We took this “voyage” in late May and early June. It was our fourth trip on Queen Mary 2 and my fifteenth overall on various Cunard ships.
Journey to Southampton and Embarkation
Despite warnings about potential traffic problems in the waterfront area due to extensive road works we had a very smooth journey from West Berkshire to the Ocean terminal following our normal route. There were two other ships embarking passengers that day, including Queen Victoria, but we probably had our quickest ever journey to Southampton docks, arriving just before midday on a Friday morning. (As I am a Platinum World Club member, we can both take advantage of priority boarding). Embarkation started a little late as the shore-side staff waited for Captain Oprey’s permission to proceed and the inevitable queues caused by the need to remove footwear and anything metallic soon built up a little. Apparently the security arches are highly sensitive due to sprung metal floors. However, I didn’t think we were unduly delayed and of course, the experience is the same for everyone. Having said that, our previous cruise, on Queen Elizabeth, which departed from the QEII Terminal, provided a much better embarkation experience as there were no delays and no need to remove metallic items such as belts and watches.