Pre-voyage package

Got my pre-voyage package from Cunard yesterday.  Wasn't expecting anything because everything is available online, e-ticket, voyage summary, even luggage tags.  This was nice to get though. Simple, but a nice touch to have your name on it as well as your personalized luggage tags.

The photo would have looked better if it hadn't been folded in my mailbox.  I took the photo with a new camera.  It's a Panasonic Lumix.  Just started playing with it today and looks like a nice upgrade from my old camera.  

Haven't gotten many ideas for blog topics so hope I can find enough interesting things to write about.  Until then...

Another video and requests for blog topics

Seems like the video I added last week made a few people sick watching it.  Wow I think the big waves are truly spectacular, I could watch them all day (as long as the ship isn't rolling too much!).  I really don't know if I will get seasick but if I don't, those large waves are going to be pretty exciting. And if I do get seasick, I will be crawling to the medical center for a shot of whatever they are offering!


But here is the alternative, a calm sea with the QM2 cutting through it with ease.  This looks incredibly relaxing to me.

So the poll results are coming in and I think the election desk is calling it a majority for the "this is an awesome trip".  I guess there is still time to change the result but those that voted that I'm crazy, better start sending this blog to your land-locked friends!  The poll closes the day the ship pulls out of Southampton.

I'm also looking for topics to cover in the blog so add suggests via the "comment" button here.

Rob

Tracking the voyage

The poll results are coming in but so far it isn't statistically significant.  Still, a solid lead for those that think this is a great vacation idea.  Good stuff!

As I'm sailing, you can view the web cam from the bridge of the Queen Mary 2 along with it's position at:

http://www.cunard.com/Ships/Queen-Mary-2/Bridge-Web-Cam/

Feel free to leave comments with suggestions for blog topics once I'm on board.

Things to see on a crossing

Quick update.  First, I've added a poll, top right of page to see what people think about crossing the Atlantic as a vacation idea. Second, thought I'd post a video of what can be seen on the crossing because the number one question I've gotten is "what is there to see?"  This is from someone who did the crossing in 2008.  It's a  a part of nature that we rarely see.  Check this out, from the 3rd deck, pretty amazing. If you don't want to watch the entire 10 minutes, the first 1:30 are pretty good.

Places for research

I have to give some credit to a few sources for my research on this trip.  If you are thinking of a trip like this, and I probably any cruise, this may save you some time and effort.

The best place, by far, for information from those that have been on the cruises before is on the boards at cruisecritic.com.  Go to boards.cruisecritic.com and look for the boards for your cruise line, for my trip, I clicked on Cunard.  There are all kinds of topics and you can search for what the info you are looking for and likely find it.  If you can't find what you want, create a new thread and you will likely get responses...and quickly too.

You can also find reviews of the various ships.  I found a good range of member reviews of the Queen Mary 2 that helped me understand what it would be like.

I'd also recommend going to youtube and looking for videos that people have uploaded.  I used this to see the various grades of staterooms. For me, I saw some pretty good videos the the sheltered, in hull balconies and the glass balconies.  It helped me choose between the two.  Youtube also helped me get an understanding of how busy the ship is.  Compared to videos of the more traditional Caribbean cruises, the QM2 seems to be less crowded, which appealed to me.

Of course, my opinion could change when I'm actually on the ship. Will let you know if these sources have lead me astray!

Preparing for the Adventure

Last year I had a bit of a health issue that meant I couldn't fly for several months.  I was doing some business in Europe at the time and it made me wonder if you could actually use a boat as transatlantic transport these days.  Turns out you can.  Unlike air travel, there is only one cruise line that does the transatlantic crossing regularly and they have turned it into a luxury cruise experience.  I'm speaking of Cunard and the Queen Mary 2.  So long story short, I became well enough to fly, but I definitely got the urge to try this long lost mode of transportation.  So last week I booked it!  And I've never had such varied responses to any vacation.  Some think it's an interesting adventure while others think I'm absolutely nuts.  For me, finding out what it's like is part of the adventure.

I'm setting up this blog so that I can capture some of the thoughts and, hopefully, photos as the trip progresses.  I will leave Ottawa for London on May 8 and board the QM2 in Southampton around noon on May 10.  The departure time is 4:30, so we should be sailing into the sunset that night.  (Yes, I completely expect sunny weather the entire trip!).

For those interested, I picked a cabin on the port side (sunny on the westbound crossing) on the 11th deck, approximately in the red circle in the photo.

It has a glass balcony which should let in a lot of light (or rain if my weather prediction is wrong).  What I have read in my research is that the hull balconies (the little holes cut out of the white hull) are a bit better for the crossing as they are more sheltered making it a bit more usable.  But they seemed too dark for me so I decided to go up to the higher decks.

They also say that the best place to be to avoid the motion of the ship is lower and toward the middle.  I'm close enough to the middle but the height might cause some problems.  I will come loaded with gravol!

Today I got the final confirmation of my payment, so there's no turning back.  Will write more as the date approaches.