Embarkation Day - Queen Mary 2 - Day 1

We left the hotel at 9:00 AM by private vehicle for our drive to Southampton.  We arrived to the town at around 10:10 AM.  We had been alerted that due to construction within the city and also with three Cunard Ships in port along with two other cruise ships that as they say the last mile or two would take quite awhile to navigate and that proved to be quite true, as we arrived to port at around 11:00 AM.  A porter took our checked luggage and we made our way into the terminal where we were seated in one of the priority areas.  At around 11:30 AM we were called to check in and then after receiving our card we made our way to another area where we were asked to seat until a few minutes after Noon when we were in the first group to board.    Normally we would have boarded earlier but we were told the slight delay was because Prince Phillip was on board, as this is the 10^th Anniversary for Queen Mary 2.

After having our photo taken we boarded the QM2.  The interior of the area that we entered was very impressive.  We then made our way to our suite, which was ready for our arrival. The decks are quite long which we expected.  We unpacked our carry on and we explored a few areas of the ship.  We are used to eating lunch at Noon so we did stop by the Queens Grill but learned that it would open at 1:00 PM so we made our way back to our room and a short while later we met our butler. 

At 1:00 PM we went to the Queens Grill for lunch and we were seated at our assigned table, which is our table for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  We were pleased with the table location and we met our Waitress and the colleague that assists here.  At dinner there will be a second colleague to assist her.  We each had a salad and Anne Marie had a club sandwich and Keith had a healthy entrée, which was Trout.  We also spoke with the sommelier and looked over the wine list so we could be prepared for dinner.  Service was professional and the food was good.

As we walked back to our room we spotted two of our three suitcases in a cart by the stairwell and we found a member of the staff who not only brought the two suitcases to our room but also based on our description found the third one.  By 3:00 PM we were all settled.

Tried to sign up for internet, but evidently account information is not loaded into the system until around the time of the sail away later in the evening. 

We attended the lifeboat drill at 4:30 PM, which concluded around 5:00 PM, and then we showered for dinner.  From what we could tell everyone went to the same deck but to his or her respective areas.

Before dinner, we went to the Princess/Queens Grill Lounge for a glass of wine.  Afterwards, we went to the dining room for dinner.  Our waiter was assisted by two other waiters.  She walked us through the menu noting the specials and as well as items that are available on a regular basis.

We both had chicken noodle soup, followed by salads, and then for our entrée Anne Marie had Shrimp and Keith had cod.  We also had some steamed vegetables.  The Sommelier was helpful in the selection of wine.  All in all it was a very nice meal and the service was quite good and it was nice and quiet.

After dinner we explored the ship for about one hour which gave us a chance to not only walk off the meal but to also get a nice tour of the ship.  It is quite a large ship but we are beginning to get used to it. Hopefully, by the time we get off the ship we will know most of our way around it without getting lost.  LOL

We stayed up for the sail away and we passed the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Victoria and then as we sailed out there was a massive fireworks display.

 All in all it was a fun day.

Keith