Our Westbound Transatlantic Voyage on Queen Mary 2

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”   Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Life and Death in a Coral Sea   Looking Outward   For most of our years of slow travel, paying attention to nature had meant moving through landscapes on foot. We watched forests change with elevation, birds appear along rivers and wetlands, weather move across open country, and coastlines gradually emerge at the ends of long trails. Even when we travelled by train, there was almost always land beyond the window providing some fixed point against which the journey could be understood. Crossing the Atlantic aboard Queen Mary 2 changed that. In May 2024 we sailed east from New York to Southampton, and six weeks later, after walking across England and Scotland, we returned to the same ship and crossed westbound toward New York.   The voyages followed the same broad corridor across the North Atlantic, but they did not feel like repetitions or identical journeys.  We...

  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”   H. Jackson Brown Jr. Queen Mary 2 Westbound Transatlantic   Reflections  You can get off a ship, but you cannot get off the ocean.   A transatlantic crossing on Queen Mary 2 is a voyage of sea days – uninterrupted horizons, long walks on the promenade, quiet evenings and stunning Gala nights.   It is the type of journey that requires acceptance – both of what it is and what it is not.   It is not a port-hopping cruise. It is not an entertainment marathon. It is not an endless parade of spectacle.   Yet neither is it rigid, joyless or trapped in formality. The character of the voyages depends on the expectations passengers bring to it.    Do you arrive seeking distraction or depth?   The...

“Should you be fortunate enough to make a voyage on this magnificent ship you doubtless will, as others have done, regret its conclusion..” Cunard Publicity for the Queen Mary’s maiden voyage, 1936 Final Morning on Queen Mary 2 Sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean carries its own quiet anticipation. Somewhere beyond the shores of the UK, the curve of the Atlantic and coastlines of Newfoundland lie the silhouette of Manhattan - bridges, steel, and American-style ambition. Unlike Southampton’s subtle farewell, arrival in New York is theatrical. Even days out at sea, you begin to sense that crescendo forming. Morning Orientation Awake and out of bed at 4:30 AM, it was less than 2 hours after concluding our final night on board, chatting with others in the Commodore Club and Chart Room. Under our door was the last daily program for our last few hours on board QM2 . A quick glance at the onboard navigation channel, we learn that (blessedly) we had gained an hour at 2 AM – meaning tha...