Day 12 at sea en-route to Hilo, Hawaii

The seas continue to be smooth and the sun hot when we opened the balcony door this morning.  I think we’re going from being relaxed to being a little lazy as we had breakfast brought to our cabin once again but it’s so nice to sit out on the balcony overlooking the ocean eating breakfast.

We found ourselves playing bowls of all things this morning.  We were on a walk around the ship up on the sports deck forward on deck 10.  There’s tennis, golf, table tennis, quoits, shuffleboard, croquet and bowls. Mrs Bouquet called out ‘I say….would you fancy a game with us’? So we did.  Actually she’s very nice but just so much like Hyacinth, and her husband didn’t say a thing….lol.  She’s been playing bowls since 1989….. Roy and I won.  I wonder if she’ll invite us to play next time she sees us.

Now it’s time for Queen Elizabeth sights:

The lady that wears two sun hats, one on top of the other. Roy thinks maybe she’s prepared just in case one blows off out on deck. J

Then there’s the lady that wears a different wig at dinner, she can be blonde, brunette, silver or dark brown, and all wigs have more hair on them than three people put together would have on their head.  Then the occasions she doesn’t wear a wig nobody recognises her and her own hair is actually quite nice.

Then there’s the lady who has had such a facelift that you feel like going up to her and stroking her head to see if she starts purring.  J

In the male department there’s been nothing outstanding except for several men who love to sit at the lunch table, which is a free sitting situation, and talk and talk about themselves and their achievements and the other 5 of us at the table just have to sit and yawn. Then when they get up to leave after lunch say..’ bye folks, it was great hearing where ya’ll from’….huh.

Oh and then there’s the couple who love to dance and dance and dance.  Even during the day they can be seen practising around the Queens room.  The trouble is she’s got two left feet that are size 10, so has he but his feet are size 12. Even the professional dancers have been giving them lessons and they still can’t pick it up. Must say at least they’re enjoying themselves and do have a laugh at themselves.

I’ve taken up Pimms again. J It’s been I don’t know how long since I enjoyed a refreshing Pimms. They serve it in a tall glass with ice and orange wedges and are delicious and are very popular. This ship has a wonderful selection of drinks and cocktails. Actually one of the Trivia questions this morning was ‘what is the base of a Pimms’… answer… Gin. Our team got it wrong, we thought it was Vodka.  I haven’t mentioned our scores in the Trivia to you of late…. Now you know why…lol. Our team mates from New York and us have a laugh at our scores each day now.  He’s retired from the NYPD and has a great sense of humour and we spend more time having a laugh than getting the question correct. 

As I type this Roy is doing the Laundry.  Strange but it appears on ships it’s the men’s job to do the laundry as very seldom do you see women in there. The trouble is the men don’t come back with all the gossip like the women do in that situation….lol.  I should take a photo; you’ll see two men standing talking whilst waiting for their washing to finish and one talking whilst ironing…. Quite an amusing site.  I might have mentioned previously but I do like the self-service Laundry on this ship, it works well and is very convenient.

Our Maître‘d looked after us well today by giving us a lovely table for two by the window at lunch time. It's nice not sitting down at a table for six looking at each other wondering if the man that just sat down is going to tell us his life story.  Must say there’s only a handful like that.  Now, back to what I was saying…lol.  We’re on rations now and only had a bowl of soup, they make delicious soups on here, and a dessert of Banana bread pudding with custard and a scoop of delicious ice-cream that is made on board. We did that today as we’re hoping to get down to the Afternoon Tea at 3.30 this afternoon. We keep missing it because we’ve always been too full from lunch to even contemplate afternoon tea.

Formal night again tonight and I must say people do dress beautifully on board, that includes the men, some have matching coloured waistcoats and bowties, and others even wear cummerbunds. Those that prefer not to dress formally can dress more casually and dine at the Buffet instead of the main dining room on Formal nights. The dress code is strict in the dining room every night which we think is a good thing.

An update on our bird that was following us, he hasn’t been seen since we sailed from Papeete so we think he’s decided to stay in there as a refugee and has enrolled in French lessons. J

 

 

Day 11 in Bora Bora Friday 01 March 2013

Well that was a bit of a late night after a great party out on deck last night.  Everyone was there and we all danced away the night to the wonderful sounds of Synergy in the balmy South Pacific air.

We awoke to sunshine this morning as we sailed through the reef into the bay at Bora Bora. Men in outrigger canoes paddled close by to say hello. After breakfast on our balcony we caught the Tender into the wharf.  The crew had five Tenders operating so there was no queuing or waiting around for your number to be called to go ashore, it was all very efficient. The trip in the Tender was no more than 5 minutes as we were positioned right in the bay.  As it was on our last visit to Bora Bora everything is terribly expensive in the few shops they have to offer.  I wonder why they don’t realise that if they offered things a little cheaper they would get a good turnover in their sales. We wondered to both the Supermarkets and noted that even French Champagne is more expensive here in a French owned country than it is for us at home. Roy wanted to buy a new Ukulele which we saw for just under US$100 yesterday, here n Bora Bora they start at US$220…..needless to say we didn’t buy one. The markets have a lot or jewellery mainly made by the local women and I managed to find two pair of lovely Tahitian pearl earrings made by the Mother of the guy who was selling them in the stall. He gets the pearls and she’s turns them into jewellery.

We just arrived back off the Tender back to the ship when there was a huge sound of thunder over this idyllic mountainous island then saw huge cracks of lightening and the rain came with drops as big as a bucket load per drop!!! Those who had ventured to the beach would have had their day ended in a hurry.

We were going to get the shuttle after lunch to Bloody Marys, the famous bar but due to the weather change decided not to.  I’ve just been talking to one of the crew members who did go there this morning.  He was saying that the cheapest drink there was US$12.00 which he thought was too expensive so decided not to have a drink.  On his way back to the ship he wanted to pick up a fridge magnet which he collects for every port he has visited.  To his horror the fridge magnet was more expensive than the drink he ‘didn’t’ have, it was US$18.00.

As I write this the weather is lifting a little so we might have some sunshine as we sail away at 5.30pm this afternoon.

This ship is such an easy ship to get round, the crew are all excellent, very friendly and always helpful. We still haven’t done everything there is to offer on board, but we’re working on it. J

Tonight we’ll enjoy dinner and the show, then straight to bed for us for an early night, and that means 11.30. Can’t believe we’re calling that early….. I won’t tell you what time we go to bed at home….lol.

Day 10 Thursday 28 February in Papeete, Tahiti

Bonjour!

Breakfast arrived right on the dot of 7.30am.  We could see the beautiful peaks and palm trees as we glided in toward the port of Papeete the capital of Tahiti. The air was warm and the sun shining so it was lovely to enjoy our breakfast out on the balcony.  As we approached Papeete boats, the tug and canoes arrived to greet us.  This is another maiden port of call for Queen Elizabeth. There were crowds on the shore taking photos of us and we were taking photos of them as we sailed in. Captain Chris Wells backed the ship into its position alongside. He mentioned in yesterday’s midday report that the ship could not fit in forward so he would be reversing in.

As we had been here many times before we chose not to venture out of town and just went for a wander.  I must say things are a little cheaper here than on our previous visits. We purchased a few things that were priced very well. The wharf is only about 50 metres from the town so it’s easy to come and go off the ship during the day.  We came back for a late lunch in the dining room and met others who had been out on tours and thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent scenery and friendliness of the locals. During lunch thunder could be heard over the mountains and a sprinkling of rain that only lasted for about 5 minutes thankfully.

A local international Tahitian dance group put on a magnificent show for us this afternoon.  They have won many titles around the world.  Everyone, including us, loved the energy and wonderful costumes and colours of Tahitian dancing. They received a standing ovation at the end of their performance from a packed Royal Court theatre.  I will try and upload a short video on here on our next port.

Just before sunset we went for another little walk around the waterfront. Can’t believe how many people are here to view the ship. Found a couple more little pieces of local jewellery made by the local women at a market stall we strolled to along the waterfront.

We’re now sitting out on our balcony enjoying a pre-dinner wine overlooking the town and the hundreds of people who’ve come down to the waterfront.  We don’t sail until 9.30pm so will have a quick dinner tonight and then up to a deck party on the aft Lido deck for our sail away with our favourite band Synergy.

Thank you the people of Papeete for a great welcome and wonderful farewell on a magical day.

Tomorrow we’ll be arriving in Bora Bora so will have breakfast on the balcony again, and enjoy the view as we enter the reef which is a fabulous sight and drop anchor in the lagoon before going ashore by Tender.

Some more photos.  This seems to only enable me to pubish a few at a time.

Day 9 at Sea - Wednesday 27 February 2013

Today is our last of five days at sea before arriving in Papeete, Tahiti tomorrow morning.  Since leaving Wellington we have travelled 2300 nautical miles. I must say the days seem to be flying by.

We were pleased with our score at Trivia this morning in the Pub, the questions were quite difficult but we managed 13 1/2.  They only gave us half a mark for our answer ‘bat’ they said we should have answered ‘fruit bat’…. Oh well… we’re not playing for the Town Hall Clock….. Our team mates from New York are lovely and we spend ages after Trivia chatting, next thing we know it’s lunch time.

The weather today is gorgeous, very warm and sunny and as Captain Chris Wells said in his midday report “the sky is decorated with the odd fluffy cloud here and there”.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Variety show in the Royal Court Theatre this evening. The entertainment on board has been excellent, and the Cunard dancers are absolutely first class.  Afterward it was off for a few dances before bed, hopefully to burn off a few calories.  So glad we don’t have a set of scales in our bathroom. J

Early to bed tonight because tomorrow we arrive early into Papeete and we want to be up early to watch our arrival. We’ve ordered breakfast to be brought to our cabin so we can enjoy it all from our balcony. Our departure from Papeete isn’t until 9.30pm so we’ve got a nice full day there.

Sending this from Papeete this morning so photos are to follow this... :)

 

Day 8 at sea our second Tuesday 26 February crossed the dateline

Bit of a sleep in this morning, late breakfast and no lunch for us today because we’re going to enjoy the traditional afternoon tea in the Queens room this afternoon. The weather is beautiful today, calm seas, warm ocean breeze and lots of sunshine. We’re feeling very tropical.

Thought I must tell you a bit about the accommodation on board.  We are extremely happy with our cabin; we would not hesitate to book it again.  There is plenty of cupboards and draw space; we even have two large draws under the end of the bed. Our cabin has a glass fronted balcony; we are toward the aft of the ship on deck 4. The balconies have an opening door not sliding door. If you book a forward balcony from 4001 – 4042 you would get a metal closed in balcony, so you would only see the view if you were standing up on the balcony.  This is necessary for the forward cabins due to certain weather affecting the forward area of the ship. 

Our bathroom is compact but is well appointed with a high pressure shower.  I have found that there isn’t enough room on the shelving in the shower itself so I bought one of those suction containers and it now holds the shampoo and conditioner nicely.

The safe in our cabin is very large with enough room for a laptop and/or iPad plus the normal bits and pieces.  You could even put a handbag in there. The refrigerator is a good size and works very well keeping everything well chilled. I read someone’s review saying that there is no control for the temperature in the cabin…..that isn’t correct… there is a temperature control and it works very well to keep the cabin at the temperature you prefer. Room service is complimentary up until midnight then there is a minimal charge between that time and 6.00am.

This ship does not have an interactive TV to access your account information. The girls reading this will be pleased because they can now happily shop without wondering if dear husband isn’t lying on the bed with the ‘Account page’ up on the TV screen watching what you spend….lol.

Love the Promenade deck.  We walked right around this morning. It even gives you a view right over and down the back of the ship from Deck 3.  I will take a pic next time we do that walk. Would love to be putting photos up on here whilst at sea but it is way too slow to upload a photo.  The internet itself hasn’t been too slow as long as I pick my time to go online.

We do like the radio at sea program they have on board every afternoon from 5.00pm, called Live@five. They take requests and have competitions for all guests on board. There have been some great requests of all types of music from the decades. Perfect to put in a request to Mark, turn the TV up loud, sit out on the balcony listening to our requested song watching the sun set over the ocean with a nice glass of Sav Blanc in hand before getting ready to go down for another pre-dinner drink and dance then off to the restaurant at 8.30pm.

No housework, no driving, no supermarket shopping, no cooking, no cleaning, no making the bed...ah bliss… J Can you tell I’m feeling very relaxed and in holiday mode now… J

I picked up the 2014 brochures today and see that Cunard have some great itineraries for next year from Australia and New Zealand for all three Cunard ships so there’s a good choice of both itinerary and the three ships. I’m beginning to sound like a Travel Agent now….lol.

P.S. What a surprise, I’ve won todays competition on Live@five and now have a nice Cunard bag and some other goodies. J