QUEEN MARY 2 - DAY 6

We wanted to mention that in a few days we will be posting a summary highlighting the wonderful time we had as we sailed the Crystal Serenity for 120+ days.

Once again we dined at the Queens Grill last evening.  On occasion during our posts, we have misstated  the name of the Restaurant by accidentally saying Princess Grill, when we should have said Queens Grill.  Sorry for any confusion.

Keith began his meal with Caviar which he had pre-ordered with the Maître d’ the night before.  Anne Marie had Shrimp Cocktail which is available each evening on the expanded dinner menu.

For our next course we each had Mixed Green Salad and Goat’s Cheese Toast, which was also accompanied with a Cucumber.

Similar to the Beef Wellington which we had the other evening as well as the Taste of India Entrée which Keith had the previous evening, there are four entrees which can be ordered in advance by lunch.  The night before when the Maître came by our table to see if we wanted anything special for this evening we ordered the Roast Duck a L’Orange for Keith (half duck for one person).  As Anne Marie can’t eat anything with Oranges and Duck is not something she likes, the Maître said he could make Anne Marie a Pasta and Lobster, Scallop and Clam dish and she said “sold”.  LOL, but she was very happy with this recommendation. Keith had some of the pasta as well and it was much more than the two of us could eat.

We also each had a low sugar Cheese Cake dessert.

Anne Marie's Shrimp Appetizer - Rather than putting the sauce on top or on the side they placed it below the shrimp which was a nice way to serve it.

After a nice meal like that, we know we need to do plenty of walking.

We slept very well last evening.  The seas looked and felt calmer and even at dinner the sun came out for a little while which it has rarely done on this sailing.   Of course, this is typical of the Atlantic Ocean.

Keith was up first and took the computer to the buffet area of the ship a couple of decks below our room where he had coffee while he read and wrote.  He also has the iPad so he continued reading one of his books that he has on the iPad with the Kindle App.

As we have done each morning, we walked the ship before breakfast for about an hour.  From time to time we stop to read some of the items that are on the walls in certain areas of the ship which tell the history of the QM2 and of Cunard.  We still have not walked outside because for us it seems much too cold although you will see people walking outside looking wind blown.

We enjoyed breakfast in the Queens Grill.  This morning was our treat as Anne Marie had her favorite which is Eggs Benedict and Keith had a Bagel with Cream Cheese and Lox (smoked salmon).  Other than oatmeal and or cereal this is the first time we had another type of food for breakfast.  We will go back to cereal for the final two mornings of the crossing.

Anne Marie walked for another hour while Keith worked out in the Fitness Center for an hour.  While Anne Marie was walking she had seen some shirts on sale so we took a look at them after we worked out and we each purchased a commemorative shirt from this crossing.

There were several activities on the schedule today, including three lectures.  The highlight for us was the one talk given by Dr. Stephen Payne who was the architect for the Queen Mary 2.  He explained many of the approaches to the design and why certain decisions were made.

We had lunch at the Queens Grill.  We each had a salad.  Anne Marie had the salad that was on the menu and added some meat to it that was featured on the sandwich of the day while Keith had a larger size of the salad entrée from the luncheon menu.

We went to the Planetarium for the second time of this voyage and saw the program titled Passport to the Universe.  Tom Hanks narrated this one and like the first one that was narrated by Harrison Ford we found both programs to be quite interesting.

We also walked again in the afternoon and packed the majority of items, other than those items we will need from now until the time we disembark the ship this Friday morning.

This evening is the third and final formal evening of the crossing.  In the past, there would be five formal nights and two informal nights and now that has changed with three formal nights and four informal night reflecting changes in dress on land. 

We will post all about this tomorrow.

Keith & Anne Marie

QUEEN MARY 2 - DAY 5

Before dinner last evening, we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink in our room. 

We continued to have our meals in the Queens Grill.

We began our meal with soup and had the Consommé Madrilene.

For our second course we each had a salad, which included crisp romaine lettuce, avocado and citrus fruit.

Anne Marie had onE of the entrees, which is offered each and every evening, which was Sautéed Shrimp with Ouzo which was served with Spinach and Feta Chees Pilaf Rice with Toasted Pine Nut.

Keith had the Taste of India.  This entrée needed to be ordered by lunchtime and while it is offered each evening what varies is what type of specialty curry is made. For example, one night might be lamb, another night beef and still another night seafood.  Keith’s entrée featured a fish.  It was served with Gobi Mutter, Pilaf Saffron, Basmati Rice along with various Condiments.

We also had the Medley of Steamed Vegetables.

For dessert, Keith had the Canyon Ranch Mexican Chocolate Banana Cake and Anne Marie had the Low Sugar Black Forest Cake with Cherry Compote.

Once again, we slept well last evening.  The seas were relatively calm.  We didn't have to set the clocks back an hour but we believe we will have to do this two more times before we arrive to New York City this Friday.

Keith was up early and read and wrote and enjoyed coffee.

After Anne Marie woke up, we took a one hour walk around inside the ship.  For us it is much too cold to walk outside particularly so early in the morning.  We have seen people walking outside all bundled up but it just looks way to cold for us.

We continued to have all of our meals in the Princess Grill as we had breakfast there in the morning.  Our waitress has picked up on our routine at each meal and once again knew to pre-order us the type of cereal we enjoy, a banana for each of us and stewed prunes for Keith.  We enjoyed a nice quiet breakfast and after we freshened up we enjoyed the morning activities.

As we did yesterday, Anne Marie walked for awhile inside the ship  while listening to a new audio book on her iPhone as she just finished another book yesterday afternoon.  Keith went to the Fitness Center and worked out while he watched one of the United States based cable news networks.

Afterwards, we attended two programs.   The first was a lecture given by Historian Dr. Stephen Payne about Cunard’s first Atlantic Queens; Queen Mary (1936) and Queen Elizabeth (1940) with the rationale behind replacing three transatlantic liners with two new superliners in the 1930’s.

Following this talk we stayed for an interview along with a question and answer session with former Captain o of the Queen Mary 2, Commodore Worwick.

We enjoyed both the lecture and also the Q&A session.  Both of these sessions covered a lot of history.  Tomorrow’s talk by Dr. Stephen Payne will be about the QM2.  We had met Dr Payne at the Captain's Reception the other evening.

A short while after the programs ended, we had lunch at the Queens Grill.

We had pre-ordered a salad entree with our waitress in the morning.

It was foggy in the afternoon as the Captain had forecasted during his noon talk from the bridge.  Overall, seas have been relatively calm.

In the afternoon, we walked for about one hour on the inside of the ship as we have been doing each afternoon.

This evening we will be dining at the Princess Grill and we had each pre-ordered our entrees with the Maitre d'.

Keith & Anne Marie

QUEEN MARY 2 - DAY 4

Last night we had a pre-dinner drink before dinner.  It was the second consecutive formal night of this sailing.  We think the reason for two consecutive formal nights is because on the first of the two consecutive nights there was a Captain’s Reception for those who dine at the Queens and Princess Grill restaurants and last evening the reception was for those who dine in the Britannia Restaurant. 

On this sailing there will be three formal nights and four informal nights.  This reflects a change that was made in the past year to the evening attire whereas in the past this sailing would have had five formal and two informal nights.  

We have had drinks here on two times; the night of embarkation and last night.  The lounge is located right across from where we dine, is relatively quiet and just a nice place to enjoy a pre-dinner drink.  There are more lounges on the QM2 than we can ever remember which we found as we have walked the ship.  They range from lounges that just differ in terms of size and design as well as a Champagne Lounge and a sports bar type of lounge which also at least for lunch featured food and might also serve food other times of the day.

Afterwards, we had dinner in the Queens Grill.  We had pre-ordered both our salad and our main entrée, Beef Wellington,  with the Maitre d’ last evening.

We began our meal with Onion Soup.

Our next course was the Caesar Salad which we pre-ordered.

Our next course was the Beef Wellington. We thought the crust was quite tasty and unique from what we have had in the past, but the beef was on the tougher side.  Nevertheless, we were pleased with our choice.  The waitress came around with different sides so we had mushrooms (spinach for Keith), carrots, broccolie and asparagus. Keith also had the mustard and horseradish and this is a photo of his dinner plate.

This was Anne Marie's Dinner Plate.

Keith had fruit for dessert and Anne Marie had the Low Sugar Chocolate Fudge Brownie with Vanilla Sauce which she also shared with Keith.

We received a commemorative menu at dinner which also included a some pages on the history of QM2.

Good news again.  When we returned back to our room, we set the clocks back an additional hour.  This is the advantage of sailing from West to East.

Also, when we arrived back to our room, we received a table top book about the first ten years of the Queen Mary 2.

We enjoyed breakfast in the Queens Grill.  Our waitress has quickly learned our preferences so she had our items all prepped and that included cereal, bananas and stewed prunes for Keith.  She remembered that we both prefer coffee as well.  Before we left, we looked over the lunch menu and we pre-ordered a nice salad entrée.

After breakfast, Anne Marie walked for close to one hour around two of the decks as she listened to an audio book on her iPhone.  Keith went to the Fitness Center where he worked out for an hour and watched one of the United States based news stations.

We then attended two consecutive lectures.  The first one was about a famous shoe company that many of us have heard of and likely have owned some of their shoes and that was about the history of Clarks.  He covered their good days and the time they went into bankruptcy and the wise decisions that were made to get the company out of bankruptcy.

The next lecture was about packets, clippers and steamers and focused on the companies that competed for domination of the North Atlantic seaway between North America and Europe. 

Both lecturers were quite interesting as was the topics they covered.

A short while later we had lunch at the Queens Grill.  We each had the salad entrees we had ordered.  We had the salad the way we requested it with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushroom and carrots and also we had shrimp which had been featured on one of the salad entrees added to the salad.  We both had fruit plates as well.

After lunch, we walked around the ship for about ninety minutes.  We stopped by to watch a portion of a show that was being shown in the theatre.

Although it was more overcast in the afternoon, the seas were relatively calm.

This evening we will be back in the Queens Grill for dinner.  There are some a few entrees like the one we had last night that are offered for dinner but just need to be ordered by lunch.  Keith ordered one called the Taste Of India.  We will share more about this when we post tomorrow.

Keith & Anne Marie