All Aboard! Queen Elizabeth to Amsterdam

My alarm went off early this morning and after a lot of hugs and cuddles from the Little Misses and Mr K I set off on holiday number two!
It was a false start as I had to come back with the car seats but eventually I was on my way.
First of all to Bicester to meet my mum, dad and brother and then down to Southampton - the Ocean Terminal where the Queen Elizabeth was waiting for us.
Our bags were whisked away very enthusiastically and we were checked in and embarking before we knew it. It was a far cry from the stress and tedium of the airport!
Within twenty minutes - after checking out the cabins and eating our welcome chocolate covered strawberries - we headed to the Lido restaurant for lunch.
Oh my goodness!!
Miles and miles of yummy salads, meat, fish, pizza, sandwiches, curries, noodles, bread, cheese, biscuits, fruit, puddings, cakes, tea, coffee, juices, hot chocolate.
Mind boggling.
And very, very delicious!
After eating as much as we could a teeny little snack we headed out into the sunshine on deck to explore and then up to the Commodore Club for coffee. Right at the front, ten decks up, it was the perfect place to relax in the squashy leather sofas.
We stayed there until it was time for the Muster Drill. When the alarm sounded we went back to our cabins to collect our life jackets and head off to our Muster point.
I couldn't help thinking that faced with a real emergency in the middle of a cold night there'd be a good bit less laughter and a lot more panic!!
We headed to my mum and dad's cabin as we sailed away to watch Southampton disappearing behind us. Very exciting!!
The it was time to dress up for dinner. A very rare occurrence for me!
All looking very glamorous we headed to the Britannia Club restaurant. My unfortunate choice of starter - boiled prawns smothered in tomato ketchup - made me giggle but other than that the food was amazing. And the two people serving us were lovely and very funny. It was fabulous!
We rolled up to the Commodore for a post dinner drink and then headed for bed. Very full, very tired and very happy!