Transatlantic Voyage on Queen Mary 2, May 2015

In May 2015 Lynn and I took a round-trip transatlantic voyage from New York on the Queen Mary 2 that included a cruise of the British Isles, with visits to Southampton, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow, Oban, Liverpool, Guernsey, and Southampton again. 






The cruise was a centerpiece of this year’s 175^th anniversary of Cunard Lines, highlighted by the first ever rendezvous of all three Queen ships (Mary, Elizabeth, and Victoria) in Liverpool, with fireworks, laser light show, synchronized ship maneuvers in the River Mersey, etc.

It was mostly cold, but exhilarating

The spare propeller blades on the fordeck are huge!

The ship’s interior is elegant

Buckler’s Hard, a former ship yard near Southampton, was the site where most of the British square-rigger warships were built in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The small museum has nice ship models, dioramas, and many artifacts including some of Admiral Nelson’s clothing and a lock of his hair.

We had delicious tea and scones at an old inn on Loch Linnhe near Oban, Scotland.

Liverpool has a variety of interesting sites, including of course many Beatles venues, but best for me is the maritime museum on the waterfront which has major units on the sinking of the Lusitania, the Titanic, and much else including incredible ship models. My Swedish maternal grandfather Anton Carlson almost certainly sailed out of Liverpool when he emigrated to America in 1890.

Queens Elizabeth and Victoria, viewed from our vantage on the Mary 2, during the rendezvous on the Mersey at Liverpool. There were millions of spectators lining both sides of the river in the towns and beaches, waving British flags and cheering. Helicopters with BBC live TV cameras were overhead, and it felt like the QM2 was the best place in the world to be during those hours.

A tender transfer to St. Peter Port, Guernsey island.

Guernsey island, in the British Channel Islands near the coast of France (the only British soil occupied by Germany during WW2), is stunningly beautiful with spectacular coastlines full of German bunkers.

The Pilgrims’ monument in Southampton, at the site from where the Mayflower sailed in 1620, is a couple of blocks from the 800-yr-old Duke of Wellington pub, where Lynn and I met with my old friend James Sinclair whom I had not seen since 60 years ago when we became friends as boys in India. My English ancestor William Hough, who sailed to America in 1641, probably sailed out of Southampton and perhaps had a pint there in the Duke before boarding his ship!