Queen Mary from New York to Southampton

Monday June 7th
Once more we are on our favorite transatlantic liner, enjoying the elegance, the comfort, the luxurious sense that we are some of the luckiest people. Our ship embarkation has taken on an almost familiar routine: the limousine to the ship; the check-in process; the smarmy picture in front of the life buoy; the entry to the ship for the first time as we head for our cabin; the unpacking of bags into the familiar nooks and crannies; the spectacular sail-away from New York harbor, and that first evening dinner where we will get to meet our new dining companions for the voyage.
This year, at the Brooklyn Terminal, the only thing that slowed down the routine was the inability to use two gangways for entry. Earlier in the month, during high winds, one of the gang-ways had been damaged…so all passengers had to enter through one gang-way, making for a slower process. But once on board, it was all familiar. It is almost sad that this process is becoming routine. There are no locations on the ship we can’t find, few places we haven’t visited…and while our fellow-guests, perhaps a bit less experienced, are searching for the simplest thing, we parade around as if we owned the ship. I miss not being able to show-off the wonders of this ship to new friends as we did last year, or simply discovering new things on my own. But after six crossings I think we’re sort of expected to know our way around.
The sail away was magical. The weather was warm and sunny, so standing right below the bridge, (our favorite sail away location) we sipped our white wine, looked out at Governor’s Island, the lower tip of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and finally Coney Island once we had slipped under the Verrazano Bridge. That moment is always a delight. With a clearance of only 12 feet, and with one’s perspective askew, you swear that we will ram right into the bridge...but we never do. We were joined by a lovely couple from England who had flown across, enjoyed Las Vegas and one day in New York, and were now sailing home for the first time. He had on the most amazing tie: his prized trophy from NYC – the red iconic sign “I (heart) NY with bright yellow cabs superimposed on top. His wife was a little embarrassed for him, but not very. We haven’t seen them again on the ship, but we’d certainly enjoy having a lunch with them.
Once the scenery had passed and the pilot had left the ship, it was time for us to dress for dinner – the style is euphemistically called “elegant casual” i.e. no jeans, no shorts, but no ties required either. Our dinner companions for this crossing are Norm and Sue Roscoe from Long Island, and Mike and Ann Pallent from England. The latter are celebrating their Golden Wedding anniversary and this crossing was a gift from their children. The Pallent’s are utterly delightful, and our ‘level one’ conversations were lively and amusing. Our main waiter is Rusty from the Philippines, and our room steward is Bert. (Not hard to remember since that is also the name of our travel agent).
Tuesday, June 8th
The first day for lectures. We have at least four speakers: Seth Gopin, an art historian, Flamboyant but topic not inspiring (portraiture in England); Dr. John Emsley, a chemist (discussing molecules, potassium etc); Dr. William Fowler, a maritime historian; and John Berendt ,author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and City of Falling Angels. Some more inspirational, some just plain dull.
Today was the meeting of fellow Cruise Critic.com communicators - a so-so event. A more eclectic group than usual (China, UK, and various parts of the USA) but equally unexciting. After a quick chat, we excused ourselves for other events.
Formal dinner wear was the costume of the evening so we got all dolled up, enjoyed the outfits of all around us, as well as watching the photo sessions occurring up and down the main hallway on Deck 3 where people were having professional pictures taken. These will land up in a box, or if lucky on a fireplace mantle piece as a memory of a lovely time. We had our cocktail in the Chart Room where I tried a new gin – Beefeater 24 – quite smooth and lovely. (It says something about our habits on this ship that two of the bar servers recognized us from prior sails.)
Wednesday June 9th
Room Service breakfast in our robes, and then a busy day of lectures, and a wonderful Classical matinee performance by a pianist named Allan Schiller, who played some favorite ‘virtuoso’ pieces of Chopin, Grieg and others. In the late afternoon I had a new experience – a reflexology session at the Canyon Ranch Spa. Bonnie had recommended it and so I tried it: quite amazing and lovely. I gave no hints or tips to my various bodily ailments, and yet the young reflexologist working only at my feet, found them all. To me it’s a wee bit more scientific than acupuncture but I am not sure I believe all that he told me about touch points in the toes reflecting the entire body. Google and a bit of research are required when internet time doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. But in any case, the results were lovely and I’ll more than likely do it again.
Thursday, June 10th
Amazingly lazy day. The longer the voyage, the less the energy. Though I have made it around the deck twice – three times and I’ll have achieved one damn mile. But with kindle books and comfortable deck chairs, what’s the hurry. The best story today was one Bob overheard in the library. A lady was at the desk and with quite a haughty voice indicated that she wanted her book signed by the captain, but she had seen on the program that the commodore was signing and she was not pleased. The librarian with a gentle resigned voice explained that the commodore was the captain’s boss, so it would really be quite all right.
Our dinner six-some is gelling quite nicely and I’m learning more about cricket than I ever thought I needed in a life-time, but both Mike and Ann are quite fond of the game. And as we come closer to the week-end, the World Cup looms on all soccer-minded passengers. As Mike reminded us, very few of our American sports have world-wide passion. Cricket and Soccer, in part due to colonization, is played in all continents whereas baseball, basketball and football are really primarily American in nature.
It was a night in which sleep eluded me. There was a strange whistling through our door which no amount of towels, paper, banging of doors etc., would cure. If it had been a consistent whine, I might have slept, but it varied in pitch and length and no amount of pillows jammed into cracks would make it stop. A pill did the trick, but it resulted in only a few hours of sleep. Grrrrr. (Not that I had a busy schedule, but it made me nuts). Bob can sleep through anything…and did!

Friday, June 11th
A day filled with enrichment lectures. First, a maritime lecture about the whaling industry from New Bedford, MA. Lots of information learned for the first time. The fact that the whole whaling industry was begun by a group of Quakers form New Bedford; the reason one sailed with a barque is that when the whalers had been lowered to the water in chase of a whale, the barque could be handled from the rear with only a few sailors on board; when the harpooner had gotten the whale, and the Nantucket Sleigh-ride had ended …it was the mate on the whaling ship that made the final coup-de-gras on the whale, not the harpooner; the reason the sailors used scrimshaw was that the teeth of the whale were the one part no one needed and so it was available for artistry; with the arrival of petroleum, the whaling industry was doomed and yet we almost hunted whales to extinction.
From whales to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), doing a mini-version of Taming of the Shrew …and very well done it was. While waiting for the actors to come on stage, the background music was from the Broadway musical Kiss Me Kate which delighted us all. And as is the case with RADA on board the ship, all key speeches and actions were left in, while all minor themes and speeches were discarded so that the whole production took only one and a half hours. Each of the six performers was excellent and they received well deserved rounds of applause at the end.
Finally, a last lecture of John Berendt which was a Q&A session. My lack of sleep from the night before caught up with me, and while Bob stayed to the end, I fell into bed for a nap before dinner.
During our Chart Room cocktail hour, served by our favorite new bar-man Ken, a most exotic woman came into the bar. She had on a head-piece made up of a peacock feather and one or two other twiggy things sticking up – you couldn’t miss her, and it wasn’t even Ascot Ball Night, when one expects exotic head-gear to be worn by all ladies with a bit of exhibitionist in them. Along with this striking head piece, she wore a most colorful, flowing dress – tie-dye colors but in a richer more exotic gown which she carried with hauteur and style. As she approached the bar for a drink, I complemented her on her head-piece and that launched her into a dramatic level-one description of her life. Katharine Drew Wilkinson, born 1940 in England. Lived in Germany as a young child where her father was part of the occupation army; she ‘escaped’ to the USA in the early 60’s and performed in Oh Calcutta – a very risqué play with a famously nude scene. Next she was off to Southern California where she took on the hippy life and finally landed in Arizona where at the age of 50 she took up the craft of glass-bead making. She had samples in her purse which she proudly showed off, (doesn’t everyone carry sample jewelry to dinner on the Queen Mary?) and next we were shown pictures of her taken by the ship’s photographers. She and a lovely young man she had picked up smiled together for the camera. Unfortunately, her much younger companion had soon dropped her for a much younger woman. All of Katharine’s gestures were large and dramatic, she needed an audience, and when we, her audience, proved either dull, or she’d told all that she wanted to tell, she moved on to charm another group. Having listened to John Berendt talk about eccentric characters, and how he captured characters wherever he wrote, I felt that Katharine would gladly fit inside any book he might write about ship-board eccentrics. [She does have a web site: katedrew-wilkinson.com which I will have to look up].
Saturday, June 12
Laundry Day. While I did two loads, Bob went to a back-stage demonstration at the Royal Court Theater. His most enjoyable part was talking with the six-foot tall head sound man, who explained his environment and equipment to a fellow soundman. In the afternoon we both enjoyed another, excellent, classical piano concert by Allan Shiller. Then a few laps around the deck before falling into a deck chair to stare at the water and read our Kindles.
Dinner was the last formal night and we received a full set of the week’s menus so we could continue to drool over the food we ate, long after we return to Peacham. This is a tradition where the waiters sign the set of menus and with this little act, hope that their tips are a wee bit greater. We took last photographs, and at the end of our meal there was the the Parade of the Chefs where all the hidden people who created our feasts march through the dining room while the audience claps wildly. (With over 150 chefs, it can take quite a while.) Tomorrow is the last day for most travelers, but for us it is just the next in our adventure. This will be a new experience, staying on board while everyone else disembarks, finds their luggage and begins their land adventure.