Convergence of Cunard's three Queens in New York stirs up memories.
As every New York-based travel writer and photographer, cruise journalist and much of the local and national media have documented, Cunard's three liners were in New York Harbor at same time -- a morsel for maritime history. It was the first and only time that the three Queens -- the flagship "Queen Mary 2," the about-to-retire "Queen Elizabeth 2" on her farewell voyage and the glamorous and enormous new "Queen Victoria" on her maiden voyage -- were in the same port at the same time. In fact, not even the QE2 and the QM2 were ever in port together. Both sailed between Southampton and Brooklyn, one going east as the other sailed west.
On January 13, the three Queens sailed together out of New York harbor, passing the Statue of Liberty with thousands of people on shore watching the regal procession with Grucci fireworks overhead, despite freezing rain. Hale and farewell!
The huge and well-deserved media buzz spread even to land-locked Colorado, reminding me of my first and only transatlantic sea voyage. It was October 1986, when the Society of American Travel Writers held its annual convention on the QE2, and as a new travel writer, I was thrilled to be traveling across the Atlantic on such a storied ship, no less, and meeting James Michener, who was given honorary membership in SATW.
As we sailed out of New York Harbor, most people were on the port rail, looking at Manhattan, but I was on the starboard side, waving to my little boy who was at Elysian Park in Hoboken, where we lived at the time. The ship glided smoothly past the Statue of Liberty and under the Verrazano Bridge before heading into open water.
As every New York-based travel writer and photographer, cruise journalist and much of the local and national media have documented, Cunard's three liners were in New York Harbor at same time -- a morsel for maritime history. It was the first and only time that the three Queens -- the flagship "Queen Mary 2," the about-to-retire "Queen Elizabeth 2" on her farewell voyage and the glamorous and enormous new "Queen Victoria" on her maiden voyage -- were in the same port at the same time. In fact, not even the QE2 and the QM2 were ever in port together. Both sailed between Southampton and Brooklyn, one going east as the other sailed west.
On January 13, the three Queens sailed together out of New York harbor, passing the Statue of Liberty with thousands of people on shore watching the regal procession with Grucci fireworks overhead, despite freezing rain. Hale and farewell!
The huge and well-deserved media buzz spread even to land-locked Colorado, reminding me of my first and only transatlantic sea voyage. It was October 1986, when the Society of American Travel Writers held its annual convention on the QE2, and as a new travel writer, I was thrilled to be traveling across the Atlantic on such a storied ship, no less, and meeting James Michener, who was given honorary membership in SATW.
As we sailed out of New York Harbor, most people were on the port rail, looking at Manhattan, but I was on the starboard side, waving to my little boy who was at Elysian Park in Hoboken, where we lived at the time. The ship glided smoothly past the Statue of Liberty and under the Verrazano Bridge before heading into open water.
The ship was full, not just with SATW delegates but also with aficianados of ocean travel, because this was the QE2's final crossing under steam. After this crossing, she was going into a shipyard in Bremerhaven to be retrofitted with electrodiesel engines. The new powerplants gave her another two decades of useful life, and as she approaches retirement, she is the longest-serving liner in the Cunard fleet. this is quite appropriate, since she shares a named with Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch.
We had been at sea for less than 24 hours when the winds picked up, the rain started and the ocean began to churn. The fierce storm, which would last for a bit longer than three days, turned out to be a Force 9 gale, one click short of a hurricane. The QE2 was not really prepared for such rough conditions, which was surprising, because she had been built for year-round transatlantic crossings, not for cruising tropical waters.
Depending on whose report you listened to, either two or three of the ship's four stabilizers were not functioning, so we had a real rock and roll ride. In the dining room, waiters moistened the tablecloths to provide some traction on the varnished wood tables. Unlike every sailboat I've ever been on, the QE2's tables did not have little fold-up rails to hold the plates. When the cooks put full plates on the pass-through, one out of every four or five crashed to the deck before a waiter could grab it. Clean dishes were stored in stainless steel cabinets and slid back and forth with every roll of the ship. Every cheap diner and luncheonette in those days stored plates and bowls in spring-equipped wells, but not the QE2. We dined to the symphony of crashing crockery.
Passenges who were prone to sea-sickness retreated to their cabins, which presented an extra layer of unpleasantness. There were no hooks on the closet doors or drawers (at least not in the cabin I shared with a friend), so when the ship rolled one way, everything would open, and when it rolled the other way, everything slammed shut. One colleague said he placed a glass of water on his nightstand. The drawer opened, and the water glass slid right in, soaking everything. Another said she woke up sharing her pillow with her telephone.
We had been at sea for less than 24 hours when the winds picked up, the rain started and the ocean began to churn. The fierce storm, which would last for a bit longer than three days, turned out to be a Force 9 gale, one click short of a hurricane. The QE2 was not really prepared for such rough conditions, which was surprising, because she had been built for year-round transatlantic crossings, not for cruising tropical waters.
Depending on whose report you listened to, either two or three of the ship's four stabilizers were not functioning, so we had a real rock and roll ride. In the dining room, waiters moistened the tablecloths to provide some traction on the varnished wood tables. Unlike every sailboat I've ever been on, the QE2's tables did not have little fold-up rails to hold the plates. When the cooks put full plates on the pass-through, one out of every four or five crashed to the deck before a waiter could grab it. Clean dishes were stored in stainless steel cabinets and slid back and forth with every roll of the ship. Every cheap diner and luncheonette in those days stored plates and bowls in spring-equipped wells, but not the QE2. We dined to the symphony of crashing crockery.
Passenges who were prone to sea-sickness retreated to their cabins, which presented an extra layer of unpleasantness. There were no hooks on the closet doors or drawers (at least not in the cabin I shared with a friend), so when the ship rolled one way, everything would open, and when it rolled the other way, everything slammed shut. One colleague said he placed a glass of water on his nightstand. The drawer opened, and the water glass slid right in, soaking everything. Another said she woke up sharing her pillow with her telephone.
Passengers who don't get seasick (and I'm lucky that I don't) carried on as usual. I didn't miss a meal (or any of the live dinner entertainment of breaking crockery). I had a great time drinking and dancing in the disco (a few of us managed to do that, dancing near the bar so that we'd have something to grab in an emergency). I met James Michener and, in fact, had a long conversation with him.
On the last day, the weather cleared and seas calmed. As we approached England, we could finally go out on deck and watch as the famous white cliffs of Dover came into view. Geoffrey Weill, a British-born, New York-based public relations man with a nice singing voice, broke into "Doing the Lambeth Walk." The song stuck in my mind during my few days in London. The QE2 is now on her last round-the-world voyage, after which she will become a floating hotel in Dubai. She won't need stabilizers there, just air conditioning -- and "Doing the Lambeth Walk" mostly likely will not enter into the mind of anyone surveying the Dubai skyline from her deck.
On the last day, the weather cleared and seas calmed. As we approached England, we could finally go out on deck and watch as the famous white cliffs of Dover came into view. Geoffrey Weill, a British-born, New York-based public relations man with a nice singing voice, broke into "Doing the Lambeth Walk." The song stuck in my mind during my few days in London. The QE2 is now on her last round-the-world voyage, after which she will become a floating hotel in Dubai. She won't need stabilizers there, just air conditioning -- and "Doing the Lambeth Walk" mostly likely will not enter into the mind of anyone surveying the Dubai skyline from her deck.
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Aren't the changes the decades have wrought ironic? Back when Ward liners were sailing between the US and Veracruz via Havana, it was considered the best way to enter Mexico. Now, Americans who want to visit Cuba often do so on the sly via Cancun in Mexico.
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