Transatlantic Crossing

It’s a first for us, a transatlantic sea voyage and our first trip to England! Although we’ve cruised quite a few times, this is different. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is an ocean liner rather than a cruise ship. She was purpose built for transoceanic travel and has provided us an amazingly smooth passage from New York to Southampton, England these last seven days. On this journey every day has been a day at sea filled with so much opportunity for excellent food and drink, invigorating long walks along the deck, fabulous lectures, quality entertainment, opportunities to make new friends, chances to stay up much too late or stay in bed way too long. There were so many wonderful choices that we weren’t able to take advantage of them all. We’ve truly enjoyed traveling Cunard. It’s a fabulous tribute to the golden age of sea travel. Not only that, it’s a gentle way to travel across five time zones. We set our watches forward one hour at noon most days. The two of us relished the opportunities to learn about various aspects of British history in World War II, take a virtual tour of the Tower of London, delve into some royal genealogies, and learn about the search for inhabitable eco planets, as well as enjoy the only planetarium at sea. We danced to the sounds of the Big Band era, conversed with friends to the sounds of jazz, savored traditional Afternoon Tea, and explored various international foods. Now we are docked in Southampton and ensconced in our stateroom waiting for our turn to disembark, to meet Amanda by the pier, and to get connected to wi-fi to publish this and to get back in touch with the wider world.