Here's the view from the ship, leaving the Brooklyn pier:
The shuffleboard deck:
This isn't the type of cruise we're used to. Normally, we're in warmer climates and rougher water. Crossing the north Atlantic, it was cool, and for the first four days, foggy. Nice smooth crossing, though. This was also our first time on a ship that wasn't "all inclusive". We found that a different atmosphere exists when drinks are that expensive...you don't make new friends at the bar! We did have a great time. And speaking of time, we had a time change just about every day...for some reason, the British like to do that at noon, so every day at noon, the clocks all marched forward one hour. Odd. Didn't seem to bother the lunch crowd much, though.
First and only stop was Southampton. Across from the ship, thousands of Mini Coopers sat in a garage waiting to head for their new homes (they're built in Oxford, England and shipped from Southampton). Here we are leaving merry olde England and pursued by another cruise ship. They eventually passed us like we were sitting still when we lost a generator and slowed to a crawl while they got it fired back up.
A couple of other inside shots from QM2. Here's the main lobby:
And the ship's bell, rung the traditional eight times at noon each day (just before the clocks all marched forward):
Finally, we arrived in Hamburg, Germany early in the morning. We were able to walk to our hotel (another new adventure...we'd never stayed at an Ibis hotel before and we were VERY pleasantly surprised). Spent the remainder of the day walking around downtown. Hamburg is really very nice and we thought we'd like to go there again when we have more time. Lots of see and do. And, there's a lake in the middle of town:
The following morning, we were off to the train station to catch our train to Maastricht, Holland for Part 2. More to follow!
