We are not necessarily cruise people. I take that back—Jack is and will always be a sea captain at heart. We have been on three different cruise lines together, while I have been on a few with friends and children. My experience on most was —blah. I am not an “all-you-can-eat buffet fan,” nor much of a “sit around & do nothing but read a book” fan. Long gone are the days of “let’s party & drink,” and if I want to visit foreign places, it would not be on a day tour ship’s excursion. But, after the passing of both of Jack’s parents, we decided to follow in their footsteps (along with his grandparents’) and do a transatlantic crossing and eventually make our way to the homeland and the Highlands. When his grandparents transited on the QE 2, they used to take their old Corvair on the ship with them so they would have a car for their three months in Scotland. We can’t take our car, but if we wanted to take a pet—that’s a different story (more on that later in a separate posting).
After a brief overnight stop in NYC, a 40-minute Uber trip, dropping the luggage, and an hour waiting in line for security and immigration, we finally boarded our home for the next eight days at sea. Making our way to our cabin on the highest deck (lucky 13), we found our room, which is a little smaller than what the brochure shows. All in all, though, it is a beautiful room with a large private balcony. Someone actually thought ahead (probably a female engineer), and we could store all five suitcases under our bed, which gave us much more room. A quick unpack, and we were off to explore. Jack was a kid in a candy store—so excited to be headed to sea. Unfortunately, the ship was 4 hours late pulling into Brooklyn due to engine problems and a medical emergency (a passenger had to be evacuated by helicopter), so we didn’t leave until 9 pm! But it was a beautiful site to see—the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty all lit up. We are now completing our journey at sea, and I can make a few observations—First, we did pass near the Titanic’s resting place, and yes, we have the right amount of lifeboats and jackets in case we hit an iceberg; the demographics of the passengers are half American and half British (with a few other nationalities sprinkled in)—and you can really tell the difference in dress. There is a dress code after 5 pm, smart attire, which does not include gym shorts/yoga pants and a t-shirt Can you guess which nationality was not “smart”?
So far, I have met with many of the Ship’s Directors to get information for articles. Believe it or not, it’s not that much different than a carrier —different kitchen and messes for the staff hierarchy, and yes, the passengers have different classes, too. We decided to go for the highest level of the middle rather than the lowest level of the highest class. We have our own dining room with open seating rather than a designated time. We discovered all the bars, and Jack’s favourite is the Commodore’s Club at the bow. We’ve been to ballroom dance lessons, afternoon teas, watercolors, and lots of gym classes (albeit not very good), but we get a lot of steps in climbing 12-13 flights of stairs 3–4 times a day! We’ve met some wonderful people on board, including many of our servers. I have to say the QM2 lives up to its White Star service—the dining manager, Jane, catered to my allergy and even gave me a vegetarian, vegan, and kids menu when I wasn’t in the mood for the “fancy food” on the dining menu. Our sommelier (there are 28 onboard) selected some great wines to match our preferences. We had a lovely cabin with a private balcony on the sunny side of the ship. Believe it or not, the weather was beautiful—sunny and no rain! Although with our speed of 19-20 knots and the relative wind was about 28 knots, it was quite windy on the promenade deck when walking around the ship’s bow. But, sitting on the back pool and terrace decks (there are 3), passengers enjoyed a cold drink in the warm sunshine. While Jack and I were in long pants and usually a sweater, some passengers were sunbathing and in the pool! (Texan comfort vs British) We docked early on the 23rd and headed for London to repack for Southern Europe adventures.
That’s all for now – Stay tuned for our next journeys: Venice, Croatia, Italy, Greece, and France!
