Thursday

When I was looking at which cruise I would take this year, the two negatives that I could think of for this one were :

1. Too short.  Last two years I had taken 10 night itineraries and found it to be a good duration.  A week can be short and it has indeed flown by.  I could use a couple more days but this length is fine, especially with a night in NYC.

2. Too cold. The last two years I have experienced wonderfully warm days at sea and it is very nice.  I had breakfast outside and could lie out in the sun during the day.  This year has been very cold, much colder than my first crossing on qm2 .  Weather is always a "luck of the draw" thing but I think this is fairly typical for this route, in this time of year.  The sun came out yesterday and that made it nice enough to sit out...in my warm coat.  I have no regrets but I have a feeling that if I do another crossing next year, it will be a warmer route.

Yesterday was the keynote lecture by Stephen Payne, the designer of this ship.  He was really good, telling the story of how he wanted to design ships since he was a young boy and almost did not get into the field because passenger ships were in decline.  He not only designed this ship , but also the seaboard Quest series.  He is immensely proud of this ship, as he should be.

The sun came out and the wind died down a little Wednesday afternoon and everyone was dying to get out.  The promenade was packed and people were even out playing shuffleboard, despite the cold temperatures.  I walked many laps and went to the top sun decks taking photos. We also saw a few cargo ships, a sign we are getting into busier waters.

Thursday

Another sign is the baggage tags that were delivered to my room.  Don't want to think about packing.

Seas are calm this morning and the wind is down too.  It is pleasant enough that the crew has out the cushions out for the deck chairs.  It's not really warm but it feels much better than other days.  The promenade deck is too busy to jog, perhaps later afternoon.

By noon the skies had cleared and the temperature rocketed to 20. I lied out by the pool for a couple of hours enjoying it.  What a gorgeous day.  I will be outside for the rest of the day I'm sure.