The Queen Mary 2, Part 2

Somewhere on board the Queen Mary 2 there is a poster depicting Cunard cruises of years past, and one of them notes that the typical passenger can expect to gain one pound per day spent on board. This was enough to make me shudder in my medium-to-large sized shorts (it’s taken me a year-and-a-half for my post-40 body to lose 15 lbs, I’d love to lose 10 more, and I don’t want to go back!).

Now, bearing in mind that we dined every evening in the Britannia restaurant, which is for the “common folk” (although honestly, on this boat, it’s hard to feel “common”), I do wonder what the passengers paying for the penthouses and rooms that actually had doorbells outside their doors got to eat. (I tried desperately to sneak a peek into one of these rooms, to no avail. Perhaps next time.)

We were able to take a tour of the Britannia’s kitchens and, as my 10-year-old would say, OMG. Throughout the week we were amazed by how the wait staff managed to make us feel pampered every night but never rushed–though they have several hundred people sitting down to dine at 6:00, and another group at 8:30. And after the first day, our two servers knew our names, the names of our children, and the names of all the other diners they were taking care of. Honestly, this is an achievement I could never begin to manage.

And oh, that kitchen? Amazing.

1500 eggs. In one day

Mmm...I do believe it's time for tea.

That's 50 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables for six days on board.

I can’t comprehend 50 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables, 27 chefs, 120 liters of cream…in one day. Our restaurant was one of ten dining choices available on board. And I find it difficult to plan meals for four on a regular basis. But by the end of our week, all four of us were ready to take jobs on board so we would never have to leave. I don’t know what my job would have been, but James decided he would make candy for everyone on board. I’ll apologize now for the pun, but that sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

Packing, Unpacking, Re-Packing

My life has been consumed by boxes, neatly numbered with red stickers and vague descriptions of the contents. Most of those boxes are labeled “books” which is not helpful at all when you realize some of the contents include clothes, my jewelry box, stuffed animals, and random bits of this and that. It took me 5 days to find my shoes, which were very much needed as all of the flip flops and sandals I’d packed in my suitcases were no good to me here on chilly, rainy days.

Despite our best efforts, we didn’t clear out our house pre-move as well as we had thought. Witness Exhibit A:

Lo, the Well-Traveled Straw

If that isn’t compelling enough evidence to the disorganized, discombobulated and just downright desperate-to-finish-getting-ready state of our minds, I present you with Exhibit B:

The Used-Up Roll of Packing Tape

Yes, that’s as it came out of the box. Insanity, I tell you.

And just in case you were wondering (and don’t tell me you weren’t! I know how fascinating this is), our inventory of boxes/bikes/chairs/tables, etc. numbered 206. As of right now, 2 weeks after all of our things arrived, we have unpacked, er, approximately 12. Maybe 13. Witness Exhibit C:

Boxes, Boxes, Did I Mention Boxes?

All right, so maybe it was a tiny exaggeration. I’m sure we’ve gotten through more than 12 boxes, but even so: Stuff. Everywhere.

And I want to get back to this, right now:

Sunshine, Open Air, The Ocean