THE SCOTTISH ADVENTURES OF A CRUISE SHIP ADDICT

Saturday 8 November - At Sea By this time, we have got into a routine. Breakfast, Evie goes to nursery, I have some free time, lunch, sleep, swimming, dinner, drinks, get Evie, bed. I tried to do some University work this morning, but it was impossible to find a table to work from. I eventually shared a table outside the library with a lady compiling lists about dogs. Don't ask! I find this really peculiar about QE2. You don't take a cruise on QE2, you take a voyage. They have planned entertainment, but not to the same extent that you find on cruise lines such as P and O or Princess. This is because they assume that as a Cunard customer, you do not leave your brain at the dockside when you board, and that you will find something constructive to do, such as reading a book or just relaxing. They don't feel the need to keep you entertained all the time. My favourite joke was from the Captain: He was referring to Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, which was docked wit...

Sunday 2 November 2008 - Messina Messina on a Sunday is not the greatest place in the world. Sunday in a Catholic country means everything is closed and not much is happening. Our resident explorer, Campbell, was not about to sit down and watch the world go by. So as I was posting the last blog to you, he, Agnes and Evie, dragged a rather hesitant Nana off to visit the mainland of Italy by rail ferry.  Nana is the sort of person (a bit like myself) who is not in the least bit adventurous, but once you have shown her the way, she knows it all. Well, it was Nana who tried to communicate with Italians who couldn't speak English with a series of hand-gestures, and Nana who got them on the right ferry home! So much for not wanting to go! After I had written the blog, I wandered off to look at the ship berthed in front of us... Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. I reckon she is about 100,000 gross registered tonnes. I think she has flume rides and an ice rink. She will certainl...

When Samuel Cunard's little 1,100 ton steamship Britannia chugged her way out of Liverpool towards the new world in 1840, it was amazing to think that she sparked a competition which is still around today. The race had started to build the biggest and fastest ships across the atlantic. These ocean greyhounds would attract the creme of society who would want the kudos of travelling on the newest and biggest ships. Immigrants were also attracted by the size and speed because this meant they could start their new lives faster and it was thought that the largest ships were also the safest! In fact, travellers in the early days of steamships were very influenced by funnel size - the more funnels a ship had the more safer and sophisticated it was! A few ships even had 'dummy' funnels in order to attract more passengers. Question: can you name all 13 four-funnelled ships? In 1840, the passenger ship was 1,100 tons (Britannia), by 1911, it was 45,000 tons (Olympic), by 1937, 79,200...