ALL ABOARD!!

There are all sorts of benefits to cruising but one that stands out is the luxury of saying goodbye to your luggage at your hotel and the next time you see it is in your cabin. Sadly, the service does not include unpacking!! Nevertheless, coaches brought, direct from the hotel, as many of the 500 people due to embark Queen Victoria as were staying there. Having left at 11, I had made the 1 hour transfer to the other side of Rio, checked in, met Dennis, my room steward, had lunch and unpacked by 2.30.

First impressions of the ship…it is “proper posh” and a definite step up from my previous experiences. However, looks can deceive and the passengers seem just the same sort of mix, if slightly more cosmopolitan. I have already been invited to “come and visit with us” by a couple from Kansas City, been told a slightly off-colour joke by a Cockney guy (whose wife promptly hit him with ‘Hello” – ouch), and had a cup of tea on deck with some Australian people I met at the hotel.

There is a bottle of champagne on ice in my room, as a welcome from Cunard, but that is bothering me and I may ask Dennis to pop it into my fridge. There is something a bit sad about sitting on your own in your room getting quietly wasted on champagne. But given the price of drinks on board, I may be quite glad of it at some point!!

I have only met two of my dinner companions, a very pleasant couple, but the others were apparently living it up in Rio, as sailing is not until 10.30. One discovery I did make was the fact that the Captain is a woman. I wouldn’t mind betting that she took some stick about ‘parking’ the ship! Later tonight we set sail for Montevideo and tomorrow night there is a big celebratory ‘Burns Night’. Special offers on whisky available, one of which is $125…for a glass!!! Good job I don’t like it!!!