Sunday August 18, 2019 – New York / Set sail on Queen Mary 2 for the start of our adventure to Europe & Iceland to celebrate the Clifford’s 40th wedding anniversary. This time we cross the Atlantic, spend a week in the Loire Valley, then a couple of weeks around Iceland, a week in England and then sail back to New York.
After cramming the car with 16 suitcases, we drove to Brooklyn seaport to board the Queen Mary 2. Diana, Nelson, Anne (Anita) and Roger together with Julio who would be returning the car to the garage.
Unfortunately the computers / internet went down as we arrived over an hour early, so we stood in the check in queue for ages until they figured out how to do a manual processing, which consisted of taking our passports, no credit cards and no photograph on the key-card!
We boarded, unpacked, lunched in the cafeteria, underwent the emergency evacuation procedure, booked massages, watched the sail-away past the Statue of Liberty, under the Verezzano Narrows Bridge and then to dinner, where we were unexpectedly seated at a table for 6 in lieu of the expected 4, (the four of us, an English lady, Margaret and an Australian lady, June). We had a long chat with our favorite cabin steward Bert who we are always happy to see. This time our steward was Edwin who we had known from the 75th anniversary cruise a few years ago. Various staff we recognized and chatted with which is always fun.
After dinner, even though we were all sleepy we did see a talented English singer Georgina Jackson who played the trumpet somewhat less brilliantly but an enjoyable evening.
Monday 19th August, 2019 – Crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
After a good nights sleep and an enjoyable English Breakfast, we headed to the first lecture of the day – Secrets of a TV News Anchor – by Derek Tedder. He had been a radio presenter then a journalist News Anchor / Presenter for BBC, Sky and now for the UK Army channel. With Computer Generated Graphics and a green or blue (in the case of the army as uniforms are green) sides and backgrounds, a very sophisticated appearing set can be made. He mentioned many amusing moments on the air and how things work in a newsroom.
The second lecture was by a Canadian Astronaut – Dr. Robert Thirsk MD who spent 6 months on the International Space Station in 2009 and had a prior 14 day space voyage aboard the Space Shuttle. He is an engineer and medical doctor from Vancouver Canada. Very interesting talk about life aboard the space station and eating, exercise, sleeping, bathroom use etc. Also he described some of the experiments on board one of which was taking tomato seeds to space. This Tomato growing experiment in which schools get 30 seeds from space and 30 that have not been into space. In general the ones that have spent time in space germinate better 55%:45% than those that did not go to space. (www.tomatosphere.org).
After the lecture Anne and Roger retire to the spa for well needed massages and time in the whirlpool. As there was a 1 hour time change st noon, we were actually at 1 PM starting our 90 minute massages. By 3:15 having had no lunch we went to (The Queen’s Room) have a formal white glove English Cream Tea with sandwiches pastries and scones with Clotted cream and jam.
A very hard life on board, then led to a siesta, changing into formal clothes and off to Dinner with the Cliffords. We wrapped up the evening in the Commodore Club drinking Carpathia’s and more. Mr “Pisco Sour” (the head waiter in the bar) greeted us like long lost friends, so we were glad to see him.
Tuesday 20th August, 2019 – Crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The first lecture of the day after church (Anne) and a good English breakfast was Dr. Adrian Farnham On “The Psychology of Body Language and Lying”. The next was by Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis on “Costume in Film”. An interesting insight into how to go about creating costumes for film with an emphasis on period pieces.
After dinner we returned to our favorite bar – the Commodore Club before seeing the show – the brilliant Acrobats Luminescence by Duo Lyidji.
Wednesday 21st August, 2019 – Crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The day started off with massages (Gigi) and acupuncture (Wei) treatments before going to Helen Doe’s lecture on “The ss Great Britain – Brunei’s Iron ship, her passengers and crew”. The first large Iron ship built by the famous ship designer Brunei. The trial and tribulations of it’s early life leading to it going aground on an Ireland beach, nearly scrapped, it’s second life and now a museum.
Derek Tedder, the TV News presenter, gave an interesting talk on how to look good (and dreadful) on TV. As most studios are just green rooms (sometimes light blue) one of the key elements if you are to be interviewed on TV, is to never were green clothing to an interview as it will seem that the part of the body in green clothing does not exist. Other “Don’ts” are – never cross your arms, no hands behind back, no juggling change in pocket, no up and down for close in shots, sit still and no slouching. Good things to do are Arms to the front, good eye contact, don’t over gesticulate, watch mannerisms, wear studio make up to prevent sweating under bright lights, look at the reporter or interviewer, be passionate, talk in short sound bites, don’t drone on, maintain focus and beware of being trapped / going down rabbit warrens.
The other lecture we attended was by the Canadian Astronaut, Robert Thirsk who spoke on the psychology and human interaction / harmonious working together in long duration space flights. The key elements that are looked for in individuals who are to embark on long missions on the International Space Station (ISS) are:- 1) Self Care / Self Management; 2) Communications; 3) Cross-cultural skills; 4) Teamwork and Group Living; 5) Leadership; 6) Conflict Management; 7) Situational Awareness; and 8) Decision Making / Problem Solving. Each has many aspects like the two official languages on the ISS are Russian and English, so all have to be proficient in both languages. For more on this astronaut – http://www.RobertThirsk.ca.
There was another change of hour forward at noon. Roger had a second acupuncture treatment, Anne spent an hour in the Gym, then we got together with the Clifford’s for Champagne and a game of monopoly in the Atlantic room (which was our private hideaway for all those on the world tour in 2016).
The Captain has invited us to a cocktail party for all the Diamond, Platinum and Gold “Frequent Traveler” program guests. We were 3 of the 87 Diamond guests (more than 150 nights on board Cunard Ships). Always interesting to hear the statistics of the travelers.
The Clifford’s had arranged for the alternate Indian food dining / Coriander, so we arrived at 8:30, but just as we were about to order, Nelson had what we later found out was a Gall Bladder episode, but at the time seemed like extreme pain. The medics are called and blood-work, X-ray and cardiac tests done. After all had subsided, we went to the cafeteria for Nelson to eat prior to retiring to bed.
Thursday 22nd August, 2019 – Crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
We were concerned about Nelson and his episode last night, but all appeared to be normal. Roger went to the Acupuncturist, Anne to church and the Clifford’s to the medical department for a final blood test and a clean bill of health.
The morning lecture at 10 AM was by Suzanne Cooper on “The Living and the Dead in Victorian Times”. An exploration of impact of the monarchy (Specifically Queen Victoria) upon the death of Prince Albert and the early days of photography where ghost images were left on plates when they were not fully cleaned but sold as the photos of those that had passed on with the living.
At 11, the interview with the ship’s Captain / Master – Aseem A. Hashmi MNM (Merchant Navy Medal) done by Paul O’Laughlin (Entertainment Director). Born and raised in Coventry and still lives there with his (Russian Concert Piano) wife and 2 daughters. He is 3 months on and one month off as master of QM2. He started life as a pilot for British Airways and after the Gulf War decided to get his Captain’s license and then grew up the ladder until he commanded the QE2 and eventually QM2. A very amusing chap.
After a good seafood lunch the afternoon lecture by the BBC Reporter – Derek Tedder – The first of a two part lecture on the Death of Princess Diana. Part 1 consists of the life of Diana up to the Car Crash. Part 2 takes from there through all the conspiracy theories. As he was at the time a prime Sky TV anchor / presenter at the time he understands well the events and it was very interesting.
Roger returns for the second acupuncture treatment of the day, Anne to the Gym and joined the Clifford’s in a siesta time before dinner in the Britannia Restaurant. We retired early to bed.
Friday 23rd August, 2019 – Crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Roger to Acupuncture (Wei), Anne to Church followed by the first lecture of the day – Robert Thirsk (Canadian Astronaut) on “What Space has Brought us”. A very interesting discussion on the many things we might not have like TV, radio, GPS, and most communication as well as a myriad of products, services, management style as well as a great deal of knowledge about space. The Hubble Telescope is the top instrument in history as far as generation of scientific papers and citations.
The second lecture on the “Psychology of Money” was by by Dr. Adrien Furnham who has 93 published books and is working on the 94th plus numerous scholarly papers mainly on industrial psychology.
He discussed the Freudian approach as well as many aspects of money as a reward mechanism, as power, as a manipulative tool, the taboo of talking about it in many societies, the vernacular allusion expressions, the happiness vs wealth, as Security, Love through gift purchases, freedom to pursue interests, how to sell to people who have these perceptions of money, and even the negative / loss of money as a tool. This last point where Losses gain twice the emotional response of gains was one of the key factors that led to the Nobel Prize in 2002 for Kahneman & Tversky’s “Prospect Theory”.
After lunch (1 hour forward at midday) we attended an interview of the comedian Mike Doyle by Paul O’Laughlin for an hour and a half which had all the audience in stitches.
We retired for a siesta before heading to dinner at the Veranda Restaurant as a pre-anniversary (ruby) celebration.
Bert Espinosa our cabin steward friend from many trips came by just before we headed to dinner, to give Nelson a remedy which worked brilliantly for his wife in the Philippines of how to get rid of gall, kidney or any other stones. Here it is (Steps 1-5 are repeated daily for 7 days):-
- 6 AM – Drink one glass of freshly squeezed apple juice. Solid food may be consumed after half an hour.
- 9 AM – Drink one glass of freshly squeezed apple juice. Solid food may be consumed all morning.
- Noon – Drink one glass of freshly squeezed apple juice. No solid food intake for the rest of the day
- 2 PM – Drink one glass of freshly squeezed apple juice.
- 6 PM – Drink one glass of warm water with 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts dissolved in it.
- Repeat the above for 7 days continuously.
- Only on the evening of the 7th day at 7 PM – Drink 1/4 of the mixture of 1 cup of virgin olive oil and 1 cup of lemon juice every 15 minutes. At the end of the hour, all will be consumed.
- Again only in the 7th day at 9 PM Drink one glass of olive oil.
Soon thereafter and even over the next few days, the stones will be released through bowel movements.
Being the penultimate night of this segment of the trip and it bring the Clifford’s wedding anniversary on the 25th, we decided to take them to the Veranda Specialty Restaurant as the 25th will be disembarkation day, travel for them to Paris and us to Wokingham and Ebsfleet.
Saturday 24rd August, 2019 – Crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
An early morning as Anne and Roger had breakfast at 7 am and then Massage / Detox / Acupuncture at 8 AM. By the time we finished we stopped for a tea in the Carpethia (previously Wintergarden) and off to a leisurely lunch at the Veranda Restaurant courtesy of being Cunard Diamond members.
During the lunch the 20+ year Cunard Service Head Waiter of the Veranda Restaurant – Shekhar Khetal (shekharqm2@gmail.com) to give us some herbal remedies from his ancestors in India:-
JOINT OR BONE PAIN
(Do NOT apply on open wounds)
100 grams Fresh Ginger
Garlic
50 grams Rock Salt
Mix / grind together these ingredients (molcajete) NO WATER and apply paste to affected area. (elbow, wrist, back, shoulder or any joint of body)
If a specific joint apply 1-2 inches on either side as well as specific area)
Wrap with cling wrap (to avoid staining clothes) and leave for 3 to 4 hours. Repeat for 2 to 3 days.
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MONSOON / WINTER SEASON
To prevent Colds.
Hot Milk (Boil and reduce to 30% of volume
Add Raisins, Almonds, Cashew Nuts, Dry Dates. (The Almonds and dates cut in pieces)
Let the mixture boil on low heat
Pour into a cup and add a small amount of powdered Turmeric
Add a raw organic chicken egg to milk as well as 1 teaspoon of honey.
Mix well and drink every day.
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MONSOON / WINTER SEASON
Spice Herbal Tea for Winter Season
Bring to a boil 4 cups of Water
Add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamon, Fresh Ginger, whole black peppercorns.
Boil thoroughly then just before drinking, add one teaspoon of honey (No milk, No sugar)
Drink daily.
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After lunch we packed – some to stay within Cunard to be put onto our next cruise to Iceland, some to stay in Wokingham and others to go to France with us tomorrow. Anne went to the gym and then we met in time to take tips to the various waiters then to the 7 pm show – Mike Doyle the welsh comedian, very amusing. Dinner in the cafeteria and back for final packing and putting all our luggage out to be collected and we will see it again in the customs house on shore in Southampton tomorrow.
Roger & Anne Travels 