The Occasionally Magnificent Seven

an Uneventful Transatlantic Crossing

Posted on by Anna

Since we’re homeschooling the kids (actually the vogue term for what we’re doing is ‘worldschooling’), we’re having them choose books to read on each leg of the journey that are appropriate to the location. As I considered what to offer them for our week crossing the Atlantic Ocean, I, for obvious reasons, quickly discarded the idea of having read them about the Titanic, but my mind kept wandering back to the subject. What a great opportunity for learning about history, culture, science, etc! And, like most adults, the kids have found that story compelling in the past; at one time they were all quite enthusiastic about a book we had on the Titanic, one of those nice children’s reference books with big pictures and diagrams. Nonetheless, it just didn’t seem right to have them dwell on the topic as we ourselves were floating across the pond in an unsinkable ship. So, we picked tales of seafaring or transatlantic passage of some other sort, but the ghosts, although we did not talk about them much, were inescapable, for me at least.

Personally, I have always found the tragedy so upsetting that I have largely avoided thinking or reading about it, but I was somewhat cheered by looking at the apparently redundant number of lifeboats and lifejackets I ran by over and over (1/3 mile per lap) on the jogging deck. Not cheered in the sense that I had less worry about the lives of me and my family in the unlikely event of sinking, but that the senseless loss of all those souls was perhaps slightly less in vain as it had brought about the maritime regulations that sent us to a muster station drill within hours of boarding, that filled my tiny closet space with lifejackets in various children’s sizes, that provided for the embarrassment of lifeboats, and that have, at least I hope, saved many lives since then. And so, before I leave this horrible topic, our humble gratitude goes to the 1500+ souls for making our voyage so much safer.

The walking/running deck. The wooden locker contains lifejackets. Keep in mind I have two lifejackets in my stateroom for each of those sleeping there. But you know, just in case…
Lucky us! Jeremy’s aunt Deborah Shefler joined us for the crossing, en route for some travel on her own in England. Like Aunt Cathy, Aunt Deborah is one of the things we are sad to leave behind in the Bay area. She was a delightful addition to the seven, since we had tons of time for good conversation and she got to spend more quality time with the kiddoes.
Here’s the exciting moment when the captain confirms that there is JUST enough room to get under the Verrazzano Bridge. You’ve all seen the pictures of the start of the NYC Marathon, but this took the cake.
Here we are in one of our three staterooms. Rowena’s gearing up for that muster station drill I mentioned. There are two additional beds that come out of the ceiling. Although we were in the smallest type of room, it was really well-designed and I never felt cramped in the least.
Dressing yourself is serious business on the Queen Mary 2. There is a dress code for each evening, and if you want to go to the gym (which does not have a space to change), you have to figure out how to get there without wearing your workout clothes in any of the public lounges. Here we are all gussied up (a “gala” dress night) just like the real Queen Mary, above.
The other serious business aboard is food. Here is a jamon iberico someone accidentally left out on the buffet right next to the all-you-can-eat sashimi and “Peking duck station”. I guess if you’re going to stuff yourself silly on a cruise, at least you can do it in style.
Here’s our waiter at the steakhouse explaining the various choices with examples prior to cooking. Serious business. We took a kitchen tour and learned that 30,000 eggs are consumed on each crossing. They make 800 croissants and over 1,000 scones every day from scratch. About 2500 meals are served each night in the main dining room. And all with a big smile. And here I thought I was good at cooking for large groups!
Here we are working on those scones. The daily afternoon tea in the Queen’s Room was an affair not to be missed.
Final ridiculous food picture: the “chocolate lunch”, an event apparently designed to give the pastry department an opportunity to show off. Waiters were waiting to refill the tables of cake pops, truffles, cupcakes, doughnuts, etc., as the passengers rapidly cleared them. Note to my coach, Christine: see the shrimp salad on my plate?
Just in case you thought all we did on the crossing was eat, here’s Nelson killing it at the driving range on the top deck. There were about a million activities and we did not scratch the surface in spite of our energetic attempts.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Farewell, United States of America (for the time being)…
…and farewell Queen Mary 2. It was hard to leave that week of abject luxury. But now we will start settling in to the real work of our journey, so bon voyage!

11 thoughts on “an Uneventful Transatlantic Crossing”

  • So many good pics in this post! Love it. Great job on the driving range, Nelly! Tea looks fabulous, too. And you clean up well. At least for the time being! Sending you mucho love. Keep the posts coming! YOU HAVE FANS!

  • Thanks for sharing. This is really the only “cruise” I’d like to do–a trans-Atlantic voyage on an Ocean Liner.

  • My mom and I are loving all your posts and look forward to seeing more! Dave Howell played his guitar for all the music at FCCPA on 7-21-19. Before we sang “This Land” he mentioned that the Carl family sang this song on the Queen Mary 2!

  • It was uneventful only in the “blessedly” sense. Don’t forget the lectures on the history of piracy, architecture, royal yachts and crime and filth in 17C England; 2 separate shows in the world’s only floating planetarium; the spa treatment; numerous musical options noon and night; watercolor classes; the essential and inspired Kids Space; multiple swimming pools; pickle ball and golf; trivia night at the pub; perfume and makeup and other promotions to embarrassing to mention; big screen films, on and on. And the mid-Atlantic sky at night.

    • You make it sound really impressive. I guess we did do all that stuff. Have to take advantage of the offerings!

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