Queen Mary 2 Maiden Voyage - 24 January 2004

Early morning on the last port call. Newly arriving is the sail vessel Legacy, offering a seagoing experience somewhat more casual and closer to the water than our own.

Fellow passengers come out on deck in the new dawn.

One of the tenders is lowered under the watchful eye of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. In St. Thomas we had the most obvious security presence, with a circling helicopter in addition to water-based patrols. As we were anchoring out in the harbor, away from the usual passenger ship terminals, we may have been considered vulnerable from all sides.

Neat and tidy as a London cab, and considerably larger, QM2's tenders briefly pause at Deck 7 for crew to prepare them. This day, passengers will board at water level; only an emergency evacuation would take place through the gates seen here.

A sobering reminder that this port is the last one where we will enjoy the privilege of reboarding the ship with just a wave of our magic cards.

In the days of the great express liners, a new ship at the end of its maiden voyage would prove the force of the sea with a flaking of new thin coats of paint from its bow area; here was the only trace I could find on Queen Mary 2 of exposed hull steel.

Berthed in the distance at the West Indian Company Dock is Adventurer of the Seas, one of the class of ships owned by Royal Caribbean which had been the largest passenger ships afloat, until the advent of QM2.

Ah, tendering.

The immensity of Queen Mary 2 is more pronounced, away from any dock or land mass to block the view.

Regular callers at this oft-visited port: Adventure of the Seas, Galaxy, and Dawn Princess.

New design trends illustrated by the Royal Caribbean giant: a rock climbing wall behind the ship's funnel, and aft decks shrunk from public spaces to private verandahs. Apart from a synthetic-surfaced deck section under those lifeboats, there are few rails in public areas for passengers to lean on and watch the sea.

Click here for a tour of Adventure's older sister Explorer of the Seas, visited in 2001.

Windjammer Cruises' Legacy at anchor.

Our ship's call letters.

This reminder of the many times I had come in contact with our cabin's ceiling from my upper berth had the feeling of a message to me from the universe. For more of Juan's and my sightseeing in Charlotte Amalie, click here.

They might be giants. Dawn Princess.

Galaxy.

Adventure of the Seas.

Between that oh-so-modern transom stern and the great pile of public decks above it, Galaxy's two-deck dining room looks out over the stern, faintly echoing the days of sail, when a ship's best accomodations were aftmost.

Adventure's huge flanks of glass, and directions for her minions.

Like all ships, on Dawn Princess there's always something somewhere that needs painting. Her first port of registry has been amended by the addition of steel plate; when built it was Monrovia.

Behind Dawn Princess, Galaxy's top deck and boats.

We approach our home for our last boarding this trip.

The pilot comes aboard to see us out of harbor.

Topside on QM2 once again, Celebrity Cruises' Horizon is making her way out from Crown Bay, alternate mooring for St. Thomas callers when Charlotte Amalie is too full to accommodate.

Against the setting sun we have a fine view of the Celebrity ship passing by.

That little pilot boat may be drawing a Celebrity captain's consternation with a neat if risky crossing of Horizon's outbound bow ...

... but she makes the maneuver unscathed.

At our mast, five flags (port-to-starboard): Cunard house, pilot, Red Duster, Virgin Islands, and United States.

Adventure of the Seas sails past.

Adventure of the Seas, with Wind Spirit -- like Horizon, a Crown Bay caller this day -- in the distance. Soon we will be following, westward bound, with one more sea day left in the voyage. For now, Juan has hied himself to the friendly confines of Todd English's bar, and I'm going to grab a double martini and join him.