(Day 53) Last night, after dinner, in the Britannia Restaurant, and omitting desserts and coffee, Glenis, Denise and I adjourned to the Golden Lion Pub on Deck 2 for our second attempt at the “pub quiz”. We won! However, I remain not too keen on the “pub scene,” recreated brilliantly, by Cunard on their three cruise ships to much acclaim. And, the official answers are not always correct. For example, I have no memory of The Hallelujah Chorus ever being the final movement of Handel’s Messiah. My answer “Worthy is the Lamb” the final chorus of Messiah, was disallowed, but the quiz master assured me that he would “look into it.” He didn’t, as I would ascertain a couple of days later! The Cunard show “Be Our Guest” in the Royal Court Theatre was a superb performance by the resident Cunard Royal Court Theatre Singers and Dancers, backed by the Royal Court Theatre Orchestra, an ensemble of around 8 musicians of the highest calibre. Weeks ago, I felt they were over amplified; that was no problem yesterday.
There seems little incentive to play the machines in the Casino. The few times I have tried my luck have not encouraged me to return in a hurry. And there’s little noise of success from other people’s attempts to “make a killing!”
I love travelling (let’s call it that, rather than cruising), on Cunard ships in particular. I never thought, for one moment, that I would ever be fortunate enough to be a passenger on Cunard ships to some of the farthest places from home. I assume the point of crossing the International Date Line en route for New Zealand is as far as it is possible to be from Derbyshire, but that is debatable. “Queen Elizabeth,” like its almost identical sister “Queen Victoria,” is every bit the five-star hotel. We have endured fairly turbulent seas and thunderstorms, through which the ship has not been thrown around as much as I feared it might be. Disappointments are few. Occasionally, dinner can feel rushed, as can afternoon tea, and some other events. However, today, after an excellent opera recital by Irving and Brown in the Queens Room, tea with Chris and Sue was unhurried and extremely pleasant. A string ensemble serenaded its afternoon tea audience with a commendable rendition of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. All very civilised! But now, it’s time to walk and generate an appetite for dinner at 8.30, for which tuxedo and black tie is the dress code for the gentlemen. I expect all eight of us will be at dinner, but I shall give the quiz a miss! However, I shall attend tonight’s show by the FlyRights who had their audience dancing in the aisles two or three days ago. I think they will go down well with those who joined us yesterday.
Fort Lauderdale, yesterday, was another “embarkation port.” Several guests disembarked on completion of their voyages, and there are now several “new faces” on board, either for a very brief trip to New York, or to continue to Southampton. I don’t anticipate many leaving the ship at any other intervening ports of call.
24th July 2019
That was the first of two sea days between Fort Lauderdale and New York. Yesterday morning (23/7/19) followed one of my lousy sleeps. I wake fairly frequently for what is known in the travel industry as a “comfort stop.” Usually, I return to the “Land of Nod” with little difficulty only to be awakened 90 minutes later to return to the bathroom. Not so, the night before last. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my sea day, yesterday, and a brief nap in the afternoon assured me of an enjoyable evening. For a second and final time, I joined Chris and Sue for a lecture charting the war years of R.M.S. Queen Mary.
Following this, we adjourned to the Golden Lion for lunch, followed by the second of six opera recitals, and eventually, afternoon tea. They joined our table for one last dinner before disembarking this morning (24/7/19). In between times, I walked a little, only just achieving my “target.”
Last night’s comedian didn’t make for a memorable (in the right way) farewell. It’s ironic. At the FlyRights’ final show the previous evening, all, except for a row of six or seven people nearby were up, dancing at their seats to another, once again joyous performance of Motown and Swing music. Last night, I was one of a group of six sitting unimpressed by the comedian as the rest of the audience was creased up in hysterics. My old school pal Stephen Nicholson was right, when we were kids at primary school…. he said that I don’t have a sense of humour!
Some days ago, Denise expressed a wish to have onion soup at Jo Junior’s, a diner I used to frequent when staying in Lower Manhattan around five to eight years ago. In a little over an hour’s time, that’s what we shall do. I think the last time I was there was in January 2014 during an Arctic vortex. I battled through a horizontal blizzard, determined to have some sustenance at my favourite eatery before getting my head down at the nearby Seafarers and International hostel…a rare place in New York where the price of a bed for the night is “realistic.” Was I the only idiot, during that blizzard, wandering those deserted streets, the night I flew in from Heathrow? But, that experience was a “one-off” which I recall with amusement and pleasure.
Today, New York has returned to normality following a prolonged heatwave and heavy rains. The skies are clear and there is a welcome breeze with a welcome soothing coolness which I think will make or a pleasant day.
GREETINGS from NEW YORK!
David10.12hrs E.T. Deck 3 Queen Elizabeth. 
David's Cruise 