RMS Queen Mary

Well, we have finally arrived at Longbeach, California, and checked into the Queen Mary Hotel. The twelve hour flight from Brisbane to LA was very dull - having gone to the trouble of buying exit row seats, we just happened to be in the exit row next to the four main toilets in the economy cabin. Apart from the constant traffic of people through the flight (and one man in particular frequently the LBR every half hour) the odour was vile.

The weather started out cool and overcast this morning but has now cleared to a crisp, sunny afternoon. We have one of the original 1930s staterooms and it is original, down to the four taps in the bathroom that provide a choice of hot or cold salt water, or hot or cold fresh water! Ah, the good old days....The ship is fabulous. In the public areas, all the fixtures, walls and art are original. Loads of polished brass and timber decks. For those of you not aware, my grandfather was a cabin boy on the QM so it is a lovely feeling to walk down the corridor knowing he did that in the late 1930s.

Anyway, after ordering what turned out to be giant breakfasts that no one could really finish, Fenna & Fred headed for a brief catnap to ward off jet lag. Bryce and I took a stroll along the quay where the QM is moored and the Carnival Paradise is next door. We've returned to the stateroom to try and have a short nap, and then will hit the deck again later this afternoon.

Tomorrow we head for Sin City. Here's hoping we at least make it to the bus terminal in the morning!

Erika & Bryce

One More Sleep

The Itinerary

For those of you not exactly sure where we're going:

6 Aug Brisbane to Los Angeles
7 Aug LA to Las Vegas
9 Aug LV to LA
11 Aug Board Dawn Princess for 22 day cruise to Sydney via Hawaii, Tahiti, French Polynesia & New Zealand
3 Sep Sydney to Brisbane




Having moved a mountain of paperwork in the last five days, we are now furiously packing for our flight to LA tomorrow morning. The little things like padlocks for suitcases and adaptors for electrical stuff seem to sidetrack us. Then there's the issue of how many shoes a girl can fit into her luggage allowance. Qantas is pretty good to us on the way there but we have a discount airline flight once the ship arrives back in Sydney and the cheapie airlines aren't renowned for the generosity of their luggage limits.

We have already been chatting online with other people joining the Dawn Princess in LA, and most of the Australians and NZers seem to have already left for the US! And we've been reading a blog from one of the world cruise passengers on the ship. It is interesting that the same old issues come up in shipboard life, such as missed ports due to bad weather, engines breaking down, power cuts, backed up loos.... Hope that is all over when we board!

10 Days to Go!

It's hard to believe after all these months of waiting, it is only ten days until blast off! Yes, we're heading off with our best friends and are about to unleash on an unsuspecting travelling public. Could get messy at times; we certainly expect it to in Las Vegas when we try to recreate the tiger scene from The Hang Over....Then again, the local constabulary may just laugh themselves silly at a bunch of fifty somethings (and one forty something) behaving like twenty somethings. Good thing we've got great travel insurance. And we'll definitely have to pace ourselves to last a whole month on holidays together!

Frantically deciding whether it's worth packing casual clothes for the cruise or buy them in the US. It's been a while since we've been there and it was always better value state side than here.