We had a lot of stuff, including, because we were on a Cunarder, a sports coat, dress shirt and two ties.  The evening dress code was either “Gala” or “Smart Attire.”  They defined Gala for gentlemen as wearing either a tux or suit.  I own neither but they let me to the dining room with my black sports coat and my black flex fit Duluth Trading Company work pants (I didn’t try cargo pants on Cunard but did on HAL).  They defined “Smart Attire” as “A collared shirt, no shorts and no trainers.”  Trainers are a Britishism for sneakers.  I only had Crocs, sandals. or Hoka running shoes (trainers.)  As I stood in line for dinner the first night, I noticed that almost everyone over 65 was wearing “trainers.”  An army of little old ladies in tennis shoes.    Even on gala nights I had no problem.  My trainers are ‘formal” dark blue/black.

Cunard is less laid back than Holland America in ways other than attire.  I needed to pre-register my CPAP.  They wanted the make; model and I was afraid they were going to ask for the serial number. I registered it online.  They told me they did not supply distilled water and I had to have my own 6 foot extension cord.  They would not provide one.  When I got to the room, I found 6 feet wasn’t long enough.  Ceasar, our room steward, found me a power cord. 

I also needed to register my health insurance policy.  But their website would not accept my listing.  They wanted the name of an emergency contact.  I entered Kevin but I kept getting emails telling me that I had not entered an emergency contact.  I did it again but the emails kept coming.  

I had some last minute questions and called Cunard in London.  For the first several calls I got a message that they were too busy to take my call, they would not put me on hold and could not leave a message.  “Call back at your convenience.”  I finally got through and London told me that since I was American, I had to call New York.  I called New York when their business hours rolled around.  They answered right away. As soon as the operator got my name, she said, “You have not filled in your emergency contact.”  I audibly signed, Emily said, No worries, I can take it over the phone. I said “Kevin” she typed and said, “Oh, I just typed in ‘Kevin’ and all the fields populated. We must be having problems with our website.”

Indeed, I uploaded photos of Suzi and me.  When we checked in at the port they told me they had to retake our pictures.  “The website isn’t working well.”   We requested early seating for dinner, 6 PM. The website confirmed this.   When we got our key card, we found we had late dinner, 8:30. I showed the Matre’d the confirmation for early seating on my phone.  He said (wait for it) “We are having problems with our website.”  For every problem created by their website the staff quickly found a solution.

Otherwise, the check in was smooth.  They took our bags.  There was a line for security but they had seats for us and called us forward in groups so there was no standing around. 

We arrived Southampton in a regular London Taxi, which could fit both of us and all our stuff.  Our route took out through Kensington and Hammersmith, past Windsor Castle and Royal Ascott, through countryside to Southampton. 

I was following our route on Google Maps, which, as we got to Southampton became confused. 

Liam, our driver, was not confused and took us right to the ship.

On sail out we enjoyed the view of Southampton and a staging area for windturbines from the unobstructed part of our balcony.