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I'm Patricia. I was born in December 1969, the same year the QE2 had her maiden voyage. We moved near Southampton in 1972 from Kent so I suppose that and having a grandfather and great-grandfathers who worked in the docks in Liverpool and Chatham meant it was fate I would end up loving ships. My dad had been based here in the army during the early 1960s and saw many of the old liners, including the impressive debut of the beloved France, which he still tells anyone who'll listen about today. The first ship I ever saw was the France when my dad dragged me down to see her leave Southampton for the very last time in 1974. I was totally captivated by her sleek lines, grace, elegance and style. Unfortunately he never took any photos and it was 24 years before I got any of her, by then renamed and rebuilt as Norway. But from my introduction I was hooked on the ships and would watch them come and go from my bedroom window or stop if I saw any from the playground of my junior school to watch. I have to admit my interest waned from 1991 until Canberra's near imminent end in 1997 because there were just other things to do. I used to dream of going on a cruise, with Canberra being the one I wanted to go on the most, though my fear of heights always bothered me. It wouldn't have been any fun if I couldn't ever go out on deck. But thankfully touring Arcadia (IV) in October 2005 showed my fears were groundless. So October 2006, exactly 52 weeks after touring Arcadia, I had my first cruise on the QE2, booking several others for 2007 before even going. In September 2018 I took my 70th cruise, which was my third time on the 70 year old Astoria. I just love the smaller ships for their friendlier atmosphere. I'm glad too I have a dad who's interested in ships as well otherwise going down to see them wouldn't be nearly as much fun, as he's found out the couple of times I couldn't be with him because I was on a cruise!
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