If you had told me a week ago that, somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, people were drinking martinis, tucking in to all-you-can-eat sushi and being served afternoon tea while dolphins jumped passed the window on their way to New York, I would never have believed you.
We arrived in London early this morning and met up with our editor, Clare who showed us the first designs for the book before heading down to Southampton to catch the Queen Mary 2. Tom has found an amazing last-minute all inclusive deal which made cruising to New York even cheaper than flying.
We were among the last to board and the porters joked that the ship had been waiting on us as we made our way up the gangways. We checked in and made out way to our stateroom, just as our luggage was being brought in. The room was really cosy with a giant comfy bed, mini bottle of champagne waiting for us and free 24-hour room service.
We headed straight out on deck, as we couldn't wait to explore the ship. There's a cinema, casino, planetarium, theatre, ballroom, gym, spa and dozens of restaurants, bars and swimming pools.
We discovered our favourite spot on the ship pretty quickly - two huge comfy armchairs in front of a window that looked out over the sea in the Commodore's Club, a bar that serves tasty cocktails and canapés.
Tom ordered a Plantation Punch, while I tried the Lady In Waiting Martini.
Our fare included all of our meals and we weren't expecting much but the food was amazing. Over 140 chefs prepare all three meals from scratch everyday and we kept finding amazing new fruit and ice sculptures around the ship. We headed to the King's Court for lunch, which was a gigantic buffet featuring every kind of food you could imagine, from salads, sushi and fresh salmon to pizza, pasta and desserts.
Knowing we were in for a big meal later in the evening, we helped ourselves to a modest plate of cheese, crackers, salad and seafood.
It was a really warm day, so we ended up sitting out on a deckchair watching the sunset. It was one of the most relaxing things ever, combined with the fact that it would be the first week we've spent without the internet in at least a decade.
There was a welcome show before dinner which was a little tacky but the dancers had super sparkly outfits and it will save us from needing to see a show in Vegas.
This was at this point we started forgetting we were on a ship.
Dinner was served in the gigantic Britannia restaurant where smartly dressed waiters sit you down, slide your seat under you and lay a napkin in your lap at same time. There was even another waiter designated to sweep up your crumbs in between courses.
I had soba noodles, a portobello mushroom with grilled vegetables and white & dark chocolate profiteroles, while Tom had tempura prawns, cod and a mocha cheesecake. After dinner, just as we thought we couldn't manage another bite, we were served coffees and mini cakes.
We returned to our room to find our bed tucked down with pillow chocolates waiting for us. Our maid was amazing and we'd come back to find all the clothes, gadgets and accessories we'd left out organized in to neat piles.