Wednesday, January 11th, 2023 Queen Mary2 and Queen Victoria, docked Southampton, UK.
Updated: Jul 4, 2023
In the early hours of this morning the QM2 docked in Southampton, and we woke to blue skies and mild temperatures – unusual for England. The forecast is for light rain starting in the early afternoon, but it should have cleared before we sail out on the Queen Victoria. We gathered in the Chart Room at our assigned time of 10AM to begin our transfer to the Queen Victoria, which is docked at the Mayflower Terminal, about a ten-minute bus ride away. Within a few minutes we were walking down the gangway and into the terminal; we quickly located our bags and loaded them onto two trolleys and followed the directions to get to the transfer bus located just outside the terminal. The bags were loaded into a van, and we boarded a bus, at this point we thought things were going quite well. However, we now experienced the first of several delays – everyone was onboard, but the bus was instructed to wait. It was another 45 minutes before we finally set off. On reaching the Mayflower Terminal, we all got excited about finally getting on the Queen Victoria, only to sit on the bus for another 45 minutes. All of us doing the transfer from QM2 to Queen Victoria (~70 people) were issued with “Priority Boarding” cards and at this point we were beginning to wonder what this meant. We were then told that we were too early, and the terminal was not yet open; there was also a growing of passengers outside the terminal, those who were not transferring from the QM2. Eventually the terminal opened, and we were allowed to get off the bus and begin the check-in process; we did get priority over those lined up outside the terminal. After going through a couple of checks to make sure all of our paperwork was in order, we were ready for the final security check, but once again were forced to wait for about an hour before we were allowed to go forward. I realize these delays sound trivial but when you’ve waited and planned a trip like this for over a year, and you are so close to finally getting on the ship, it’s hard not to be anxious. It seemed like all of the employees at each check-in desk were performing the task for the first time, often having to stop and go off and ask a supervisor of advice or help. The delays were somewhat offset by one of the ladies asking Sandra about her accent and then we found out that she was from Gourock in Scotland, close to where we lived 40 years ago - in fact she had been in my favorite pub, The Spinnaker just two weeks before. The final check at the entrance to the ship went smoothly and we were on board; we quickly located our cabin, dropped off our hand luggage and headed back out to Southampton to do some final shopping.
By the time we returned to the cabin our bags had been delivered and we immediately began the process of unpacking. We’ve invested in 3 nice “garment bags” over the years, these are the type that allow you to place your suits, shirts, and dresses etc. into the bag on hangers so when it comes to unpacking the process is very easy – lift the items out of the bag and hang them directly in the closet. Amazingly we were unpacked in about 2 hours and managed to get four of our large bags stored under the bed, this is a bit more of a challenge on Queen Victoria as there are two large permanent drawers installed under the bed. It was great to reconnect with our very good friends Christine and Ray who have a cabin just down the hall from ours; we’ve sailed together many times over the years, and we always have a great time. The rain had eased as we headed up to the top deck for the sail away at around 6PM, with Queen Victoria passing the still-docked QM2 and the fireworks barge setting of a continuous stream of spectacular rockets – it was a pretty spectacular. I believe the QM2 got under way and followed us out into the Solent, but I did not stick around to see it. With this being the 100th anniversary of the first Cunard world voyage, everyone was in a very festive mood. Pre-dinner drinks in the Gin Bar brought back great memories, especially as we were very surprised to see our favorite bartender, Ricardo, back behind the bar. Dinner is always such a fun and boisterous event with Christine and Ray, and for this voyage we were joined by their friends David and Di. Our assigned table was on the upper level of the Britannia Room all the way aft on the port side; despite our request for a 6-person table we had been assigned an 8-person, but the spare two seats were unfilled. We had a great evening talking about our plans for the voyage and reminiscing about past voyages – and of course listening to Ray’s jokes.
Southampton sail away video
Southampton sail away video |
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