Part Four
Fog, as thick as cream, bore down on us as if determined to swallow our ship. I began to feel captured. It was strange standing on our balcony and hearing the sea, but not seeing it, like hearing its engine purr deep in the gut of the ship but not seeing it, even feeling the spray in the mist and not being able to see it. It was as if the ship and I were adrift in the universe, and floating alone, that there was nothing but unending nothing, not even time, and I was held captive in the fog’s embrace.
Chip talked me into attending a few “activities.” The ship had a full-size planetarium, which offered us comfort of red velvet seats under a starry universe in which we heard the story of the origin of our galaxy and universe — the same theories are still in force today that I learned in geology class in college many years ago including the “big bang theory” that explains our universe was created about 13.5 billion years ago in a “big bang” throwing out matter into space that is still traveling at outward speed in an ever expanding universe. It’s now theorized that there are millions of universes clumped together rather like bubbles clinging to each other. The late great British scientist, Stephen Hawking, believed the universes are all connected by “strings” and that if we could learn how to travel from one string to another we could solve the problem of travel between universes.
Yet another planetarium program dealt with the existence and nature of dark matter, which makes up most of outer space. Scientists are still trying to understand it. Such programs leave one in rather a dizzying state and I realized the more we learn about the origin of the universe and the evolution of life on hospitable planets, the more questions we have. I thought this situation was a little like being on a ship moving through the sea but surrounded in fog.
The other “activity” was an interesting skit explaining the history of Cunard Lines. A Scotsman started the company in 1840 with one ship and built it into a world shipping empire. I saw a list of the many Cunard ships that had been sunk by the Germans in World War I and II and was amazed at the number of ships lost. But Cunard always came back.
Cunard is now owned by Carnival, an American cruise line, and has only three ships now, the Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria with the Queen Anne being built and soon to join her sisters.
We heard an amusing story about the first Queen Mary, which was built in 1934. Cunard met with King George and told him they were naming the largest ship in the world after Britain’s greatest queen. The king said “Oh, wonderful, my wife will be so pleased!” Cunard did not have Mary in mind, but Victoria. Needless to say, they named the ship Queen Mary. Almost a century later Cunard is finally naming a cruise ship after Queen Victoria.
Evening dress on the Queen is formal or semi formal. This necessitated carrying a lot of dressy clothes with us, including a tuxedo for Chip and several cocktail dresses for me. It was fun to dress up, English style, for teas and dinners and we enjoyed it. We did not enjoy lugging all the extra baggage filled with all our finery, however.
Evening entertainment took place in the plush Royal Court Theatre, another mega space three decks high filled with red velvet furnishings. My favorite programs were two evenings with David Shannon, star of “Les Miz” and “Phantom of the Opera.” His versions of “Bring Him Home” and “Music of the Night” were splendid. If there’s one thing more exciting than being at sea in the fog crossing a great span of ocean, it’s hearing favorite arias from musicals sung by a great baritone.
I felt as if all my senses had been sated, yet, at the same time realized I was able to feel ecstasy simply because I had experienced such pain getting to where I was at that moment. I think an ingredient of joy must be knowing pain as perhaps we can’t truly appreciate joy without first experiencing pain.
And then came the “piece de resistance” on the trip of a lifetime. On the 13th deck was the dog kennel. For $1,000, one can travel to England with a dog. Each day they came out to play with their owners to exercise on deck. They were photographed and admired, each in a special Cunard sweater; golden retrievers, King Charles spaniels, labs, terriers
— some of the most beautiful and pampered dogs in the world. Their owners were only too happy to share them with people like me who longed to pet a dog. I missed my “Dandy” so much but this short-term session with other dogs gave me a much-needed fix.
Mid-week Chip, while on a machine in the fitness room, saw his pulse jump so high he went to the ship’s doctor to ensure he was all right. It was an expensive assurance. If you think American medical bills are high, you ought to try going to the doctor while on the Queen Mary.
After tests it was determined he was fine. It was good to know they had excellent doctors on the ship but the thought of a real emergency on the Queen worried me. Could one be helicoptered to a hospital from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? Could some poor survivor even afford to pay the bill?
I wondered. Could the trip of a lifetime not only be fatal, but even lead to bankruptcy?
(Continued next week.)
• Part 5
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