SECOND DAY: Smoother, in some ways, than the first.
DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY, along with 35% (according to the crew) of the passengers was down with Bay of Biscay mal de mer, and so her show was put off 'til tomorrow night. Substituting were a Ukrainian act, Viva Classica- a violin/viola/piano trio who more than made up for the unforseen cancellation. Viva Classica performed classical and near classical pieces, plus some Scott Joplin, Gershwin and Jerome Kern, and in addition to being good were also quite charming, and I look forward to their scheduled shows in the planetarium over the course of the crossing.
THE WEATHER: Well.....I was in the 65% who weren't felled so it was quite adventurous. Standing at the furthest point forward, looking aft, and watching 1000 feet of ship rise up over one as the bow dips is an experience not to be missed. Likewise, sitting in a window 30 feet above the surface (in the lower level of the dining room) and watching waves breaking against it was remarkable. We got that on video. For part of the afternoon there was a cargo ship about a mile or so to port, and watching her plowing through the same swells we were certainly made on appreciative of the relative stability of QM2.
MY MISTAKE: I opened the bottle of champagne which came along with the cabin this morning, and when we returned to the room after the pitching became intense it, along with the drinking glasses was on the floor with the glass in pieces and the room reeked like skid row. The glass is gone, but I'm afraid so too is the pleasant "brand new" scent- replaced by Sunday Morning Frat House.
SHIP OF 1000 STAIRCASES. The QM2 has more major, minor, decorative, outright strange stairways than any ship I have ever seen. Earlier today we had walked up a secondary stair, somewhere aft and somewhere in the middle decks, and were delighted to discover that each landing bore two Steven Card liner paintings. I went to get my camera and then, stupid TV show style, could not find the stairway again. I'll spare the details, but our respective cases of Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder kicked in, and we spent much of the afternoon searching for that secondary stair. Began forward on the lowest deck, walked aft searching each transverse corridor and lobby working our way upward. Just as an FYI we finally found it off of an elevator lobby adjacent to Stairwell C, between decks 7 and 9.
DINING ROOM. The buffet this afternoon was, to be blunt, vile but the dining room this evening was greatly improved. And, yes, the Manson-esque whiny mopes at the next table punished us by being moved somewhere else. They were replaced by four men travelling as a party who did not say much beyond "hello" but it was still an improvement. The dinner rolls became MORE scarce tonight. Here's the deal: instead of putting the bread in a basket on the table, the waiter or waitress offers you your choice of one, then the basket vanishes never to return. However, since I had a hard roll, which I broke pre-buttering, I was able to run my butter patty through the crumbs and it was almost as if I had a whole second helping. But then, when one is talking of delicacies like bread one must not be too greedy.
Enough whining about that. The menu was quite pleasant, 'though still fairly standard banquet fare:
Potato Gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce
Streamed Lobster casserole, lobster sauce and braised vegetables
Roast Chicken, chipolata stuffing
Beef tenderloin steak, creamed parsnips and ricotta
Roast veal rack, potato galette
Stuffed eggplant with olive vinaigrette
I had the lobster. Nice but, as I said, not spectacular. Mike's chicken was dry and came on the bone with no carving knife and no stuffing.
Rumor has it that the weather is moderating as I type this, and that tomorrow will be smooth sailing.
