Monday 19 January 2026
Our journey began at noon on Friday when Jared, our scheduled Uber driver picked us up at our apartment and dropped us off at Hotel Cleveland. There we enjoyed an amazing meal at Maker’s Restaurant inside the hotel and a fabulous conversation with our server Jonathan. Our plan had been to walk out and do some exploring in the neighborhood but with the snow we opted to stay indoors and watch the ice skaters in Public Square through the window. I did give us the chance to explore this huge 108 year old hotel with its multiple massive ballrooms and learn about the Napoleon Gray stone that adorns much of the public areas. Soon enough it was minutes before 5 AM and our scheduled ride was calling us from the front of the hotel. In no time Emmanuel had dropped us off at Amtrak Cleveland and by 6:06 AM we were ensconced in our roomette and soon thereafter we were savoring a complementary breakfast at a white tablecloth covered table in the dining car and enjoying conversation with our Brooklyn based waiter, Mikael. Within thirteen hours we’d made it through snow storm after snow storm, many a snowy wood, and frozen marshes, and were in a NYC Yellow Cab nearing The Lodge Red Hook. During our two night stay we did venture out in the snowy urban landscape on Sunday for an unsuccessful search for a restaurant meal but did come back with the fixings for a simple in room picnic. It was fun during our stay to have conversations with fellow travelers who would also be boarding the QM2 either for the 108 Night World Voyage or for the 27 Night Panama Canal Cruise to San Francisco. Just before noon today we checked out of our room and made arrangements for the hotel to hold our luggage while we popped over to Defonte’s Sandwich Shop just around the corner for some humongous sandwiches. Then by shortly afternoon we were making our way on snowy sidewalks toward Pier 12. Boarding went smoothly and soon we had five of our six suitcases in our room. Next we checked in at our muster station then paused for a cup of tea. On the way back to the stateroom we found our sixth suitcase! It didn’t take us long to get it all unpacked and put away. Now it’s time to head up to the Commodore Club to sit and chill and maybe strike up a conversation before we head off to dinner as the ship gets underway to sail past the Statue of Liberty and under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to head south on this first of 108 nights. The adventure has begun!
Sounds incredible!! I’ve been keeping up with through your posts. I’m still Raving but in the next couple of years I’m going to sell it & travel more internationally.
Thank you for the reminder: Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
Enjoy your adventures!