I've been dying to misuse that line! Departure from New York was a blast! Waiting in my stateroom was a nice bottle of French sparkling wine courtesy of the Commodore, and a bottle of Perrier-Jouet Champagne (the real deal) and hors d'ouevres courtesy of Sue, my excellent travel agent. Three blasts of the ship's whistle and we were off. I cracked open the bottle from Cunard and headed up top to watch the sunset beyond the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty as we slipped the pier in Brooklyn. Quite a sight! The highlight though is clearing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. QM2's height was dictated by that clearance, which varies each departure according to the tides. Monday night we had twelve feet at the center of the bridge. (Note to the Greenland Ice Sheet:: stop melting!) As you approach it feels more like the bridge is coming at you, and that it won't go well! Already at 15 knots, the bottom of the bridge deck seems to float overhead and the giant red funnel comes along fast . Yikes! It's so cool! From the vantage point I have on the top deck the funnel appears to just slip under and we do indeed head out to sea! I recorded the scene on my camera and will post it on you tube when I find free internet, perhaps in Southhampton or Lisbon. Then it was down to my cabin and then later off to dinner to meet my tablemates. These are the folks I will be dining with the entire voyage, so it's always an interesting moment--one hopes for the best!
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