Maiden Voyage Day 4
Landfall. Early morning stretch class sets example for other members
of the Topsider Dawn Club.
Early morning arrival often means a chance to hear a city awaken. Funchal
was this way.
Morning light bathes the city as night lights still glow: that abutment
just to the left of center is already full of people watching us. Flashbulbs
go off as tribute.
The sea side. King's Court breakfast was always the quickest route to
coffee and my requisite ranchhand platter, like some of these passengers
enjoying the Deck 7 promenade view.
Deck 7 forward. Those clouds would yield to sun by the end of the day.
A forklift moves gangway into position as tour buses idle far far below.
That we were on our Maiden Voyage showed in some subtle ways. Laser
printed letter paper taped to a posh template. All ashore that's going
ashore.
An armed patrol stood guard all day, and later in the day chased us
off after we set up camera on this seawall, near the bow.
On shore again I could finally take a real look at the ship. Here preparations
are underway to hook up a pipeline.
A sign of mysterious provenance. Probably not placed by Mel Gibson,
Liza Minelli, Oprah Winfrey, or any of the other famous people alleged
to be on board.
A close look at Queen Mary 2's hybrid stern, the flat transom
necessary for a pod-driven hull, combined with a spoon shape like QE2's.
One of the most consistently criticized design features of the ship,
QM2's stern is opposite in more than one way to her rightfully
acclaimed look forward:
QM2's immensity dwarfs the pier.
Juan and I walked the half-mile into Funchal, with no goal or destination,
other than "uphill" and "away from crowds." For
a look at our sightseeing day, click here.
The container docks are barely awake.
Too new perhaps to be yet iconic, Queen Mary 2's upper works
are a striking sight from Funchal's sloped streets.
A higher view still.
We walked down to the waterfront to go up further still via telefèrico.
Returning to the ship after a full day in port is always a delight;
this was another chance to get a closer look. The two exhaust vents
(Britannia kitchens?) are giving QM2 her first touch of dirt
since the shipyard.
Hull detail: here I believe is a marking for one of the pairs of Mermaid
propulsion pods.
And here, a stabilizer, and her keel more than forty feet below the
waterline.
Rank upon rank of windows, and not a porthole in sight ...
Looking up: three decks of "hull hole" cabins with their enclosed
verandahs, topped by Mr. Payne's touch of P&O covered promenade,
and by the great aft block wing with the Todd English restaurant and
the fabled Sandringham duplex suite.
High up, wearing safety cables, a crew member cleans the windows of
QM2's bridge.
A hull marking's standard symbol modestly understates the impact of
this ship's protruding bulb.
Along with this daringly modern bulbous bow, with the twin pairs of
Mermaid pods that allow the ship to back into port and harbor without
tugs, Queen Mary 2 has a whaleback bow serving ocean liner
art and navigation both, calling forth Normandie while serving
to throw off North Atlantic weather at speed.
A number of us paced up and down the pier, after four days as dumbfounded
as anyone by the size of Queen Mary 2.
I have a friend who is curating a show in Chicago on the theme of Pilism,
or schools of thought about piles of things. For my entry I am considering
this photo.
Boat studies: tenders (above) would hang idle until St. Thomas,
and lifeboats and rescue craft ... may they hang idle forever!
Back into the ship, with metal detector and bar-code scan.
Another instance of Stephen Payne quoting generously from ocean liners
past, creating a space with a feel of classic glass-enclosed promenade.
The deck chairs were ignored the first day out, lying beautiful and
sodden and unused in the chill spray off France; on the second day more
appeared out from somewhere, and as the air got warmer passengers began
to use them: here in the last cool evening they huddle in amiable disorder,
not yet forming their eventual phalanx along 7 Deck.
The stretch of covered promenade makes a fine vantage point for the
port we are about to depart.
All along the waterfront is choked with people.
We are set to head out due south, with Deserta Grande and Bugia on our
port side.
This was the night of our reservation in Todd English. I never really
get my camera out at these times, somehow thinking that every angle
will be covered. Our reservation could not have been better timed.
We were to enjoy the hills of Madeira from sunset to nightime sailaway,
but first there were pictures to be taken.
One of our party, Karl, moves his camera into line. The waiters on Queen
Mary 2 were quite adept at photography, and often pressed into
such service.
Todd English cuisine |
Now it is said Todd English meals of QM2 will be surcharged, $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner.
On our after dinner walk it is cool enough still to favor the inside.
Here in the 3 Deck corridor running outside the Royal Court Theatre
a well-fed passenger reads about Cunard Line history.
Another section of Maritime Quest, as QM2's corridors lend
space for historical branding. Really quite well done, these boards
can be seen all over the ship.
Tomorrow: Tenerife.
