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Queen Mary 2 cruise


Photos 1 - 176 out of 176 | Back to Albums
On deck for the "Sailaway party" at Southampton - well, the party was at the stern, but we found a quieter place with a better view. Dinner in the Britannia restaurant on the first evening. Smart casual. View of the Britannia restaurant from the upper level. The big round table bottom centre is where the Captain entertains on certain nights.
Close-up of the carpet mural of the original Queen Mary. The atrium above the grand lobby. I don't know whether to call that a mural or a sculpture, but it's lit by colour changing lights along the bottom and you can just make out the world's least useful clock in the top left corner. The windows either side are inside cabins with a view over the atrium. Bottom centre of the pic, you can just see one of the upper level of the grand lobby and a wide corridor heading forward. Cocktails in the Commodore's lounge - Banana Colada for me, Virgin Banana Colada for Peggy (what with her being all babied up). Loved the lighting in here, was very cool.
Giant model of the Queen Mary 2 behind the bar of the Commodore's Lounge. Very nicely done indeed. Apparently it's the largest model of the ship ever made. No idea if it floats, though. The Winter Garden - nice place to go and relax when the weather outside is less appealing. A view from the aft on our first full day at sea. Nice and calm. Didn't stay that way...
An attemp at an arty shot facing forward. The twin-hulled craft on the right of the shot are the tenders (sadly not "shuttlecraft") used when we visit ports to big to accomodate the ship - more of them later. The "Black and White" ball in the Queen's lounge - the first formal evening of the voyage. They change the pennants for each event. The string quartet that plays in the lobby on formal evenings. And a BIG bunch of flowers that kept getting in the way. Oh, and the rather cool glass lifts either side whisk you up to the King's Court restaurants.
The singers and dancers performing one of their shows. A performance by violinist Jacqueline Roche. I'd heard her on the radio, and she was very good. Think a classier Vanessa Mae. Breakfast in the King's Court.
One of the giant works of art in the wide walkways off the grand lobby. There were four of these, each one depicting a part of the world - this one was Africa. More giant art, this time the seasons - think this one was Spring. And this looks like Autumn.
On the second full day at sea, things started to get a little rough - here I'm minding my own business in one of the pools, when the motion of the ship suddenly pushes a load of water in my face... ...and then takes it away again! When things got even rockier, you could suddenly find yourself dumped on the side of the pool wondering how you got there! Better than a trip to Alton Towers, that was. Brilliant fun. Chillaxing in a jacuzzi. From there you had a lovely view over the ocean - doesn't matter how cold the wind was, the jacuzzi was lovely and hot and I could have stayed in there for ages.
"You Are Here", Queen Mary 2 style. Doesn't look like it, but things are starting to get choppy. Peggy exploring one of the lower decks.
Looking up towards the higher decks. And the view from above the posh people's jacuzzi. The posh people had a tiny little private deck, with one jacuzzi - we often saw a bunch of them crammed into it, whilst there was no-one in the two jacuzzis lower down. Weird. Maybe their jacuzzi was filled with champagne or something. View along the top deck - just in case you forgot which ship this is...
Another art intsallation, this time outside the Illuminations planetarium / theatre. Inside the planetarium/theatre - a cooking demonstration. Peggy all dressed up for another formal night.
Food! Lobster tail - still in the shell... ...but not for long, as the waitress comes and removes it for you. Well, it's not like they want you to do any actual work. The Chef's Parade in the Britannia Restaurant. The last formal night of a trip celebrates the hundreds of people in the kitchens that do all the cooking. And rightly so!
Peggy and I standing, er, oh, I can't remember where we were for this shot. Hmmm. Peggy looking a little surprised in the ships' art gallery. I didn't mean to actually take the photo, but never mind. Yet another statue.
And another! Both outside Illuminations again. Ah yes, the perils of 24-hour all-you-can-eat ice cream. The upper level of seating in the theatre. I've been in smaller theatres on land.
Another performance in the theatre. This is the central part of the bridge - it runs the whole width of the ship (and then some); here you can see the main chairs and controls. Either side there were loads of radar screens, computer displays and chart tables - but only three people for the whole lot. Couldn't see any touch screens or replicators, though, and they wouldn't tell me which button fires the phasers. Lots of technical-looking stuff. And a tennis court.
And on the other side from the tennis court, is a netball court. Towards the fore there was another bar area and these two jacuzzis. Between them is a kiddie's spalsh pool - all two inches of it. Really, it was two inches. It was funny watching people come along and try to test the temperature of the water by sticking their hand in, only to immediatly punch the bottom of the pool and look startled. That would be the Regatta bar. Due to the weather I think it was only open on pne day. There were plenty of others, though!
The famous red and black Cunard funnel. One of those fog horns is from the original Queen Mary, the other is a copy. And they are both very, VERY loud. Another view along the top deck. Try folding this up the wrong way.
The "Behind the scenes" tour of the theatre started with this technical demonstration of what the theatre could do... ...including the transforming chandalier! Inside the wings, storing scenery, props and the larger costumes for the dancers.
Checking out the INCREDIBLY SMALL dressing rooms. More costumes Peggy and a couple of the dancers.
Treading the boards ourselves. The ship always looked cool when it was lit up at night. Approaching the Verrezano Narrows Bridge at 5am for our entry to New York.
Even at that time of morning, and in the freezing cold, there was quite a few people on the viewing deck. Statue Of Liberty welcoming us in. Ground Zero.
The old and the new at Pier 17. Peggy and Central Park. Slightly better view of Central Park, from the top of the Rockelfeller Centre, also known as 30 Rock.
And this is why we went up 30 Rock instead of the Empire State Building - you can't see the Empire State Building when you're on top of it! You can just about see the Statue Of LIberty in the middle of the photo. Don't worry, there are more shots of it later. Peggy reminding us where we are.
Yeah, I don't know why we bother with these photos either. Still, someone offered to take one, so why not? They even gave the camera back, which was nice. Looking up 30 Rock.
Leaving New York. Who watches the watchers? Me. No, I have no idea what I'm doing.
Lots of activity around the ship as we left. The Coast Gaurd boat that kept an eye on us. But not much up here - dinner was being served.
Staten Island Ferry. To give you an idea how big this ship is, we were pretty much level with this Police chopper that kept flying around us - and we weren't even on the top deck! Statue OF Liberty...
...and again. Peggy shortly before saying "Can we go inside now? I'm freezing". Probably. Heading back for another crack at hitting the bridge. We didn't.
A nice shot from Peggy of the sunset. Either thast, or she really fluffed a shot of the Statue of Liberty. Second stop - New port. And our first time using the tenders to get ashore. One of the sailing ships in the harbour.
And a Newport "Cottage". Or, as we'd call it, a Newport "ruddy great mansion". As Clarkson might say, "Let's go to the cottage - we'll take the Jaaaaaag".
You could get some lovely shots of the ship from the tenders. Note the landing pads for the tenders in the bottom right. This is where we got on and off the ship when it was too big to fit in a port. Rose Island lighthouse.
Since they conserve and manage all their water and power on Rose Island, they have a rule with the loos - you only flush them after three pees, or a poo. Yes, we tried it. Yes, we flushed. Awww. Bless. "Can I stop posing now? I'm cold".
We're gonna need a bigger boat. Oh, wait... See? I wasn't the only saddo taking loads of photos of the SIDE OF THE SHIP. The Crown Princess cruise ship. Ours was bigger (although not actually a cruise ship - they get a bit huffy if you call the QM2 a cruise ship).
Peggy taking a photo of the MOST UNGRATEFUL AMN EVER and his dad. Who was also a bit annoying. See, if you're gonna be in America for Halloween, where better than Witch Central - Salem. This is the queue outside the local white witch's shop. See?
Peggy trying on a hat. Fetching. The Witch Museum was very busy, and very well done. They take Halloween seriously in Salem.
And plenty of the houses were done up nicely, too. The ship at night. Back on board, they'd also pushed the boat out (see what I did there?) with the Halloween decorations.
They were all over the place. Well, this isn't strcitly a Halloween decoration, but it was still nice. And this is a butter sculpture.
So is this. And this is a horse. Sculpted out of, wait for it, butter. More Halloween displays.
The detail was very good. They even performed the Thriller dance in the Queen's Lounge later on. Bar Harbor.
Nice views around Cadillac Mountain. And from the top of Cadillac Mountain. Peggy with a model boat. Actually it's not a model. In case you didn't guess.
Yet more stunning views. Our first ever "lobster bake". Urk. Wasn't expecting this. And if you know Peggy, you won't be at all surprised to learn that it was actually muggins here who had to do all the messy cracking-open-the-poor-lobster work.
We weren't brave anough to eat ALL the lobster, unlike some of our companions. Peggy back on board, perusing the menu for something more civilised. Sculpture in Peggy's Cove, Halifax.
I've got yet another lobster in my hands - this one was alive, though, and stayed that way (at least while we were there). Our tour guide for the day. Nice chap. Went on about Avatar a lot, though. Peggy at Peggy's Cove. Well, we had to, really.
Another view of the lighthouse. The Peggy's Cove Lighthouse. I love my polarised filter. The view from Peggy's Cove.
Someone's lunch. And yes, that is a model of the Titanic in a Halifax park's pond. See that block of flats in the background? Ha. Fooled you. It's the QM2.
Peggy hunting for more stones to add to her collection. In St Johns. Apparently, the only place in North America where you can take a photo of two wooden covered bridges at once. Apparently. And I had to wait AGES for everyone to get out of the way so I could get it. Ah, a slightly better view of the string quartet in the restaurant.
Chef's parade again, and a slightly wider view of the Britannia. Another stage show. This one featured a variety of styles.
And the Masquerade ball! Turn around, there's another mask behind you... Masquarade!
Ooops, Peggy didn't quite get the point of this photo. Leaving me looking like a numptie. The singers and dancers do their tribute to Neil Diamond. Return to New York - this time we're on our own! In Times Square.
Nice church. Obligatory Peggy-outside-Tiffanys shot. Oooh! Shiny! Yes, we went inside. Yes, we bought stuff.
Outside the Rockefeller Centre again - we only went back so I could get a 30 Rock mug. Me at 30 Rock! Peggy and a large display of M&Ms.
View from inside Central Park. View of us, from inside Central Park. I like Central Park.
I like it a lot. Squirrels playing tag. M&Ms World.
Even the New York Police Station in Times Square is done up in neon. I'm slightly scared that I actually recognised it from Grand Theft Auto IV. Nope, these aren't even more sculptures on the ship - they're spare propellor blades! Need a lift? Thank you, I'm here all week.
Looking up at the bridge... ...and the bridge looking down at us! The new Viva Italia show in the theatre.
This was an excellent show, very impressive. The nightly performances were definitely a highlight of the trip. That chandalier again.
More art. The last formal night. Painting of the QE2.
Officer ringing the noon bell... ...and obligingly posing for photos. And finally, even more food sculptiures.
 
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