Month: July 2026

We were having lunch yesterday in the Britannia Restaurant when suddenly I found a man and a woman standing alongside me. He said “You don’t know me but I know you and I read your blog “. I stood up and said hello to him and his wife. Still mystified, he explained that he and his wife had met my sister Liz and her late husband Tim on a previous cruise and had spent some time with them. He was a Leicester Tigers supporter and he knew that Tim had played for the Wasps. Liz had told him that I wrote a cruise blog and he had apparently been reading it ever since.

He said he had read in the blog that we were on this cruise and decided to try and find us. How he found us in the restaurant I don’t know because at lunch you sit anywhere and not at designated tables, as happens in the evenings for dinner.

They revealed that they were Roger and Sandra Laycock and when Liz reads this from her hospital bed no doubt she will remember them.

Later in the evening we met up again with the Laycocks – a charming couple – at the drinks party in the Pavilion for long standing Cunarders. I had my photo taken with the Captain but he didn’t seem to want to listen to my Cunard heritage. My guess is that he was nervous about giving a major speech to the large gathering. I will pursue him later in the voyage!

We have been eating well and reminding ourselves of the ships layout. Kim is an expert in pointing us in the right direction.

On Wednesday Michel Roux did a cooking demonstration in the packed theatre. He came across as a lovely man. What I did not realise was that his Le Gavroche restaurant closed some 3 years ago.

It was announced that he would be taking part in a question and answer session today and we found seats near the front for that. We learned a great deal about his life and afterwards he carried out a book signing. Jane decided that as my cooking at home is so poor and unoriginal I should buy his book which I did and Michel signed it. While he was doing so I asked him why he had closed La Gavroche and he said that the lease had come to an end. From what he had said to the audience earlier I suspect he was fed up with the long hours that he worked to ensure that the restaurant remained at the top. And he had made it clear that top end restaurants were finding it harder and harder to survive financially.

Last night the singers and dancers were performing. In the good old days on Cunard ships they would perform nearly every night. Now it’s rare and we have to put up with ridiculous plays on many nights. Anyway we found seats near the front and the singers and dancers were fantastic. I hope we see them again soon.

Tuesday 28 July and we arrived in Belfast Docks on time at 6.00am. Kim was at the door at 7.30 am as arranged and we were soon off the breakfast .

We tend to use the Artisan eatery on Deck 9. There is a massive choice of food. I get plenty of fruit and wonderful omelettes made as you watch. We prefer breakfast that way rather than in the more formal dining rooms where we have lunch and dinner.

To get us into Belfast I had booked Sean on line., He had a large adapted vehicle with a ramp and was waiting for us when we left the ship at 10.00.am.

The plan was that he would take us to the Titanic Museum and exhibition and then collect us from there to return us to the ship later.

The Titanic Museum was vast and there were literally thousands of visitors. I am not sure if I enjoyed the experience. The early part of the tour round the exhibition was devoted to the construction of Titanic. As she was built in Belfast I can understand that that was important but it did seem to take up a large part of the tour.

In the main, the walk around the various floors of the exhibition, was in the dark so the photography was not brilliant.

I have struggled to put this together and have not yet mastered the art, in this new format, of getting the photos onto the blog but I will do.

A bit of excitement. Suddenly about 30 minutes ago there was an announcement throughout the ship directing the Rapid ? Team to go urgently to a section at the stern of the ship. I got the impression that something bad was happening – a husband /wife fight perhaps?! The Captain later announced that an individual had managed to get aboard the ship, had been apprehended and handed over to the local police. Not that exciting!

It reminds me of something similar in Southampton nearly 60 years ago. The QE2 was setting off on her Maiden voyage. I was amongst the thousands shouting and waving from the dockside. My father Captain George E Smith was on the bridge and somewhere down in the crew  quarters there were four stowaways.

At the time I was in the middle of a solicitors training contract with a Southampton law firm Bell Pope and Bridgwater. One of their Partners, Tom Evans, carried out prosecutions for the Docks Authority and was instructed to prosecute the four stowaways. I had told him about the massive excitement and noise at the time of QE2’s departure and when he heard that the stowaways were pleading not guilty on the basis that they were sleeping on board at the time of departure, Tom decided to call me as a witness. I told the magistrates about the noise and excitement and the men were duly convicted.
That was  the only time that I appeared as a witness, but in my early years as a solicitor I spent nearly every morning in the Magistrate’s Courts in Southampton or Romsey or Eastleigh representing individuals  charged with a wide variety offences.

 

So we are up and running. Sam has found me an alternative way of making the blog work. It seemed to me that this cruise would be packed with scenic views and that it was vital that photos could be downloaded.

We left home yesterday, Sunday 26 July at 11.30am and were on the ship, Queen Anne by 1.20pm. That must be a record for us. The team was the usual one led by Kim Jones. Kim has calculated that she has come with us, to look after Jane, on 22 cruises. She is a star. We could not cruise without her.

My sister Liz Cracknell was due to join us on Sunday. Her husband Tim, sadly died in November, and about 6 weeks ago Liz asked if she could join us, if she could find a suitable cabin. Of course we loved the idea. She found a cabin near to ours and booked it.

About 3 weeks ago Liz rang me to say that she had been to see a cardiologist and that he wanted to monitor her heart. Wow that was a shock. If the results were not good she would have a pacemaker fitted and would not be able to join us. In the middle of last week he said she did need a pacemaker and could not put off its fitting until after the cruise. It had to be done straight away. It is being fitted tomorrow when we will be in Belfast. Good luck Liz. We will be thinking of you as we explore the Titanic Museum and Exhibition..

 

It’s not easy being an old blogger. Before we set off on Sunday I decided to write a short piece exhibiting a wonderful Portrait  that Christine  Jackson had painted of me. I wrote the piece but couldn’t download the portrait.

Sam, who set up the blog for me, has been trying to get it resolved. This is the latest experiment

no this is not the picture but it sees to be working. Now to download it.

 

 

 

We are sailing on Queen Anne on Sunday 26 July 2026 to Iceland, so I need to get some practice in writing the blog. It’s 6 months since we were last at sea and it’s been a busy time.

Briefly on the health front I’m pleased to say that the haematology, urology, cardiology and oncology departments at Southampton General Hospital have been doing a fantastic job and I feel very well. The consultants and all the staff are excellent and caring.

Whenever I am in groups of friends meeting for lunch or coffee, I try to enforce a 10 minute rule. Total time allowed for the whole group to talk about health. It usually works.

Coincidences. I’ve talked about them in the past. They seem to crop up in my life frequently. Two today.

Jane and I were talking this morning about Stewart Wilson and the fact that we hadn’t spoken to him for some time. Stewart was head of the Banchory Acadomy and he still live in Banchory, Scotland. We met Stewart and his late wife Elizabeth on the maiden voyage of Queen Elizabeth when we were all invited one evening to sit at Captain Paul Wrights table for dinner.

We have sailed with the Wilsons many, many times and have always enjoyed their company. If you search Stewart Wilson on the blog you will learn much more about the Wilsons and stamp collections.

This afternoon I was watering the garden. Jane’s carer said someone had rung on the landline and left a message. Yes, it was Stewart. I rang him back. It was great to talk to him. He had had an accident recently which sounded awful but he was now back at home after spells in hospital and a care home.

Yesterday I went round to one the residential properties owned by our children but managed by me. The tenant wanted to talk to me about fitting air conditioning. She said her boyfriend Sam was an a/c engineer and it could be fitted at no cost to us. During the conversation Sam mentioned that he had a brother who was a teacher in Dubai. I told him that our son Mike lives and works there. I said that if his brother was interested in football and the Saints he ought to make contact with the Dubai Saints. Sam immediately pulled up the Dubai Saints website on his phone and there was a picture of a large group of Saints supporters with Mike in the middle.

Tonight Mike emailed me. Sam and Mike had made contact. Sam was Sam Carter and they realised that when they were 10 or 11 they had played football in the same Sunday teams for 2 or 3 years – North Baddesley FC and AFC Solent.

Sam was the star striker and my recollection is that he was later on the books of a professional club. Mike thinks it may have been Chelsea. Jane thinks it was Southampton. No doubt I will find out more in due course, but it is yet another of those coincidences!