2024 – Queen Mary 2 Grand World– Part 1 – New York to Cape Town 1.0

New Year’s Day -Monday, January 1 2024, New York City

If anyone is wondering why I do this every year, I took this picture from a taxi in Westmount in December.

Dena took Robbie away yesterday on the second try.  I made the mistake of collaring him about an hour before and we never saw him again, except from our bellies on opposite sides of the bed.  No amount of coaxing, cooing, offering treats would move him.  The LBB is tough, I was poking him with a cane and Dena with a broom and we still couldn’t budge him.  She gave up and left.  About 20 minutes later he came out, slinking into the office.  I got up from my desk and moved very slowly towards him.  He didn’t move.  When I was directly above him, I pounced.  I haven’t had cats most of my life not to have learned how to hunt.  Into the bag he went, face first and I had it zipped up before he could turn around.  A quick phone call found Dena and John almost home.  They came back and got him.  I missed him all the rest of the day, but Dena reports Mickey, her Bichon Frisée, gave him a warm welcome. They chased each other around the house for a bit and flopped down on the bed together.  I’m sure Robbie wants a dog of his own, but that’s not happening.  I like this arrangement too much. 

Candy will notice her cup is being put to good use.  Robbie likes my smoothie breakfasts.  Check the picture on the cup.

Patrick and Rose and I had a nice celebratory dinner at Vago in lieu of a New Year’s Eve party because I was flying out very early on New Year’s Day.  I spent the 31st packing my office and setting up my mail merges to communicate with my passengers.  By bedtime, I was as ready as I could be.  I turned the light off at eleven and on again when the alarm went off at 3:00 am.  At 3:45 am, I was in a taxi bound for the airport.  Then I got to go to my level and meditate for an hour and a half, with a lady coughing up a storm across the aisle.  Having been that person myself back in August, I felt for her.  I shut up and masked up.  So did the person sitting beside her.

The flight went well.  I priced an UBER and a yellow cab to Bryant Park and they were just about the same, so I took the cab, as there were plenty of them, right there.

I can’t remember who recommended The Bryant Park Hotel to me, but thank you.  It’s great.  It has some of the friendliest front desk staff I have ever met and that’s gold.  Over the years, I have learned to tip lavishly going in and everybody loves me.  Or maybe I am getting more lovable, as I mellow, or becoming more of a curiosity.  I have the supplies for my job shipped to the hotel and talk about what I do when I pick them up.  I think I recruited a new DV Host and Nexion Travel Advisor.  Josephine will be perfect.

I was exhausted but I cleared my email, collated my four shore excursions and loaded them into their folders.  Around two o’clock, I went out to get something to eat.  I don’t usually eat at all until four, but I don’t usually get up at three am, either.  There’s a Winter Village in Bryant Park.  I could see it from my hotel window.

It looks like it should be called a “Christmas Village” but everybody’s woke now.  There’s an ice skating rink and a big Christmas tree, and a zillion shops selling treats and chotzkis.  The first thing I came across was “Home Frite” which had all kinds of French fried creations, except poutine.  It had a long line up which was a good sign.  I continued on down to the corner, where I found apple cider doughnuts that smelled amazing.  So I had a five dollar doughnut because life is short, eat dessert first.  I moseyed on to the next corner and had the worst char siu bao I had ever had in my life, also for $5.  Then I circled back and had truffle fries with chipotle ranch dressing.  They really should have poutine. 

By this time, I was a total zombie, but I didn’t want to actually nap, so I had a long, hot bath and meditated for another hour, flat on the bed.  I might have slept part of the time, but not so’s I noticed.  I went out to eat at five, to a place called “Chili” that Scott, the Assistant Front Desk Manager, recommended.  It was good and would have been great with a few other people. Even shrimp get boring, when they are all you have.

I walked the four blocks back to the hotel, fell into bed and slept for twelve hours. 

I woke up feeling great and went straight to work.  By noon I had done everything I could do before boarding and meeting my Group Coordinator.  It looked like the cables I had brought were charging cables not sync or data cables because I couldn’t get my phone to transfer its pictures to my computer.  So, I went to Staples and bought a new one.  Then I hit CVS for some toiletries and went back to the hotel to save my walking ability for getting to the show and back.  I ate at Calle Dao on 39th street, a Chinese Cuban restaurant, recommended by the Internet.  You’d think I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, and I didn’t.  This place had a nice confit duck leg, served with bao and hoisin sauce that filled me nicely. 

I walked to the theatre, right through Times Square, and never felt remotely threatened.  It was bright and it was fun.  I wasn’t 100% happy with my choice of show, “SIX” about the wives of Henry VIII.  It was all-singing, all dancing, fabulous costumes, great lighting effects… but   If I want to see the same six women, singing and dancing, all I have to do is board a cruise ship, which I was just about to do.

I woke up feeling great and went straight to work, again.  Cunard had delivered some of what I needed for my welcome letters and the time on my meeting onboard, where I would get the rest.  Everything went smoothly, right through that meeting and I was ready to print and deliver by 6:45pm, probably a new record for me.  That was when the rudder came off.  Our classy letterhead was so thick it jammed the printer, and the label stock did even worse things.  At 9:15PM when I was late for my 8:30 pm dinner booking, I let the front desk know that I’d go eat and come back for the printing.  I did that and it seemed to go well, until I got it upstairs and realized that the poor desk clerk must have got flustered by all the trouble and had printed the letters double sided – which won’t work because each side had to be put into a folder.  The document which was supposed to be 2-sided never got printed at all.  The night duty manager finally got the job done properly and I made my deliveries around 11:00pm.  That was a record, too, and I hope I never break it.  I did have a stunning floral arrangement to look at during all the waiting, though.