I got up at 5:45 am in Cape Town, South Africa. I don’t like getting up at 5:45 am but you do what you have to do.  Table Mountain fogs up and fills up with tourists, if you don’t get there early.  My people all showed up on time for our 7:30 am call and off we went. 

I gave the tour 4 stars, because it was a good tour, but it had a few flaws and technical difficulties.  It was hard to separate the flaws from the technical difficulties because the technical difficulties may have caused most of the flaws. 

Pick-up was almost smooth.  The escort was in place at the right time, but the bus wasn’t.  That was likely because Cunard’s tour buses were occupying all the parking spots in the race to Table Mountain, before the clouds and fog set in.  We probably left fifteen minutes later than planned.  We would have appreciated some commentary on the way to Table Mountain, the usual introduction to a city, etc.  We got little or none.  We voted to have a short time at the top and many of us had to toss our shopping back to make the deadline, but that was OK and Table Mountain was a hit. 

We needed water when we came down but when I asked for it, I found out that it had been forgotten it at the Terminal but they would buy us some at our first stop. 

We also had to pick up a new microphone at the first stop, as ours wasn’t working, which may have accounted for the lack of commentary on the first leg.  I had complained about it about ¾ of the way through, but wasn’t told about the mic problem then.  It is possible that the guide was talking from his seat but only the first row heard him.  Between Table Mountain and Bo-Kaap, he came to the middle of the bus and spoke as loudly as he could from there. 

The stop at Bo-Kaap was longer than it deserved to be, but we did get water and the mic did get fixed.  The commentary, when it came, wasn’t particularly interesting, though and the guide did nothing for us at the Company Gardens stop, which was just a bit of a walk in the Gardens. 

When we got to Langa, which is an old township, now within the city limits.  The guide stopped the bus, in the middle of town, and told us we could get out and have a walk around before the bus would take us to lunch.  Some of us, who had walked around the gardens, decided to just wait in the bus, as we had seen townships before, and they aren’t much to walk around.  It took a rather long time and we couldn’t even see our people, which struck us as a bit odd. 

It turned out the guide had taken them all into a little local museum and told them the history of the township.  He had grown up in it and I am told he was very interesting.  If those of us on the bus had been told what to expect, we would all have been off the bus listening to him.  I suppose he was just being modest, but that’s not the role of a tour guide.

The lunch place was the hit of the day.  We were welcomed by a band playing a mixture of traditional and new instruments and they were very good.  The energy was high and positive.  It was a family operation and the “mamas” who made the food, were all relatives.  The food itself was excellent and all but two dishes were suitable for vegetarians.  My Indian family was very happy with it.  It was really, really good and spicier than what we get on QM2.  There was wine and beer for sale and I just told my people to order whatever they wanted and I would pay for it.  We drank 2 bottles of wine and about 5 beers for what came to $38 when I checked my online banking.  That was fine with me.  After dinner the band offered to take in volunteers and some of the people had a lot of fun.  The energy was very high and we were happy. The restaurant was Mzansi, Langa Township.

I think a lot of us slept on the way to the winery.  It was a beautiful place, but the wine tasting was poorly run and the wine was nothing to write home about.  Yes, I know, I am a Napa girl, but that means I do know what a good wine tasting is like.  To make it worse, it was very, very hot in the winery.  We voted to skip the last two pours and get back on the bus.  We apologize for our bad behavior, but we had been out for over eight hours and the old horses needed to get back to the barn.  The tour needs to be shortened some and maybe the tour operator could ask for a smaller winery.  This place was probably running ten groups simultaneously, so it was very impersonal and not much fun. 

I got compliments and thanks from most of the people at the end, though, and no one was too disgruntled.  Back on the ship, I grabbed a quick dinner and enjoyed the Cape Town Folkloric show very much. 

February 1, the second day in port was for a little work, a little shopping and a very nice lunch.  I had targeted the Royal Cape Yacht Club’s “Tavern of the Seas” for that and used the RHKYC website for my letter of introduction, a few days ago.  It’s now almost instantaneous to get access to yacht clubs all over the world. 

My caregiver friend had managed to get her charge up to the top of Table Mountain and back in a taxi, yesterday.  She was ready to go out with me today.  She also needed to get into a cellular phone outlet, because she could no longer get any sense out of her phone whatsoever.  It was responding to nothing, no touch screen, no buttons, nothing.  She feared it was hardware.  So, we got on the ship’s shuttle and went to the Victorian and Albert Waterfront Mall. 

The cell phone place was conveniently located next to a clothing store, so I went there while she saw to her phone.  As is often the case, the thing sprang into action while she was explaining what was wrong with it.  Nor she, nor the expert, could figure out what she had done differently.  She didn’t just walk away, she bought a burner phone for what turned out to be $177.  It’s smart, has a lot of memory and a decent camera, and it’s back-up for all of us now.  She’ll sell it at cost to the first person that needs it.  They wouldn’t take AMEX but my faithful Chase VISA was happy to spot her.  I could be the one needing the burner phone.  My cell is almost 5 years old. 

I bought a blouse in the store next door and my friend got a pair of sandals.  We shopped a few more stores in that mall, without finding anything else we wanted or needed.  We walked out the other end of it and over to Watershed, where the artisan shops are.  That is a very nice place to browse.  I found some wonderful art notecards for $2 each, way cheaper than you’d pay for a Hallmark card back home.  I’ll be giving them away to my people, particularly those who couldn’t shop due to physical limitations. 

From Watershed, we took an Uber to the yacht club.  I couldn’t believe how cheap it was, under $6.  It costs $12 back home just to put your butt into a cab, never mind going anywhere.  Getting to the YC was no small feat, either.  Our driver got lost but that was included.  It was cool on the waterside terrace, the food was good, the view was terrific and the beer was just perfect.

The price was even better.  We ate ourselves silly and brought an order of the freshest fried calamari back for our patient, and the whole thing came to $32.  The Uber back to the ship was $3.50. 

I drank dinner in The Golden Lion Pub, a pint, with potato chips, and a Bailey’s for dessert.  I was taking in “It Takes Two”  Laurie and Yoseph, recommended by Daniale and Jean, great friends of their daughter Constance’s.  Constance got married on the QM2 just before I got on.  Anyway, they were great fun to listen to and I made friends with them, of course.  We’re going to have dinner one night.  Between sets, I read about AI in the New York Times on my phone.  It’s about time I learned a little about that.  perplexity.ai is supposed to be a great new search engine, giving google a run for its money.  The company is out of San Francisco and has 41 employees. 

2024 – Queen Mary 2 Grand World– Part 1 –Port Elizabeth  to Cape Town1.6

Friday, January 26^th, at sea.  The morning’s email brought the Starrs’ blog Travel with the Starrs – Join us on our travels… (wordpress.com) and it contained the clearest description of the Panama Canal, and its history, I have ever read.  Good on them.  We weren’t supposed to go through it this year, but now that we are afraid to go through the Suez canal, it’s on everyone’s lips.  The only problem is that the Queen Mary 2 is a pretty big ship, and while she can get through the new Panama Canal, she can’t get under the Bridge of the Americas.  Or so says Wikipedia.

I spent the rest of the day on my own TA work and went to my new Happy Hour, now called “Friends of HelenM” at 7:15pm in the Commodore Club.  No one came but the String Trio was playing and it was a lot more interesting than Sir Samuel’s. My dinner companions were Martin and Linda, who barely recognized me because I had my pink wig on the last time we ate together, Vance and Anne, and Gordon and Janet.  We got talking about good restaurants and Gordon highly recommends the “noir” experience, where you eat in pitch black and guess what you ate later.  Apparently, it’s surreal, but a lot of fun and the food is delicious, even if you don’t know what you are eating.  I googled later and there are a good few of these in the world, including O Noir on Prince Arthur in Montreal.  There’s somewhere we’ll have to go.  The entertainment was Linda Evans, a British singer, who does American Country and Western.  Good enough to enjoy. 

The next day, January 27^th, we were still at sea and it was pretty uneventful. I had a lot of people at the desk, because  of our upcoming shore excursion and I gave away another bar of soap.  It’s nice to be useful.

Tim came to Friends of HelenM in the Commodore Club and my dinner partners were John, Ian and Jamie, and Sue and Neill.  Three of these good Brits have electric cars and just love them.  Apparently, they are a lot of fun to drive, accelerate in an instant.  The entertainment was a quartet called the 4 Ds, Jersey Boys style.  They were pretty good, considering they were just 3Ds, one of them having popped a knee a couple of days before they were scheduled to leave Liverpool.

Sunday, January 28^th was my day for a game drive in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  I’ll get to compare Safari West in Santa Rosa with the real thing, for just about the same price, including a longer drive to get there.  The bus left at 12:15pm, which is my kind of time.  We drove through Port Elizabeth, 5^th largest city in South Africa, with a population of 2 million.  60% are black Xhosa, 25% Afrikaans, and the rest Indians, coloreds, etc. It’s also called the windy city because they have a lot of it.  We drove past miles and miles of wetlands, past decent looking suburbs.  I have to wonder if they flood.  The guide talked about farming, but all we saw was scrub; no crops, no animals, pretty barren.  It got little better as we got farther out, with a few orchards and a couple of small herds of cattle.  Eventually we arrived at the Kwantu Game Reserve, which is 6000 hectares, and houses a lot of wild animals, along with a few being re-wilded, after having been mis-treated pets.  They had the biggest herd of cattle I had seen yet, and I had to wonder if they were being kept as food for the inmates of the game reserve. 

Lunch was pretty good, once we found it.  The appetizers were in a different room from the main lunch and I loaded up, thinking they were the whole thing.  When I found out differently, I had tiny samples of that of which I should have had more.  Oh, well, not to worry.  Cruise passengers never starve. There was some native singing and dancing after lunch, and we were off on our game drive.

We started in the rehabilitation, re-wilding enclosures, where we met three white lions, who were being nursed back to health and three brown lions, who were to accompany them back into the wild.  White lions can’t hunt, you see, because the prey can see them.  They need to belong to a pack.  Luckily, lions are color blind, so the brown lions don’t know they are taking on dependents.  The three white lions were female, as were two of the brown ones.  The third brown lion was male.  That’s him under the table doing what he does best. 

Male lions sleep 20 hours a day, while the females hunt.  He’s built for fighting other lions, with that nice protective mane.  The girls are streamlined for the chase.  The wardens will get them to think the six of them are all family by rubbing fresh brown lion poo on the white lions and fresh white lion poo on the brown lions.  How would you like to have that job?

Then we met a character who has no business being in Africa, but some bad actor imported her parents as pets a few years ago.  Kwantu have had the parents for well over a year and the cubs were born here.  She’s beautiful standing by her water hole.

And comfortable lying in it.  Like all cats, she can fold herself up very small.

The four of them are being re-wilded and will be flown back to India, when they are ready.  I just wanted to hug her, but that wasn’t advisable. 

We learned the “follow me” signs on impalas, springboks, wildebeest, and lions, and a lot about horns.  Cape Buffalo piss on their kill to be sure it’s dead.  If it moves, it will be.  I offer this as a possibly useful factoid and more evidence that I have been reading Salman Rushdie, lately: Victoria City and now Midnight’s Children. We had bachelor Impala herds explained, too.  What a bunch of losers.

We saw lions hunting:

And got up close and personal with a termite mound.  Check the construction on the lower left.  The windows are open there.  Depending on how hot it is, the termites will open more windows for ventilation and close them over with mud at night when it’s cooler.

I have pictures of warthogs, rhinoceros, zebras and giraffes, but I won’t bore you with too many.  This one is probably my prize:

The picture is unretouched.  They were less than 20 feet from the vehicle.  We had to be werry, werry quiet. The big one came to within 3 feet of me.  I was werry, werry, werry quiet.  Then she went and stood in front of the bus.  We waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, we pulled back, very slowly and moved on.  It was time to go. 

I learned that it’s a confusion of wildebeests, a dazzle of zebras, a crash of rhinoceroses, a parade of elephants, a journey of giraffes, and a few more.  I think I have learned and forgotten those before, and likely will again. It was a very good day, though.  I had a baked potato for dinner from the buffet.  It was all I needed. 

Monday, January 29, was another day in Port Elizabeth and I wasn’t going anywhere.  I photoshopped my animal pictures and got caught up with my work.  Around 4pm, I was ready to go out and, since we weren’t sailing until nine, fancied eating out, too.  I called Tim and offered him a free meal in exchange for his company and value as a bodyguard.  That worked a treat.  He had eaten out in the mall last night and knew which restaurant had good food and a good view.  We ended up having a pint and a great honking plate of miscellaneous appetizers, designed for four people, at least.  We had goong sarong, two kinds of dumplings, shrimp and lamb, two kinds of spring rolls, satay and who knows what else.  The whole thing came to under $40, including tip. 

Waiting for the last shuttle, we ran into Ian and Claire, whom I remembered from a dinner together.  They didn’t know me until I opened my mouth, though.  The Helen they had met had pink hair and Lady Gaga glasses.  We got back in time for Laura Evans’ second show and it was a just right ending to a good easy day.

It was January 30,and it was nice to have a day at sea before our DV shore excursion.  I got Newsletter 6 out to be printed before office hour, and delivered just after.  One passenger wanted to know if his parents could leave the tour after Table Mountain.  I assured him they could.  Another one’s husband will be walking to the base of Table Mountain and all the way up it.  She will take our bus and get their tickets from the guide at the base.  Then she’ll join him to hike up the thing and use the tickets for the cable car down.  They won’t be doing anything else with us, but are happy with that.  I’d be happy to be able to do it.

Around five o’clock, Captain Hashmi came on the PA to tell us we would not be going back through the Suez canal and that the new itinerary would be distributed shortly.  That they did very well.  I had it in ten minutes, incorporated it into my spreadsheet schedule, and sent it off to DVhosts, with the following message: 

“There have been rumours on board and now it’s official.  We are not going through the Suez Canal.  It’s too dangerous.  Ya think?  The Captain was on the PA an hour ago and now we have the new schedule.  I incorporated it into MY personal schedule and attached it.  You can ignore the entire month of January, that’s past.  The changes start on March 31, when we turn around in Columbo Sri Lanka, and go back the way we came.  Only 2 ports are different, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Lisbon.  Barcelona is gone.  I put the two items we are losing in Red.  The Welcome Reception just needs to be rescheduled on board.  I can deal with that but…

We need to come up with a new shore excursion.  Either we do one in Lisbon, or give me what I have wanted all along, something late February, early March: Melbourne,  Sydney, Cairns, or Darwin would be good.  

No one came to drink with me before dinner, which I took to mean that no one was overly upset.  We all knew.  We would have preferred a more interesting route home, but we get it.  I had a lively dinner with Jean, Sheila, Ann and Keith and Jeff and Janet, the last of the six people I had dinner with the night of the pink wig.  I skipped the entertainment because I was getting up before 6am for our tour in Cape Town.

2024 – Queen Mary 2 Grand World– Part 1 –Walvis Bay to Port Elizabeth 1.5

My email brought some very sad news to me, at sea, off the coast of Africa, on January 18.  Padma or Paddy, the Scalbergs’ wonderful dog has gone to meet her maker.  It was time, but it’s never time.  Paddy was Dave Lasker’s first Canine Companions puppy.  Candy and Ernie met her at a party at our house.  When she was released, they were waiting.  I can remember when I was going between the Scalbergs and the Laskers and Valerie was asking a lot of questions, to be sure their first puppy would have a good home.  I said “when I die I want to come back as the Scalbergs’ dog.”  I couldn’t imagine a better life.  I doubt dog heaven is as good, but Paddy will make the most of it. 

I did some research on Walvis Bay and decided on a car and driver.  Put out some feelers. Worked on some visas and took an appointment to do more. That afternoon the WC consultant says we can now stop doing visas.  The ship has realized what a nightmare it is for the passengers, and worked out something with the Indonesian government.  It will likely be a face-to-face, which is easier than all this phone stuff. 

At the podium for dinner, the lady in front of me backed straight up, when her table was assigned, rather than off to the side, like everyone else does.  So I backed up too, right into the man behind me.  He was a big one, easily six foot-four, but he had a cane, so I felt really badly.  Next thing you know, he was ushered to the same table, and we had dinner with Tony and Aramina and Margaret and Bob.  All brits, no Londoners, yet.  John is a farmer, over 90 and still very robust.  He takes the cane out because he promised his kids he would, so as not to fall.  He’s on the way to Perth to visit his son, who’s a wheat farmer in those parts. 

A lot of the passengers use the QM2 for transport to see the kids and grandkids in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.  It’s the same price as first class air fare and a lot more pleasant.  John bought me a drink in the Chart Room and we saw Bellissima at 10:15.  They are Victoria and Celina, opera singers doing classical crossover.  We liked them very much.

The next morning, January 19, 2024, still at sea, the ship had changed the floral arrangement again and given us this nice swan.

The swan is white. It changes color with the lights. I filled the day with the minutia of my job and delivered Newsletter no 4.

Believe it or not, it was dinner with John again, and we didn’t plan it.  This time we had Lindsay and Jeff and Kinky & Geoff.  They had been told to look out for John, as their sons knew each other in Oz.  Small world.  The entertainment was Jon Udry, juggler and comedian and teacher of juggling.  I can’t say as I was impressed.  Montreal has spoiled me for circus acts.

The next day, we were still at sea.  It’s not easy to write to you when all we have are sea days and I don’t even take proper advantage of them, because I am a workaholic and happiest when I keep on top of things.  Very boring to write about.  Back in my stateroom, the last cabin I hadn’t reached finally answered the phone.  No wonder they never called back.  The guy had a very thick Russian accent and I am not at all sure he understood me.  I reported this to my Group Coordinator, who did yet another check and this time was able to tell me that my people had failed to board in Southampton, too.  So we are 25.

It was Glenn MacNamara again for the show, and I sat a lot closer but wasn’t any more impressed.  I have no taste for men in pancake make-up.

 We were still at sea on January 21, and there’s a little more traffic at the desk when there’s a dinner at night.  We established meeting point in Sir Samuel’s and I called everyone who didn’t pass by.  The dinner went very well.  Ten people came and the conversation was lively throughout.  I was disappointed in the food and sort of hokiness of the presentation.  The appetizers were a tour of Asia in a Bento box:

But the rest of the people, who hadn’t been spoiled by five years in Hong Kong, loved it, and it was a welcome change from roast beast, potato and veg.  I listened to the Jazz Trio in the Chart Room, for a bit, and skipped the show to get some rest.   

And we were still at sea the next day.  I took care of what needed taking care of, worked on my log and blog and did some work for my own clients.  I am trying to find out where we will dock in Sydney and Hong Kong, but those bits of information are still closely guarded.

No one came to Happy Hour at Sir Samuels again, so around 7pm, I went up to the Commodore’s Club to check it out as a possible new venue for evening gatherings.  It has possibilities.  I caught Bellissima’s second show and it was better than the first.  I like them a lot.

Just one more sea day before land.  I sent out a log and a blog, and had tea in the WC lounge.  Graham Howell, the Port Lecturer, was there.  He’s planning to spend some time in the WC lounge every day, which is an excellent idea.  He was delighted with an add-on tour just announced, an 8 hour game drive on Day 1 of Port Elizabeth, that starts at 12:15Pm, with lunch.  It sounded like my kind of tour.  We’ll catch the Big 5 at their evening meal, rather than at the crack of dawn.  Perfect.  I haven’t had a really good game drive since 2001, when we went on safari for three weeks, with Pati and Don Simon.  The game drive conflicted with the Elephant Park tour that I had, but, as it was a significant upgrade, the tour department had no problem with it. 

HKTB hadn’t answered, so I sent them my request for maps and all through their web site.  Then I touched bases with Liz nd Saly about the morrow and dressed for Masquerade Gala Night.  I went as COVID.  Here I am with a Marguerita in the Commodore’s Club before dinner. 

How scary is that?  I had great dinner partners that night, Ian & Clare, Martin and Linda and Graham and Janet.  Still no Londoners.  Ian was born there but has retired to the Coast.  He was particularly interesting, turned ADHD into an asset and still gives the odd motivational speech, though he’s well retired and looks like he’s stil in his 50s. The show was Apassionata again.  I am not happy when the production show repeats within three weeks, but it did give me a reason to get to bed a little earlier. 

Finally, on January 24, we docked in Walvis Bay, Namibia. I had been to Walvis Bay at least four times before.  This time I was showing Swakopmund to a new person, and an old hand came along for the ride.  CarloShuttle met us on time just off the ship, but we had to wait for our car, which took us to their office, where we changed car.  All of this took a good half hour, which I told them we would be wanting back for shopping at the port gate.  Do I know this port or not?

Actually, there was quite a bit of not.  I was there last year, but on a dune drive in a 4 x 4 with Nancy and Jim Martyn, HAL cruise buddies.  The other times were all pre-COVID.  So there’s a shuttle to a mall, now, where you can find all the international stores.  There are a lot more local tour options and you can book them online, like our 4 x 4 tour over the dunes last year.  I hear the dolphin tour is good, but it wasn’t in my plan.  Dune 7, now has a man-made oasis and charges.  

They have built a golf course,

and the German town of Swakopmund, which was so quaint in the ‘teens has given way to a much more tourist-oriented, modern place. I barely recognized it.  The new Strand Hotel complex afforded us the Ocean Barrel, where we had a lovely lunch.

With a pint and a view:

I had a nap when I got back and woke up thinking I had slept three hours.  That’s what comes of your watch being seven hours back of the actual time.  You have to do math, when you wake up, and I was so groggy, I got it wrong.  I raced up to the dining room, which I thought was about to close, and was half way into the meal when one of my dinner partners said something that enlightened me.  It turned out she was the first Londoner I had had dinner with.  It had taken 20 days to find one.  She was Paulina, accompanying her father, John to visit relatives in South Africa.  We have a new comedian on board named Phil Melbourne and I thought he was very funny.  There were a few people who thought some of his jokes were tasteless, dirty, and rude, and probably the Americans liked them, which was why he did it.  I won’t tell you what I thought.  You already know.

The 25^th was another day at sea and time to write another newsletter.  Our first shore excursion is coming up in Cape Town.  I had dinners to add, more to say about visas, I was moving the evening gathering to a more popular bar and time and re-branding them “Friends of Helen M”.  Oh yes, and I had soap to give away.  Pure soap that wouldn’t make you itch.  I have people who aren’t tolerating the ship’s offering all that well, so I had amused myself in Swakopmund, picking up a bar of each of the purest soaps I could get.  I found five of them.

It’s Robbie Burns’ Day and we had the addressing of the haggis at 7:45 pm, with a piper and a chef’s parade of haggis, and all.  I then went into the dining room, and had a delicious haggis appetizer with Judy, and Kathleeen and Les and Diana and Dave, who live on Jersey, and whom I like a lot.  The entertainment was Suzanne Gregory, a flautist and she was very good, too. 

2024 – Queen Mary 2 Grand World– Part 1 –Tenerife to Walvis Bay 1.4

After three days at sea, we docked on Monday, January 15 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.  I didn’t get out until 1:30 pm.  My email brought news that I had the string trio for dinner the day after tomorrow, so a newsletter was in order.  Luckily, the same email bought the information I needed for our DV tour in Cape Town, so there was plenty of news.  I wrote it up and sent the newsletter to be printed. 

Tenerife is a port I have been to a large number of times.  It was never better than last year, when we landed Palm Sunday.  This year, it was a Monday, so all I wanted out of it was some fresh air, a bit of a walk, and a few Tapas. I did get a nice harbour picture with the Queen Mary 2 in the background, behind the masts.

They have made it easier to walk into town, I passed the pool and monument, crossed the street,and there I was: downtown.  I walked up Del Castillo to the upper square, went a block or two over and down again, now ready for my tapas.  I wasn’t disappointed.  The tables in the street were full at Tapas.26 but I had one just inside and this seriously colorful server. 

I had the obligatory jamon iberico and cheese and added a hot sweet potato and cheese dish that was delicious.  But tapas are for sharing.  It was a lot of food for one.  I like more people, more variety, but, you get what you get when you go out alone, three hours later than everybody else.  The little dessert churro was paired with a shot glass of something rummy and yummy.

Back on the ship, I picked up my printing, collated, wrote notes, and delivered my newsletters.

I had dinner with six more Brits, and not a one lives in London. Jon Udry, the juggler was the show.  I like jugglers but didn’t find this one too impressive. Montreal has spoiled me for circus acts.

We were back at sea for a long stretch on Tuesday January 16. Next stop, Walvis Bay.  All I want to do is get off the ship and go to Swakopmund, late-ish, something simple.  The older I get, the less keen I am to wander around dodgy countries alone, though.  I the group includes a couple of people who might be thinking the same.  I’ll investigate possibilities on the Internet. 

I’m doing Indonesian and Sri Lankan visas for any of my people who can’t do them easily themselves.  It’s a nightmare you have to get photos of passport pictures with no glare, which can take 6 or 8 tries, as well as photos the people and copies of their paid confirmations, which are 5 or 6 pages long.  The people might have them on their computers or phones, or on paper, in which case they have to stand in line at the front desk to have them scanned and emailed to me.  The WC   Even with my computer, and Consultant is offering this service, too, and you should see his line up.  I can’t do more than one in an office hour and it goes way over time.

I did another Sri Lankan Visa in one guest’s cabin in the afternoon, and we went to dinner together.  She is positively delightful.  She lives on Cape Cod in a retirement home and cares about it so little that she had to look up its address.  To be fair, she’s never there.

Happy Hour was well attended for once.  There were a couple of regulars and two people I had not met.  Delighted.  Had dinner with one of them and spent the rest of the evening in the Chart Room so as to introduce myself to the Ukrainian String Trio.

I had a reason for that, we were having dinner with them the next night.  That day was filled with finalizing our Cape Town shore excursion and another couple of visas.

We had a wonderful little DV dinner with the Brevis String Trio on Wednesday night.  One of my people is a Harvard mathematician and, as math and music are related, knows about music arranging.  He had been impressed by this trio and wanted to talk to them.  Tatiana, Olga and Elena were charming and shared a little of the horror going on in their country.  My Mathematician, who was at Harvard from just after Tom Lehrer’s time, and I cheered them up with our acapella version of Lobachevsky.  You had to be there. 

2024 – Queen Mary 2 Grand World– Part 1 – Southampton to Tenerife 1.3

Land Ho!  We docked in Southampton, England on January 11.  I met three of my people at my desk, and we disembarked, and took the free shuttle into town.  The one who needed it was able to get his Aussie ETA on the bus.  All it took was for his good self to be on terra firma, where the Australian Government app could locate him. 

The shuttle bus let us off practically at Boots’ door.  In short order, the with canes and miscellaneous toiletries and meds were obtained.  I went off to find the IKEA, where Wanda and Katja were going to pick me up.  And they did, and off we went.  Katja had figured a route that would include the Royal Southampton Yacht Club and a very posh pub and museum that we might find interesting.

The origins of the Royal Southampton Yacht Club go back to the West Quay Amateur Regatta Club in 1858, which was renamed the Southampton Amateur Regatta Club in 1862.  The clubhouse is new and is a ways inland on the Beaulieu river with easy access to the Solent  It’s at a place called “Gins”.  Beaulieu, I have to tell you, is pronounced “Bewley” in the UK.  You have to wonder.

 It’s a beautiful spot and we could have stayed for lunch, but there wasn’t much going on and Katja’s posh pub called, so we just had a little drink and off we went.

Buckler’s Hard is an old shipyard, a very old shipyard.  They built naval galleons and clipper ships, and all kinds of ships, from 1698 to 1814.  A Buckler’s Hard built ship fought at the Boston Tea Party.  It’s part of the Beaulieu Estate in the New Forest, which is Crown Land.  The Montagu family still owns it, well, leases it from the Crown.  It’s complicated in England. 

It’s a lovely little place, with a bunch of shipwrights cottages, built one by one but in a couple of rows, for warmth, I guess, very picturesque:

The one on the end near the water is the Master Builder’s house and houses the Inn and Henry’s Pub, where we ate. 

And I thought I took some pictures inside but they weren’t on my phone when I went looking for them.  It was a lovely lunch. Katja had fish ‘n chips and the piece of fish was enormous and excellent, she said.  Wanda and I had the game pie, which was truly out of this world.  The locals were friendly, too.  We had nice conversations with two couples.  One of them was a Texan who had married a Brit over 20 years ago.  She showed up presently.  They were recently retired to this area and just loved it, as did the other couple.  It sure did look like a good life, as long as one could afford a good lunch, in a posh pub. 

We didn’t have time to do the museum justice, but I bought the book and enjoyed it thoroughly.  I plan to give it to Katja to thank her, too, for taking a day off to drive us two old bats around.  We had a marvelous time.  The terminal was almost empty when I got there.  I was one of the last to board, even though the ship didn’t sail until six!  Obviously, the rest of the passengers didn’t have anything at least as good to do. 

The New Forest is a fascinating place: Brusher Mills was a famous local snake catcher, catching over 30,000 snakes in his career.  The Rufus Stone is where King William II (Rufus) was fatally wounded with an arrow. Ponies roam free.  The little girl, upon whom Alice in Wonderland is based, is buried in Lyndhurst.  The village of Burley has links to dragons and witches. The Beaulieu river, as well other forest waterways, were used by smugglers in days gone by. 

After that fun day, with its massive lunch, I took a nap and found sone sushi in the King’s Court. Then I took in the 10:15 pm show, which was ODY-C, an acapella quartet, with electronic drums.

Back at sea on January 12, we were informed that this is the 20^th anniversary of Queen Mary 2’s maiden voyage.   I expected a bit more fanfare, but we didn’t get it.  It was the Black and White Gala evening but that was about it.   We have a new captain.  He is Aseem Hashmi and so far I am loving his noonday talks. 

We got the news that we would be responsible for our own visas for Indonesia.  That had been suggested before we sailed but you had to be within 90 days of arrival there, which will be the 9^th of March, so I didn’t do it when I did my Aussie ETA.  I figured the ship would take care of it as HAL always had.  Not this year, not this ship.  Like Australia, Indonesia has “simplified the process” to the point where the ship finds it too complicated to be doing it for us.  I got that after I tried to do it for myself and had to apply to Gunay, the WC consultant, for help, when it wanted my address in Indonesia and would not accept the ship, as it doesn’t have an address with a postal code.  He promised to have a step-by-step guide ready by 2:00 pm. 

Gunay delivered and I worked my way through the thing, which I could never have done alone.  From being a nice quiet little lounge, his Atlantic room, has suddenly become quite full, with a long line for his services.  I’ll take some of the pressure off by doing visas for my passengers.  It helps me get to know them, and adds value to the DV.

The gala night was like every other gala night and there’s one every week or so  You get a production show and I like them.  This one was “Be our Guest”.

The next day, January 13, the ship’s newsletter announced that we would be doing our own visas for Sri Lanka, too.  It was clearly time for Newsletter 2, so I got busy on it.  I had to tweak our dinner dates a bit and I wanted to offer my little visa service. 

The Cunard world cruise attracts more Brits and Europeans that HAL’s and I love the British sense of humour.  On the rather crowded elevator to my stateroom on Deck six, I found myself at the back of the car.  When Deck 6 came along, I piped up  “I’m getting off here” and the woman in front of me said “That’s what you think.” 

A Virgin Mary in a ship’s bar is only 70 cents cheaper than a Chivas Regal – doubtless the same price as a bar scotch.  We pay for labour now.  For dinner, I was matched up with Barbara and Chris, from Germany, who were delightful.  Barbara was a nurse, who now makes house calls to seniors who need a fair bit of help.  The German government pays her to.  She gets to spend a couple of hours with each patient, and get to know them, while making sure they eat well, take their meds, etc.  Chris retired in his early forties, because he was a fighter pilot, which has an early retirement age, for obvious reasons.  Now he has a company that installs windmills all over the world. Later in the meal, we were joined by Sylvia, another nurse and Phil, a teacher.  More Brits, but not from London.  I have yet to meet an English person who lives in London.

The entertainment was Jon Courtenay, who plays the piano and does comedy, like my hero Tom Lehrer.  He wasn’t that good, but he was very good, indeed. 

The next morning’s email brought more news from our tour supplier, and a link to our tour on their web site.  You can buy it for $195US, so it’s a good one.  I also got all the  information I needed to sell it.

The rumors have started that we won’t be doing the Red Sea, nor the Suez canal, but the rumors with the alternatives haven’t started yet. 

I took an hour off for Jon Courtenay’s talk.  It was great.  He had all sorts of film clips from Victor Borge, Groucho Marx, British pianists I didn’t know, Elton John, Liberace and, of course, Tom Lehrer.  Our Harvard Math Professor, by the way, never studied under, nor taught with Tom Lehrer at Harvard, but, like me, he knows the words to all the songs, except maybe “The Elements”.  Well, we know the words to that, too.  It’s just a matter of getting them into the right order so they rhyme.

My dinner table had Helen, and Vera, and Mike, and Carol, all of whom were British and none of them Londoners.  It’s a definite pattern. The entertainment was Duo Essencias, an award-winning classical violinist from Hungary, who fell in love with a Flamenco dancer from Spain.  They created their show to work together.  It was fun.  Tomorrow we will be in Tenerife.

Monday, January 8, was the Queen’s birthday – Queen Mary 2, that is.  She’s 20:

I had had the bright idea to call the people who needed the canes to come to my desk where we could look at them at Boot’s the Chemist’s web site.  There would be one in Southampton.  I had to find some way to drive a bit of traffic to the desk.  It worked too, as there are different lengths, handles, tips and even features.  One sees all that when one goes to a web site.   

My handicapped passenger’s problem is sorting out, too.  The World Cruise (WC – tee hee) Concierge did get Spa appointments for showers, for her, and I assume the commode, too because I heard no more about it.  It’s not ideal but it will work. 

I discovered the “World Cruise Lounge” for breakfast in the afternoon.  It’s brilliant, a nice selection of tea food, and a bunch of little tables looking out the bow of the ship, on Deck 11.  There’s a concierge, Gunay, and a steward, whose name I must get.  He’s awfully nice.  It’s quiet and very pleasant.  People talk to each other. 

The ship matched me up with a very lively bunch at dinner.  Joe and Kathy are Brits, who worked in healthcare in the US, and Sally is a psychologist.  She and her friend Carmella were fun, as was Mark, who was also brilliant.  At least he was reading a very esoteric book.  The entertainment was Chanteuse, a couple of Broadway singers doing Diva music but not really divas.

The next day, January 9, I found out I had another disabled guest.  Her power chair is the all-terrain vehicle of power chairs.  It is called a Ranger Discovery.  It will go over gravel and moguls, hill and dale.  It packs up to the size of a suitcase and weighs fifty pounds, battery included.  She was very proud of it and not fazed when I told her I had seen a power chair keel over near the Deck 11 elevators yesterday.  I guess hers won’t and I sure don’t want to be there if it ever does.  She’s an interesting, strong person and knows what she wants and needs.  Unfortunately, it isn’t dinner.  She’s so allergic to onions that she can’t even sit at a table where people are eating anything with an onion in it, which is just about everything in most restaurants.  With all of that, she’s really positive.  She and her husband live in a 564 sq.ft. Manhattan apartment.  She doesn’t know what to do with all the space in their stateroom.  Gotta love her.

In the end there were just three of us for dinner, but it was super.  I’m loving Cunard.  The lecture program is very rich and, while I don’t have much time to appreciate it, I do like the people it attracts – a ton of academics.  They’re quick and witty and sort of leave me in the dust, but I can hold my own in the wine department and that’s  a big topic.  This one is a retiring Math professor at Harvard.  I did some math myself and woke up realizing that he was likely studying math at Harvard when Tom Lehrer was teaching it.  We had a very lively discussion about wine.   We are going to work together to have some wine events, maybe even a progressive wine tour.  Have to find out if we have enough winos. I skipped the show, as I had seen both performers before, and it was a good wait until 10:15PM.

Another sea day on January 10.  I love them because I can get work done. I am now meeting three people at 9:30 am tomorrow in Southampton, one to get his Aussie ETA, and two for canes.  The ETA app should be able to find him, when we find WiFi, so all will be well, but we’ll be together, just in case. 

I landed an interesting table at dinner.  Heather and Richard were a British couple, Bruce an American professional musician and choir director, and a young couple, who were the seriously interesting part.  I had sat behind him in the show on formal night.  He’s young, between 25 and 40, I’d say.  His hair has dyed sections up the middle, blue on the right, magenta on the left.  They met nicely in a Mohawk a good 5 inches high.  The lower half of his head was almost shaved, but in swirls.  That was on formal night.  Tonight, the Mohawk was just combed over, leaving only the color expressing his individuality.  For all of that, he’s an entrepreneur, has multiple companies, sources his labor in India, sell his services in the US and Europe.  He maintains he just started getting good job offers, when he adopted the piercings and flamboyant hair-do.  His wife(?) has no tattoos or piercings, has long hair, worn simply and looks like the paleontologist that she is.  One of them, or both if they’re brother and sister, has a grandmother in England, who is 98, still going strong, and has two PhDs.  She might still be consulting part-time.  On top of all the accomplishments, that kept coming out in the conversation, that was the icing on the cake.  Too bad they were getting off in Southampton, I would have liked to have pursued.

There was a production show that night – Broadway Rocks, so I stayed up for it.

2024 – Queen Mary 2 Grand World– Part 1 – The Atlantic 1.1

Thursday, January 4, 2024 was our first day at sea.  I got busy and called everyone, reaching most of them.  One of them, who is travelling with a caregiver, fell, a week or two before they boarded and she’s in a wheelchair now.  She cannot navigate the lip on the bathroom door without help and the shower is impossible.  She might have to go home if the ship cannot find her an ADA room.  I’ll ask but this doesn’t look good.  Their travel agent had been on that one for over a week before sailing.  We are hoping for maybe a commode and access to the Spa for showers.

I got to my office hour at eleven.  It’s tucked away in an odd part of the ship, between the games tables and the meeting rooms.  There’s not a lot of foot traffic.  Three people found me, though.  My group co-ordinator came by and cleared up a few things, but sadly, there wasn’t an ADA room available on the ship at any price. They are looking at ways to accommodate my passenger.  I went back to my cabin, worked on my cocktail party speech and had it printed along with a new manifest. 

Around 3:30pm, I went to tea in the Royal Court.  It was very nice, with white tablecloths, lots of elegant servers, a pianist and all.  I ate two finger sandwiches, two pastries, and three scones with cream and strawberry jam.  I started off at a table to myself but, when asked, took on another person.  He turned out to be a very nice Italian but not my cup of tea.  He was single and lonesome, but all he was looking for was a dance partner and they gave me the speaking parts in the ballet recitals, in high school. 

A half-hour before Cocktail Party time, I betook myself to Sir Samuel’s, its designated bar.  It was decently attended, considering it conflicted with early dinner. Two couples came to dinner with me after and they were delightful.   The entertainment was the all dancing, some singing production show “Apassionata” and it was super.  There were five couples swirling around in hot pink and black, two of them better singers and three of them better dancers.  It was all wonderful.

The late shows on board don’t let out until eleven, so I slept in until nine the next day, cleared my email and did some client work. 

They changed the main floral arrangement.  This one is not too shabby either.

One of my people came to the Desk.  She said they had come to the cocktail party a little late but no one was there.  Luckily another one was there, to vouch for me, and suggest she might have come an hour late because of the ship having put the clocks forward an hour at noon.  It’s a funny way to do it, taking the hour out of the day rather than the night.  I guess the old farts had been complaining or the ship finds it easier to entertain us for an hour less.  But it IS confusing.

I am going to move the Happy Hours forward a half hour to 5:30PM, as many have early dinner.  The other passenger was there to get his Australian ETA done.  How he managed to board without it is beyond me.  The Holland America World Cruise department told me they would be denying boarding to anyone who didn’t have one.  I had pointed out that was silly because it was turned around in a day after application.  All it took was the applicant’s good self, his phone, passport and credit card.  He had all that. He just didn’t have a WiFi package, so I let him use mine.  We had the usual fun finding the appropriate background and the chip in the passport, but we got through all that.  Then it stopped us when it couldn’t verify our coordinates because we were on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic in gale force winds.  He was able to save his work and, hopefully, can finish in a Café in Southampton.  If not, I’ll go out with him at the next port.

Then I went sussing out dining venues for the group.  I found The Verandah Steakhouse for $50 per person, and one that alternates between Asian (Bamboo) and Indian (Coriander) for $25.  Now for dates.  Cunard does not supply a day-by-day list, with port arrival and departure times, like the other cruise lines.  I use it to record my DV events and add my own dinner dates, etc.  I was lost without it, so I requested one from the ship and started making one, using an Excel spreadsheet. 

I went to tea in the King’s Court, which is a royal name for the buffet.  I figured I would eat less if the pastries and scones weren’t being continually offered.  I had a piece of salami, a piece of cheese and two scones, better.  I met a Brit who explained that Devonshire folk load the cream on first and then the jam, while people from Cornwall put the jam on first and top it with the cream.  Wasn’t that enlightening?  I’m learning a lot.  On the way out I met my family of four, who have become buffet addicts because they are vegetarian and the buffet does that best.  I worked until happy hour, went to my designated bar, and no one came.  I bought a teddy bear, with a QM2 lifejacket on, to keep me company.  It will end up in Ginger’s Toy Tea, like the rest of them. 

Then I presented myself at the Britannia Dining room, willing to share.  They didn’t have a share table with open space but could put me at a table for two, between two other tables for two.  It turned up we were all girls and we had a marvelous time.  Janelle was retiring to England, and traveling with her retired service dog, a 14-year-old Black Lab/Border Collie mix.  Marilee was along for the ride.  Julie and Lucie were a British mother/daughter team.  We had lots of fun girl talk, until Janell, had to leave as it was time to walk Loki. There are quite a few dogs on board.  It’s a Cunard tradition.  Julie and Lucie and I went for a drink in the Chart Room, which was featuring Jazz, and met Stephanie, a French professor who had married a Brit.  All of these people are just using the ship as a very nice way to get across the pond.  The entertainment in the Royal Court (read: main theatre)  was William Caulfield, a pretty good Irish comedian.  The late show is at 10:15pm and lets out at eleven.  So good night.

January 6, no one came to office hour again.  I don’t hang around there too long past my time, because it’s freezing and the chair is so low I can barely reach my computer, so back to my room I went.  I found out later why it was so cold.  It was bloody snowing outside to the amazement of those who had never seen any.  Somebody even made a snowman:

I took that picture after tea, which I had in King’s Court again and managed to cut back to two pieces of cheese, a mango parfait and only one scone.  It held me until dinner.  I had more delightful female dinner partners, Fritz, who’s moving to the Cotswolds, where her family comes from, and her friend Holland, an interior designer.  We talked so long I missed half the show on the main stage.  She was a pianist, Katie Clarke.

It was still snowing the next day, out here in the middle of the North Atlantic, passing Newfoundland.  We went by the place where the Titanic sank.  Not sure how comforting it is that they still take the same route.  We are having quite stormy weather, with 40 foot swells, but the Queen Mary 2, ocean liner that she is, is handling it beautifully.  No one came to the desk but I was busy with client work, finishing the calendar to use for organizing purposes and creating the first newsletter. 

For dinner, I was matched up with Gladys and Elizabeth, her younger friend, a nurse by profession, who had come along as companion, and Pauline and Graham, a British couple, both electrical engineers.  Not quite sure how we got here but, amidst the talk of stabilizers and azipods,  Graham was able to enlighten me on how they got rid of the pigeons in Trafalgar Square.  They fed them contraceptives until the population just, well, died off.  They were doing Big Band music in the Queen’s Court, so Liz and Gladys and I went there in the pause before the show.  Ballroom is very big on Cunard and some of the dancers are really good.  One oriental lady, in particular, was very serious.  When first seen she was dancing with the Italian I had met at tea, and a little later, just twirling herself around the floor, very energetic, very correct – a little different, mind you. Fun to watch.

The Royal Court entertainment was interesting, too, Ukebox, another four guys from Liverpool and you can guess what instruments they were playing.  They aren’t the next Beatles, but they played a lot of good songs and it was a fun time.  I met one of my couples after the show and they wanted help buying canes.  The pitching and rolling ship had pointed out their limitations to them.  I volunteered to be their personal shopper in Southampton.

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 31^st 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 39^th 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. 

With the shape our poor beloved world is in, I can only be glad I am no longer in a position to do a blessed thing about it.  So I do what little I can, enriching cruises for fortunate people.  Wellll, they DO appreciate what I do and I have fun doing it.

Too many people are dying on me, good friends like Pat Finot, Joan Westgate, Ellen Morneau. Denis Mavrias, Chris Wendlandt and my most dear cousin Rosemary, who was like a sister, as we are/were both only children.  I shall miss you all.

I rejoice in the fact that I have ties to the new generation and it’s delightful.  It visits me and enjoys my super downtown apartment.  This year I welcomed Rosemary’s granddaughters, Sarah and Lily Sidorchuk, both studying at Queen’s, who were a lot of fun.  I especially enjoyed taking Sarah, as my date, to a Danse, Danse performance.  Live entertainment is my passion and, thanks to Pat Finot, I have a great fondness for modern dance. Then I have Jacqui Wong, Pam Ip’s daughter, who is at McGill and a more regular dinner date.  Our last one was the best, St. Hubert BBQ and “Pub Royale” in Theatre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts.  Pub Royal is a musical, homage to Les Cowboys Fringants, Quebec’s favorite local rock group.  Jacquie got a good dose of Quebec culture from the singers, dancers and circus acrobats.  Montreal, home to Cirque du Soleil, has theatre schools, and employs their graduates.  I am sharing my expensive habits with these kids and they are taking to them like ducks to water.  But they are all good students and I have no fear that they won’t be able to pay for live entertainment, once they graduate.  Rosemary has one more granddaughter, Jenny Sidorchuk, who will be in University too, soon.  I hope this is making her envious enough to come next year.  I am pretty sure it will. 

I saw most of my friends this year, as travel got back to normal.  I had more than four months of my very favorite cruise buddies on Holland America’s ms Zuiderdam, from January to mid-May.  I was only home long enough to do my taxes and pay my fines and balances.  In mid-July, I was off to California for a month of visiting friends before flying to Anchorage to join my next assignment.  If you missed my blogs, you can read all the back issues on www.helenmegan.com I am not going to repeat myself.

I came back from Vancouver in mid-August, with COVID, of course.  I coughed all the way home on the plane but didn’t bother testing, as it was over as fast as it came.  I would never have known I had it, if it weren’t for the pre-op routine for gallbladder surgery.  So much for that and back on the list with the gallbladder thing hanging over me like the sword of Damocles.  After seven hours, with my butt hanging out, in a waiting room, at the Montreal General Hospital on November 17, the thing finally came out on December 8.  Yes, I’m fine, thank you.  I was fine the day after.

Fall was busy.  I did get US visitors and the theatres delivered all kinds of great entertainment, while the restaurants served yummy meals.  I took a McGill Lifelong Learning course called “Inside The New Yorker” which was a lot of fun and challenged me to present an article and a story.  These McGill classes are full of retired professors, so that was intimidating, but I found a way out of it.  I picked Salman Rushdie, for the subject of the article, and the author of the story.  And, I took up Bridge again.  There’s a nice group that meets every second Tuesday afternoon at the McGill Faculty Club, which I get to frequent because I am leaving money to McGill when I die and happened to tell the right person.  Now I enjoy happy hours, elegant dinners and this very nice Bridge group.

I just upped my legacy gift to McGill as the little thing I could do to try to balance an extreme injustice that is currently going on in the province of Quebec.  In it’s zeal to protect the French language, it is now attacking our institutions of higher learning, including my Alma Mater.  I won’t bore you with the details.  I am sure you can find them on the Internet.  There are teachers and nurses’ strikes going on almost every day here, and I sure hope the situations get resolved.  It could be worse.  It could be Gaza or the Ukraine.  God bless all who suffer and I pray for a better world.

Montreal being Montreal, there is still a lot of fun to be had and I have promised myself to stay home from May to mid-August to enjoy our festivals, laughs, jazz, country music, folk music, rock, pop, franco-folies, Formula 1 races, circuses and all kinds of silliness.  I highly recommend that you come and play with me. 

With best wishes for a Merry Christmas and  Happy, Healthy New Year

Love and Purrs,

Helen and Robbie

2023 -1- Go West Old Gal 6.0 Vancouver

It’s about time I finished logging the last trip. I am about to leave again, but just for a week.  It’s a business meeting at sea and I won’t be reporting it, well, maybe the before and after.  We’ll see. 

On Saturday, August 5, we disembarked in Vancouver and Pat Harrold picked me up right in the Cruise Terminal’s parking lot.  Pat and Paul have made the downtown condo move, too, like me, the Laskers, et al.  Last stop before the Home, or, if you’re me, between Homes.  Vancouver has an up-and-coming new area called Yaletown.  It’s , downtown, right by the water.  That is to say, very near the cruise port.  They are on the 12th floor, just like me, only their view is a lot better, and mine isn’t shabby.  Check this sunset from my Vancouver bedroom at their place:

Pat and I took a walk around the neighborhood and we all caught up.  Pat and Paul live in an owner-occupied building, which is certainly the way to go, if you can find one.  Things get fixed there before they even notice them.  This is not true of all their neighboring buildings, some of which are the famous Vancouver leaky buildings.  They went up too fast, had problems and now the occupants have to live with the likes of this, while the problems are fixed, also taken from my bedroom.  It wouldn’t look so nice from behind that blue curtain.

In the evening Vicki Hansford met us for dinner at a local Thai Restaurant.  We ate outside and the food was delicious.  The company was even better.  Pat and Paul and Vicki and Helen found ever so much to talk about, and the subjects ranged all over the world. 

The next day, August 7, was Sunday and Vancouver was hosting its Pride parade.  It’s a big one.  Everybody, but everybody wants to get into the act now, the banks, insurance companies, Air Canada, Durex (!), charities, everybody.  Pat and I walked about two minutes to our vantage point and spent about two hours enjoying the parade.  We finally left because my ankle was killing me and there’s only so much you can see before it gets repetitious. 

Interesting and colorful, though.  It was a lot of fun and good to see. 

That night we had dinner at Shanghai Lu.  Vancouver has a great Chinatown and a lot of wonderful Chinese restaurants.  This is one of Sam Wong’s favorites, so he set it up.  I love mixing up my friends from all over the world, whom I meet all over the world.  Some of you might recognize some of these people:

Jan Magnolo, Gerard Darnel, Glen Reid, moi, Pat Harrold, Sam Wong, Pam Ip, Vicki Hansford.  We had the Beijing duck and all and we left stuffed and happy.  Pat is the oldest friend there, from IBM days in Montreal, Pam was my first employee in Hong Kong, Sam is her husband, and the rest are cruise buddies, from as far back as 2012. It’s so worth keeping in touch.  You get to have wonderful times, like this.

Monday was a holiday, so Sam was free to drive Pam and I out to Squamish, to see what’s happening there.  Well, it’s turning into a tourist town in the mountains.  The scenery going and coming was magnificent and the ice cream treats divine.  The vegan chocolate milk shake was something else.

We went back to Pam and Sam’s house, for a glass of wine on the back balcony, and out for dinner with her whole family at Shaughnessy Golf Club.  It’s a gorgeous place, a waterfront golf club.  Unfortunately for its members, it’s sitting on indigenous land that was only leased and has to be given back in ten years or so.  It will likely be turned into an estate of high rise condominiums.  It’s monumentally sad, but the indigenous people are entitled to the profits from their land.  I hope the money gets spread around fairly.  Check this out for a fabulous place to enjoy dinner on a summer’s evening.

That’s Pam, moi, Leith, Kingston (Pam’s brother) Jacqui (my McGill student friend), Maggie and Kelly Ip (Pam’s parents).  What a wonderful way to end a great stay in Vancouver. 

I’ll be back there the day after tomorrow and again in September 2024, when I am hosting a SilverSea cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo.  I would love for more of you to come along with me.  Find it at Cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo – SN240912018 | Silversea.  I’d be happy to tee up an extension in Tokyo, if anyone signs up and wants it. 

And let’s not forget Cunard’s 2024 World Cruise on the Queen Mary II, with me.  If the whole world is a bit much, there are some very interesting segments.  Talk to me!   NYC to NYC 123 nights – Full World Voyage – January 2024 – Cunard