Since getting back from our last cruise we’ve both been laid low with quite possibly the worst colds we’ve ever had. It started for me on about the second day back, and for my wife she picked it up about two days later, and the symptoms have been coughing, so much mucous you wouldn’t believe, conjunctivitis (particularly nasty for my wife who has an eye-related phobia), and loss of hearing (temporary for me, but my wife’s had the feeling that her ears need to pop as if she’s on an airplane for over a week now (and no, the doctor doesn’t think there’s an infection, just sinus congestion)).
You didn’t read this to discover just how ill we’ve been, but that’s an explanation as to why there have been no updates on the site at all for a fortnight and why I still haven’t finished processing the photos taken from our last cruise. And I’d like to add, too, that checking a forum for fellow passengers on that cruise we certainly weren’t the only people to come off and get knocked down like this within a day or two of returning. Did we pick something up on the last port of call? Was it the chaotic immigration line? Was it all the people at the No Kings protest we got caught in? Was it San Diego airport? Who knows!?
So, no travelogues to mention, but there is some cruising news because we’ve been keeping an eye on cruise options for the three remaining days of annual leave we’ve got for next year (yeah, sad, isn’t it?) Those options have, naturally, been limited, but seeing whether we could combine those days with a bank holiday somewhere to improve options we spotted a 4-nighter cruise on Cunard‘s Queen Mary 2 over the Easter weekend in March of next year, hitting Rotterdam overnight.
Cunard is one of those cruise lines that we’ve pretty much ignored. They’ve had a reputation for stuffiness when it comes to what you wear, although by all accounts that’s relaxed enough now that we’d not really have a problem with it (I’m not a jacket-wearer, but I always wear dark trousers and a shirt in the evenings so will likely be fine). There’s also the issue, for me, that they’re to some extents trading on their reputation for class and elegance when the reality is that they are little more than an elevated P&O Cruises essentially, and one that charges in dollars aboard just to make the experience not quite so special given the brand’s history.
However, over the next couple of years we are keeping our cruising to Europe to recoup recent travel expenses, trying a few new lines, trying some cheaper cabin types, and there were some good reasons to give Cunard a go finally.
The most important factor for us was that this cruise sails on Good Friday and gets back on the Tuesday morning. I’d have enough time to drive back home for work and not use up any of those three precious annual leave days. Second to that was a temporary promotional price on the official website that undercut all the travel agent prices we could see and meant we could actually get an obstructed balcony for the same cost as an inside cabin which was where we were looking initially. It really is obstructed, too, but there will be daylight and some balcony space should we fancy sitting out and gazing at the lifeboats. Keeping the cost down further was the lack of need to get a drinks package. It’s a 4-night cruise with a necessity to be sensible on the last one anyway coupled with an overnight in Rotterdam where we’d not spend much of it on the ship anyway. Finally, we’re very happy to return to Rotterdam as it’s got lots to still see.
There are still some issues of the Cunard cruise about Queen Mary 2 that we’re a little wary about. With this being over holiday time in the UK there’s more of a chance that there will be families aboard. We’re hoping they’re largely seen and not heard, though. This will also be the ship’s final cruise before a long refit which means we’re more likely (not definite) to have bedding on its last legs, stock issues as the ship winds down its inventory, and perhaps fewer staff members or ones already looking forward to the end of their contracts. Perhaps. We’ve seen this sort of thing before, and none of it may come to pass, but we know how people are and how businesses operate. Finally, we’re not sure just how much there will be to do on Easter Sunday in Rotterdam. Hopefully, enough will be open to keep us off the ship, but even if nothing much is open we can enjoy the architecture and art sculptures of the city so long as the weather is nice to us.
So, as things stand we’ve got six cruises booked for the remainder of this year and next. Six different cruise lines. Two brand new cruise lines for us. Five new cruise ships for us. Not a single repeated port stop on any of those cruises, and seventeen new ports for us to visit. That’s the way we like to do it.
Still have to use up those three days leave for next year, though.