Queen Mary Day 2

We wanted to begin by noting that we have now had 100,000 visits to our Blog which is around double what we had at this point last year.  This includes those visiting for the first time and those who login in as part of different sessions with the latter being counted multiple times.

In about a week we will post a summary of our experience on board the Crystal Serenity.  It was our best experience yet and that says a lot because we have thoroughly enjoyed each and every adventure.

We wanted to continue from where we left off last evening. 

The fireworks lasted for about twenty minutes and were shot off from a barge that offered nice views from all three of the Queens Ships.  Recorded music was being played throughout the fireworks display.  Many passengers were outside as we were from the time the QM2 left port through at least the end of the fireworks.  Our room faces the port side and the action was taking place on the starboard side so we went to deck 7 which is very much like the promenade deck on the Serenity with an outside walking/running deck as this was recommended to us by the staff at the Queen’s Grill Lounge for excellent viewing and they were correct.

We wanted to note what can go terribly wrong in the matter of seconds.  As several of us were walking back inside, a woman, who was a three or so people in front of us tripped as she entered the entrance into the ship from one of the side doors and landed right on her face.  She was quickly given assistance by a couple of members of the crew and we were all asked to make our way into the ship by another entrance.  Hopefully, she will be fine but it just shows how quickly an accident can occur whether on is on land or at sea.

When we arrived back to our room we read through the daily program, which was on our bed called the Daily Programme.  LOL. This one will be an easy one to remember. We also set the clock back for the first of several times on this voyage.

The program included information for today such as activities and also the times when the various public rooms on board the ship are open.  Like most cruise lines, Keith could not exercise, as the fitness center is not open 24 hours a day so he changed things up a bit.   When he woke up, he read and wrote in our room.  There are two desks in our room and Keith is using the one that is more of a makeup desk (Anne Marie will use this one to put her makeup on and dry her hair as well) but its advantage is that the other desk is not closed off from the bedroom.  This one is however with a curtain that divides that area, the closet and the bathroom from the bedroom so it allowed Keith to read and write without disturbing Anne Marie. 

We found a place which is called the Kings Court Buffet located two decks from where our room is that is open at 4:00 AM and serving coffee at that time so Keith decided to have coffee there.  The other advantage of this is that due to a weak signal we can’t access the internet from the desk that Keith is using and the best signal from inside the room came by opening up the door to the room a crack.  So, to not disturb Anne Marie, Keith took the computer to the King’s Court.  We waned to note that on our walk last night we found the internet room and the person who works there had told us that the signal strength is not good in the rooms.  He said the computer might work there but he agreed with Keith that we might have to open the door ajar but other devices would likely not work in the room such as an iPad or other tablet or an iPhone or similar device so we didn’t even bother to try the iPad from that room.

There are different parts to the King’s Court so it took Keith an extra minute to locate it, but the good news is he did and he didn’t get lost nor need a map.  LOL.

When Keith finished up at the Kings Court he came back to the room and then Anne Marie got up and we went on a walk around the ship for our morning walk together.  

We walked the ship for about 75 minutes before breakfast.  We walked each and every deck and found areas of the ship that we had not seen when we walked around last evening.  These are photos of the Casino and one of the Main Lobby Area.

We had breakfast in the Queens Grill and were taken care of by our waitress and one of her assistants. We had a simple breakfast of cereal and a banana and coffee.

Afterwards, we stopped by the spa where Anne Marie made an appointment for a treatment for tomorrow.  Originally, we were going to go to the Planetarium this afternoon at 2:00 PM but realized we had a get together at the same time so we plan to do this tomorrow.

Keith worked out at the Fitness Center for about an hour on two different machines while Anne Marie walked several of the decks while she listened to one of her audio books.

We had lunch at the Queens Grill.

We both began our meal with Salads and then for our entrée Anne Marie had a Shredded Beef Sandwich and Keith had a Canyon Ranch Spa Selection, which was a Sautéed Oriental Duck Breast.  We each had a fresh fruit plate.  The dining room was fairly quiet so we assume some people were eating in other areas such as the buffet.  We enjoyed the table service. 

This is a photo of the fruit plate.

Shortly after lunch we went to the Planetarium.  We got tickets ahead of time at the Concierge Desk on our floor.  The show was close to 25 hours and it was narrated by Harrison Ford.

From there we went to a Cruise Critic get together.  There was a nice turnout but the sea swells had increased and the location of the get together was at a lounge that was as forward as you could be on the ship so we did not stay too long as we could feel quite a bit movement of the ship.

This evening we will be attending a reception with the Captain and some of his officers at the Queens Room before dinner.

Keith & Anne Marie