket around the masses. Steerage or third class passengers, the immigrant trade, stayed onboard until the 1st and 2nd class passengers got off in Manhattan, then were taken back to Ellis Island for processing.

We took the ferry back to Battery Park, but not before finding three squished penny machines with 12 designs to choose from. Pam chose eleven, then we ran out of money. Back in Manhattan we walked to the hotel where we gave the bellmen a bottle of sparkling wine we had been given on the ship. We could not take it through airport security, so it was best to reward the men who had been of great help to us. Morris and his juniors were delighted.

Battery Park is the starting point for a very long bike and roller skating path running along the west side of Manhattan. We have seen it passing by the old pier 90 and Intrepid (aircraft carrier) Museum , so know it runs at least that far. I suspect it runs up to Riverside Park parallel to Central Park, or at least to pier 99.

We walked over to City Hall Plaza, where it became obvious we would not have time to take the tube north to Grand Central and catch an airport shuttle. So at 14:00 we hopped in a taxi which then burned through $7 getting around the corner of City Hall Plaza. New York is not user-friendly to say the least, but the taxis now have video screen showing a GPS map of the route and progress.

Again, no line at the airport, but another delayed flight. The Air Canada flight (AC7733 LGA-YOW 16:25-17:50) was delayed as La Guardia airport was busy (surprise) and was not letting aircraft take off which were headed to LGA. This meant our aircraft was sitting in Ottawa waiting to take off for the flight to NY. We departed about 90 minutes late, and it was already dark so our views were limited. In Ottawa's immigration and customs hall a beagle was sniffing bags and pilots. Perhaps the government distrusts pilots, and lets the dogs give then extra sniffs. Ottawa was cold with high winds and a lot of drifting snow.

We were home by 20:00 and everything was fine. The cat probably did not miss us, or even notice we were gone. He does appear to have spent a great deal of time on the chesterfield (on which he is NOT allowed).

In the email sent by Cunard before Christmas 2007, a P3 Princess Grill suite started at a low US$1099 per person. This compared very well to the brochure sale price of $3092 each. So on Christmas eve I booked a category P3 guarantee, and said I would accept an upgrade. I got the airplane tickets on Boxing Day, and paid for the whole cruise immediately upon confirming we had the flights. On the 27th the registration forms were sent in, and on 28 December I was informed by email pdf form we had been upgraded to P2, cabin 10022. On 7 January we were upgraded to P1, cabin 10051. On 22 January we were upgraded to Q5 cabin 9019, a move up to Queen’s Grill. Then on 29 January, two weeks before sailing, I was emailed another form saying we were now in Queen’s Gill, category Q4 (Penthouse suite), cabin 9067.

The cabin we finally occupied was Penthouse #9067, and I paid $1099 per person, or $2198 for the cabin. In perspective, this penthouse costs $6784 per person, or $13 568 per cabin. Wow. Good sale and great upgrades! Who can argue against paying $2198 for a $13 568 cabin?

If you want to know more about the Queen Mary 2 (named by QEII on 8 January 2004), you may wish to visit the following website for lots of details and photographs and deck plans and prices and available crossings and cruises: (QM2) or just visit www.cunard.com

Updated 24 Feb 2008