Maiden Voyage Day 14
Last glimpses: the Pavilion Pool and Bar.
Gamboling nymphs on the sidelines ...
Art glass at the bandstand ...
An emergency drill had crew swarming in life jackets all over the ship
while passengers went about their leisure activities ...
Here outside the Queen's Room I notice a variation in the safety illumination
running along the corridors: perpendicular to the usual green is a string
of red lights, subtle indication that these aft public rooms offer no
access to outside decks.
In the Gallery, Paul Newman and anonymous passenger with a fine perch
indeed.
Double portraits of Cunard's founder Sir Samuel in the wine bar that
bears his name.
Spring,one of the Deck 3 murals along the Grand Corridor.
Here I believe is Fall.
In addition to a width that allows easy passage through to the Veuve
Cliquot champagne bar, a small dance floor graces the Chart Room.
Light fixture: Deco geometry meets Victorian crystals in post-modern
touch.
Painting outside Britannia Dining Room.
On B stair, two Stephen Card canvases.
Large mural of Dover's white cliffs, sort of Rousseau meets Bali Hai,
while horizontal separations of the wall paneling make strong allusions
to the first great Queens of Cunard.
In the same area, elevator access to one of the "'tween deck corridors"
for passengers who prefer not to take the stairs.
Adjacent corner of the same space. One of the few curved staircases
on board, outside of Britannia and the Grand Lobby.
More stair detail on D tower.
Bob, one of our group, had prepared a rubber stamp commemorating the
Maiden Voyage, and was committed to creating a truly limited edition
by throwing the stamp overboard on the last night out. Here we are about
to go to Deck 7 to observe the solemn ritual, and he is making a few
last impressions earlier in the afternoon.
The entrance to Illuminations with its grandiose statuary.
Juan committing to memory Stephen Fox' excellent Transatlantic,
a volume which revealed to us a significant QM2 design flaw: between
the top bunk (where I slept) and the bulkhead with its convenient built
in headboard storage was a 6-8 inch gap. Reading late at night I turned
out the light and not wanting to risk piling the book in the already-crowded
storage space I put it under my pillow. I guess I am a more active sleeper
than I had known, because in the sheer darkness of 6AM the next morning
Juan suffered the rude awakening of 494 pages of maritime history falling
on his head.
Much as I was mortified, Juan was uninjured, and the next night the same thing happened to Charles when Alan's pillow fell onto him. Oddly, Alan had brought along a copy of Transatlantic as well, but Charles got off easier.
It was a time for "last"s, to try to grab the last few images
this trip. Here after lunch Juan, Third Officer (now Second) Ben Lyons,
Ann and Jane have stopped to find hidden treasure in the Deck 3 Grand
Corridor.
What we were seeking: an American icon as much as the Conestoga wagon,
Statue of Liberty, or Knute Rockne around him.
The entance to the Golden Lion Pub.
On every sea trip I take there seems to be one regular activity that
I just never do. Not that I don't want to, but the fact that High Tea
comes at the same time every day means that usually there is something
I've gotten into that precludes my presence. All this by way of explanation
as to why only on the last day did I get to the Queen's Room for this
most civilized (and Cunardian) ritual.
This being the Caribbean, we were on more trafficked sea lanes and enjoyed
the passby of Disney Magic, a ship with her own kind of retro
look.
Before dinner, a last sunset ...
Inside, the King's Court has made its evening transformation to Carvery,
Lotus and La Piazza. The latter was our culinary destination for a last
(and first) chance to dine at one table en onze.
(sigh ...)
Without waiting for the sun to leave the sky, the moon and stars have
come out: sunset from a ship is always unforgettable.
The Photo Gallery was open; at voyage's end there is often a motley,
remnants of lots from social gatherings during the voyage. At US $27.50
a pop, I wasn't buying many, but I did track down these of Juan and
me as a surreptitious souvenir.
Like Homer on the Deck 3 mural there were other surprises buried in
art works around the ship. Here a still life that looks like Dutch Renaissance
betrays a touch of 21st century branding.
More than one passenger was wandering about soaking up the beauty of
the ship's interiors ...
... remembering those first wide-eyed steps on board ...
... savoring spaces like Illuminations, finished for the voyage, but
still offering that tantalizing blend of 1930s deco with 21st century
equipment ...
... the entrance with its bold statuary, heralding with each screening
an event worlds removed from any gimcrack multiplex: one of the best
movie screens I've seen anywhere, land or sea ...
... one deck lower, a corner of Maritime Quest with royals and near-royals
...
... Buster Keaton testing the impertubability of a dockside factotum,
reminding this passenger that he also had to pack, but was keeping clear
of our cabin to allow others to do so first ...
... OK OK OK, I'll do it (here I am on my way back "home");
I hate to do it, to clear out of such a pleasant place. Each time one
has to pack up and remove one's belongings from a cozy stateroom is
a small death: a reminder that one is about to make the transit to the
neither-here-nor-thereness of the disembarking passenger ...
... clearly others were determined to hang on to moments and memories
...
... where the eyes of Samuel Cunard gaze out with equanimity and (surely)
past-life blessings of this ship and the company which has come so far
since he founded it over 160 years past ...
... (and clearly here I'm procrastinating, remembering that corridor
off the Grand Lobby where all Queen Mary 2's deck plans were
gathered in one place) ...
... and nearby a passenger finds still another surprise on this ship
which we have gotten to know and -- so many of us -- to love over the
past two weeks ...
... the Lobby where John McKenna's "The Atlantic Route of QM2"
moves through its changing color schemes ...
... and Sir Samuel stands ready to welcome a new group on board when
we are gone.
Grand Lobby's glowing starcase and line of passengers at this late hour,
settling final charges and last bits of business.
For some it was time for a last ride up the glass interior elevator
...
... or time just to enjoy the living-room comforts of QM2's
central square ...
... to contemplate souvenirs not purchased, bits of which already were
raising the pulse and prices of bidders on Ebay ...
... those grand spaces which would never again seem so empty on this
voyage, as I make my way back to my cabin visiting last favorite corners
and interesting areas glimpsed but not captured ...
... the corner of King's Court which by night became the foyer to the
trattoria La Piazza ...
... this odd bit of staircase in C tower, the only one of this particular
configuration ...
... the only one offering this odd angle of descending and ascending
in one view ...
... and to take that final walk down past the bags of others, to one's
own cabin for a night of restless sleep ...
... where a neighboring wag has put up the For Rent sign:
... a dry irony in that none of us really was wanting to vacate these
premises.
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