Jane Seymour was vaguely familiar to us, but we weren't particularly fans of hers. We kept on running into her day after day everywhere on deck 3. First we had just discovered the art gallery on deck 3L. We were attending almost daily lectures about how to invest in contemporary art because there was nothing else to do. The lectures were a big exaggerated telling you that if you bought now the painting might be worth a lot more in the future. The lecturer gave us a slide show of artists painting Marylin Monroe, one artist painting his son, another painting in a way inspired by the Japanese, etc. They all just happened to be artists represented by the gallery. However despite the hoopla my husband and I and my son discovered a painter we had never heard of before named Henderson Cisz who painted city scapes of places like Amsterdam and Venice. We liked his post-impressionistic style enough to consider buying a print. But before we could complete our purchase, the print was taken down and whisked away. Instead the gallery was filled with paintings by --- you guessed it! --- Jane Seymour. Despite the fact that she was also on board promoting a James Bond film she starred in, Live and Let Die, she was also selling her paintings for hefty sums. Certainly she was charging more than Henderson Cisz, though he was the better painter. We had to content ourselves with a book full of Henderson Cisz paintings with the idea that we could cut them out and frame them before the book, too, was whisked away and the gallery filled with books by Jane Seymour.
At another point we were trying to entertain ourselves in the Royal Arcade Shopping Center on deck 3. I was looking at handbags on sale on a table outside the shop. Suddenly everything became very crowded. The shop had to move things inside. None other than Jane Seymour was at it again. Her table was bigger than anybody else's and was filled with her books. Somehow she had become a Renaissance woman. She was not only an actress but she was an author as well as a painter. And later we were to find out she was a speaker, too.
Another day we decided we would try whatever was on in the Royal Arcade Theater on deck 3. We'd lost our daily program. Were we surprised to find none other than Jane Seymour down on the stage along with the cruise entertainment director who was asking her questions. Jane did nothing but talk of herself and her autobiography. I wasn't surprised after hearing her speak that her paintings were filled with images of herself, too.
We finally managed to break away from Jane Seymour long enough to see a Shakespeare play performed by RADA. We had high hopes because three years ago we saw performances of the Canterbury Tales and Richard III that were unforgettable. But we were totally disillusioned when we showed up for Romeo and Juliet. We could hardly believe that it was the same theater company. The play is supposed to be set in Renaissance Italy. Instead they had a bunch of hooligans on the stage dressed in rags pretending they were Hispanic and singing Hispanic songs. Nobody could act. It was such a farce that most of the audience walked out. Almost nobody lingered until the end the way we did.
What kept us sane was staying in room 4118, the room at the top of the stairs that was convenient to everything and everywhere we wanted to go. For instance we had the closest cabin to our table, 248, on the upper level of deck 3 in the Britannia Dining Room. We were served by a Russian waitress named Alyona who got everything right and always had our iced tea glasses waiting for us every night. She remembered our preferences. For instance, I always had the cheese plate for dessert. She even let us know when to set up our cameras for the Parade of Chefs the last formal night at sea. That was much better entertainment than Jane Seymour or RADA or any other pop entertainment aboard the QM2.
Cabin Review 4118:
4118 was the room at the top of the stairs right across from the elevator lobby. It enabled us to be only one staircase away from the Britannia Dining Room upper level where our table was located, 248. We were also close to Sir Samuel's where we always had lunch (quiche and hot tea), close to the Royal Arcade Shopping Center, and close to the Clarendon Art Gallery where we spent many afternoons. In addition it was convenient to the photo shop. It was easy to order and pick up our cruise video at the end of the cruise. We couldn't ask for a better location.
Shore Excursion: We walked from the Cruise Terminal to Old Town. We saw the medieval city walls as well as Tudor House and Garden. At Tudor House and Garden there was a modern cafe adjacent to the gift shop and with views of the garden where we spent all our time taking photos of gargoyles, Norman chimneys, and cannons. It gave you an idea what life centuries ago was like. There was a short introductory film to the house conducted by ghosts of all things. At the end of the film they scared you away so the newcomers could take your place and watch the next film. The ghosts also unveiled the lattice window by pulling the drapes open. It really made an impression!