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Day 101/102…and a small bit of Day 102 of 102 You couldn’t make it up!  Last night, presumably tongue-in-cheek, Jo said to me, “I hope it rains tomorrow – then I can spend the time packing….”   She got her wish!  This morning, the Promenade Deck is awash with precipitation from the heavens.  But there are…

Day 100 of 102 In 15 minutes’ time, I am due to be met at Stairway A, Deck 12, and escorted to the Bridge. I expect I shall be introduced to the Bridge Crew and eventually given the script of the Captain’s noonday Navigational Update to familiarise myself with, before actually reading it at 12…

Day 99 of 102 Tenerife presents a very dramatic backdrop from some distance away. The island is far more developed than when I first visited in 1981. There was a time when I would look forward very much to a holiday in Tenerife, a Spanish island where it is rarely cold, even in the depths…

Day 98 of 102, Tuesday 18th April That went quickly! This is the final day of 8 at sea between Walvis Bay, Namibia (which now seems an age ago), and Tenerife, where I have booked a whale watching cruise. No sleeping in until mid-morning tomorrow, then! After a lousy sleep last night, I only just…

Days 95 and 96 of 102 Saturday 15th April Quietly, I am quite pleased with that weird watch I purchased at the beginning of the voyage.  Ship’s time is midday; but really, because of our position west, it’s actually two hours earlier! Sunday 16th April after Church, over a late breakfast. Day 96 of 102…

Day 93 of 102, and now, Day 94. Written yesterday, 13th April. Rarely on any voyage are 11 sea days punctuated by just one final port of call, unless perhaps while returning home via Africa’s West coast.  From Cape Town, our ship takes a Northwesterly course as we steam directly towards Tenerife, crossing the Equator…

Day 92 of 102. The chill of the Southern Hemisphere is gradually giving way to more acceptable climes as we steam ever Northwest towards the Equator, which we shall cross, with due silly ceremony the day after tomorrow. Yesterday, after such a brilliant time in Namibia the day before, I did very little, even getting…

Days 89, 90, and 91 of 102. Compiled Tuesday 11th July over breakfast in the Kings Court Buffet from 10.57 hrs.  (Day 91) Well done to Cunard, who made a point of marking not only Good Friday with acts of worship for different faiths in various parts of the ship at 5.15 pm on that…

I first visited Cape Town late in 2000 on Cunard’s QE2 when Carnival’s ownership of Cunard was in its infancy.  I would return 18 years later, seeing very little of the city before setting off on adventure along the Garden Route eventually to Port Elizabeth (P.E.) Yesterday morning at around 05.30, Queen Mary 2 docked…

Days 84, 85, and 86 of 102. There is something rather special about the South Africa part of this Centenary World Voyage.  Day 84 was a sea day that separated our calls at Durban (See Blog 0071) and Port Elizabeth (yesterday, 5th April).  Writing two days later, I remember very little of the day at…