Around the world in 102 days

Queen Mary 2 Australia - Arabstoday Arriving in Southampton, we had gone as far as the Queen Victoria could carry us. The Victoria would retrace her steps back to the Mediterranean and begin shorter European tours until summer.The last 4,700 miles of our 41,000 mile around the world journey would take place first on the Queen Mary 2, and then end with a flight from New York to our winter home in Florida.The Queen Mary 2 had ended her round the world tour two weeks earlier and had set off on the first of more than a dozen trips to New York and back. More than 200 of the Victoria’s Worlders, including us, would go home on the QM2’s second trans-Atlantic crossing in April. The voyage would not end on the docks on the west side of Manhattan, however. We were docking to Red Hook, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, New York City. To dock in the middle of this Nowhere, the QM2 would have to turn around, and then unceremoniously back up a quarter of a mile.By the time the Victoria docked in Southampton, we were tired and not especially looking forward to finding our way around a ship that is 40-percent larger than the Victoria (150 tons versus 90 tons).In reality, we were not prepared to like the QM2 at all.We loved the Queen Mary 2.The Queen Mary 2 is the only “ocean liner” left in the world. Every other ship today carrying cruise passengers are “cruise ships”. It’s all about the hull: The QM2’s hull extends an astonishing 34-feet below the water line versus roughly 20-feet for the Queen Victoria.Okay — the QM2 is not a cruise ship. What does that really mean?First and foremost it means that liner passengers are actually GOING somewhere. The QM2 carries passengers from Southampton across the Atlantic to New York City. There may be a lot of people on the QM2 just out floating aimlessly around, but when the QM2 docks, you’ve arrived. Get off the ship! For much of the year, the QM2 directly competes on the North Atlantic run with the airlines. Cruise ships do not compete with airlines for passengers (no one in their right mind goes flying for free peanuts and pleasure these days).So, while no longer crucial, speed does matter — and stability matters a lot. Hulls of ocean lines are like knives built to slice through the water. The hulls are designed for stability in rough waters and for speed. Liners date to a time when time was money. The faster a ship could cross the North Atlantic the more likely she would be to win passengers. And it was great business for the ship holding the mythical Blue Riband (the fastest ship across the Atlantic). The reason the Titanic did not slow down on its maiden voyage in 1912 even among icebergs? Heck, her owners wanted her to win the Blue Riband on her maiden voyage. Full speed ahead!Cruise ships, on the other hand — every other type of ship carrying passengers today — have flatter hulls and are slower. It doesn’t matter. After jet airplanes began flying the Atlantic in under 8 hours in 1958, the race to be the fastest ship across the Atlantic was meaningless. The Queen Mary 2 docked in Southampton, April 20, 2009Cunard poster hanging in the Queen Elizabeth 2 Terminal, SouthamptonThe Britannia Restaurant with large Captain’s Table in center and our table right next door to its right (did they mistake us for someone else?)(Below): Route map, Southampton to New York/Red Hook, on Deck 12, location of the sunken Titanic clearly marked so the QM2 could sail right over her carcass