Friday September 6, 2019 – To Southampton, Board Queen Elizabeth for Iceland Cruise
On Friday we packed up the Jaguar and headed for Southampton and to the Queen Elizabeth ship. Handing in the car we boarded, lunched and got the luggage we had brought on with us as well as that which we had transferred from the Queen Mary II. It was not until we started unpacking that I realized that I had left all my medications in Wokingham. Immediate panic ensued. Do I get off and try and meet up with the family in the Outer Hebrides? Eventually we called Courtney who fortunately was able to go by, with Peter to the house get the meds and rush down to Southampton. The ship was to depart just after 4 PM. We went to the purser’s desk spoke to Tomoe, who brought into the discussion Naomi McFerran (Housekeeping General Manager). We were in touch with Courtney and Peter and they rushed to reach the deadline. With 15 minutes to go and we, having to participate in the lifeboat safety drill at 4PM, Tomoe was on the phone with Courtney and she was to leave the meds with the ship’s agent in Southampton. She arrived with about 5 minutes to spare, handed over the meds and as soon as the drill was over, we rushed to the purser’s office and the meds were there. A deep debt of gratitude to Courtney and Peter for saving the day.
They returned to Reading in time to pick up Alex at the Train Station and we sailed away on route to Harris & Lewis.
The Captain for this journey was Simon Love (UK); our Cabin Steward Noel. We sat on floor 2 in the aft Port side by the rear windows at Table 204 with our waiters being Salcedo and his Assistant Michael. That evening we saw the Royal Court Singers & Dancers doing their show “Be Our Guest”.
Saturday September 7, 2019 – At Sea
As is our custom, on board the ship when at sea, we enjoy the Lectures. This day there were several.
Destination Talk on Akureyri by Ruth Clamp – A talk about the tours and what to see and do in Akureyri. The FX rate guidance for Icelandic Kroner (ISK) is £1 = ISK 155; US$1 = ISK 120.
Meet the Vikings by historian Robert Key – was a lecture on a brief history of the Vikings and the Viking world from Scandinavia to Iceland, Greenland and apparently to North America long before Columbus (about 1000 AD landing in Vinland modern day Newfoundland.
“How to become a Forensic Scientist in Two Easy Steps” by Tristam Elmhirst – This was the first of a series of lectures on Forensic Science which were very good. Here he laid out the principles and background to the science. When 2 or more objects touch each other there is a transference of material from one to the other. Thus what did the offender leave at the scene and what did he take away. It can be used to identify or eliminate possible suspects, establish or corroborate whether a crime has been committed, focus lines of enquiry and link crime scenes. Things like fingerprints, DNA and other such unique elements are key to forensic science. In future lectures he greatly expanded on these topics.
In the evening we attended the show by the singers Indigo May – Ok but not fantastic.
Sunday September 8, 2019 – At Sea
The Captain’s Interdenominational Church Service started the day.
The Lectures today were:-
Port lecture about Stornoway, the Outer Hebrides and Lewis & Harris specifically.
Michael Howard talks about Three Weeks in May 1940 when Churchill took office as Prime Minister and the situation in Europe was getting worse by the minute with Hitler pushing forward towards the English Channel.
Robert Key lecture on “Iceland, Between a rock and a hard place”. – Here he gave a great introduction to Iceland it’s Geography, Geology and history as well as how it runs today,
Tristram Elmhirst Lecture on the “B’s” of Forensic Science – “Bugs, Bullets, Blood and bad deeds” – Again another fascinating lecture about this aspect of Forensic Science, namely what the presence of bugs can tell us about a body in a homicide, for example. How the Striation’s on bullets change and are unique to each gun, like fingerprints. Blood, how much, where, the splatter, type etc are all additional tools in the arsenal if Forensic science.
Comedian John Evans was the evening entertainment – not very funny, but a few “smile” moments in his show but not worth the time.
Roger & Anne Travels 