Queen Elizabeth 2 Northern Delights Cruise 2004

Queen Elizabeth 2 Northern Delights

January 2004 I waved goodbye to Queen Elizabeth 2 and wondered if I would ever see her again. Rumors of her imminent retirement in the face of Queen Mary 2's recent arrival were spinning wildly through my brain and I had to admit that I cried as she sailed into the distance of the breakwater as I had when I was a child seeing her leave for the first time. The story, as told to me by my father, was that I was four years old and we had gone down that morning, had gotten a press pass from the LA Times where my father worked, and gone on board. I barely remember being aboard her, except for standing on deck and the oblong windows. What I do remember is the sun shining on her hull and funnel as she turned into the slip and I fell in love. We spent the day onboard and left in time to go have dinner at The Princess Louise (a retired circa 1929 steam liner that had been converted to a restaurant). We watched QE2 pull out of the slip and raced her to Land's End. When she sailed by we waved and she started to sail away. She blasted us with that lonesome whistle and so it is reported, I cried. I turned to my father and told him: "Make her come back." Though as an adult I try not to say it out loud, I nearly always think it. And so rather than regret it, even though I really couldn't afford it, I booked it.

Flash forward to May 22nd 2004.

We landed at Heathrow and had to wait around a little for the Cunard people to have our bus ready to take us to Southampton and the Queen Elizabeth II Terminal where the QE2 and other Cunard ships usually dock when they are in their home port. My first sight of the QE2 was her stately stack flickering between the brick buildings of Southampton's dockside neighborhoods. As the bus pulled up we grabbed our carry-on baggage and saw the large hangar-type building that was the port dwarfed by the looming lines of the Grande Dame Herself! We went through the process of waiting in line to check in and they took our picture and gave us these neat little picture IDs to use getting on and off the ship, which is now one of my most treasured souvenirs. Then it was up an escalator, get your picture taken as you walk past the "Welcome aboard the QE2" wreath (they never miss an opportunity to sell you your own image!), and down the gangplank to the ship!

As you board, you are whisked away by a member of the crew who asks for your cabin number and takes you down to your stateroom, telling you all the way how to best get to your cabin. Our stateroom was in a prime location for getting to all areas of the ship right by "E" stairway. "E for Everywhere," the cute blond in uniform reminds us as she gets us ever closer to our room 4151. Now let me digress that knowing your room number is like knowing your driver's license number or your social security number - learn it - you will need it all of the time. So with a smile and a "let us know if you need absolutely anything," the cute little English girl leaves us to our own devices. Karla, my sister, Jason, my boyfriend, and I, had originally booked this trip without her boyfriend who was in a different stateroom, so we had three beds in our little room, making it a tiny bit cramped. But this mattered not at all to me, as the extra bed was a perfect place for reading by the light of our little porthole when Jason was napping. To me every little thing was charming on this, my dream ship, from the giant screws that held the portholes closed to the abundance of handrails in the shower! You never realized how wonderful it is to have a handrail or two until you have tried to take a shower while the QE2 is running at 24 knots, plowing through the choppy waters of the North Sea! Our room was perfect for me, and we had our little bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us as well as a neat little safe to put our valuables in that closed and opened by use of your credit card. However, we were in our room for only a few minutes that I realized felt like I could be in any hotel and I had not really arrived yet. I wanted to be on deck and I had to be on deck when we left - no and, ifs or buts! So we scrambled to find Justin's room (Karla's boyfriend) and ran up those oddly square double staircase E with the hideous pink and red carpet.

Stairway E for Everywhere

We ran out on the boat deck and it was suddenly real. We explored boat deck and quarterdeck, trying to find a spot that we liked, but the view from the back of the ship wasn't really what we wanted. At the back of the ship, the rail is a little far from the edge because of the rafts and other devices that are stored in the areas accessible only to members of the staff. So instead we ran down the portside of the ship until we reached the stairs that led to the front of the ship and when we stopped, we realized we were already moving!

We look down to see a whole bunch of folks down on the quay watching us leave and I started to choke up because I was used to being one of them - the left behind waving as the ship moved away.

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