Bound for Mauritius
1 April 2026
Don’t worry, no April Fool coming your way.
We forgot to tell you about an interesting thing that occurred when we stopped in Bitung, Indonesia, the town I considered so “third world” in a country that’s overwhelmingly Moslem. Linda was talking with their on-board art teacher, who told about hiring a local man and his car at the port. It was the art teacher and her husband, along with another woman from the ship, riding in the back seat. The driver said he’d take them to see a beautiful waterfall in the country.
As they drove and talked among themselves, the other woman from the ship mentioned that she gives massages in the ship’s spa. The driver immediately turned the car around, drove back to the ship, and made the “masseuse” get out of the car! He then drove the artists out into the countryside, where they, finally, became a bit concerned about their safety.
They left the main road, went down a small side road and eventually stopped at a house where a woman charged them a few dollars to show them the waterfall in her back yard. So, quite an experience in a very foreign place. I would definitely have NOT gotten into that car in the first place. I just don’t get how clueless some people are.
2 April 2026
I haven’t told you about my problem with Natasha the bar maid. After trying all the ship’s wines that are included in the “drink package” I bought, I found one made in Lebanon that’s better than the others. It’s only available in the Carinthia Lounge on Deck 7. After a few weeks of visiting the bar there every day for a glass of my favorite wine, the staff began to recognize me and knew what “the usual order” was for me. But one of the waitresses, who speaks with an eastern European accent, finally told me I had to try her country’s wine. “It’s the best,” she said. I’d already dubbed her “Natasha” because her accent reminds me of a Russian spy in the movies, though I guessed she was probably Serbian or maybe Croatian.
Turns out she’s from Romania, and every time I go in the lounge she insists I have the Romanian wine. It’s an OK wine, not as good as the Lebanese wine, but I’m too much of a wimp to say no to her. When I arrive each day, I actually stand at the door of the lounge and look around the room for her. If she’s not there, I run to the bar and order my Lebanese wine. Once or twice she’s even appeared and countermanded my order for the wine I want and told them to pour me the Romanian wine! Yes, I’ve got a problem, perhaps more than one problem!
3 April 2026
I like to think ahead, and plan. As an interesting mental exercise, I’ve been trying to imagine what would happen if a local revolution or coup d’état occurred while we’re docked or anchored at one of these foreign countries. There would be variables to consider:
Are we tied to a local dock, or anchored some distance from shore?
Are all passengers aboard, or a few ashore, or a lot of passengers on shore?
Are things quiet near the ship, or is there an angry mob approaching us, or a crowd of refugees approaching us, seeking asylum?
Naturally, the ship will close its gangways to secure the vessel and prevent unauthorized access or danger to passengers. It would like to depart to a safe port or enter international waters ASAP. Very easy if we’re at anchor and all passengers are aboard. Just weigh anchor and fire up the propellers.
Things become a little harder if we’re tied up to a dock. We would need to send crew ashore to release the mooring lines, or in a real emergency the lines could be cut (the origin of the term “cut and run”), then the ship is free to sail away.
Things become a lot more complicated if crew/passengers are ashore some distance from the ship. The captain has to decide, based on the situation ashore, if it’s safe to wait for people to return to the ship or not. In a serious situation, the ship would probably move off shore a reasonable distance while things could be worked out. At worst, the ship would leave and people ashore would have to fend for themselves.
QM2 is basically a fortress, with 50 foot/15 meter high walls of slick, 1 inch/2.5 cm thick steel and a huge, potentially shark-infested moat around it. Also, it’s not a straight up climb from the waterline to the lowest balcony. The ship is narrower at the water line. From the water line up to the lowest balconies, the ship gets wider, meaning it would take quite an athlete to throw a grappling hook up 50 feet, hook it on a rail, then climb a rope that’s dangling some distance out from the ship’s hull.
As far as I know, the ship doesn’t carry any arms (guns), though they may. But they do have water cannons which could probably repel most attempted boardings. They may have other defensive capabilities I’m not aware of. Short of artillery or an attack from the air, QM2 would be pretty safe, at least from civilians, if positioned a mile or so off shore.
QM2’s assets include a top speed of 30 knots, with enough fuel to sail at full speed for as long as it takes to reach safety. There’s plenty of food aboard, and the ship can make fresh water from sea water, as needed. If a thousand refugees DID manage to get aboard, seeking safety, the ship has plenty of empty deck space, food, and water to accommodate them while we search for a nearby country to which to deliver them.
An interesting subject to contemplate, though I hope it never comes to that!
4 April 2026
Tomorrow we arrive at the island of Mauritius, the only home of the dodo bird, until humans ate them all. It’s 700 miles/1110 km east of the big island of Madagascar, and 1000 miles/1700 km from Africa. It was a French colony from 1715 to 1810. The British took it from France in 1810 and it was a British colony until 1968, when it was given full independence, because running the colony was costing more pounds sterling than Britain was reaping from owning the colony.
I recently read, for the fourth time, “The Mauritius Command,” the fourth novel in the Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brian. The book tells the story of 1810, when the British took Mauritius Island from the French. Its capital, Port Louis, is a prime port in the Indian Ocean. They still speak French, as well as English, in Mauritius. I’ll report our findings ashore in the next day or two.
Below there’s a walk-through video of one of my favorite places on the ship, Sir Samuel’s, the coffee and wine bar. I’ll also post a video of the cheeseburger and “Cunard Black” beer I ordered in The Golden Lion, the ship’s British Pub. The beer is similar to a Guinness stout, but a bit more smooth. There’s also a photo of a plaque I discovered, recognizing when, in 2017, QM2 changed course to rescue a 73-year-old man sailing alone across the Atlantic, who radioed a mayday after a storm swamped his boat. You can read more about that story at https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/11/mervyn-wheatley-73-queen-mary-2-liner-rescue-north-atlantic-storm
