Queen Mary 2 – Day One

I woke feeling apprehensive about the weekend ahead, after a late notification on Wednesday afternoon of a deep clean due to an increase in gastrointestinal illness on board. But I set out with an open mind. The journey down to Southampton was a bit of a blur, I don’t really remember much about it. I was so focused on just getting on board and getting relaxed that it all happened very quickly and before we knew it we were on board. I’ve never known a faster check in!

Once on board we proceeded straight to the stateroom, we had an outside cabin on deck 4 (4015). I opened the door not really knowing what to expect and my goodness – it was HUGE! By far the best and biggest stateroom I’ve had on any ship. Two huge single beds, a vanity unit, a sofa with separate armchair, a little table, a huge bathroom, and a great wardrobe.

We had some chocolate dipped strawberries and a personalised cake waiting for us, which were both yummy! We then headed to Connexions, the conference centre on board and had a very warm welcome with everyone at cruise.co.uk. We had a quick talk from Andrew our manager and were let loose for the muster drill. Pretty painless but it was hot and stuffy in winter gardens so I was pleased to be out of there!

We dumped our life jackets and headed to top deck to watch a special fireworks display, which had been put on for some unknown reason! They were great. We headed to the aft terrace of the ship and enjoyed some music before heading back to the cabins to get ready for dinner.

I unpacked my stuff, which didn’t take long, and made the cabin look ship shape, Kirsty had brought some Christmas decorations to the cabin, which made a real nice touch. I dressed in a suit and we made our way to the Golden Lion pub for 8pm to enjoy a drink before dinner.

8:30pm came and we proceeded to the Britannia restaurant and were seated with a variety of different people.

I had Sweet potato and cauliflower cheese parcels for starters, medallions of pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon served with dauphinoise potatoes for mains, and an apple and apricot tart for pudding. All very high quality and tasty! We then returned to the Golden Lion for a few drinks before retiring for the evening once we had had a nice cold drink!

The weather is breezy and dry with temperatures of around 10 degrees, the sea condition is slight and we are currently heading south-west and will be turning at dawn to make our way back up to Zeebrugge.