Queen Mary 2 – One Day Down, Five to Go

It’s black outside.  Really black.  No stars, moon, land, nothing.  Just complete black.  We’re booking it as well.  There’s a howling of the wind outside the doors, and when you turn the handle the wind just pulls them open.

So I finally got to relax today.  For whatever reason, I’ve just been very nervous about this trip.  I tend to get a little cranky before most of our trips until I get on the plane and have that first vacation cocktail, but this time it’s been particularly bad. 

I must have checked my backpack 30 times in the last 4 days to make sure that my cruise tickets and passport were in there.  I double and triple check all of my electronics and associated power supplies.  i took a ridiculously early LIRR train to Flatbush and then got paranoid when I had to change at Jamaica that I’d get off on the wrong side and miss the connecting train.  Even though if' I’d missed that train, I’d be an hour early.

Anyway, made it to Flatbush on schedule and started to relax once I’d loaded myself into the Jamaican driven cab and headed through the best of Brooklyn’s traffic to Pier 12.

Relaxed more once I’d checked in an hour and 45 minutes early.

Really relaxed once my dad and I toasted our departure with our Citrus Belinis as the ship pulled away from the pier.

We have great dinner companions.  Pat and Melissa are on a mother/daughter trip.  Pat, the mother, has never travelled to Europe.  John and Amy, married one year, are moving to Scotland.  They’re travelling with 18 pieces of luggage and their cat.

Very fitting that dad and I are on a father/son trip to commemorate, in addition to dad’s 70th birthday, our trip to move back from the UK 25 years ago on the Queen Elizabeth 2 with our car, cat and 24 pieces of luggage.

Anyway, we all got along great.  Ended up being one of the last tables to leave.  Oh yeah, and Amy had called Cunard and told them it was there anniversary (it isn’t actually) so the waitstaff came to the table, sang, and delivered an anniversary cake that we all shared.

Spent some time exploring the ship.  It’s big.  Really big.  Exceptionally large.  Did I say it was big?  Final ending point of today’s exploration was the Commodore Club martini bar, where I enjoyed a most excellent Tanqueray Gibson.

I guess it’s time for bed.