January 25th 2010
Where we reach our final destination with all of our luggage
Finally in Dubai! If the cruise is half as fun as getting to Dubai, we are in for a great time. I am not usually a huge fan of flying, but I must say Cathay Pacific is rather nice. All the staff are dressed very elegantly and are amazingly gracious, making us feel very special. Getting us in training for Mary! On our flight to Hong Kong we were on the upper level of a jumbo, and the seats are those great lie flat ones, which are angled so that when you lie down you can look out the window and see the stars as you drift off to sleep rocked by the plane’s motion. They served abalone for breakfast, but luckily there was a goat’s cheese omelet and mimosas available too! We landed in Hong Kong and were off the plane and through immigration by 7:10, and ready to explore! We decided to revisit the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. We took a taxi to the pretty fishing village of Tai O, and then carried on up to the Buddha and Monastery, We wandered around the monastery, and climbed the steps up to the Buddha. It was very misty which gave the setting a very magical feel, but totally obscured the view. We took the cable car back down again, and caught a taxi at the bottom and were back at the airport in time to have a wonderful long shower before boarding our plane to Dubai, via Mumbai. I was quite upset when our itinerary on the cruise was changed so we miss Mumbai, but at least we got a good look at the airport from the plane! The entertainment on the plane was great – plenty of episodes of 30 Rock, and even a documentary on Queen Mary 2 on the Discovery Channel, not to mention an episode of Deadliest Catch. I felt right at home. There was also an endless supply of champagne, not as good as VC, but at least not the dreaded Pol Acker, which will no doubt be waiting in our cabin when we board on Wednesday – only 2 days away yeah!!!!!! When we arrived in the hotel in Dubai, they asked if we wanted to be upgraded to a suite, which was fantastic! Then the biggest co-incidence happened – Bob was in the room next to our suite, and there was an inter leading door! We were thrilled to see that he had actually arrived in Dubai, although he had missed his flight from Chicago to New York so things weren’t entirely uneventful for him.
January 26th 2010
Where we get to see the QE2 and go up a very tall building
We got up bright an early and were able to obtain a driver for the day as we thought this would be the easiest way to see Dubai in the short time we have here. First stop was the Burj Khalifa, and after wandering around the Mall at the bottom of the building for a while we found the ticket office for tickets to the Top. Of course, all of the advanced purchase tickets were sold out, but for a mere $100 each we could get immediate entry tickets. There were some grumblings from a certain member of the party, but hey, we are only in Dubai once, so I bought the tickets and up we went! The building is amazing, with the sand storms around us, it looked like something out of a science fiction movie. The view is spectacular, although there is limited visibility due to the sand haze. The best part was I could just make out the QE2 in port! I was very excited. After having breakfast in the Mall we found our driver again and he drove us around to see the Burj Al Arab, and The Palm, which had Atlantis at the very end. All of the buildings are quite amazing! We then drove to the older part of town and had lunch in the courtyard of the Basta Art Café in the old Bastakiya neighborhood, and then spent the afternoon in the very well done Dubai Museum. We drove back to the hotel along Dubai Creek. I had thought that it would be very romantic to do an evening dhow cruise, like the one we did in Lamu, so I went and booked one. Well, this did not turn out as planned at all. We were picked up by the van to take us to the dhow, but the van went to several other hotels, and we only got to the Dhow an hour later. The boat was huge, and not at all romantic, and it was long past sunset by then, but we did have a great meal and got to see the QE2 again, so it was all-worthwhile!
January 27th 2010
Where we get to see the 2 Queens
We spent the morning along the Creek, watching the dhows at work and wandering around the souks. Then it was time to check out of the hotel and head off to the ship! Bob had already lost his camera and his guidebook, but by some pieces of good fortune these were found again, and off we went. Well boarding in Dubai is not at all like it is in Brooklyn or Southampton! We got to the port at 1:00 and here was already a huge disorganized queue and no sign of a Grills or Platinum check in desk. We waited in the queue for about an hour, when someone asked if we were Gold members or higher, and then pointed us in the direction of another queue, which really wasn’t much help at all, and we still had to wait for another half hour or so. We finally got our key cards, and horrors, instead of mine being Platinum, it was the dreaded red one! I tried to point out that a terrible mistake had been made, but the lady from the pursers office informed me very bluntly that Cunard had no history of me having travelled with them before, and I would have to give my cruise history to the World Club desk when we got on board. I was most put out, but there didn’t seem to be any options, and I was glad to finally be getting onboard. Boarding was on deck one, not a very auspicious welcome to the greatest liner in the world, no beautiful lobby with a harpist playing, but it was good enough for me! I handed in my card at the top of the gangway, and noticed that the picture on the card looked nothing like me at all, but the security person didn’t see this as being a problem, and when I protested that that wasn’t me, she just shrugged and told me to get on board. A quick visit to the pursers’ office clarified the error in the card, so now I have a Platinum one, with MY picture, so all is well with the world.
Our cabin (stateroom? suite?) is absolutely beautiful, and in perfect condition, so we opened the Pol Acker and settled in quickly. The only problem is that the Internet doesn’t work there. We have never had that problem before.
We were berthed right near the QE2 so we took some photos from the deck 11 observation area, and then noticing that people seemed to be walking right up to her, we disembarked again and walked over to the QE2 to get some close up shots. They had a gangway down, and a very pleasant man was guarding it. He had been warned that some very determined people would be there to try to board her and that he had to fend them off at all costs. I didn’t want to get him into trouble, but I did persuade him to let me walk up to the top of the gang way and step on board for a minute! We took loads of photos and then had to rush back to Mary as we thought we were about to set sail. As usual there were people who were late, so we had to delay our departure, and it was quite dark by the time we finally set off. Commodore Warner told us that he was going to be able to pull along side the QE2 as we leaving the harbor, so we got a fantastic close up view (although it was very dark by then) and heard that wonderful QE2 horn again. I posted the video on You Tube.
We went down for dinner at 8:00 and the Maitre D’ told us that his plans for our table had ‘fallen through’ but he had found a great table for us. It turned out that our table mates consist of 2 elderly American ladies and one elderly British gentleman who are perfectly nice people, but were finishing dinner as we arrived, and stated that they always dined early, so I doubt that we will see much of them which is a huge pity. One of the joys of travel is meeting interesting tablemates. Still the food was wonderful – a Pacific Northwest seafood cocktail, tenderloin cooked to perfection, and a Grand Marnier crème Brule, with a South African wine to compliment it, so I was quite happy! After dinner we headed up to the Commodore Club for a Milky Way Martini and to meet up with Bob, and then because the boys were tired we headed off to bed.
January 28th 2010
Where I realize that I would be quite happy if all we have are sea days
I can lie in bed and watch the sea go by. This is how life is meant to be. If I have the energy, I can move from the bed to the lounger on the balcony and lie in the sun and watch the sea go by. The fridge has 2 bottles on champagne in it. All is well with the world. The starboard side is the sunny side of the ship, so I have decided that now there is air conditioning, SOPH is the new POSH. We had planned to meet Bob in the King’s Court for breakfast, but he never showed up having fallen asleep again. We then went to the Cruise Critic meet and greet, did some shopping and it was time for lunch. We got a table in the pub and I had my Ploughman’s and a Strongbow, so I was in a good mood! We did some more shopping, and went to a talk on Vasco Da Gama, which wasn’t very good. An Iraqi plane flew over us this morning, and then this afternoon an F15 flew by to check us out, I guess everyone wants to see the Queen Mary 2! She is quite a sight. I lay on the balcony in the sun for a while, and then somehow it was time to get ready for dinner. Who knows where the day went!
