Home again

Arrived back in New York early on April 26th - good to see the US flag flying on the Queen Mary 2. Back in Elizabethtown Spring was well underway as the dogwoods on the Elizabethtown College campus attest. I took this trip, after a difficult year, to open my mind and heart to new possibilities, new friends, new information, new directions, and new opportunities. I saw the world the old-fashioned way - by sea. The trip was worthwhile in every way.

last day at sea

correction: when I posted last we were 1000 miles from NY. Now we're just22 hours away. Calm seas again.

Transatlantic Crossing

Now 3885 nautical miles from Southampton and only 665 from NYC. Closing days of trip being spent comfortably aboard QM 2 in spite of at least one night of rough seas. Enjoying “old” friends from the Queen Victoria - the captain had a party for the 240 of us continuing on to NY from England (there were 750 on the QV portion of the world cruise). Not spending as much time in the gym/spa here but enjoying the opportunity to play golf on a simulator. Tomorrow I’ll be playing the Maui Kapalua Village and Bay courses! Also spending time going over the close-to-final copy of Dear Coach. Then, of course, it will be time to pack for one more time. Looking forward to seeing friends at home.

Queen Mary 2

On the Queen Mary 2, about half way across the Atlantic (1500 miles traveled, 1700 to go). Have a few QV friends sharing this crossing, and we’ve already managed to get together. Some things about the QM2 are great - like the teak decks, and some things suffer in comparison to the QV - like the Spa. Believe it or not, I prefer the QV spa to the Canyon Ranch Spa here. The gym and trainers aren’t as good as the QV and the beauty spa is outrageously expensive. More later.

Meanwhile, we were enjoying a sunny, reasonably calm trip until last night when the waves picked up to “rough.” Still relatively smooth trip. Before we got past Cornwall, England, they had to evacuate an ill passenger and did so via helicopter. Aside from that the trip has been uneventful. I did win a golf tournament (70 yard shot on the golf simulator), which bodes well for my summer fun. Warm enough to sit out on my deck for a while yesterday. I’m traveling POSH - an expression that comes from long ago trips from England to India, when the desired cabin assignments (for shade) were “port side out, starboard home.” I think that would apply for a transatlantic trip from England to America because the port side is the sunny side on the way west and starboard has the sun on the way back.

Seems like a very short trip - only Monday evening to Sunday morning - hardly time to get to know the ship, but I’m doing my best and walking miles! Will be ready to dig in to politics and marketing Dear Coach on Monday morning.

bye

last post from Queen Victoria - 1 minute 25 seconds remaining on my account. Packed, luggage out for transfer to Queen Mary 2. Will leave QV tomorrow morning. What a wonderful voyage!

heading home

The skies are grey and Queen Victoria is returning home to England. Hard to comprehend leaving this ship, which has been such a home to me. I never tired of seeing the sea or had too much day or too much night. Never had enough time to know all the interesting passengers and crew.

Found real friends. Changed my life through serious exercise, thanks to a great personal trainer and excellent spa staff. Been educated and entertained and, of course, fed.

People find things to complain about, but I have few. There is one thing that could be better, i.e., the spa menu, but that’s minor. I think with pleasure of all I have seen and people I’ve met in countries around the world, and I can honestly say the trip was well worth while. I now understand why a world cruise is special.

on the way home

Barcelona - whimsical, vibrant, and beautiful city. From the walk along Las Rambla, eyeing the food in the Mercat Boqueria, and of course being enchanted by the Gaudi buildings, it is a fantastic place. A thunderstorm punctuated an otherwise perfect Spring day. Fortunately I had already visited Gaudi’s Parc Guell! Bit wistful as I reboarded Queen Victoria, knowing that this was our last port of call.

Thinking about our ports and the things I did: the most -

pure fun - riding the elephant bareback
awesome buildings - Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia
awesome natural site - Rabaul’s active volcano
educational - Panama Canal; Guatemala macadamia nut farm
strangest - Mumbai temples
prettiest harbor - Cabo San Lucas; Manly (Sydney_
inspiring - Ephesus
surprising - Petra
emotional - Saipan, El Alamein, Hawaii military bases
charming city - Christchurch, Civitavecchia, Hobart
best food - Phuket
most like home - North Island of New Zealand
attractive countryside - New Zealand, Tasmania
most international - Singapore
richest - Dubai
poorest - Mumbai
best coffee - Athens
cleanest - Singapore
dirtiest - Mumbai; Phuket
enchanting - the sea
hottest - Tonga
roughest sea - Mediterranean between Greece & Italy
Other memorable places: Suez Canal, Robert Louis Stevenson’s home on Samoa, Sydney harbor, Glover Garden in Nagasaki, Topaki Palace in Istanbul, tea ceremony in Busan, Shanghai towers and the Maglev train, Hong Kong shopping, Vasco da Gama’s church in Cochin
least favorite port - Puerta Vallerta
what we just missed - eruption in sea near Tonga, typhoon in Cairns, volcano eruption in Japan, demonstrations in Mumbai, Bangkok (twice) and Pattaya (Thailand) as well as in Athens and Istanbul, fire in Australia, hijackings in the Gulf of Aden, sand storm in Dubai, disputes between North and South Korea including rocket launch.