On our last full day aboard, I convinced Santo to have breakfast with me in the dining room. It was lovely and relaxing. Always makes me feel I am on vacation to have breakfast served to me, especially on a table with a white table cloth, silver cutlery, and flowers. Had oatmeal, fresh fruit, and tea, while Santo enjoyed eggs benedict.

After breakfast, I decided to walk around and read all the wall posters with historical information about the Queen and Cunard. Talked about all the various ship names, the use of the vessels during both world wars, and in the Falklands. As Her Majesty’s Ships (HMS), they were able to be enlisted in service to Britain’s military. There were also posters of the Hollywood stars who had graced the Queen, particularly Bing Crosby who liked to hide out in the photographers’ developing room. He was there so much they finally put him to work organizing the photos.

Next I wanted to check out the bookstore, which was on Deck 8 right next to the library. Thought I might find some gifts there to bring home, or a novel set on the Queen Mary, but no luck. Then I stopped in to the library to give Santo a whispered hello as he perused another gardening book in his favorite spot.

Then it was back down to Carinthia for some more blogging. As lunchtime approached, I checked out the offerings in Carinthia and had a dish with some small nibbles of fish and seafood. And one of the amazing date-nut bars that were always available in Carinthia.

         Back in the room, Santo was just getting up from his nap and ready for lunch, so I went with him down to Kings Court to see if I could get a little something else for lunch. Kings Court was absolutely packed. We couldn’t find a seat anywhere—not just a good seat but ANY seat. It was just crazy. One of the reasons I don’t like Kings Court—just too much hustle and bustle, not relaxing, not elegant, not what I want from a meal aboard the Queen Mary. We finally found a table and I held our spot while Santo went to get his food, then I took my turn and ate while he went for seconds. Not exactly a romantic lunch together.

         Since we still had not played a game at the lovely green-felt-covered gaming tables that were right by the water on Deck 2, we decided to meet there at 3:15. All the Rummikub games were in use, so we settled for a game of Scrabble. The game was tied on the play before last, when Santo took his turn and used all his pieces to win.

         Now it was definitely time to pack. Our bags had to be packed and outside our cabin by 11 pm, so we wanted to get well-organized before dinner. I went first, while Santo rested for a bit, and was able to finish my packing rather quickly, fitting everything in almost too easily. Then I dressed for dinner and left to go hang out in the Chart Room while Santo packed.

         At 5 pm, the sun was streaming in the windows of the Chart Room and I chose an empty seat right by a window. My favorite jazz trio was playing. I was relaxed, content. Soaking in every moment of my last evening on the ship. Ran into Marie Luisa, the lovely German woman I had meet at tea. She sat with me for a few minute and wanted me to write down my name and Santo’s, first and last, because she had not really caught what our names were. I wrote them down for her, then said I would put my email underneath, but she quickly said, “Och, nein. Nein. Ich brauch es nicht. Ich wird es nich benutzen.” (Oh, no. No. I don’t need it. I won’t use it.) OK then!

Santo finally arrived at 5:55 pm. Almost time for our last dinner. We had thought of asking for a table just for the two of us for our last night, but found out you couldn’t request that in advance so decided to just stick with our table mates. Michael and Sabine were at the table when we arrived. But there was no sign of the Yorkshire sisters. After a few minutes, another couple was seated at our table. They introduced themselves right away: Karen and Paul. She was originally British but had lived in Germany for more than 30 years. Paul was German. They lived in Hamburg.

Conversation with Karen and Paul was easy and delightful. It was true conversation, one thought leading to another, sharing stories, finding commonalities, laughing, engaging. If only these had been our table mates all week! But I did feel a bit bad for Michael and Sabine who must have felt somewhat excluded by our banter in English. So I tried to draw them back into the conversation with some questions in German.

My meal started with a salmon turnover, flaky and delicious. This was followed by a generous green salad, then an Indonesian chicken dish, slightly spicy, that was the best entrée I had had so far. The meal ended with a creamy vanilla tapioca pudding which cooled the heat in my mouth. A wonderful last dinner.

After dinner we headed back to the room so Santo could finish packing. I had wanted to catch the sunset in the Chart Room but it got too late. So we headed to the Commodore Club and for the first time were able to get seats right by window. The all-female string trio of violin, viola, and bass was playing—first classical music, then tunes from West Side Story. After a time, another couple joined us. We lingered a bit longer, then knew we had so say goodbye to our last lounge session of the trip.

Back in the cabin, we stepped outside to watch the moon casting a stream of moonlight from its place low on the horizon right to our balcony. It was a celestial kiss goodbye.