Leaving England - Rickmansworth to Southampton

Woke up bright and early this morning to unpack, repack, depack and finally pack Pop's suitcases. Coach arrived at 10 am and it took an entire hour to load all the luggage and the people on. At last count, we are 38 folks.

Drive to Southampton was uneventful. Check-in was painless and by 3 pm we were in our cabins on board the Queen Mary 2. Light unpacking followed by safety drill and tea at the buffet line later we're on Deck 8 lounging about, listening to Caribbean band Vibz for "upbeat sailaway tunes". We set sail from Southampton at 5 pm. By 5:03 pm, every single person on Deck 8 was made acutely aware of our presence by the collective shouting from one end to another. At 5:30 pm, it was announced that we will be dining on Deck 7 at 9 pm at which point hundreds of our co-passengers changed their dining plans in order to avoid the extremely noisy and uncouth Indian posse.

Light dinner followed by drifting in and out of the casino and early to bed. Sharing a room with Jean with Mom and Pops next door - fairly comfortable so no complaints there. Tomorrow, all day at sea!