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Another gorgeous day, the last of six consecutive sea days from Funchal. I have taken to starting the day with breakfast in the main restaurant.   This morning, I requested to sit alone at a window seat, my wish being granted to perfection.  Table 495 is right next to an aft facing window with stunning views…

We are now three hours behind the U.K. and thus it is far easier to get up at a respectable hour in the morning.  So, when Captain Sharples announced we would be passing a lone sailor rowing from somewhere in the Canaries to Antigua (I think), I decided to join all those lining the starboard…

Sunday 11th January 2026 Another gorgeous day with the gentlest of cool sea breezes.  However, my back problem hasn’t gone away.  For the first time, I enjoyed breakfast in the Britannia Restaurant (lower), still included in the cruise fare.  Then at 10 am in the Royal Court Theatre, I was just in time at church…

Monday 12th January 4th Day at Sea between Madeira and Barbados Once again, a glorious, and now, very hot day.  The morning, after a second breakfast in the Britannia Restaurant, I encountered a couple I met on Queen Anne in 2024, and the rest of the morning was enjoyed catching up over a coffee.  I opted…

Today is the second of four sea days between Funchal Madeira and Bridgetowm Barbados.  The captain announced an outside air temperature of 22°C, and I don’t intend opting for any of the indoor activities on offer.  Breakfast al fresco, while possible, was not quite warm enough this morning for that sense of arrival into warm…

In January 2020, Cunard’s Queen Victoria set sail from Southampton, first port of call, Hamilton, Bermuda.  Nobody had heard of Covid at the time, when QV commenced its 79 night voyage to much of South America.   I remember a turbulent crossing, the weather never really warming up, and although dry, Bermuda was freezing!  I recall…

I have an abiding memory from Cruise No. 2 of November 1989.  I was on my second QE2 voyage to the Canary Isles in November of that year.  We were docked at Funchal, Madeira, just as today.  I looked across at the backdrop of dramatic hillside and many thousands of buildings reaching almost to the…

The town stretching high into the surrounding dramatic hills looked glorious with the rising sun reflecting back off craggy hillside.  What a splendid view from my stateroom.  Whenever I visit California, visiting the Queen Mary at Longbeach takes priority, despite several previous visits.  Similarly, whenever I visit Madeira, afternoon tea at the Reid’s Palace Hotel…

I attended my first lecture today in a crowded almost full Royal Court Theatre, given by a retired airline captain.  It was then time for a one course lunch in the Lido, a favourite place of mine and seemingly everybody else as well.   Feeling far better than I did yesterday, I had a further attempt…

Yesterday might not have started brilliantly, and most of the day, dogged with the effects of feeling unwell.  Nevertheless, I made the effort in the evening, donning my formal black attire for the first of (I believe) eight gala nights, some “themed.”  Last night was “Black and White.” and the discomforts of the day morphed…