May 9 - 14, Sailing the North Atlantic

This week was one of the quieter weeks of the trip. A lot like the seven day trip between Walvis Bay Namibia and the Cape Verde Islands. We took in the presentations of several guest speakers in the mornings. Lunch was in the Lido or the Britannia restaurant. A good place to meet and talk with other travelers. Dinner was in the Britannia at the early seating. The evening was spent in the theatre enjoying a number of very good shows. A couple of evenings before dinner, we attended the Captain's Cocktail Party or the World Cruise Party or the Party Party.

I spent several afternoons arranging for three of our larger bags to be sent from New York to California by DHL shipping. It sounds simple but there is a lot of paperwork to be filled out and inventories created. One afternoon was spent in the theatre with The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and their presentation of "The Bard On Board". All in celebration of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

The rest of the time was spent doing the same thing we did just before arriving at Southampton. Packing bags. Only this time, we had to pack for a flight home. I also made an early morning run to one of the shops to buy an additional suitcase for items that just would not fit in the other bags.

The night before New York was just as hectic getting the bags into the hall and making sure we kept clothes to wear off the ship.

May 8, 2017, Monday, Southampton, United Kingdom

It is a three days sail from Madeira to Southampton. That is not near enough time to pack everything into our many bags. We have been on the Queen Elizabeth for three and a half months. We have been collecting stuff, all sorts of stuff, along the way. Now we have to find a way to put all that stuff into something just so we can get off this ship and onto another ship.

Our around the world journey is a two part trip.  Three and a half months on the Queen Elizabeth, New York City to Southampton and a one week cruise on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York City. The night before we arrive in Southampton, we move most of our large packed bags into the hall passageway so the stewards and crew can move everything to the lower decks. There, everything is loaded on pallets ready to be moved onto the dock in the morning. We get up early, have breakfast in the Lido buffet and return to the cabin to finish packing. Now the hard part. We end up with about four carry-on suitcases and another four or five bags of stuff. These we had to move ourselves to the designated waiting area. After a wait of a little over an hour, our group gets the call to disembark the ship. Another bag drag through the ship and onto the pier. There we meet up with the rest of our luggage which is located in a very large hall. Actually, spread out in a very large hall.  A half hour later, I had found all the bags and we made our way through British customs and onto our bus to take us to the Queen Mary 2.

It was just a short bus ride from the Queen Elizabeth to the main terminal where the Queen Mary 2 was docked. It was about this time that I realized that I had lost track of one of our bags. Not just any old bag but the bag with my CPAP machine and the computer. We pressed on through the terminal, we had gotten a "go to the head of the line" card on the Queen Elizabeth. In less than an hour, we were through the line, had our room cards, and were walking aboard the Queen Mary 2. We dropped the bags we had with us in the cabin and I went down to the pursers desk to report the lost bag. We then went up to the Lido for lunch and to catch our breath.

We then decided that we would just wait and see what happened to the lost bag. So we went back off the ship and walked to downtown Southampton to see the sights. On the way, we saw a taxi that was not being used. We decided to take it back to the Queen Elizabeth to see if we could find the bag. The taxi took us to the pier and then waited while we went in to find thee bag. We met several very nice people who listened to our plight. At the information desk, we talked with one lady who had even gotten a call from the pursers desk of the Queen Mary 2. At that point, we realized that the situation had probably been taken care of. Took the taxi back to the center of town and found the mall in the center of town. Spent a couple hours in the mall, spent a few pounds to keep England green, and walked back to the ship.

When we arrived back at the cabin, the bags were all there including the "lost" bag. Life was good again. We got back into the usual ship board routine. We had dinner and then a show. I think we also crashed early this evening.