Off on a nice little jaunt tomorrow on the Queen Victoria calling at Zeebrugge and Cherbourg. Travelling with my mother and godmother, leaving OH home to look after the dogs.
Looking forward to the QV and a nice relaxing time on board.
Will try and report back.
Michele
(For those of you who might be interested, I have managed to squeeze in 8 pairs of shoes not including the pair for travelling in)
Three pairs. That's a bit flash Foxy. Or does it also include the blue slippers provided? Personally I only wear those on formal nights, along with my Portunus badge.
Three pairs. That's a bit flash Foxy. Or does it also include the blue slippers provided? Personally I only wear those on formal nights, along with my Portunus badge.
In that case I may have to re-think my wardrobe. However you will appreciate I am nearly Caribbean class and have standards to keep up.
It looks like Michele and her case full of shoes are having good weather.
Well, I've used up 33 minutes of my free 120 posting a report earlier this morning, only to check now and find there is no sign of it
So, I will try again with an abridged version! Great run to Southampton without any traffic problems at all - straight down A33 and in to Dock Gate 4 by 11.45. Unloaded bags and headed into Ocean terminal and at top of escalator were handed health questionnaires and asked if we were gold, platinum, princess or queens grill. Because we have done 2 previous Cunard trips (both only mini-breaks) we are in Gold tier and next thing we knew we were at a check-in desk without having time to complete our health questionnaires! Formalities completed, we passed through security and were in our cabin by 12.15 - pretty impressed! We are in cabin 6146, which I picked specifically as on the deckplan it is where the structure of the ship 'juts out' and has a slightly larger floor space and balcony - just what you need when there are 3 of you. We sat on our sun-bathed balcony for a while before heading up to the Lido buffet for some lunch. Found that you various juices are all free. Had a nice healthy salad followed by a not so healthy piece of chocolate cake and on going to get a cup of coffee, discovered the free ice cream machines. Had to sample some of the chocolate flavour................topped with marshmallows.............and chocolate sprinkles
After this we did a tour of the ship - it is a lovely ship and we couldn't get over how quiet and empty it was - don't know where everyone else was. On returning to the cabin we find our bags there, so quickly unpacked and went to the Lido deck for a swim and sunbathe before our muster at 4.00pm in the Britannia restaurant. Then back to cabin to open our free bottle of bubbly on the balcony for the sailaway. Got ready for dinnner (all 3 nights are informal) before heading to the Corinthia Room for pre-dinner drinks accompanied by canapes and crisps and then dinner on the second sitting in the upper tier of the Britannia restaurant. Excellent meal and then to the theatre for the show. Passed through the casino on the way back and purchased $40 of chips and after about an hour walked away with $41!
Hurray! It worked this time. Forgot to say - managed to get through 4 pairs of shoes on 1st day.
FRIDAY
Arrived in Zeebrugge to cloudy, grey skies - not what we wanted Ran up to the lido to collect 3 cups of coffee for us to enjoy on the balcony followed by breakfast in the britannia restaurant where we shared a table with a couple from Bulgaria who are on board with a party of 15 of them to celebrate a friends birthday! Soon after went ashore (well wrapped up, as there was also a fairly bracing breeze) and got the shuttle into Blankenberge. From here we took the tram to Ostende where we had a nice cup of hot chocolate and watched the cloud break up and the sun break through. Then back on board for lunch and again spent the afternoon on the Lido deck, sunbathing and swimming. Went to the Corinthia room again for drinks and had another excellent dinner in the britannia and then whilst Mum and godmother went off to the theatre to see the comedian, I went to the casino where I managed to turn my $41 into $175 - that should pay the bar bill!
Our last port of call was Cherbourg and it dawned much brighter than the previous morning. Once again I nipped up to the buffet to collect some coffee to have on our balcony. (Haven't done any laps of the prom deck this trip, as I reckon running up and down the stairs is just as good). We then had breakfast in the Britannia restaurant and then went ashore. They were offering a shuttle bus into town for which there was a charge of $4.50 on way for anyone on a saver or early saver fare. A lot of people decided to walk, but as we had booked a cunard fare, we took the bus. Then we hopped on 'Le Petit Train' which took us round a fair bit of the town with a commentary in English (felt sorry for the few French people on board) and lasted 45 minutes. Then we had a pleasant half hour sat outside a cafe with a nice drink. Afterwards I headed to the nearest Carrefour to buy some wine. I managed to get a few of my favourite Alsace wines at a very reasonable price - though quite expensive for a booze cruise!! We caught the shuttle bus back to the ship for an earlier lunch today, as we were planning to do the 'white-gloved afternoon tea in the Queens Room'. For a change we went to the Lido poolside grill and I had a veggie burger with salad. And then it was another afternoon of sunbathing and swimming before changing and making our way down to the Queens Room. Although we got there at 3.40 (it started at 3.30) every single table was full and there was a large queue! Every now and then one of the managers would come and say they had a table for 2 available and more and more people were coming from behind us in the queue, as we were behind a party of six and 2 parties of four. Eventually at about 4.00pm loads of people started to leave and we were seated soon after. It was a very pleasant experience in the beautiful Queens Room with a lovely selection of sandwiches, some beautiful little pastries and scones with cream and jam. There was a string quartet playing throughout the whole time and we did enjoy it. After this we went back to the cabin to make a start on the packing before preparing for the last evening.
We went down for a drink fairly early, so as to make the most of the last evening. As I said before, all 3 nights were informal, which is described as "jacket required, tie optional for gentlemen and cocktail dress, stylish separates or equivalent for ladies. No shorts, blue or worn denim, sandals or sleeveless tops are considered appropriate wear within the ship after 6pm. I wore outfits that I would wear on a jacket required evening and felt perfectly comfortable, though some ladies were wearing long, evening dresses. We had pre-dinner drinks in the Champagne Bar this evening and had another excellent meal in the Britannia. On our way to the Royal Court theatre, I went to the casino and cashed in $75.00 which I then paid off my bill - saving $100 for a little flutter later. The Celtic Heartbeat show performed by the Royal Cunard singers & dancers was good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as their first night. Then off to the
casino where I managed to play for a while and still walk away with $100! Although it wasn't very late, and the clocks went back an hour, it seemed to be very quiet everywhere round the ship, with very few people in the bars - not like on a short trip on P&O, where everyone seems to want to make the most of their time on board!
The last morning, we woke up early and had our coffee on the balcony before heading to the Britannia for breakfast at 6.30! We found that they offer a reduced menu on disembarkation day, but still plenty of choice. We had registered for self-disembarkation and were informed that we should meet in the Queens Room from 7.00am onwards, when we should be able to disembark anytime from approximately 7.15. So we headed off with our bags to the Queens Room to find a few passengers seated, but no staff or board telling us what was happening. Then just as we decided to sit down and wait, another passenger came along looking for some of his relatives and told us that we needed to go to deck 3 and we could get off. So off we went. Found the car and were on the road by 7.45am after a lovely time on board.
I like the fact that you can get free juices at the buffet and free ice cream!! Don't like the fact that they add 15% on to every drink order! Apart from that the experience is very similar to a P&O cruise - just on a slightly grander ship. The Queen Victoria is beautifully appointed and I would sail on her again.
PS. In the end I took 10 pairs of shoes with me, wore them all except my plimsolls as I didn't do any walking around the prom deck and came back with one pair more - my cunard slippers!
Thanks for your report Michele. Those afternoon teas are something special aren't they? Pleased you had a good time and what lovely weather you had (if it was anything like the weather we have just had!)
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not including the pair for travelling in)
blue slippers on QV - shock horror!!! 
Ran up to the lido to collect 3 cups of coffee for us to enjoy on the balcony followed by breakfast in the britannia restaurant where we shared a table with a couple from Bulgaria who are on board with a party of 15 of them to celebrate a friends birthday! Soon after went ashore (well wrapped up, as there was also a fairly bracing breeze) and got the shuttle into Blankenberge. From here we took the tram to Ostende where we had a nice cup of hot chocolate and watched the cloud break up and the sun break through. Then back on board for lunch and again spent the afternoon on the Lido deck, sunbathing and swimming. Went to the Corinthia room again for drinks and had another excellent dinner in the britannia and then whilst Mum and godmother went off to the theatre to see the comedian, I went to the casino where I managed to turn my $41 into $175 - that should pay the bar bill!
)
