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August 20, 2008
Bon Voyage! Queen Mary Crossing Day 1
So it's been about a month since I updated here, and oh what a busy month it's been. HOPE was awesome and exhausting and during the process I inflamed a disk which then proceeded to press in an unpleasant way against my sciatic nerve, something it's still doing to this day, although it's getting much better. So anyway, there was a week spent in a muscle relaxant and pain killer haze and then I went off to Tacoma for the Ranier Writing Workshop for ten days and then came back with just 6 days to get ready to leave. Leave! I'm off to Berlin for three or so months of writing, researching, and recreating.
Ahh, but there's more. You see, this time the journey there does matter. No cramped 11 hour flight for me, no sir. I'm not just traveling, I'm crossing. As I type this I'm board the Queen Mary 2, headed for Hamburg. This is our first full day at sea and so far so great. The ship is opulent to the point of ridiculousness. There are 2700 passengers and 1300 crew. The ship has a library (where I am now), a planetarium, a theater, a ballroom, 5 pools, a spa, a huge, two-story formal dining room, innumerable bars and eateries, and a bunch of other stuff I haven't run across yet. I've taken bunches of pics and will put some up on flikr tomorrow or the next day. Internet access is pricey, so I don't know how often or how much I'll post before I arrive in Germany.
So, without further delay, here's the story of day 1 in rough, notebook form:
Got to the terminal in Red Hook around 1:00 pm and had a long line to wait in. Took about half an hour or so. Lots of Germans and Brits. About 1000 Germans on board this voyage.
A little mix up with my luggage, but I finally got it all sorted out. It's a nice stateroom, very spacious. The bathroom's a little weird as this is a handicap equipped room, and I have two singles instead of a king-sized bed, but it's all good. Bigger than my bedroom at home, plus I've got a window. I'm on Deck six on the starboard side towards the bow.
Wandered the ship, exploring and taking lots of pictures. It's huge and looks great pretty much everywhere you go.
Took a tour of the spa and booked two massages and paid extra to have access to the aqua spa facilities for the other five days of the voyage. It's pretty amazing in a wet marble sort of way.
Grabbed some noodles and then sat through the safety drill in my marshaling area, which happens to be in the gym one deck up from my stateroom. Talked with a crew member who's a singer in the stage shows. Interesting British guy, told me some cool stuff.
After that I went to unpack my second bag now that I'd complained three times and it had finally arrived. Showered ans shaved and dressed casual – trousers and jacket but no tie – for dinner.
Went up to the library and checked out two books – Tooth and Claw, short stories by TC Boyle and Con Ed by Matthew Klein. Con Ed always shows up on Amazon.com as something people buy along with Geek Mafia so I thought I'd see why.
Had before dinner drinks at the Chart Room bar. Listened to a harpist play Don't Cry or Me Argentina and talked to the bartender who's been on board for over three years. He's from South Africa, which is the second or third largest nationality represented within the crew (out of 54 different countries of origin). India and the Philippines as are the largest. There are three crew bar/restaurants that we as passengers never see. They work 7 days a week, 10 hour days with no breaks during voyages.
Had my first dinner in the Britannia dining room. I'm at table 76, which has seven others, although two didn't show up. An older couple from Monterey and a British couple and a British woman named June who took the trip over from England and then is heading right back. Nice folks all and I stayed my hand from arguing immigration policy with the couple from Monterey. Learned a lot about British politics and why Gordon Brown is fucking things up. I had chicken livers with a poached egg for starters and a soba noodle salad and a pork loin dish (which was a little dry). Finished with a cheese plate. It was all good.
Finished off with more drinks up on Deck 9 in the Commodore's Bar and met Nick from Memphis who is on his third trip. He's going all the way to Hamburg and then taking the ship right back. There's a lot of folks I've talked to who just use this crossing as a kind of cruise – the whole vacation for them is being on the ship. I can see the appeal, sort of. I mean, there's tons to do and it's an amazing vessel, but for me the appeal is definitely in the crossing to somewhere. I don't think I'd do it just to do it.
We traveled 300 nautical miles during the night, and I slept quite well.
Posted by rdakan at August 20, 2008 12:44 PM