hayley_bopp

Day 1
IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!
But first, more Queen Mary pictures in daylight.

The Queen Mary was a fast ship.  Faster than today's cruise ships of this size or larger.  She routinely cruised at over 28 knots and during sea trials she reached just over 32 knots.






This enclosed promenade deck would have been popular on those cold North Atlantic winter crossings.


The Verandah Grill towards the aft of the ship was an extra cost restaurant.  In other words the concept of specialty dining started decades before modern cruise lines embraced the idea.

During World War II the Queen Mary was put into service as a troop carrier bringing troops back and forth between the US. and Britain.   She was painted grey and earned the name the Grey Ghost.  Her top speeds allowed her to elude german u-boats. 
On one crossing she carried a staggering 15,740 service personnel with a crew of 943 for a total of 16,683 souls on board.  That remains the highest count ever carried by any vessel, a record that is unlikely to ever be broken.   

During this time they removed all the fine china and crystal and converted every square inch to the goal of maximizing space for the troops.  Gone were the cabin class 1st class accommodations, it was all about squeezing troops on board.  During the war when she was a troop carrier he was fitted with anti aircraft guns.

A lego model has been constructed and is on display in a room called the shipyard.


Sir Winston Churchill would routinely sail her during the war to coordinate efforts with the allies. In this photo he is sitting by this very fireplace.

How about these lifeboats?


The bridge:







The Captain's quarters have been preserved in their original condition.



She even had a fitness center back in the day with modern exercise equipment.



If you ever get the chance I highly recommend a stay on the Queen Mary.


 

You're gonna have to bear with me because I am about to go overboard with Queen Mary pictures.  I just love this old ship.
Arriving later than expected once settled in my cabin I made my way to the Observation Bar for a drink and a bite to eat.

Walking around the ship you feel a deep sense of history.







Not a bad place to catch the end of game six of the World Series with the city lights of Long Beach across the bay.

I can't start into the actual cruise until I mention the Queen Mary.  As a cruise geek this is the ultimate way to kick off any cruise.  

The Queen Mary is an ocean liner that began service in 1936.  She was built with one mission in mind - sailing the North Atlantic between Southampton and New York.  Before the days of airplanes flying between the continents there was only one way to make the journey - by sea.  She isn't a cruise ship exactly, she just had two destinations repeated week after week.  However you can see where many of the things we have come to enjoy on modern cruise ships have evolved from the days of ocean liners. 
The Queen Mary ended service in 1967 and was sailed for the last time to the harbor in Long Beach California.  The City of Long Beach bought the Queen Mary outbidding a Chinese scrapyard and so the QM lives on now as a museum and hotel.  I've stayed here before since Carnival sails from Long Beach right next door, within walking distance of the QM.  


On this occasion I booked a Deluxe King room for $129 per night plus local taxes.  This is pretty competitive with local hotels so given the opportunity to stay on this historic old ship I'll do it every time.
The QM isn't a small ship.  In dimensions she approaches Voyager class and she was too big for the Panama Canal the day she was built.  

This cabin was considered first class in the day but the decor is more modern compared to what a guest in 1936 would have experienced.  While not a suite it was a large step up above third class.  In 1936 a one way first class fare was $1,074.  



As a means to conserve limited fresh water supplies, guests could choose hot salt water, cold salt water, hot fresh water or cold fresh water.  Those aren't functional today, the modern shower control above and to the left controls the water now.


Several vents that double as thermostats.  Want it warmer?  Slide to left.  Want cool air?  Slide to the right.  These are not operational today, modern thermostats are used but it's cool to see how guests would have warmed their cabins in the cold North Atlantic.

Working portholes!  No balconies on ships in those days, these portholes were a luxury.


The flat panel TV's were added during a renovation to meet modern expectations for a hotel room.

🎶 Panama! 🎶 
I can't get that song out of my head.  You know, the song by Van Halen? Even though it has nothing to do with the Panama Canal.  
I thought about titling this "The cruise that almost wasn't".  Let me explain.  
My plan was to fly in the day before and stay on the Queen Mary.  I was almost as excited about the Queen Mary (now a hotel in Long Beach, CA) as I was about the Panama Canal.  Good ole mother nature had a surprise for me.
Snow! Lots of it.

At 5am I opened Lyft and Uber to compare prices and... no cars available.  Rut Roh.  Let's try again.  Nope.  Hmmm.  A little bit of panic was starting to set it.  A 3rd time.  Ding!  A car is on the way.  I went out to my usual pick up spot in the falling snow.  I wasn't going to let the driver get cold feet and bolt.  By the time he arrived I had an inch of snow on my suitcase. 
It had snowed the day before but this is Denver so no shocker.  However at this early hour the snow on top of the black ice from yesterday's melt made for very treacherous driving conditions.  Cars were in ditches, accidents were seen all over.  It was early in the season so people new to snow were learning the hard way how not to drive in the snow.
It took almost 75 minutes for the normal 30 minute ride to the airport.  My driver kept asking "Do you want to go back?.  No flights leaving today".  Then a text from Southwest - "SWA Flight 750 is cancelled".  Odd, the inbound flight was on time, my plane was landing in Denver but the ongoing leg to California was cancelled.  
I wasn't about to miss my cruise, onward to the airport, even if I had to sleep there tonight I was determined to make it out of Denver on the first flight that I could.  
Southwest wanted to rebook me on the next flight out scheduled at noon that was delayed until 5pm.   By this time I was at the airport.  Delta had a 9:15am flight to Salt Lake.  I stopped by the Delta ticket counter and asked if the 9:15am was actually going.  Yep.  Book it.  On the spot I booked a one way to Long Beach on Delta.  I've played this game with Southwest before and they tend to eventually cancel everything so I put my faith in Delta and for $500 I was on my way.  Or so I thought.

At the gate I discovered our flight and cabin crew were missing.  They had overnighted in local hotels but they were stuck in the now worse traffic and accidents heading to the airport.  We were delayed.  Eventually they made it and we boarded.  With 3 inches of snow on the plane we had to de-ice.  Another delay.  Finally we took off 75 minutes late.  Late enough that I would miss my connection in Salt Lake.  So much for getting into Long Beach in the afternoon.  I was rebooked on a 5pm flight from Salt Lake to Long Beach.   Salt Lake also had light snowfall.  I heard the pilots talking as the plane boarded in Salt Lake - "We're de-icing".  Another delay.  
After a 14 hour travel day I made it to the Queen Mary in California.  Phew.  

Alert!!!! Alert!!!!
We should’ve had an interior room and were upgraded to a bay view just in time to watch departures!  I’m in love!!!!??
I already know why @Love2cruise2002 loves this place!
 

In terms of pre-cruise purchases, nothing terribly surprising for a short cruise, but this is what we've come up with so far....
Deluxe Beverage Package for me, Refreshment Package for my wife
 
I think this is the first time I've called Royal Caribbean to get an exemption for the "two adults in a room" drink package rule.  Usually my wife gets the DX package too, but as @mpoole3 can attest to, spouses breaking even on that ain't easy.

I think with my Diamond Plus discount, it's probably a wash in terms of buying it onboard or online, but I prefer to buy it online and reduce that final cruise bill.
Izumi Hibachi
Thus far, we have decided to book Izumi Hibachi for one night (day one) and then figure out what to do the other two nights.
Izumi Hibachi is one of my favorite dining venues on any Royal Caribbean ship. It's fun, filling and there's sake.


Since we've been on Mariner extensively this year, I'm not hard pressed to hit up the other specialty restaurants.  Plus, I enjoy the main dining room and I do not think we have eaten in the MDR on this ship this year.
 

Did Sabrina put you up to starting this blog a full 11 days before your cruise? 

@Big Dawg Ron: Matt! You've gotta come back with me!
Matt: Where?
@Big Dawg Ron Back to Perfect Day at CocoCay!
Matt: Whoa, wait a minute, Ron. What are you talking about? What happens at Perfect Day at CocoCay? What, do we sign up for a cruise with @monorailmedic or something?
@Big Dawg Ron No, no, no, no, no, Matt. You turn out fine.  It's your weekend, Matt. Something gotta be done about your long weekend!
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Friends, it's time to go back on board Mariner of the Seas over Labor Day weekend for a quick jaunt to Perfect Day at CocoCay, and a return to a live blog here on the forums!
With an extra day off on Monday for the Labor Day holiday, I couldn't help myself but book a quick weekend cruise on Mariner. Originally I was on Navigator of the Seas this weekend until a certain person decided to hold a celebration of their final days of being single there and I was forced to change ships.

Instead, we are headed back on Mariner of the Seas and down to Perfect Day at CocoCay.  Another visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay is always welcome, and these weekend sailings line up quite well with my schedule. I can work until lunch on Friday, head over to the port and then wrap up my day while onboard the ship.  Then the rest of the weekend is enjoyed onboard the ship!
Not only am I looking forward to getting back to Perfect Day at CocoCay, I am looking forward to @mpoole3 not ruining the weather this time around.

Cabin
For this cruise, we have a category 2T Promenade View Interior room. 
As I recall, prices for a balcony were a bit out there and a Promenade room gives us a much better value.  Plus, on a 3-night cruise without kids, how much time will I really spend in there?

We will visit Nassau and Perfect Day at CocoCay.
No plans booked for Nassau yet. Will wait and see what I feel like and then decide on something. 
For Perfect Day at CocoCay, I reserved an Oasis Lagoon cabana in the name of "science".  I've stayed in the Thrill Waterpark and Chill Island cabanas, so now I need to try the Oasis Lagoon Cabanas to fill out the trifecta.

The live blog kicks off on August 30. Until then, I will be counting down the days until we depart.

Continuing my RC Cruise Ship Spotting Tour of the Mediterranean, today Explorer was with us in our last port of Gibraltar.

Continuing my RC Cruise Ship Spotting Tour of the Mediterranean, today Explorer was with us in our last port of Gibraltar.

Continuing my RC Cruise Ship Spotting Tour of the Mediterranean, today Explorer was with us in our last port of Gibraltar.

Continuing my RC Cruise Ship Spotting Tour of the Mediterranean, today Explorer was with us in our last port of Gibraltar.

Continuing my RC Cruise Ship Spotting Tour of the Mediterranean, today Explorer was with us in our last port of Gibraltar.

I haven't looked at the deckplans so don't know if this applies to your room but make sure it's not a connecting room. We had a GTY cabin on Independence last year and ended up with a connecting room and there was LOTS of noise-bleed from the other cabin. 

I haven't looked at the deckplans so don't know if this applies to your room but make sure it's not a connecting room. We had a GTY cabin on Independence last year and ended up with a connecting room and there was LOTS of noise-bleed from the other cabin. 

I haven't looked at the deckplans so don't know if this applies to your room but make sure it's not a connecting room. We had a GTY cabin on Independence last year and ended up with a connecting room and there was LOTS of noise-bleed from the other cabin. 

Enjoy!

Great photo!

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to this sight from my balcony!
Mr hayley_bopp says I'm more excited about this than going to Rome. I think he's right!

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to this sight from my balcony!
Mr hayley_bopp says I'm more excited about this than going to Rome. I think he's right!

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to this sight from my balcony!
Mr hayley_bopp says I'm more excited about this than going to Rome. I think he's right!

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to this sight from my balcony!
Mr hayley_bopp says I'm more excited about this than going to Rome. I think he's right!

Have an amazing trip!!

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to this sight from my balcony!
Mr hayley_bopp says I'm more excited about this than going to Rome. I think he's right!

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to this sight from my balcony!
Mr hayley_bopp says I'm more excited about this than going to Rome. I think he's right!