January 8th & 9th

Monday, January 8th and we arrived in New York at the Brooklyn cruise terminal at 6.00am after travelling 3124 nautical miles (3592 statute miles) from Southampton in some of the roughest seas we have experienced. The Captain announced that we had cruised in force, 7, 8 and 9 gales throughout our six day transatlantic crossing. It was raining and warmer than expected at 8 degrees centigrade when we moored. Mist hovered around the sky scraper buildings hiding their enormity from view, but we were within sight of the Statue of Liberty as she stood out in all her beauty on the dismal landscape. We disembarked for immigration at 9.45am and went quickly through the fingerprint and passport check (although I don’t appear to have any finger prints at all!) Nevertheless the nice man let us through for the 10.00am transfer to Manhattan and after travelling through the Battery Tunnel under East River we were at the Sheraton Hotel on 53rd Street by 10.30am. I had hoped that we would have been taken over the Brooklyn Bridge - but not on this journey! Alan had his wheelchair but he walked all the way to Saks on 5th Avenue at the junction of 50th Avenue (about 30 minutes). At this time the temperature was 16 degrees centigrade and it was raining, so we decided to have lunch. The restaurant on the 8th floor was very elegant and we both enjoyed our $50 lunch. From there we descended floor by floor admiring the amazing designer fashions – not to be beaten I did try on a few and settled for a little chiffon number by Fuzzi (I desperately wanted a Saks bag!!) The rain had stopped by 2.00pm and we decided to stroll back along 5th Avenue to pick up our shuttle bus at 3.00pm. En route we popped into H. Stern the jewellers and browsed!! Of course we can buy on the QM2 from the H Stern shop if we choose so I decided not to purchase the earrings at $20,000!!!! Here we are on 5th Avenue…….

We boarded the QE2 at 4.00pm disappointed that we hadn’t gone over the Brooklyn Bridge (our reason to return?) Our departure time of 5.00pm was delayed until 6.45pm when we set sail for Fort Lauderdale in Florida, where we will disembark from this ship and embark on QM2. After dinner we watched JimTavare, a talented musician with his double bass comedy act. He was unique and very amusing.
We awoke on Tuesday, January 9th to a brilliant blue sky, sunshine and a perfect blue calm sea. The temperature was 12 degrees in a strong breeze. Alan and I started our packing and then took a break to go to the Thallasso Spa for a massage in the mineral water baths, it was wonderful. After lunch we did more packing and then I popped into the cinema to see The Devil Wears Prada while Alan rested before our second visit of the day to the Spa. We were looking forward to the evenings entertainment because it was the first of the Cunard Theatre Company’s shows. (midnight) Just come out from the show and it was great!! The theatre company join the QM2 in Sydney so we can cath up with the rest of their shows then!