No Airplanes

My second sea journey was quite a bit different from my first.  To get across the Atlantic, I took the Queen Mary 2.  Which, at the time she was built, was the largest cruise ship ever produced.  While she has lost that title, she’s still the largest ocean liner in the world (though there aren’t many of those in this day and age).

I’ve never actually been on a cruise before so I have nothing to compare the journey to.  I will say I thought it was very comfortable, the food was fantastic, and I was never really bored, even though the week was akin to being on a floating nursing home given the average age of the clientele.

I spent most days playing poker all afternoon, reading, working out, and trying to drink my through a $600 ship credit from my travel agent (though really, half of it went to massages at the spa).  I also saw Bill Bryson do a talk and even ran into him on the staircase once where I got to compliment his fine beard.

Steaming into New York Harbor after an Atlantic crossing is a great “old school” travel experience.  We arrived very early in the morning but I was up at 0430 to see the ship barely clear the Verrazano Bridge.  It seemed a very fitting way to re-enter the U.S. given that I left the country months before by standing on the top deck of the Hanjin Dallas while going under the Golden Gate Bridge.

After going by the Statue of Liberty, we did a big turn and settled into our dock in Red Hook.  I watched the sun rise over lower Manhattan, grabbed some breakfast on the ship, and then was off to Newark Airport to pick up my rental car so I could be in Chicago the next day to meet my family.