ON BOARD THE Q.E.2.

It is now a year later following Alex's TIA, and we find ourselves totally settled into ' la Vie Française'! There had been no futher major health shocks in the interim, as Alex had finally signed on with a good french Doctor who prescribed a permanent blood thinner and life returned to normal for us.

The second trading season of 1992 had been a good one, however the pound had started to slide against the franc , which was not good for us as we had decided to charge in pounds instead of francs, and we were losing on the exchange. On the other hand it was good for increased bookings, so it balanced out that year.

Our camper holiday destination for that year was decided when our daughterMichaela telephoned us to say that she would be docking at Naples around late September ! Michaela was a petty officer on the Q.E.2.-- Italy was one of our favourite places so we arranged to be at the docks on that particular day. Finding the docks was easy but finding a parking place for the camper was difficult however .....

...............we made it just in time to see the magnificent ship come rolling up to the quay!

The first thing that grabbed me was just how massive this ship was as you can see in the next picture......

It seems bizarre that it actually has to be tied to its post by the ' handlers' the same as any small boat! How tiny the people seem !

Here is our lovely daughter with her Dad. She had got the Captain's permission for us to be aboard the ship for that day, and that we could could ' take a tour ' of the facilities.

On deck there were squash courts, tennis courts , golf practice and putting, and swimming pools, and a jogging track etc. In fact everything for the sporty people.

There were two main restaurants ( one of them above) apart from the many 'eateries', bars and cafes etc.

I was not impressed however with the corridors leading to the cabins and suites etc., I found them quite narrow and claustraphobic. We weren't able to see inside the cabins as they were all occupied, however we saw inside Michaela's cabin and it was really so limited "you couldn't even swing a cat"-- now where on earth did that horrible expression originate I wonder?

Finally here is a picture of Michaela looking down on to the stage and main dance floor. as you can see , the upper balcony houses all the designer shops ( money, money,money) for the rich!!

There turned out to be a special reason for our invitation, Michaela introduced us to Darren, another petty officer , in the engineering department of the ship-- they had become inseparable on board AHHH ' aint luv grand'! He was ( and is ) a lovely boy who is now her husband and father of their three children!!! Happy days!

As you probably already know the beautiful old ship has now been sold to retire gracefully as an Hotel in the upmarket tourist resort of "Palm Jumeirah" in Dubai.

and here she is.... I think she deserves the rest!