It is l must admit, always nice to visit the Queen Mary and to step aboard knowing lm spending a couple of nights is just an added thrill. This time it was just going to be every so slightly different in that not only was l spending two nights on this great ship, or the fact that tomorrow l was changing cabins ( changing cabins l always associate with QE2 and doing a back to back cruise, while its always a pain, it is at the same time secretly quite enjoyable) But rather l was to be celebrating New years eve on Queen Mary many thousands of mile away from home.
There is always (for me anyway) a certain excitement when you pop in the key card, open the door and you see exactly what your cabin is like, granted l was totally spoilt last year in having The Queen Mary Suite,but putting that out of my mind, hey the cabin was lovely, lm not keen on the new white bed coverings but that's personal choice it still has atmosphere and panache, its nice to take time to open all the doors, two closets, and the drawers and see exactly what you have, No coffee machine or fridge, but lovely new styled bottled water and a big tv which appeared to hang of the wall. The portholes opened and remained so during my visit.
Then it was time to go off and explore the great ship again, some subtle changes in that the Travel Bureau was opened with behind glass a couple of desks and onward booking brochures on display, could never figure out why it was never open anyway. The decorations were up and looked lovely l thought. and they were well under way with the setting up for New Years Eve, lights in the Times Square and the red carpet outside for guests attending the Grand New Years Eve dinner and allover the ship all was well, Probably a bit misty.
Lunch was in the Promenade cafe, a favourite of mine fish n chips and a side of onion rings, I had forgotten just how big the portions were, and really a plate of onion rings was a meal in itself. But hey ho what the heck, l dont really care for the presentation of the meal in those basket things with paper, you seem to end up poking through the paper and it does look such a mess when your finished so l tend to transfer the food from the basket to the plate (why on earth lm explaining my eating habits on here l don't know!) that with the beer was superb and while it was misty outside the view over Long Beach was as always amazing. the ever efficient waiter, l remember him from my last visit,so we spoke for a bit and he is good!!! came with the bill, alas no charge for the onion rings so when he came back l casually mentioned this, and his reply was l know and dont worry. anyway suffice to say his tip was just a bit extra.
On then for a tour that l had booked, behind the scenes,in saying that we did see inside one of the suites and James the guide gave us a good tour of the main decks. Nearly all the group were day visits with only a couple of us staying that night.
Carnival had one of their ships leaving that night l forget the name, a walk round the Queen Mary seaport might appear to be a depressing place but tucked away is a crew shop where the crew from visiting ships can buy their essentials, soft drinks, food, stamps, toiletries, lottery etc all a good prices (well it was to me anyway) l threw caution to the wind and bought a lottery ticket, as chance would have it, l checked it the following week in a shopping mall and it flashed up "winner" the high hopes l had of a windfall were dashed with the fact it was $2...Vegas provided the real winnings but that's another story..
Given the time l tried to see inside the old Spruce Goose building, now a Carnival checkin place, to see how it looked but the security were not of the same mindset as me. Still the Carnival ship sailed away on some NY party cruise with the noise and excitability that Carnival make when they sail away.
Back to the Queen Mary, it is l must admit strange to be onboard and realise your not sailing of anywhere and the numbers on deck all viewed the Carnival sailaway in the dark night and mist with subdued excitement. The Christmas tree on deck, was l must say a lovely tree, not overdone but trying to get a photo with the mist was just hopeless.
A visit upto the bridge to see through the mist the lights of Long Beach did give an idea of how the Atlantic must have appeared on such crossings with misty nights (not that you see city lights on the Atlantic!) there was a photo display just along from the New York Deli with a stunning set of various photos, one showing a bungee jump from obviously a crane platform looking down on QM, not for the faint hearted, and it was taken before the Submarine "thing" was in place
As always it was nice to see various people who work onboard and exchange greetings with them, Of course no visit is complete without seeing Everette the retail manager and a visit into STACKS, a really well designed logo shop with a vast range of quality gifts,merchandise and souvenirs at a price that is well within reason, and the profits and ploughed back into the QM. What self restraint l do have with souvenirs, just vanishes when l go in there. The other shop Times past does sell a different range of collectable gifts. They had a copy of the book the shipbuilder, that l donated to QM on my last visit for the archives.
Ken it was nice to speak to you! l promise you l wasn't drunk when you called.
Dinner was a lovely meal in Chelsea Chowder onboard. Iv always said it would be nice to go to Sir Winston's but for some reason l never manage it. in my mind its for special occasions, but heck to travel half way round the world, stay onboard, if that's not a special occasion, then what is.. next visit l promise.
Off then to the Observation bar for a drink, met up with a lovely couple who stay in San Diego and were here for the night, their interest was ghosts, as yet they hadn't seen anything funny, it was nice to chat to them and share QM tales. They were leaving the next morning. Told them the only time l felt a bit odd was when l did the tour last year with the swimming pool, but that could hardly be classed as a ghostly experience. We did end up going round exploring, as you do on the great ship. Ended up in the Ballroom where the dinner was being held the next night, all the tables were up and in place and the buffet area all clothed, just needed setting with the cutlery and crockery. Ended up in the kitchens of all places, vast areas but a member of staff said perhaps we shouldn't be there. so we had no choice but to leave. She seemed to think we were being chucked out. either way we left... back to the Observation bar for a few nightcaps and then in time honoured tradition a walk round the open decks before retiring, the end of 2011 was going out in style, and as l went to bed New Years Eve was well on its way..
Topic: Cabin A160 Hotel Queen Mary (Read 4340 times)
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Feb 04, 2010, 10:41 PM