There are some invitations we receive that really, really make us happy and a tour on Monday of Cunard’s magnificent ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, including lunch while she was in port in Cape Town, had us jumping up and down with excitement. Now 10 years old, she is Cunard’s flagship and was the world’s largest passenger liner until overtaken by the Oasis of the Seas. She is not just a cruise liner and she is really the best built ship to tackle Transatlantic waters. Once a year, she leaves her regular beat on the Atlantic crossing and cruises the world. When she left Cape Town, she was headed to Durban, Mauritius and onward to Fremantle in Australia, then to China, and back through Suez to Southampton on a 119 day cruise
The Grand Hotel of the seas looks absolutely enormous as you approach her
With our ID’s ready, we wait in a very short queue to board, while many of the 2500 passengers queue for coaches to go on tours of Cape Town while they are here for two days.
Security is necessarily very thorough and tight but they do welcome you on board at the top of the very steady “gangplank”
We started on Deck No.2 of her 23 decks
and assembled in the Grand Lobby near the Pursers’ desks
Our guide, Jessica Burke, shows us some magnificent bronze ‘tapestries’ (their words) showing all the continents Queen Mary visits
As an amusing signature, the artist hid a tiny depiction of Homer Simpson in the Northern American bronze
in which many North American places and activities are depicted
The Popular Golden Lion British pub where they hold quizzes and game shows each evening, there is a pianist and the pub lunch is free for passengers every day.
The Empire casino, closed while in port
The stairway map helps you to find where you are going.
This diagram by the lifts shows only 14 of the 23 deck levels. Some are mezzanine decks and others are crew and engine levels
One of the levels of the huge Britannia restaurant. Breakfast and lunch are open sittings, Dinner is in two sittings. Dinner is in formal dress approximately every third night and smart every other evening. There are several more restaurants to choose from and some more relaxed options on the ship.
The Captain’s and Officers’ Tables in the Britannia Restaurant
Some of the wines on offer: They say they are mostly priced between $30 to $50 a bottle.
Another view of the Casino showing the slot machines
Paul Clarke, the director of Cunard’s office in South Africa, which is in Johannesburg, helped to lead the media tour. We are in the photo gallery which has concessions behind each of those boards, closed in port.
A model of the ship
The Queen’s Room, which Jessica runs, They have a proper ballroom floor as this is where they hold the balls, the crossing of the Line, Neptune Ball, Black and White Ball, New Year’s Ball. They even have dance hosts to dance with ladies travelling on their own. They have bands and an orchestra, they do lectures, dance classes and bingo. And this is where they hold the famous White Star Line Afternoon tea from 3.30 to 5pm
One of the many pieces of art on display and for sale on the ship in the Clarendon Art Gallery
They sell an amazing amount of art on every cruise
The Boston Cup, c.1840. Presented to Sir Samuel Cunard in Boston on the arrival of his first vessel, RMS Britannia
The Royal Court Theatre is larger than many of the West End theatres in London
Illuminations Cinema is also the only floating Planetarium at sea. This is also used for mass in the morning, 3D and other movies and three lectures a day
The dome is lowered over the middle 150 seats and they can see five different half hour programmes.
The makers mark!
And then it was time for lunch
Our menu offered some tempting choices. Most people went for the crab, as it is such a luxury in Cape Town. We do not have edible local crabs
Red wine was a Syrah from the Pays D’oc in France
We get seated. Our waiters were apparently mostly Filipinos and it was all Silver service, prompt and efficient with a little oriental cheek thrown in for amusement
The white wine was a palatable Sicilian Chardonnay, which went well with the fish and seafood
We both started with the Tian of crab with avocado and tomato vinaigrette. Scrumptious
Lynne chose Halibut for her main course and it was perfectly cooked, set on a Thai purée with lemongrass and topped with shiitake mushrooms. This large North Atlantic / Pacific fish of the flounder family was also a popular choice as we do not get it in South Africa.
John’s choice was the fillet steak with mash, vegetables and a great jus. Yes, Lynne enjoyed the mushrooms on top
Desserts had to be tried. Lynne chose the Passion Fruit Mouse cake with coconut ice cream and a tropical fruit salad. Light and gentle, a great ending to a good meal
Of course, John could not resist the Dark Chocolate Fondant with caramel ice cream and a coffee anglaise
A long walk down the stateroom corridors took us to
the huge library, which is situated right in the front of the ship and has seats with superb views
of the spare propeller blades, the prow of the ship and the port
This is the Todd English restaurant; he is a well known American chef. This restaurant is private and you have to book and pay
His menu with prices
In February, the ship will feature a South African wine tasting on board in the Britannia Restaurant and an Australia vs France wine tasting, something we would love to host and conduct for them in the future.
Then it was time to see the decks with the swimming pools
and hot tubs and just a few passengers not needing to go ashore
Those tall windows above the deck are the most luxurious suites on the ship, double storey with their own private decks above the pool. There is only one available on the next Transatlantic trip in June should you wish to book. Starts at $18,000 plus per person!
Another swimming pool on a lower deck
Help yourself to a lounger
and a towel
This is the very Informal Kings Court restaurant, which is open 24 hours a day for breakfast lunch and dinner and anything you fancy in between. Not fine dining, but lots of familiar food choices.
Another of the comfortable lounges
Embarrassingly, this is what Cape Town had to offer the passengers, as it was the only catering on offer outside the temporary embarkation tent, while people queued for coaches or taxis. We SO need to build proper cruise liner reception buildings with facilities. There were three passenger ships in port that day
A full view of this magnificent liner from the other side of the Duncan Dock
We absolutely loved our tour and lunch and send a huge thank you to all involved
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014
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