Embarkation Day upon Cunard’s Queen Mary 2
I was fortunate enough to travel from Southampton, Hampshire, UK to Brooklyn, New York, USA onboard Cunard’s illustrious Queen Mary 2 Ship on November 4th, 2018
The Queen Mary 2 is a stunning ocean liner weighing over 149 tonnes!
She’s an impressive 1,132 ft in length and can reach an impressive 30 knots.
As we left the port of Southampton at approximately 6 pm, we enjoyed the smooth ride as Captain Christopher Wells led the ship towards International waters.
Entering International Waters on a Transatlantic Crossing
We met open international waters in the early hours at approximately 6 am and aside from being more aware of the movement of the ship, the stabilizers certainly did their job.
Now, here’s the bit I assume you’re here for… was it rocky? Drum roll, please…
Yes, however, before you run screaming for the hills it was actually enjoyable… let me explain.
Captain Christopher Wells had explained well in advance that they were going to travel 200 miles south of the usual path to avoid a storm that we would have hit in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. I think just knowing when to expect the weather and that they were doing all they could to avoid the brunt of the weather was extremely reassuring.
How Rocky Was it really?
I should add here that I absolutely love the ocean and find her absolutely magical.
By the evening of day 2, we were, as mentioned by Captain Christopher Wells enjoying some rather large 25-foot waves. As we sat in the Golden Lion pub enjoying the free lunch, we were met with huge waves that covered the window entirely… it really did show the beauty of the ocean and how powerful she is.
The Queen Mary 2, although she was balanced as much as possible in terms of swaying side to side, the stabilizers really did well for the most part… don’t forget we’re hitting 25-foot waves so there was a little handrail holding at times.
Now the fun part? Ok, maybe not for everyone… but as the ship was pitching, you could stand in an area towards the front (or back) of the ship and basically fly like Peter Pan. Ok, I’m joking and don’t recommend this, but as we were walking around the ship we found ourselves in the Atlantic Room. As the ship was pitching, as the floor lifted you would get extremely heavy legs and then it would drop suddenly giving you a short flying sensation.
The weather continued for another 2 days until we passed through the storm, after that the weather wasn’t any worse than a Caribbean Cruise.
The Queen Mary 2 Ocean liner is built to travel in such circumstances and was able to keep her speed up without any delay. There were other ships with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean that were apparently delayed due to them needing to slow down significantly to pass the storm.
So was it rocky? Yes, it was… but was it worth it? Absolutely!