Day 6. At sea onwards towards New York. Thursday
24th November 2016
Clocks to back tonight
The Christian meeting for Bill.
I had breakfast and afterwards I went onto the Spa to use the Aqua facilities as the spa treatment I had the other day allowed me to have use of the Aqua Hydropool all day. The sea was somewhat rough and the water was going everywhere and the pool here is a little deep for me so I had to hold on and manoeuvre myself onto the steel bars that you can sit or lie on in the pool. I didn't stay long in the pool. I went on to use some of the other facilities that are part of the original treatment.
In the afternoon I went another show by RADA actors the performed an hour long adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. The six actors played 9 characters of the cast. It was brilliant and not a microphone in sight, pure projection of trained voices to bring us a unique show. In the evening the
Big Band Ball played in the Queens Room. The ballroom floor was packed and the music excellent too. One of the things I like about the QM2 is the Queens Room, it's such a lovely space and when music is played it comes to life.
Formal.
Black Dress, Mango
Black silver heel sandals, Kurt Geiger
Black bag
Day 7. Last day on board.
25th November 2016.
Clocks go back, we will then be on New York time.
The day started with Bill going to the last Christian meeting. I stayed behind to start the packing.
Breakfast was busy.
Celebrity Q&A session with Tim Sebastian hosted by Entertainment Director Jo Haley. It was a good interview and Jo Haley is a very good entertainment director too.
Afterwards I went to the bridge viewing room where you can view the Bridge from behind a window. There were only a couple of people there and they left soon after. While there I was looking out to sea when I saw what looked like a spout of water spraying up. I had to look for a short while to realise it was the spout of a whale. I saw that an officer on bridge saw it too. I went outside where I saw the whale again. I tracked it for a while when it passed us, I then saw that there were 2 of them. I found out later that in this stretch of the ocean there is a channel whereby shipping vessels have to sail at a slower speed than usual because its where there is a higher concentration of whales, don't know if it was just at this time of year or whether its all year round. Whatever the reason I managed to see a whale that was not too far from the ship.
During the day we had decided to opt for the self disembarkation for tomorrow, as the time we were given would mean that we were at risk of missing our pick up ride to take us to our hotel. Also it would become fairly busy by that time. We have done self disembarkation a few times now and we prefer this if we are able to so at the time.
Early evening saw the Cunard's theatre company doing their first show. 'Broadway Rocks' it was good. They are a new group and so our entertainment has been guest stars.
Our last evening meal was lovely. Had Cream of veg soup to start, main was rack of lamb.
An unusual end to the evening was a wee production by the RADA group. They read a bedtime story, it was Winnie the Pooh & friends looking for the North Pole. This was performed in the Winter Garden. It was very entertaining and it goes without saying they were very good. There were a lot of people there including a few little people too. We had trouble finding a seat.
Before we headed back to our cabin we walked through to the Kings Court for a hot drink.
Everything packed and ready for the next part of our adventure.
Day 8. Disembarkation Day. 1st Day in the Big
26th November 2016
Self disembarkation.
Got off very early about 7.15. No taxi had arrived for us. Also our phones were not working to ring the taxi transfer office. We went to the Cunard agents post outside and asked if they would help us. They were a little reluctant as our ride was a private booking through our travel agent but for some reason our phones were not able to connect. The man there phoned on our behalf and then passed the phone to Bill, it took a while for him to get someone to understand what our problem was and eventually they put things into action. Our taxi got here at 7.45, a very nice car it was too, a Lincoln.
Got to the hotel about 8.15, The Row NYC hotel. We were checked into room, even though initially they said 4pm for us to get into it. The fact that we didn't react when they said 4pm but asked what to do with our luggage, it was within minutes we were given a room. Never pays to get upset. The room was small & on the 14th floor. We freshen up and left the hotel not long after. Walked to Times Square, took photos and selfies with the iconic Times Square backdrop, it was at this point that Bill & I parted, I headed towards finding the 'High Line' attraction via Macy's briefly & then onto Penn Station to get info about our travel on the Amtrak along with when and where to go when we arrive at the station on Monday. A man looking like Morgan Freeman was extremely helpful and gave me Amtrak luggage labels as well.
When I started my walk not far from leaving the Times Square area I came across some very colourful Chinese style looking statues. There were a lot of them stretching over a number of blocks all the way to Macy's. These structures were part of something called 'The Garment District Plazas Public Art Program'. Imagine the scenes during the Chinese New Year and you would see Dragons of very elaborate pattern and colours, this is what these were. There were Pandas, Giraffes, an Owl, a Phoenix, a Bull and other creatures I can not even begin to describe.
I found a way of getting up onto the highline eventually by looking at a map I brought with me. I walked most of the Highline and finished around 3pm, being a weekend the Highline was very busy. Took lots of photos and it was a lovely way to spend a cool bright sunny day. I didn't get to do this the last time I was here, I was pleased it hadn't rained. Nearby I came across the Chelsea Market which was an interesting place to visit, very vibrant and busy & very expensive. The fishmonger style cafe was amazing. At the back there was a small area where people were queuing for Fresh steamed Lobster with whatever you wanted with it. They were not exactly small either and people were crammed in at high bench tables eating their lobsters. Feeling a bit peckish at this point, I got a burger to eat on the go. Started to make my way back to the hotel and walking a slightly different route but still in busy areas. I came across a very large building that occupied a whole block it was the United States Post Office, it looked as though it was open as people were coming out of the building. By this time it was late afternoon and so I was surprised to see this. I stopped at Macy's and had a look at their Christmas display windows.
Before arriving back at the hotel I bought hot drinks for us.
Day 9. 2nd Day in NY.
27th November 2016.
We found a place nearby to have breakfast, not cheap but lots of it. Afterwards Bill wanted to treat me to a very NY thing to do. A Horse carriage trip round Central Park. Again not cheap especially now the dollar is low. The ride was about 40 mins and the sun was shining. We were given a blanket to put over our legs. At a turnaround spot we stopped and the driver, an Italian with a spectacular top hat, got out and took photos of us with our cameras & ipad. Once we were back where we started. We went to shopping, first to Bloomingdales where I got a couple of gifts. Bill, who's feet were very sore made his way back to the hotel. I went to a food store to get a few things for our train journey which will be a 9 hour trek. Bloomingdales is on a corner of a cross road and on the other corners were a Zara store, H&M and a Banana Republic store. I went in all three and came away with a pair of trousers from H&M. Could not find anything this time from the Banana Republic store like I did last time I was here, this was the same for Zaras. Not far from the BR store there was a Gap. I haven't shopped in a Gap for years, mainly because other stores made their mark and I ended up shopping elsewhere. Also my sister moved away from living in the states for a number of years now and she used to bring back Gap jeans back for me, they were the only store where I could get jeans/trousers to fit me, especially the length where I didn't need them to be taken up. Well this time I got lucky and bought 2 pairs and no need to take them up either.
Afterwards I Walked up 5th Avenue and came to where there is an expanse of a space that has an Apple Store, only this one is below ground and you enter a large glass box and take either the stairs or the lift. As I crossed this square there were an awful lot of NYPD police around and they kept turning up. Feeling brave I went up to one of them and asked what was happening, although i could guess. Trump was coming back to NY and they were ready & preparing for anything that might happen. Had interesting quick chat about Trump, needless to say they just go with it and laughed at the whole bizarre episode of American political history in the making. I then continued to make my way to find a taxi to take me to Macy's but finding one near here was all but impossible. I needed to get pass & ahead of Trump Tower. This I did and stood briefly opposite the infamous Tower which where I was standing there were about 4 cameras at the ready for anything that might or will happen. Took a couple of photos and then headed away from there and managed to get a cab due to less traffic further away. Didn't cost too much for the ride. I subsequently bought a couple of things there, 2 bags and a jumper in the sales. From there I walked back to the hotel. We had a bite to eat from a Chinese place, very nice it was too. Afterwards we packed our things for the next part of our trip, the train to Niagara, Canada.
