Today was a wonderful PR exercise for Cunard, and a great experience for the passengers. After sailing together from Lisbon, the three Queens would arrive at their home berth of Southampton, ready to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Queen Mary 2. We had been given a page of information with detailed times of where the ships would be from about 3am onwards, and what they would be doing. However, the best-laid plans ...
My alarm woke me at 5am and I was up within a few minutes,
showering and getting ready for the arrival as planned.
I found friends on the way, which made it a lot more
fun! I can't remember when I was last up to see the sun rise before this cruise. It was colder than I had expected, so I was glad that my friend Sarah had a spare fleece with her to lend me.
However, we found that the ships were all ahead of schedule. They must have travelled
faster than anticipated during the night. Between 5.30 and 5.45 we were meant
to be lined abreast before arriving in Southampton, but by 5.30 the QE was
already moored and we were parked behind her with QM2 coming up behind,
preceded by the fire boat using its water cannons.
We watched
as QM2 went past, playing ‘Happy Birthday’ on the ship’s whistles to wake up
all of Southampton.
It was a grey day but a ray of sun shone right on the QM2!
Once she was in position, we went past to our berth at the front.
Afterwards came the anticlimax of breakfast, final packing and leaving the ship. I caught a taxi to the train station, two trains, and then walked for five minutes, dragging my two suitcases behind me. I was safely home by 11.15.
Your second last photo is such a beauty! Well captured! Jean
ReplyDeleteI love that photo too! It's so moody, and so appropriate that the sun shone on QM2. It satisfies me emotionally and aesthetically.
ReplyDelete