Crossing the Pond

Louise and Gerald Crossing the Pond

Thirty-odd years ago, after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on something like this sailboat we passed far out at sea, one of my friends asked me if it had been exciting. “No, thank goodness” was my reply.

Poos bastard beating into 25 knots and 10-12 ft seas

Now having transited the North Atlantic on board Queen Mary 2 -- in a fraction of the time and in considerably greater comfort -- I can report much the same. Our friend Rick Robbins, with whom we made the crossing, also said he was hoping for some “really bad weather.” So Cunard may be on to something in terms of their marketing to preserving some slight hint of danger, or at least adventure. After all, they go to great pains to point out how the ship is sailing a more southerly route than usual – four hundred miles further south -- due east out of New York for a day and a half, to a point 45 miles south of the Titanic’s resting place – in order to avoid the ice. Nonetheless, perfunctory would not even begin to describe the “emergency” drill supposedly carried out as we leave New York Harbor. I say supposedly only because Louise and I put on our lifejackets in our cabin and continued unpacking and drinking champagne while we were pulling out of New York Harbor.

Waving Good-Bye to New York

I got the sense that even jolly and convivial Capt. Wells yearned for just a bit of challenge. Greeting us at the Captain’s Reception, he noted that even with all its luxurious features, the ship had been designed to perform in both fair weather … and here he lingered for a moment … and foul. And he repeated the and foul part …. It’s as if he was just itching to show us how his ship could stand up to the weather.

One day tends to blend into the next whilst on board (please forgive the lapse into Britishism; it’s a veddy British ship, even though it’s owned by Carnival Cruise Line …) particularly if one is under the weather, as I was for the entire voyage. Not mal de mer, but a sinusitis so acute that it required a visit to the ship’s doctor, antibiotics and the like, and the malady lingers to this day.

Anyway, I stood all my watches – dressed up for all the formal dinners and receptions,

One of three formal nights

attended all the lectures (fascinating talks about Christopher Marlowe, Dickens, London men’s clubs, Pre-Raphaelite paintings, English History) and shows (of particular note, a one-hour Romeo & Juliet mounted by an exceptionally talented young troupe from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts)

Captivating Romeo and Juliet

and consumed as much consommé and bouillon as if I were about to have a colonoscopy. Louise -- who kept to her going-to-the-gym-every-morning routine

did not become infected until toward the end of the voyage, so now we’re snuffling and coughing our way through rural England.

A quick review of the QM2, which perhaps could be renamed the SS Anachronism. Back in the day, these ocean liners were necessary as transportation. Wanna go to Europe? Get on a ship. Now of course, this leisurely (slow) route is purely discretionary, and it only makes sense if one has the time. No more competing for the Blue Riband for fastest ship across the Pond; it’s a seven day voyage … in order to conserve fuel. Sic transit, etc.

In exchange for the time commitment, what used to be called First Class (now known as Grills -- Queens or Princess … we travelled Princess -- in Queens Grill you also get a butler ...) costs about the same as a First Class – maybe even a Business Class -- airplane ticket. Except that on the ship it’s as if – for that same money -- you’re staying for a week in a Five Star hotel with a high level of service and more than decent food.

Luca, our Maitre d' in Princess Grill

Exceptionally tasty duck

Delicious geometrical dessert

Deconstructed "Eton Mess"

Speaking of dining, instead of our own table for four, we were assigned a table for six, so we had dining companions the whole way across. Two single women of the certain age … one a formidably formal 6’ tall PhD pharmaceutical research scientist and the other, a widow from New Jersey whose late husband had been a Merchant Marine officer. He was away so often she bought him a separate house, and so they lived for most of their thirty-odd years of marriage several blocks apart. Both these women were booked on both legs of the round trip, and both had been across on the Queen Mary 2 at least four or five times each, so we were treated to constant commentary about what was different and had changed – and in their opinions of course, none of these changes were for the better.

The Chief Engineer’s parents were on board, celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary, including a congratulatory card delivered to them by the Captain from the Queen! They sat next to us in the Princess Grill and were much more spirited and interesting people!

Chief Engineer Harrison and his delightful parents ... with congratulatory card from Queen Elizabeth!

Summing up the voyage: you get to experience some sense, a hint perhaps, of what it might once have been like. Tradition is maintained, and nostalgia is reinforced constantly through rituals such as striking eight bells at noon each day