QM2 Crossing - Day 7

Disembarkation from QM2 in Southampton
My wife was very pleased about the fact that she did not have to pack our luggage the night before our arrival into Southampton and the end of our crossing, because our steward took-on that task for us.  The last night of a crossing is often filled with mixed emotions because of the reality that we must leave the womb and enter into the real world the following day.  We said our goodbyes to our newfound friends we made during this crossing, had a great dinner and  recognizing that we need to wake up earlier than usual the next morning, we went to bed at about 11:00pm.

When I woke up, we were just backing into our berth in Southampton andy the Ocean Cruise Terminal  46 and 47 just across from the dock that the Titanic departed from in 1912 at dock number 44 and 43.  It was rainy, but we were told it would clear-up as the day progressed.  We put our large piece of luggage outside our door before we went to bed.  We had pink luggage tags and Princess Grill passengers were asked to meet in the Chart Room at 8:30am for disembarkation.  We had a quick breakfast in the Princess Grill then headed down to the Chart Room.  I made a quick run around the ship to take a few last-minute pictures, then with great efficiency, it was announced in the Chart Room that we could proceed to the gangway.

I liked the new Ocean Cruise Terminal which was very efficient.  We easily found our large piece of luggage in the designated area, loaded all of our luggage onto one of the carts and proceeded to exit where the taxi's and buses were eagerly waiting.  It was a very short distance to the WhiteStar Tavern Hotel where we would stay for the next two nights, and I pondered the idea of walking, but it would have been a bit of a struggle and task to drag our luggage, so we took a taxi.

We made our way to the WhiteStar Tavern / Hotel, but as we expected, it was too early to check-in, however; the guest services person at the hotel was so kind to store our luggage while we went for a walk.  I don't want to go into details, but as my wife and I walked around the streets of Southampton we were a little discouraged by some personal issues.  We had a fantastic trans-Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, but we were facing some issues back home that gave us some concern.  We walked to Ocean Village and found a little cafe to rest a while and stay warm, because it was a little chilly.  I looked past a line of people waiting to get on a boat that tours the port of Southampton and saw a cinema and decided to go check it out and see if there might be a movie we could watch while we wait for our room to be ready.  Terri waited in the cafe and I went to check out the cinema.  To make a long story short, there was a local church conducting a Sunday morning service in the cinema and so Terri and I went to church.  It was called Life Church Southampton, and they had an excellent guest speaker that morning.  It's amazing how God works, because both Terri and I felt so welcomed and our hearts were comforted, which was just what we needed at that very moment.

After meeting some very friendly people at Life Church Southampton, it was time to check-in at the WhiteStar Tavern / Hotel.  We checked-in, our luggage had already been placed in our room, so we kicked-back and relaxed a little in our boutique hotel room.  My wife was exhausted, so she took a nap while I wrote in my blog and loaded some more photos and video onto my computer.  Later that day, June 24th, I wanted to watch the QM2 depart Southampton on her next voyage, so we walked to the Ocean Cruise Terminal.  QM2's departure was delayed an hour so we waited around the dock for two hours.  When it was finally time for QM2's departure, What A Great Show it was to see that massive and graceful liner move away from the dock and head out to sea.