12th July

Well here it is, the last day.... It's been a good trip, if a bit hecktic. Then again thats NYC for you. It's one of the best cities in the world to visit, but I don't think I could do more than a week at a time. I couldn't take the pace of the place for longer than that.....another sign that I'm getting old.... LOL. Yesterday was a good day, spent another couple of hours in the pool with Aims, then John booked an hour for me, him and Nic on the golf simulator. Nic didn't make it due to an over indulgence of vodka the night before....lol. She informs me that she's never drinking vodka again, we'll see.... LOL. Anyway the golf was a good laugh, we played the Belfry.... God is it a hard game. But John is a good teacher and he showed me the basics, so I can now hit a ball at least. I am seriously thinking about taking it up when we get home....watch this space.... LOL.

11th July

Once again spent time with Aimee in the pool in tbe morning. But this time in the outside pool, were I got burned on my head and shoulders,luckily it's not to painful. Later on Nic, John and I entered the golf competition on the golf simulator, I'll just say we didn't finish last....lol. It was Sheilas's birthday so we booked the carvery for us all, including Marie and John, the meal was nice except for Sheila and Marie's soup which was cold.... Later we entered the music quiz in the Golden Lion and finished a respectable 3rd. After that it was Karaoke, which was a laugh...not that any of us sang on the mike, but we did do backing vocals for everyone....but only from our seats...lol

9th July

Quite uneventful day yesterday, spent the morning in the Pavillion pool with Aimee, had a nice lunch in the Kings Court, I watched a little bit of Nick Owen's talk on his time as the royal correspondent for ITV, then went for an afternoon nap....god I'm turning into a real old person.....lol. After dinner we went to see the show in the theatre, it was called “crazy in love”, it was excellent. After the show we went to the Golden Lion pub for Battle of the Sexes which the men won. The girls all went to bed quite soon after battle of the sexes, I had one more pint then I followed.

8th July

Spent the morning in the Pavillion pool with Aimee, it's brilliant how she's taken to swimming, she's got no fear and loves swimming underwater. She can do a width of the pool doing a mixture of front crawl and breast stroke, she can also do a length of the pool floating on her back. Had a sleep in the afternoon, went for dinner about 7pm and was tucked up in bed by 9pm. No alcohol passed my lips yesterday as I was still suffering from the day before......can't take it nowadays....lol. I'd have saved myself a fortune over the years if I felt this bad after drinking when I was younger.....lol.

7th July

God I feel rough, Nic and I drank 3 bottles of champagne between us at the sailaway last night and Sheila told me I'd had 3 pints of bitter as well.... God I feel rough....lol. We had a great time though, we met up with John and Marie, they'd had a great time in New York to. Not much else to report as I was in bed by 10pm lol.

6th July

Well here we are at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, all checked in and waiting to board. We went for breakfast at the Skylight Diner as usual, except for Nic who stayed in bed. We got two taxis from the hotel to the port and the taxi Sheila and I were in tried to rip us off, he didn't get away with it though lol.

5th July

We bought another hoho bus ticket each today so we could do a bit more on the downtown link and also do the uptown tour which we missed on Sunday with the rain. But before we went uptown we went to Little Italy, to a resturant on Mulberry St, to meet Jane, Justin and her dad The Colonel. It was great to see them again. After that we did the end of the downtown tour and went straight on to the uptown tour. Problem was that we had to do most of the tour downstairs on the bus as up top was full, the temperature was bloody hot to say the least, about half way through Sheila and the girls got to go up top so it wasn't all bad.... :-) We then got a taxi back to the hotel and went to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and donuts, then tbe girls all turned in and I forced myself to go to Twins bar on 9 th ave and 34th st, were I am now having a quiet pint or three before turning in myself...... Nite nite... Hic!

4th July

Well yesterday it rained all day, but it was warm. We walked to Times Square and queued at the TKTS booth for our musical tickets Sheila Neeta and Aimee went to see the Addams Family, they saved about 40% on there tickets. Nic and I went to see Chicago and we saved 50%, so getting wet inthe queue was worth it. Both shows were brilliant. On the way back to the hotel we saw Robin Williams signing autographs outside the theatre he's appearing at. We went for our evening meal at a chinese resturant called Chef Yu, on the corner of 36th st and 8th ave, it's got to be the worst chinese resturant we've ever been to. Although the food was ok, the service was terrible.

3rd July

I's 6.30am in mid Manhattan and I'm having a coffee and watching the world go by. This really is the city that never sleeps. We all got up early yesterday, had breakfast and then walked up to Madam Tussauds in Times Square to pick up the 'hoho' bus tickets. It really is a good way to see the city. We started on the downtown tour, got off at the stop for Ground Zero, I believe most New Yorkers don't like to call it that, they call it the WTC the World Trade Center, which is what it is I suppose. The re-building work has really come on it looks about halfway built, last year all we saw was the foundations. We then walked through the Financial district and over to Battery Park and on to the Statten Island Ferry Terminal. This in mho is the best way to see the Statue of Liberty as long as you don't want to get off and walk round it and it's completely free. When we returned from Statten Island we got back on the downtown loop bus and continued with the site-seeing. We got off at 50th and 8th ave and went for a drink and then back to the hotel for a siesta. We all came back out about 7pm and had a bit of a walk, but we were all to tired so Nic, and Neeta got a pizza and Aimee got a Mackie D's and went back to the hotel. Sheila and I went to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee, oh yes we also finished off a box of 6 donuts between us, then went back to the hotel. New York is definitly not a restfull vacation, but it is one of the best places in the world........

2nd July

Guess what I'm up early again, just nipped over to Mackiee D's for a coffee, now sitting in the hotel foyer writing this. After we arrived yesterday we went for a walk, we went up to the Top of the Rock, it was brilliant, much better than the Empire State Building, though not quite as high. We then walked to the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station, where we had a coffee. Then it was off again to Times Square and the Toys R Us shop were we took Aimee on the indoor ferris wheel, it was brill. Then we had a beer in a Times Square bar, I forget the name. Then back to the hotel for a rest. Later that aftrenoon we walked down to the Highline, which has now been extended to 30th St. Later we went to a local Irish bar in the evening for a few drinks. Then off to bed.... Nite nite...lol.

1st July

Got up at 4am had a quick shower then went up on deck, we were approaching the Verazano bridge so I phoned Nic and Neeta, they met me with Aimee on the observation deck for the approach to Manhattan. It's definitely one of the sights not to be missed. Aimee was amazed at the statue of Liberty. Arrived at the hotel early, taxi ride from the cruise terminal cost less than $10 limo men wanted to charge $10pp so keep away from them, lol. Anyway all checked in and going for a walk

30th June

Last day, looking forward to NYC. Yesterday afternoon the RADA company did an adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, it was one of the funniest things I've seen and I'd recommend it if it's on if you travel on QM2. In the evening we had dinner in the Britannia resturant again and it was fabulous. The girls then went to bed, (thats what they get for drinking in the afternoon...lol.) Sheila and I went to see the show, La Passionata in the theatre, it was mainly dance and was brilliant. Sheila then went to bed, so I went to the Golden Lion and did the quiz with John and Marie, stayed for the Karaoke then went to bed myself.
Spent the morning in the indoor pool with Aimee, she's brilliant in the water now, no fear at all.

29th June

It's 5.30am and I'm just having a coffee sitting on the big comfy couches in the atrium. I love it on board ship in the early morning, went on deck and it's lovely and warm and pitch-black out at sea. We all went to the britannia resturant last night, so Aimee could get something to eat that she liked. The reason for this is that the buffet resturant at night is transformed into four themed resturants, with 3 of them carrying a $10 cover charge with just one being free, if you can call it free with the price some of us have paid for this trip. Last year they did the theme thing with the buffet but there was no cover cahrge. I suppose this is one of the down sides to Cunard being taken over by Carnival. Much as I love America, not all things are good.... There endeth the lesson..... LOL. The rest of the evening was passed watching the singer Jordan Bennet in the theatre and then doing the quiz in the Golden Lion pub..... Oh yes I nearly for got the Captains, or on this trip it's the Commodores cocktail party for past passengers, which we all attended mainly for the free drinks. No make that only for the free drinks, why else would you wank to socialise with the staff.....lmao.

28th June

Well we're over half way to New York, weather not to bad today, but don't think we'll get in the outside pool again :-( Yesterday Nic and I went to the Britannia resturant for lunch, it was lovely. We sat with four Americans who were great company...... Later we all went to see the RADA production of Hamlet, it was very good but not my cup of tea. I'm glad I went though, at least I can say I don't like Shakespear with honesty having seen a proper RADA production. Obviously I'm not as cultured as I thought I was....LOL. In the evenig we went to see an Irish comic called Adrian Walsh, he was very good. Then later on Sheila Nic and I joined Marie and John in the pub to watch Chris Giffords song writing group who sang lots of cover versions, all on the theme of London and New York. They were fantastic and the place was rocking. Simon the drummer from Squeeze came over for another chat, he's a really nice and genuine guy. That was about it for yesterday, if I think of anything else I'll let you know........ Spent about 5 hours in the pool with Aimee this afternoon, she's so confident in the water now....

27th June

It's a bit cloudy again this morning, so no outside pool again today.... Aimee will be gutted, she can't wait to go outside for a swim...... Last night we went to the chinese buffet in the lotus, though I must say it wasn't the best we've had..... The production show in the theatre was Viva Italia, and it was brilliant, the four main singers have all got great voices, sometimes you can get one thats a bit iffy, but these are all good, and the dancers as usual were fab..... We finished 2nd in the music quiz...... Went to the karaoke later on and it was a good laugh.... Well thats about it for now....ttfn

26th June 2011

Snuday morning and I'm up early again 5am in fact. Then agai i'ts really 7am as the clocks went back another hour last night..... I'm getting very star struck on this cruise, as we've met Jerry Springer and the drummer from Squeeze his name is Simon, his surname escapes me at the moment. But both were very approacable and didn't mind saying hello etc. In fact Simon came over and chatted for a while. Although I must admit he was drunk at the time....LOL Nice guy though. We all went to the Britannia resturant last night, the food was excellent, although Sheila and I do prefer to eat in the Kings Court buffet, mainly because Sheila can pick exactly what she wants to eat and we haven't got to go through all the explaining about what she can and can't eat. The weather is better today skys are sunny and blue with just a few clouds, though it's still chilly...Aimee learned to swim today, she can now do a length of the pool...on her own. Although we still go in with her just in case. She'd spend all day in the water if she could! Lol......

25th June 2011

Well this is the first morning onboard.... Last night was a good night met some people, John and Maria, from Liverpool. Also a couple from Cape Town, South Africa, Herman and Marta, all lovely people.
On thursday night we stayed at the Etap hotel in Southampton, very cheap hotel but clean modern and had everything you need.
Our George turned up he happened to be working near by. Thats if you call an hour away near by.....lol. It was good to see him and it made Sheilas day.
Anyway back to the trip, this as I said is the first morning, the weather is very misty and it's raining, but nevermind I'm sure it will pick up. Saving grace is New York is hot and sunny so we can look forward to that. Thats all for now, will be back later if something exciting happens....lol. Nearly forgot to tell you this... At the sailaway party last night, the actor Alan Cumming was there and our Nic tried to say hello to him, but the ignorant bugger was very standoffish. Gave the impression that he was to good to speak to us mere mortals.
Gets my goat when these so called celebrities think they are above everyone else. They choose to be in a profession that puts them in the public eye, so they should at least be civil to the're fans. Right thats it for now, I'll put the soapbox away.....lol.