The Queen Mary 2 Crossing
Man, it was cold as we boarded the Queen Mary 2 on Wednesday afternoon. The fuel barge pulled up late delaying our departure and the bomb cyclone storm blew up the coast to block our path to the sea so we waited in port in Brooklyn overnight and sailed promptly at 7am into the teeth of a fierce snowstorm.
We followed slowly behind the storm as it moved north, finally slipping around it on Thursday morning as the captain put the hammer down and shot our ship across the Atlantic.
To say the sea was angry that day would be an understatement. The waves were ferocious! Storm force 11 was in effect! Many passengers were down for the count as we rocked hard for about 36 hours. I felt it queasy for a while, but an afternoon nap managed to improve my disposition.
Couple of things... the Queen Mary is a great sailing vessel. Despite extraordinarily rough seas, the ship held her own and really maintained its composure. The stability system is first rate!
And... once we got offshore of LI we hit the gulf stream. Water and air temps went up 20 degrees making for a markedly different experience than our friends were having just about 100 miles to the north.
The ship is luxurious, it really is. It has a beautifully designed center hallway with huge murals representing the continents and beautiful architectural elements. The dining hall was especially nice. And being assigned to the Captains table for dinner was pretty cool. For the record, the captain didn't dine with us, but the table was prominently placed, smack in the center of the room and right beneath the QM2 mural.
Crossing the Atlantic was the learning experience I hoped it would be. I thought the ocean in January would be cold and stormy, but except for the major storm at the start, air temperatures were mild over the mild ocean current. It really was quite pleasant to walk out on deck and many people were in lounge chairs when the sun came out. Surprising.
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| Spare prop parts stored on the ship's bow. Nicknamed the Captains Cufflinks |
The people on the QM2 made the trip special. The number of folks who do the crossing regularly was really surprising and many on board were completing the round trip. We shared a table with a couple from Australia who fly to NY or London "all the time" to make this trip. Who knew? Apparently everyone does a Queen Mary crossings!
The other thing learned is that people love traveling to NY! And by the way, nobody was a first timer. Everyone we met seemed to travel to NY frequently. I’d guess that many of the Brits on board knew more about our city than many Long Islanders.
And the Brits mad up the great majority of passengers. They love the ship, know how to have a great time and they party hearty. Unlike other cruises we've been on passengers stay up and drink, dance, and eat all night.We made many friends and had a great time.
I heartily recommend!
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