Since
passing Gibraltar and entering the North Atlantic Ocean, we rounded the
southwest tip of Portugal at Cabo Sao Vincente, and then sailed parallel to the
coast of Portugal. From there we joined the Traffic Routing Scheme off the
coast of Cape Finisterre at the tip of Spain and entered the Bay of Biscay. It
was in the Bay of Biscay where we experienced rough seas at the beginning of
our journey. Surprisingly, this time the bay, notorious for rough
seas, was remarkably smooth. We were thankful that we wouldn’t be beginning and
ending our journey seasick.
As
I mentioned before, many passengers spent their final days at sea touring the
ship. The entertainment staff helped with that by scheduling a tour of the
ship’s galley, a virtual tour of the bridge, and an interview and Q&A with
Captain Aseem Hashmi. It was the passengers’ opportunity to see many of the
behind-the-scenes activities. Captain Hashmi has a terrific sense of humor and
is quite entertaining. He was frequently seen walking about the ship, dining in the Lido, and stopping to chat with passengers.
It
was in those final days at sea that we visited the lounges for final chats with
friends and to exchange last thoughts about our journey. Ancient sailors
entertained each other during long days at sea by telling stories. Things
haven’t changed. People love to tell stories of things that happened to them
and others onboard ship.
Some
of the stories are the same you hear on every voyage, like the story of the two
couples put off the ship for fighting in the laundry room. How true they are is
anybody’s guess. But you can be sure that the ship’s officers will take action
when it’s needed. On a previous voyage, we actually saw a man put off the ship on
Easter Island for drunkenness and inappropriate behavior. That passenger’s
behavior forfeited him the rest of his journey and cost him a lot of money to
get home from such a remote place.
Some
passengers get in trouble not because of their actions but those of family
members. One passenger told us the story of being awoken at 3:00 a.m. by an officer
on the bridge paging a passenger. Apparently, when the parents of a young man
didn’t find him in his cabin late at night, they feared the worst and reported
him missing. After the ship’s crew did a search of the ship and didn’t find
him, they resorted to paging him—twice, awakening everyone on the ship. He
sheepishly reported in and had to explain to his parents and the captain that
he had been in the cabin of a young woman. The storyteller said that the
parents had been fined $2,000 for disrupting the ship.
News
always circulated about the ship quickly. During our voyage, we heard of passengers
unexpectedly leaving the ship for many reasons: emergencies at home, medical
treatment for conditions that required hospitalization, disagreements with
spouses, etc. Given the number of passengers and crew on the ship and the age
of many of the passengers, it wasn’t unusual to occasionally see an ambulance
waiting at the pier when we docked. We sadly waved farewell to a couple that
left the ship when the husband developed double pneumonia and required
hospitalization. It’s situations like this when you are glad (or wish) you had
taken out travel insurance.
And
depending on the location of the ship, a passenger may need urgent medical care
before the ship arrives at the next port. While we were sailing near the QM2,
we heard that a passenger had been taken off the QM2 by helicopter.
Long
voyages can test even the best relationships. When someone asked a couple
taking the full world voyage how they managed to get along living in a small
cabin for so long, the husband joked that they only spoke to each other on
alternate days. Sometimes no method worked. One passenger explained that his
wife got off the ship and flew home because she was homesick.
It
makes you wonder whether people leaving the ship unexpectedly accounted for the
large amounts of laundry left in the launderettes. Or could it be that in their
rush to pack at the end of a segment some passengers simply forgot they had
left wet laundry in the launderette? Imagine unpacking at home and realizing
that you left all your underwear behind on the ship.
Launderette
Given the small confines of the Launderette, the heat, and the noise, it isn't surprising that disagreements occur. If surveyed, I would imagine that a large portion of passengers would request larger laundry facilities and more than three washers and dryers on each deck.
Packing
on the final days of the voyage is always a chore. It sadly marks the end of
the journey and presents the challenge of fitting everything in a few pieces of
luggage, while leaving out what you will need when the ship arrives in port.
Many times we’ve heard the story of passengers who packed everything, put their
luggage in the corridor at the prescribed time, and discovered the next morning
that they hadn’t anything but their night clothes (if even that) to wear off
the ship. Imagine having to disembark wearing only the bathrobe provided by the
ship.
On
one voyage when my mother put her luggage out in the corridor, the door shut
behind her, leaving her standing in the corridor in her nightgown. Fortunately,
we were in the cabin next door and were able to call for the purser’s office to
unlock the door. One unfortunate woman tripped in her room, hitting her head. Another
passenger found her dazed and standing in an elevator in her underwear. Life on
a cruise ship is never without surprises.
On
one of our last evenings on the ship, we attended a final cocktail party for
the world voyage passengers. It was a festive occasion, but also a sad one
since we said goodbye to passengers who had become good friends.
World
Voyage Passenger Farewell Cocktail Party
That
evening also marked our last formal dinner in the Britannia Dining Room.
Kumar
and Muba – Our Excellent Waiters
Ensuring
that we had packed everything and laid
out clothes and shoes for our arrival in Southampton, we turned in for our last
night onboard the Queen Elizabeth.
Loved traveling this voyage with you and your husband! Such great stories in this post. Susan
ReplyDeleteThank you again for this blog. I learned so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you C Roberts, for your kind comments and for following my blog. As a final entry, I plan to include some lessons learned, or things that we wish we had known or done. So stay tuned.
ReplyDelete