We are traveling with our good friends, Randell and Bobby. We met when we were both volunteers registering domestic partners, before same sex marriage became legal in Florida. When they found out that I was working in travel, they assured me that I needed to switch to Avoya Travel, the agency they work through. I took their advice and never looked back. Randell and Bobby have traveled just about everywhere, and we are fortunate to have their great wisdom and experience.
We love the camaraderie that develops on a World Cruise, and fast friendships form. It's almost like living in a dorm, and your routines cause you to see many of the same people everyday. In 2016, we sailed on Crystal Serenity for the full World Cruise. At any one time, there were no more than 750 guests on board. The Queen Elizabeth is a much larger ship, holding 2000-2500 guests, dependent upon how many are traveling solo.
We love the sense of tradition on the Cunard Queens. The main dining room, The Britannia, has two seatings, and we have selected late dining at 8:30. This seems to work well with our schedule and makes the day seem longer, and is closer to our normal dining time at home. We've requested a large table of 8.
Unless you are willing to eat in the buffet and avoid all the evening activities, everyone dresses for dinner. Jackets are required for men on all informal nights (any night not designated Formal.) Long gowns are common on the women on formal nights and tuxedos or white dinner jackets (below the Equator) are worn by men. It's not unusual to see kilts on formal night, and I tried to talk David into wearing one, but no success. I think he thought it would be too drafty. We have about 25 formal nights, and themed balls, so over 25% of the evenings are formal. It's fun to play dress-up! The only problem is that my gowns are taking up an entire suitcase.
Speaking of luggage, in 2016 we began with 9 suitcases, and ended up with 10! This year, we are determined to do better. Although Japan and South Korea may be cool, we won't require the winter attire needed for the Russian Far East and the Aleutians. Nothing has entered a suitcase, yet. I am still at the "Put everything you think you want to take out---then put half back." stage.
Preparation is a big part of the World Cruise:
We had replaced our passports for the World Cruise in 2016, so they were current, and we had only the Australian visa to obtain. All others were obtained by Cunard or were those we had already, such as our China visa.
Our first step was to visit the Travel Health Clinic to assure we were up to date on all our immunizations and to confirm where we needed additional protection. Fortunately, all of the immunizations were still current from our previous World Cruise, as well as the medication we took to avoid Typhoid Fever. We always take an annual flu jab. We do have to take malaria prophylaxis for some of the countries. Those prescriptions were filled, and we asked our doctor to write our prescriptions with a vacation override, assuring that we would have enough or our regular scripts. We carry a mini pharmacy with us, even though there is very good medical service on board. I believe the QE has two physicians, plus nurses. Antibiotics, anti-nausea for seasickness, anti-inflammatories, cold remedies, bandages, vitamins, etc. go into a special box that is carried in our roll-ons.
We are fortunate to have a Concierge who looks after our unit and brings up all the mail. He checks for leaks, wind damage, etc. and waters our plants. Our bills are paid electronically, or we overpay in anticipation of charges. We are able to see a scan of our mail everyday thanks to a service from the US Post Office. We put a hold on Netflix, AcornTV and Britbox, and stop our newspapers.
Taking a break, now, to apply for my Australian visa! More later!
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