Blog to Hawaii

On the way to Honolulu: We left Long Beach Tuesday evening with a US Coast Guard escort out of the harbor. Let me explore the ship a bit with you and catch up on the blog. Seeing that this is Super Bowl week imagine if you received the ball in the end zone and ran the 100 yards to the other end zone then to do it again and then to do it a third time and that is the approximated distance of the Queen Victoria from bow to stern. Actually the ship is still a bit longer. There are three banks of elevators of four each at the front, rear and middle of the ship. There are 10 stories of public levels. Sandy and I are on the sixth floor cabin 6042. The elevators closest to us will take us to the spa work out area on the 9th level or down to deck A for the lower section of the Royal Theatre. The work out area has lots of treadmills and other machines plus weights, mats, balls and just about anything you can think of for a good work out. There are constant classes of dance aerobics or spinning or steps to fulfill the need of any exerciser. The treadmills face the large floor to ceiling windows in the front of the ship giving the widest possible view of the ocean horizon and surroundings. Sandy and I have been pretty good about working out so far. This is also where the beauty salon, massages, steam rooms are located. Above the spa work out area on the 10th level is a night club with panoramic views all around with a roped off section just for round the world travelers. There is also a dance club that goes till all hours of the morning.
Back to the 9th level again where there are two pools located one on each end of the ship with the Lido restaurant in the middle. The hours of the Lido are: Continental breakfast from 4AM to 6:30AM, Breakfast from 6:30 to 11:30AM, Lunch 11:30 to 3:00PM, Afternoon snack 3:00PM to 6:00PM, Lido Grill Dinner Buffet 6:00PM to 11PM, Late snack from 11PM to 4:00AM. There you have it round the clock eating! They make a great individual pizza for you and they have round the clock chocolate and vanilla ice cream machines with cones available anytime you want.
There are many, many grills, bars and restaurants available throughout the ship. So let’s take the elevator to the second floor. As we are towards the front of the ship when we get off the elevator we will walk towards the rear section where along the way we stop first in the “hanging and dangling” section as I have called it. This is the casino with lots of bings, pings, clangs and musical chaos going on all the time. The hanging and dangling is the smoke that hangs in the air (One of the only places on board ship where smoking is allowed) and the dangling is the butts extending from the lips of the few gamblers at the machines. Yup that’s right, only a few people are there at any given time because our Brit hosts haven’t caught on to the no smoking message and almost all non smokers seem to avoid the place like the plague. Right beside the casino is the Golden Lion Pub and you can have a lunch of fish and chips or a burger. Tell what you want, they bring it and there is no charge as all has been paid in the price of the cruise. Drinks are not covered. Moving along you pass through wonderful hallways that feature maritime exhibits (the largest floating museum) more bars and then the glorious Queens room. Here is where the balls are, the dances are, along with the Captains receptions and dance lessons and BINGO plus gathering for shore excursions. As a matter of fact when we take this walk you can start with the sound of the slot machines then move to a beautiful harp being played, then music for country line dancing or rhumbas or tangoes, then a 4 piece chamber orchestra, a pianist or a full big band. All of this as we are just strolling on level two and all going on at the same time. We then approach the Britannia Restaurant where we dine at night at the 6:30 seating. The Brittania is a two story restaurant and the Queens room is two stories. There is also a two story library. We have had a change in Los Angeles of our dinner companions and maybe not for the better but we shall see. We still have (I told you I would get back to them) Mary Jones from Melbourne Australia. Mary is 93 years old! She flirts she charms and she is not the least bit shy taking on the powers to be on the ship so that she can watch her beloved Australia Open. She is all of 5”2 with eyes of blue has a keen interest in all things. She has outlasted two husbands both named Keith. One of them was high up in the Education system/department of Australia. Next is Vernon from Cardiff, Wales. Born in Ireland and migrated to Wales, separated from brothers and sisters at an early age and reconciled with them in adulthood but it’s not a close connection. Never married he nonetheless escorts a lively lady and the two of them are seen around the ship together. (In LA he arranged for her to join our table and she seems most charming and is from West Virginia close to the Greenbrier. Her name is Nellie). Vernon is 83 years old and I won’t guess about Nellie. Next is Derrick and Pat from England, near Liverpool. Derrick is our age and unfortunately underwent some serious surgery before the cruise and is having a bit of a mood swing problem. Derrick and Pat have moved to a table for two and all of the rest of us miss them. Next comes Harry and Ivy. Harry had a terrible car accident 11 years ago and is incapable of carrying on a conversation but understands all that is said. He is an electrical engineer and reading his facial reactions is a gift that we are all coming by and his smile is as broad as can be. Ivy is a saint and helps him in and out of his wheelchair and reads him the menu and interprets his wishes and needs. She is also a bit of a pistol and lots of fun. Harry and Ivy are our age too. Last for now is a treasure of a new friend. Her name is Nancy and she is from Bethesda probably less than a couple of miles from our home. She is well traveled and has a wonderful sense of humor. She sings “I’m just wild about Harry” to Harry and it always brings that huge smile to his face. She loves jewelry and loves to buy it so she and Sandy have bonded and are planning a few expeditions together. Finally, the waiter whose name is Sodep is from India and he keeps us all very contented indeed. He is very young and quite handsome and a favorite of the ladies at the table.
PS: I read this to Sandy and she wanted all to know that we are working out hard at the spa. Tis true!
Last but certainly not least for this tour is the Royal Court Theatre: At our end of the ship is a three story full theatre with orchestra, loge and box seating. Every night there is a performance of song, dance , comedy (including a ventriloquist) or a production including all of the above. The dance troupe is fabulous and performs everything from ballet to tap including Irish step dancing (am I in heaven or what?) and they perform a great imitation of “Riverdance”. The Court singers do good to better but never reach best and all the other performers come in and out at the ports so that there is always fresh talent. The sets, staging and costumes are spectacular for the most part and its easy to forget that you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean. The shows are all backed up with a wonderful band/orchestra (depending upon the show) and all in all it becomes a wonderful experience.

Well tomorrow Hawaii and I’ll continue the blog next week. Can you believe it’s been 3 weeks?
PS: A fellow passenger was commenting that if you go to cunard.com you can click on to the world tour and see where the ship is and there is a live-cam. If you are so inclined.