Setting Sail - January 10, 2016

After waiting for months, we could hardly believe the day we would begin our world voyage had finally arrived. We woke to brilliant sunshine, which was a nice change from the rain that greeted us on our arrival in England and stayed with us until this morning. We felt it was a good omen.

To kill time before we could board the ship, we walked the short distance to the port to see where the QM2, the QV, and the QE were berthed. (I’ve learned that you only say anchored if a ship has left port and the anchor is dropped at sea to keep the ship in one place. Otherwise, the ship is berthed.)

During our walk we met a couple who told us they were sailing on the QM2 that day to NYC and flying back to England. We marveled at their desire to cross the North Atlantic in January—definitely not a time for smooth sailing.

Back at our hotel, we gathered our numerous cases and waited in the lobby for the taxi that would take us to the ship. Thankfully, it was right on time. As we turned onto the road that led to the port, we sighed when we saw the long line of cars in front of us. The driver said not to worry—the cars were heading to Ikea. Apparently, that was where everyone in Southampton went on Sundays. We took a quick left and drove directly up to the Queen Elizabeth without further delay.

Workers whisked our luggage away and we were soon standing in front of a woman who examined our documents, took our pictures, handed us our ID cards, and wished us a happy voyage. It all went that quickly. We had gone from the hotel to actually walking up the gangplank of the ship in less than 30 minutes. Now if the rest of the trip can go this smoothly.

Stepping through the ship entrance, we walked into a lobby filled with beautiful artwork. We didn’t have a chance to observe much of it before white-gloved attendants greeted us and pointed to the elevators. We descended to Deck 5 and quickly found the cabin that would be our home for the next 121 days.

The cabin is quite spacious and tastefully decorated in cream, black, and gold. In addition to a king bed, we have a two-seater sofa, a desk, two large closets, a small but adequate bathroom, and a big screen TV. Home sweet home. A large vase of lilies and a bottle of champagne also greeted us.

 

Exploring further, we looked out through the doors to our balcony to discover that it was now pouring rain outside. It continued to rain for several hours. We couldn’t believe how lucky we were to have the bit of sunshine when we did. 

Visions of lying on a deckchair on our balcony faded quickly when we saw that the balcony is only wide enough for two upright chairs and a small coffee table. If I want to lounge on the balcony, I’ll have to put my feet on the coffee table. Still, we count ourselves lucky to have a balcony.

Soon after arriving in our cabin, Kenneth, our cabin attendant greeted us and asked if there was anything he could do for us. He looked almost disappointed when we said we didn’t need anything at the moment. From the ambience of the ship, staff members available at ever turning, and a personal cabin attendant, we feel as though we have entered the world of Downton Abbey. We will have to work hard not to become accustomed to this lifestyle. But we sure will enjoy it in the meantime.

After a lovely buffet lunch in the Lido, we returned to our cabin and found our luggage had arrived. We unpacked, finding that we barely had enough storage space. John put our empty bags under the bed and discovered two large drawers at the end of the bed, behind the dust ruffle. If he hadn’t looked under the bed, we would never have found them. We wondered how many people on the ship would complete the voyage without knowing they were there. It also made us wonder how many other ships we had been on that had features that we hadn’t discovered. Hmm. Now I feel compelled to wander the ship asking everyone we pass, “Did you find the secret drawers?”

It didn’t take long for the shipboard activities to start. In the Queen’ Room, the Royal Artillery Band marched and played wonderful traditional melodies such as “Rule Britannia” and “Land of Hope and Glory.” It was quite moving and a bit like the Last Night of the Proms with everyone waving British flags. John was lamenting the fact that with three ships leaving today that the Royal Marines Band was probably on the QM2.

 

Later, we attended a welcome reception for passengers going on the complete world voyage. Many of the passengers will be on the ship for different segments of the voyage. The first segment ends in Cape Town, the second in Sydney, etc. We met some very nice people at the reception. However, with the ship being so big, we may never cross paths again.

We soon felt the ship moving. We went up to the top deck to enjoy the sail away celebrations. It is quite an event in any port when all three of the queens sail at one time, and the send-off in their homeport is always exciting. The QE was the first ship to pull out and we received a warm send-off in the form of fireworks. As we passed the QV, she sounded her distinctive horn in salute of the QE. We were just under the funnel where the QE horn is located, so when the QE sounded her horn in response, it was loud enough shake the fillings from your teeth.  The process happened again when we passed the QM.

We were on our way!!