Posted on 1 Comment on Food

Food

Day 4  IconRae

 

We always seem to be eating! Ship life is planned between meals. We have fallen into a daily routine already. A tap on our door in the morning means that it’s time to head to the buffet for breakfast.

KingsCourt

Finding a table for 6 is usually the most difficult task, then we take turns to supervise children and gather our food. After breakfast the children decide whether to go to the Zone or stay with us. As the weather has been a little disappointing we have explored the ship, found the shops and the library.

We prefer to have lunch in the restaurant, but the others head back to the buffet which is often very crowded at lunchtime.

We have had dinner in the restaurant the past two evenings. At first the children were not too sure whether they would like it. They were pleased that there was a children’s menu, but on the other hand they really wanted to be more grown up. What a dilemma!

VioletEating

Tonight when we arrived in the restaurant, the children were warmly welcomed by the wait staff. Two chairs had cushions. Master G decided he would only order from the adult menu. Apparently the duck was ‘amazingly good’. Miss V and I had the same dessert, so compared the flavours of the ice-cream and sorbet. All in all a successful experience.

BrittaniaTapestry

Posted on 3 Comments on Formal Night

Formal Night

Day 3 

IconRae

 

 

 

It is a grey day with rough seas keeping us confined to indoor activities. All decks are closed due to the high winds. We have sailed the Tasman before and have felt wary of this stretch of water, but until now it has always been fine. Not a good start to cruising for our fellow travellers.

BrittaniaRest

A feature of any Cunard voyage, is the formal night, when we don our glad rags and escape into a more glamorous world. Some people do not enjoy the bother of such occasions but we really enjoy them. Stories of formal nights intrigued the two grandchildren so they were ready in their ‘fancy clothes’ well before dinner. Master G resplendent in his tux and Miss V in an elegant white gown. On the way to dinner we stopped to have a family photo, all 6 of us on the stairs of the atrium.

The children are a little taken aback at the attention they are receiving from staff and other passengers. There are very few children aboard and ours are so beautifully behaved!  GeorgesPud

DinnerPlate

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Leaving Sydney

Day 2  IconRae

 

Meeting up with family for lunch on the quayside, we hear that they had been able to see Queen Mary 2 come into her berth early this morning.

Embarking

Embarkation can be tedious. We were very pleasantly surprised when we dropped off our luggage, that we were encouraged to proceed with embarkation even though it was at an earlier time than had been scheduled. We were more than ready to get out of the sun! The process went so smoothly. Unpacked we feel that we are home again!

A feature of a sea voyage is the sail-away. We’d planned to have dinner in the buffet and stay out on deck as we headed off. However, we were to leave Sydney very late. After dinner we all headed out onto Deck 13 to enjoy the lights of the city. The Harbour Bridge emblazoned in red light looked magnificent. There were also many other lights and lanterns celebrating the Chinese New Year.

SydneyBridge

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Sydney

Day 1  IconRae

 

We arrived last night and have spent this morning exploring near The Rocks. The clear blue skies, balmy temperatures and excellent coffee are what we always enjoy when we pop over here. The energy of this city is infectious so we are feeling more than ready to be ‘off on the ocean waves’.

Our fellow travellers are due here this afternoon and we will all embark tomorrow afternoon.

InSydney

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Final Planning

Day minus 5  IconRae

 

We are all counting down the days, instead of months or weeks. At dinner last night, we asked the children what we should call this blog. Immediately the reply was “All the Family Came” and so this trip has its official name.

Our clothes have been checked out by the ‘fashion police’ to make sure they are fancy enough!

We know that we are going to have a marvellous time and assume that the children will be swept up by our enthusiasm. But we are mindful that mummy and daddy may not share our enthusiasm. Many cruise ships cater for older people like us, so we are hoping that on this short hop from Sydney to home will not be too long if it is not their cup of tea.

Cases

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Planning

Day minus 50  IconRae

 

As you can imagine there are times when we are focussed on our upcoming adventure with the family. Master G is convinced he needs a tuxedo and Miss V has worked out that she needs a different long dress for each of the 3 formal nights.

Mummy is looking forward to being pampered in the spa and daddy is keen to check out the planetarium.

However, both parents are now worrying about the children’s table manners. We think they are fine, but understand parental anxiety.

Last night the children came to stay with us. We put on a special dinner where they could practise their ‘cruise ship manners’. It was great fun! We were exhausted though having been chefs, waiters and guests all at the same time. Yes, we had to dress for the occasion too!

I don’t know who are more excited; the children or us, but it is still a long way away.

QM2A

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QM2 Sydney to Auckland

Planning  IconRae

Day Minus 365

QM2B

Sometimes we take off on holidays with very little planning time, but we also have done trips that are planned a long time ahead. This trip falls in the latter category.

We have been known to wax lyrical about our sea voyages and in particular voyages on Queen Mary 2.

Our youngest two grandchildren have been really attentive and inquisitive regarding this ship and her voyages. So when Cunard contacted us with upcoming voyages in our part of the world we were more than a little interested. We wondered whether we could take these two youngsters on a short cruise. Were they old enough not to fret for their parents? We carefully broached the subject to gauge their interest. Master G jumped at the notion, but Miss V was a little more thoughtful.

“Why can’t mummy and daddy come too, she asked?”

We were thrilled at the idea of the 6 of us having a trip together. And mummy and daddy didn’t take much persuading either! Being return customers we were offered a very good deal with fares and on board spending, so booked immediately.

It is a year before we sail. That is a very, very long time for children to wait. We agreed that we would stop talking about ships or cruises, in the hope it would slip their minds for a while! Who were we kidding? But, we did make sure that we didn’t initiate any discussions!