Month: November 2016

Queen Victoria set sail on Tuesday 15 November 2016 on time at 5.30 pm and we were soon passing Cowes and on our way into the English Channel.

I had completed the packing on Monday with time to spare. I had no choice because on Monday evening I had a black tie dinner in Ampfield and was being collected at 7.00 pm and I knew that I would not be home until late. So it proved, but I was up early on Tuesday to run through the checklists and finalise the labelling.

The journey to the Ocean Terminal and the boarding process were swift. Apart that is from security. Every time I went through the machine there was a buzz. Take off your belt I was told. No good. Take off your shoes. No good. He was particularly officious but it was his job and I kept quiet and did what I was told. He clearly thought I looked suspicious. Me? Angelic me! Get back on the other side and wait he said. I had nothing in my pockets, so what could it be?

Come through again he said for the 5th time, at which point my brain clicked into gear. I was tired. It's the knee – the metal knee! I went through again and still it buzzed. I told jobsworth about the surgery. He looked at me doubtfully. I pulled up my trouser to show him the 5 inch scar vertically down my right knee. OK he said and that was it. (I must remember to take a copy of William Tice's letter to my GP next time I travel).

Strangely, later, at lunchtime, a lady said that she had seen a German passenger at security, who had become very agitated and was shouting after being asked to remove his belt and shoes. He had taken his trousers off and was starting to lower his underpants before they stopped him. He must have met up with the same official.

Tim and Jean Whitehead, on QV's last cruise, had found a suitable table for us in the Britannia Restaurant, after sending photos for me of relevant tables in the area we wanted to be. A table for 8 and it appears to be a lovely group that we have joined.

Kim, Janes companion/carer, has quickly found her way round the ship and we are developing our care plan as we go.

Tonight is Captain Peter Philpott's welcome party. He was Captain of QV for the first leg of the World Voyage in 2014 when we hit a massive gale and had to miss our visit to the Azores on our way to Fort Lauderdale.

Stewart will be known to many of you. He is the man who collects stamps from around the world featuring Cunard ships. Not only does he acquire them but he assembles them beautifully in albums alongside narrative describing the particular event commemorated by the relevant stamp.

I forget how many albums there are – more than 20 I think, and Stewart has donated many of them to Cunard. In each library on the three Queens there are two of Stewart’s albums displayed in glass cabinets, the librarians instructed to turn the pages each day.

Jane and I first met Stewart and Elizabeth when the four of us (with others) were invited by Captain Paul Wright to dine with him at the Captain’s table on the maiden voyage of Queen Victoria. A very glamorous lady with an American accent was sitting between Stewart and me and eventually I plucked up the courage to ask her how she knew the Captain. He is my husband she replied – and she was!

I have to say that Stewart keeps immaculate records of cruises and events. I have no doubt that if my recollection is inaccurate he will tell me.

Stewart rang me tonight to wish us well on our next trip. He and Elizabeth have just returned from a holiday in Venice, a gift from their family to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. The last time he had been to Venice was when he led a party of pupils on a school cruise starting in Venice in 1965. Elizabeth had never been there.

Stewart was, before retiring, Rector of Banchory Academy – a great school.

We have sailed with the Wilsons on many occasions over the years, the last time being the Baltic voyage last year on Queen Elizabeth which returned to Southampton via Kirkwall in the Orkneys and Liverpool where the three Queens met to celebrate the 175 year anniversary of Cunard.

What I forgot to tell Stewart was that next year we have a cruise on Queen Elizabeth booked in the Med in September involving a visit to Venice. There was a major panic here recently when we received a Keep the Date free card from niece Katie and Sam notifying us of their intended marriage near Lucca, Italy on 16 September 2017. Did it clash with the wedding? Yes, the wedding was right in the middle, so that meant a cancellation of the voyage.

Or did it? When I looked at the itinerary I found that Queen Elizabeth was in Messina, Sicily on Thursday 14 September and after two other ports was in Venice on Monday 18 September.

A rapid tour round the internet and a visit to a travel counsellor means we will leave the ship in Messina and take a taxi to Catania airport. Then a flight to Pisa via Rome, collect a rental car and drive to the wedding venue just north of Lucca. Four nights at the wedding venue, taking in all the celebrations and on Monday morning we will drive to Venice and board the ship again. Perfect!

It is more than 12 months since my last blog. I limped off Queen Elizabeth in early October 2015 fearing that I would need a new right knee.

55 years ago, as a result of too much Rugby and Fives, I tore a right knee cartilage. It was removed at Lord Mayor Treloars Hospital in Alton. No one, at the time, explained how the knee would work thereafter, but work it did, and I continued playing rugby and squash well into my thirties, and then tennis into my mid sixties and I am still playing golf.

But by 2015 the game was up! Pushing Jane around the streets of Barcelona and other European cities became a very painful experience.

Back at home,  I tried some Apostherapy, in the hope that surgery could be avoided, but it quickly became clear that it would have to be the knife.

Nick Fiddian, now retired but the top knee surgeon in Poole for years, directed me towards William Tice in Southampton. Within a week I was in the Spire and the proud owner of a Depuy Attune system right knee fitted by Mr Tice.

There had to be a fair bit of reorganisation at home with a full time live in carer for 3 weeks and then carers twice a day for some months. Now we have a morning carer for an hour each day, Lucy Austin, who is wonderful. But Lucy has a young family, and we have been lucky to find Kim Bigwood, a recently retired nurse, to help with Jane’s care during our upcoming voyage to the Caribbean.

Soon after my return from three days in the Spire, Jane was rushed into Southampton General where she remained for 18 days, 3 of which were spent in the High Dependancy Unit. She needed intestinal surgery. It was a horrid time for her and it took her a long time to get over it.

To get a wheelchair friendly stateroom, I had to book this trip as soon as it was announced 12 months ago. We have the same cabin we had for the 4 month World Voyage back in 2014, so that’s great.

There are plenty of sea days coming up, and some great ports – La Coruna, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, Guadeloupe, St Maarten and finally Ponta Delgarda in the Azores on the way home.

I am also pleased to say that Cunard are offering many more tours ashore on this voyage than usual for guests who are reliant on wheelchairs. I had a meeting with Angus Struthers in January at Carnival House and he listened carefully to what I had to say (about the lack of such tours!)

Linda Croucher will again be house sitting while we are away. She is a star.

We leave Southampton on Queen Victoria on Tuesday 15 November. I will be blogging once we are on our way.