The Start of the “Around the World” Voyage on QM2

January 17/18/19, 2016 – New York to Fort Lauderdale / Port Everglades –  

  
We (Diana, Nelson, Tachy, Roger) boarded the Queen Mary 2 at Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY after a brief car ride with our 40 pieces of luggage. The same cabins we had on the ship a couple of months ago, have definitely shrunk !!! Unpacking and Organization seem to have taken up most of the first 24 hours. We spent some time chatting with Alejandra (from Punta Arenas, Chile) who is to be the personal concierge for the 320 passengers doing the entire world cruise, and the Atlantic room (floor 11 front) is to be used exclusively for World Travelers. Of the 320 people, 200 got on in Southampton, 67 of us in New York, another 52 get on in Florida and 1 gets on in Uruguay. The ship appears to be near its capacity of 2600 passengers and 1500 crew. The sail to Florida has been a bit choppy thus far with white cap oceans and heavy breezes.The 17th saw the usual after dinner show in the theatre was the on board Cunard singers and dancers doing one of their usual routines (supposedly a tribute to Sting, but doubtful if he would recognise the performance. The feature was a dreadful chap who calls himself a comedian – Tony Daro – whose sole repertoire consisted of bathroom humor and insulting Muslims!!! Many walked out while others grunted. The 18th was yoga and golf (on the simulator) that took up that part of the day not devoted to sorting the cabin. The evening entertainment was “The Overtures” who performed brilliantly, a sixties review and were the group that have played at Buckingham Palace and the wedding of Sir Elton John and David Furnish. They were remarkable bringing the sound to life of the Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, The Who, Manfrd Man, Procol Harem, Simon & Garfunkle and many others. Even the octogenarians were “rocking and rolling” in their seats.

The 19th consisted of a fascinating lecture by David Mallinder on Bing Crosby, one of a series he is doing on “The Great American Songbook” – focusing on 6 of the many brilliant singers of the past century over the next few days. Other activities involved a visit to the fitness room and watching Amy, the movie on Amy Winehouse.

Today, the 20th January, our first port – Fort Lauderdale and a visit on an air boat of the Everglades. After a late start (delay with people leaving the ship), we motored in the coach th 50 miles to the Everglades – an 80 mile wide slow moving river filled with grasses. The airboat, a flat bottomed vessel with large propeller blowing the air and very noisy, took off with 30 people over rushes and grasses with water that was evident in places below. Good speed with great manoeuvrability in a forward direction only, slid across the marshland / water / grass with ease. We saw many birds – Egrets, Corcorans, blue herons, etc and alligators sunbathing on the sides as well as snapping and regular turtles. Absolutely fascinating. This was followed by an exhibition of alligators, including “petting” a small one and the trainer showing that the larger (4 ft) ones knew their names and got out of the water to get a “treet” of raw chicken. We learned that alligators are freshwater and have snub noses and are scared of humans, whereas the crocodiles live in saltwater, have pointed heads, have teeth that cross and enjoy munching on humans!!!

All in all a fascinating day, perfect 70F degree sunny weather, before returning to the ship for a late lunch.