At Sea & Port Everglades January 20-21

All I can say is that the internet is miserably slow, there are a lot of people wanting to use it and then my learning curve on what is the best way to do the blog without using up all my internet time in one session is going to prevent me from making daily updates to this blog.….just wanting to manage expectations.  We aren’t sure about this satellite internet….maybe they are trying to connect with Sputnik?!  We haven’t had connectivity since noon today.

Yesterday, continued sailing along the coastline of the USA to Florida on very calm seas.  The ship stays far enough away from land to let you believe you are far out at sea.  The body of water alongside the coast of the Carolina’s is called the Sargasso Sea.  There is sea grass floating on top of the water.  Also, the Gulf Stream current meets the Atlantic Ocean while heading south and the Gulf Stream is heading north, noticeably slowing down the ship.

Today the ship pulled into Port Everglades (by Ft. Lauderdale, FL) early morning along with at least 7 Cruise ships and several container ships.  The announcement this morning mentions that this is a major fueling stop….must be why so many ships are here for the day.

This is not a new port to us so we are just staying on board, enjoying the ship with fewer people.  And you can watch the crew doing maintenance everywhere.  A server at lunch tells us that the Oasis of the Seas (docked next to us) is the largest cruise ship at sea with 6,000 passengers.  The Queen Elizabeth is just over 2,000 passengers.    

We have met passengers on this ship from all over and traveling to all over the world.  There are people who actually boarded in Hamburg and are disembarking in Florida.  There are others who are getting off in San Francisco; some will be on the Queen Elizabeth until Sydney and then change to the Queen Mary 2 to travel to Japan and others who will get on in Florida, San Francisco and Sydney.  For some people this is their second or more World Cruise. What way to travel without flying!

There are plenty of activities onboard the ship to keep you busy all day if you choose: classes and lectures, music and games, entertainment and casino, exercise or sleep.  With the weather warming up since leaving NYC, walking the promenade deck is an option or even sleeping in a deck chair.  Activities for us include:  exercising in the gym, classical music concert, evening shows and a lecture on Captain Morgan and the Battle for the Caribbean (avast!).  The flutist on board is absolutely outstanding - Gillian Poznansky – she’s accompanied by Mark Tanner on piano.  The lecturer, Richard Cowley, made Captain Morgan’s story quite interesting with how he won over the Caribbean from the Spaniards.  Both Gillian Poznansky and Richard Cowley are on the ship until San Francisco.  Tonight, Tian Jiang (world renowned pianist) will be playing in the Royal Court Theatre.

Some of you may be curious about our unpacking.  Everything fit into our room’s closets and/or under our bed in our suitcases – a pleasant surprise.  There has been only one semi-formal evening.  Tomorrow the ship will be at sea and there will be the Cunard Ball – our first formal attire evening.

A few musings—Not many disabled wandering around, only a few people that we have seen in wheelchairs.  Norovirus advisory letter in our room, who has it?  The crew? Why are they serving the food, shouldn’t we be handing it to them?  Someone tells us that they weigh themselves in every port so they know whether or not they need to curtail their food and drink when the ship is at sea.  Sounds like a good idea!  Guess this explains why the gym is always crowded on cruise ships.

There have been some changes to our future excursions – no Napa Valley tour in San Francisco (don’t know why exactly) and the evening at the Opera in Sydney was changed to the second night because of a Cunard World Passenger Gala/Ball at the Sydney TownHall.  We are told by some friends who have done the world cruises before that the dinner in Sydney is not to be missed.  Something exciting ahead…….

The ship will sail away today around 5 pm and head to sea for one day.  Then we arrive in Georgetown, Grand Cayman.  See you there!

Day 1 Pictures



Queen Elizabeth NYC

Upper Pool Deck



Safety Drill

At Dinner Day 1

On Board and At Sea Day 1

Our trip to New York and then on to the ship went very smooth.  Thank you Fred & Geri for taking us to the Tampa Airport.  We arrived, checked into the Waldorf Astoria and then met Lesley & Mike at the Bull & Bear before heading to Ciano’s for a delicious dinner.  Next morning, a walk to the Discovery Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit.  This exhibit is definitely worth a visit.  Afterwards, walked through Times Square, along Fifth Avenue and then to hotel to board the shuttle bus to Pier 90 at 50^th & 10^th where the Queen Elizabeth was waiting.

Once onboard, the first day is busy.  A safety drill, luggage arrives and unpacking starts and finally a lovely dinner.

Now, Day 1, we are at sea; cruising along the East Coast of the USA.  As I write this, we are sailing just across from North Carolina, ships speed 14.5 knots, temperature outside is 45 and it’s sunny.  We’ve enjoyed a breakfast, lunch and a workout in the gym already.  We are still familiarizing ourselves with the ships layout.  Queen Elizabeth is a smaller ship than the Queen Mary 2 and yet we are still getting our sea bearings – aft or starboard – where is the theatre, where are the shops, where is the restaurant and where is our room?  We are in state room 8126, on the port side, and have a verandah.  Right now, we are heading south so we awake to the sunrise.

Later today we are going to a classical concert and relaxing before a semi-formal dinner.  We’ve met some interesting people.  Some are just doing the New York to San Francisco segment of the cruise and some are doing the world.  Several are on their second or more world cruise.  HHMMMM, sounds like this could become addictive!

P.S. The internet is VERY slow --am having a problem loading pictures.  I will load some later......

Almost on Board!

Last night we had a delicious dinner at Pattigeorges and knew immediately why we enjoy cruising.....This was the view from our table!  And now you know why we love Longboat Key!

Tomorrow we fly to New York to have dinner at Ciano with Lesley and Mike.  Wednesday we board the Queen Elizabeth.  Here is a website that shows the ship's location in the World along with the itinerary.

http://www.cunard.com/Ships/Queen-Elizabeth/Bridge-Web-Cam/

Our trip blogging starts soon~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bags on their way!

Our bags just left the house and are on their way to the Queen Elizabeth!  The FedEX driver said he has in the past picked up luggage from a couple in Venice who shipped 8 bags.  Only 4 bags are leaving here.  We depart next Tuesday!

Bags waiting for FedEX

Clothes -- Packed!

(I started this entry in December and then finished packing on January 1, 2012)

Everyone seems curious about how do you decide what clothes to bring on a world cruise.  Interestingly, Cunard does give you a good chart of information on the formal, semi-formal and elegant casual dress nights.  On the internet, you can find plenty of people who have given their opinions about how to pack.  We have learned over time that each person is made comfortable in their own way on long trips.  Translation:  pack everything you think you might need or use, keep it light fabrics and buy when you are on the trip anything you may have forgotten.  The clothes category can be broken down into 6 categories:  Formal, Semi-formal, Elegant Casual, On Ship attire, Off Ship attire and exercise/swim.  Then, keep it simple, coordinate colors and be comfortable based on weather/temperatures where you will travel.  This is our strategy.....we will let you know how it works out. 

In the meantime, we have four suitcases packed and ready to be picked up for delivery to the ship.
All toiletries and any medicine are to be hand carried on so we have two more suitcases to load with not just toiletries but our computers, ipads and plugs.

Yep, we are movin' in for just over 100 days!
15 weeks, 105 days (99 days on Queen Elizabeth and 6 days on Queen Mary 2)

I'm sure many of our Florida friends who go up North for the summer months can relate to what you need to manage let alone in a one room cabin on a cruise ship.

DETAILS

There are so many little details to attend to when you decide on a world cruise. 

Passports - Obviously!  However, at least 10 extra pages in your passport.  More passport pictures to bring along for various visa requirements along the way.  Visas that the cruise line doesn't take care of for you - INDIA.  And making sure immunization records are current and you have a copy to bring along.

Clothing - another challenge.  How many formal nights - 31!!  How many semi-formal nights 32!!  The remainder are Elegant Casual.  Shopping for new clothes a side benefit except for trying to make sure you are in the 'right' size before you leave. 

Oh - shoes!  How many do we need?  For bad feet people....I'm sure you understand you need a lot!

Excursion selections - so much to do and see - can't do it all - work on agreeing on most desired by both travelers. 

Cash - how much to bring of what denominations to use when off the ship on excursions?

Technology - two computers or only one?  two ipads? one ipod? speakers?  cameras?  and all those chargers and cables!

Who will take in mail?  Who will watch house?  Who will let in service people while gone?

This is the month finalizing the details. 

Packing by January 4 so we can ship bags to the cruise ship.

And we celebrate the birth of Jesus this month!

Merry Christmas!