Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine 2021

Former Pupils’ Section of time to board the ship. It felt really good to be setting off on holiday, especially given the ship we were travelling on and the time of year – mid November, leaving behind grey skies and cold weather.

The first view of QM2 is an amazing sight. It is a massive ship (although there are bigger) and would be home to 2,695 passengers and 1,253 crew. The crew are all excellent and if they can help make your holiday more comfortable, enjoyable or memorable they will do so. With 2,695 passengers on board you may think space would be at a premium but this is not the case, with plenty of areas to relax that are not over-crowded.

After booking in, it was a quick and easy process to find our cabin and our luggage arrived shortly afterwards. A quick unpack and away to the buffet for lunch and a wander round the deck with magnificent views over Southampton.

The other two Queens (Victoria and Elizabeth) were also in Southampton and all three ships set sail in the early evening. This was a celebration of Cunard’s 100 years of sailing from Southampton and we had the Red Arrows flying in various formations overhead in a tremendous display. What a start to a holiday!

As always when you travel abroad it is more than possible to bump in to other Former Pupils of the School and we had the pleasure of bumping in to Jim Cooper and his wife Vi who were on exactly the same length of cruise as us. 28 days of reminiscing ahead.

The next day we were out in the Atlantic with a seven day voyage in front of us to New York. I thought I had left the grey skies behind in Aberdeen but this first stage of our holiday was grey skies and leaden seas. But who cares about the weather when on a floating palace with so many activities and facilities to enjoy.

Food of course, but also expert lectures on many and varied topics including three talks from David Gower who is just as laid back as he used to be on the cricket pitch and TV as a commentator. What else can you do – there are restaurants, bars, rest areas, a well-stocked library, the gym, nightclub, ballroom dancing, shows in the theatre at night and so many other activities to keep one amused.

The Captain had a daily spot on the tannoy to advise our progress and there were many mentions of the life existing on the sea floor beneath us followed by references about how close we were to the site where the Titanic sank.

Our evening meal was at a table of eight and we had great fun with the other guests who came from a variety of places and all with hugely interesting backgrounds and stories to match. Our evening meal was a time to catch up on the day’s activities and was very much the highlight of each day.

On arrival at New York we watched other passengers disembarking whose voyage was complete but we had a further three weeks on board this luxurious ship. We had a quick tour around New York, seeing the usual tourist attractions, before returning to the ship and setting sail for our next destination – the Caribbean!

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