Day 2 on Queen Mary 2

Saturday [Aug. 19] was our first full day on the ship.  Breakfast was served in the Britannia dining room from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.  I chose the full English breakfast to get my tastebuds ready for England's foods and traditions. We sat with a delightful couple from Arizona, and two ladies from New Zealand.  As large as the ship was, we still ran into them several times throughout the voyage. We quickly learned we were 'rookie' passengers on the Queen Mary 2. Most passengers were veterans having sailed on her [or one of her sister ships] several times previously.

~ 4th deck elevators ~

~ Jerry and Barb [from Arizona] ~

~ John and Me ~

After breakfast Jerry and I went up to the 7th deck [promanade deck] and sat in the deck chairs for about an hour watching the ship glide through the Atlantic.

We skipped lunch everyday so we could have Afternoon Tea from 3:30 - 4:30 in the Queen's Room/Ballroom on deck 3.  It was so elegant and I could easily get used to being spoiled so royally!

As the name indicates, three of England's Queen's [and one King] were honored in this spectacular room:  Queen Mary for whom the oceanliner is named...

Queen Elizabeth II, granddaughter of Queen Mary...

~ Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip ~

And 'The Queen Mum', Queen Mary's daughter-in-law. 

King George V

~ The Queen's Room / Ballroom ~

As the photos indicate, Afternoon Tea was a very popular activity on the ship.  It was well attended every day.

Tea Table for two, Jerry and Me.  We went to the Queen's Room a half hour early everyday to get a front row table for two.

At precisely 3:30 p.m. the servers would emerge from doors at the front of the ballroom, [which I presume was the kitchen] in procession style on each side of the ballroom, wearing white gloves and carrying a silver teapot on a tray.  Then they'd circulate around the room filling everyone's cup with English Breakfast tea.  It was very impressive.

Other servers would follow with savories/sandwiches, desserts, and lastly warm scones with real clotted cream and jam.  Guests could have seconds and thirds of everything as the wait staff were constantly circulating around the room with their trays of food. Jerry and I rarely had seconds because we knew we'd be having dinner at 6:00 o'clock.  It felt as though we were constantly eating on the voyage, but I'm pleased to report when I weighed in at my Dr.'s office this past Wednesday, I didn't gain any weight on the trip.

The tea food selections were different every day and the sandwiches were always fresh and never dried out.

The brioche bun was oozing with a delicious shrimp salad.

As you can see in the photos, no tiered servers were used.  The wait staff carried all the food on silver trays and placed it on our plates as we made our selections from multiple options.

Warm and perfectly baked scones.  I wish I had one to eat right now!  Serving scones as the last course deviates from tradition, but I'm sure Cunard has their valid reasons which I'd love to know.

There was different live entertainment every afternoon - a string trio; a pianist, a harpist and a dance band ensemble - not exactly teatime music but that particular day Afternoon Tea was called Tea Dance and the dance floor was opened up to guests who wanted to dance.  

On this particular afternoon the live entertainment was a string trio.

Then it was time to go back to our stateroom to relax a bit before getting ready for dinner.  It was a "Gala Night" in Britannia, so we ate at King's Court Buffet, which was very nice. Afterwards we went to the Royal Court Theatre to watch a live vocal / dance performance titled, "Be Our Guest."  The dancers reminded me of the Rockettes and their choregraphy was amazing.

It's a tough life on the Queen Mary 2, but somebody's got to sail on her!  ;-)

To be continued...