Make it Count

Bravo Carnival!  With some trepidation, I went into this cruise, but with an open mind.  Look for a future post on the ship itself and our cruise experience with Carnival.  Their “Fun Ship” the Miracle worked her magic on us while we cruised onboard for a week in April. We had a fabulous time, completely unwinding, leaving the stresses of work behind.
 
While we were all aware our cruise would coincide with the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic prior to taking this cruise, a fact I reminded the family once we had booked the cruise.  Once onboard and into full cruise mode, though, that fact became more of a distant memory as the cruise wore on.  In fact, we forgot about April 15^th completely, though for me, who was more thorough immersed in all the Titanic anniversary hype, it did take some time to get out of this mode.  Yet instantly, I would get brought right back to Titanic on our return a week later as we sailed up the Hudson.

For one who has been thoroughly immersed in Titanic mania for more years than I care to mention, there were constant little reminders staring me in the face right at the beginning of the cruise; ones I chose to keep to myself to avoid boring my family who are well versed in my ship obsession and others I’d reveal as I saw fit.   

“New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra was bouncing around in my cranium during the sailaway.  It wasn’t playing on the ship's tannoy, as would be the case on QE2, but only in my head.  There’s this whole mystique of sailing out of Manhattan that truly is something to be experienced. 

This would be the first time we’d actually done this.  We sailed into Manhattan on QE2 back in January of 2008 and now we would be doing a round trip out of the Manhattan cruise ship piers.  Mental note; Miracle was tied up to Pier 88, same pier that the Normandie burned, rolled over and died in during WW2.  Granted it was the opposite side, I think, but it is still the same historic pier.

This is the only way to sail in and out of New York City, as countless other liners have done in the past, including the Carpathia, and all of the great Cunarder’s and other famous liners such as the S.S. United States.  For instance, our QM2 trip last year from Brooklyn was completely anti-climatic and just not the same.  Why, why, why did I wait too long to experience a classic Transatlantic Crossing on QE2, which in our case, included the glorious Manhattan arrival.  Geesh!  I am sounding like a Cunard marketing brochure.

 Of course, any trip to these piers brings back the memories of QE2’s final call and subsequent departure in tandem with Queen Mary 2.  Bittersweet memories for sure.  Look, there's the Miracle next to my beloved ship back in 2008. 

The mandatory lifeboat drill was our first priority after getting to our cabin and exploring the ship for some time.  Yes, we did have enough lifeboats! There would be no need for Rose to count them.  SOLAS regulations, a direct result of Titanic have taken care of that for us.  I swear I caught a glimpse of Thomas Andrews watching over us on deck during the drill.  Yes, we also had a very detailed drill thank you to the latest disaster, Costa Concordia and that showboating Italian captain.  Very impressed!  They took a head count.  It was here I learned we also have an Italian captain, instantly posting this fact to Facebook.  I missed the bit about not using phones or cameras during the drill….oops, my bad.  Friends responded “nice knowing you.” 

Everyone took this drill seriously, really.  Although the girl with the green hair in front of me seemed a bit distracted and disinterested, she too was texting away like mad, probably trying to get her last bit in before we got out of cell phone range.  One takeaway here I’ve never heard mentioned before was the request to always wear shoes throughout the ship to avoid stepping on glass.  Was this in response to Concordia or just practical? Doesn’t much matter as it makes total sense. 

Standing on the boat deck (beautiful real teak decks mind you), listening to a crew member talking while another one stood on a chair demonstrating how to don the life vest, my mind wandered to the scene in Cameron’s Titanic on the boat deck.  You know the scene where you hear the steam venting from the boilers and seeing all the chaos.  One of the officers then asks the women and children to step forward and the noise diminishes for both dramatic and practical effect in the movie.  True Titanic fanatics appreciate this clever device, knowing that the sound of the steam venting of the boilers, needing to be vented since the ship was stopped, was truly deafening and added to the chaos.  Here we were all lined up just like the movie.  The only distracting noise was from the longshoremen on the pier below with their forklifts loading up the ship.   No need for warning shots to be fired by ships officers, though, and the tuxedo clad quartet was nowhere to be found.  They’d have really stuck out too since I think I saw only one tux the entire cruise.  Thanks have to go out to another Facebook friend who warned I would be mistaken for the wait staff if I brought my tux on this cruise.  Sadly, I would not be doing my James Bond impersonation in the Casino this time, but I digress.

My mind further wandered here as they show off all the safety features of the vest.  Yeah, I know how the vest goes on, the whistle (Rose reference again…’Come back!”) and how the strobe thingie works. 

My eyes catch a detail off in the distance of the structure of the pier; look at those exposed rivets of the original frame.  Rivets= Titanic = old! This is one old pier with a lot of history.  I bet most of the passengers on this cruise have no idea how old these piers are and their history.  Seeing the rivets, reminds me of Fenway Park and my Massachusetts roots.  I offer one of my useless facts to my kids; “Did you know that Fenway Park opened the same day Titanic sailed from Southampton in 1912?”  Rolled eyes were the response from mildly amused offspring and spouse.   “You know you are full of useless information, dad!”  Tough crowd I say.

As we sail down the Hudson, I make out the remnants of Pier 54, the pier that Cunard’s Carpathia docked at, delivering the survivors she rescued from Titanic.  Dutifully noted in my brain, but at this point we were all standing on the forward observation deck over the bridge and looking down the Hudson at  the Freedom Tower….oops, 1 World Trade Center, easily the highest structure now on the Manhattan skyline.  There was an eerie sense of quiet as we neared Battery Park.  Lots of New Yorkers on board, mostly solemnly admiring the view.  Lots of picture taking; sounds of beeps from the point and shoot cameras and shutter sounds from the DSLR cameras like my Nikon.  I filled a 4GB graphics card alone here, but came prepared with my backup card in pocket. 

Battery Park and the Winter Garden appeared as an ever present reminder of 9/11, like an open wound.  Seeing the tower proudly rising offers consolation, but every time I pass by this site, memories of that day flood back to the surface.  1 World Trade Center is looking proud and defiant now.  I wish there were two of them.  I guess one is like giving them the middle finger. 

Our first reminder of Titanic occurred on our way to dinner on the first formal night.  That dreaded backdrop of grand staircase and clock appeared again amongst the sea of ships staff photographers angling for our business.  I thought it was tacky on QE2, was aghast to see it still in use on QM2, yet not really too surprised to see it once again on the Miracle.  Despite this, we got our picture taken with this backdrop and we even purchased it.  Picture prices are reasonable and it was a good picture!  Shocking!  You don’t even have to buy the leather-bound holder if you don’t want to.  Cunarders know what I mean there.  Overheard in the gallery area, were complaints about how expensive the pictures were.  Really.  All I said was “they’re half price compared to some other lines.“  No one is twisting your arm to buy them either.

“Meet me at the clock!” then became an overused comic relief statement uttered too many times throughout the cruise.  Obviously, seeing the 3D version of Titanic right before our sailing was having some detrimental impact.  Kelly even did a Rose impression one early morning, goofing around, asking for Jack, while we were standing above the bridge, trying to talk with the 20 knot breeze in our face.  How come they could do that so easily in the movie? 

Actually, there was an area of the ship that had a split stair, that Kelly thought reminded her of the Titanic staircase, but a modern one.  While not prominently featured, it included a water fountain, and also a plaque from the builder, Kvaerner Masa-Yards, now part of the mega shipbuilding conglomerate STX Finland Cruise Oy, builders of the current largest cruise ships in the world for Royal Caribbean; Oasis and Allure of the Seas.  Ultimately, we never decided to meet here and “make it count."

“Make it count!” I’d toast at dinner with my kids, in reference to Jack’s toast in the movie.  Corny, yes, but we were really having a good time!  This is NOT Cunard.  At this point, I was calling this cruise the “anti-Cunard” cruise.  There was actually plenty of life on board here and the ship was still rockin’ after 11PM!  I did not get my feet run over by a octogenarian in a scooter either on this cruise!  No offence to Cunard loyalists, but different ships for different folks here.  Carnival caters better to families, plain and simple.  How many four person cabins will you find on Queen Victoria for instance?   We did not have to fight our way through a sea of scooters, wheelchairs, and walkers to get to our table in the main dining room either, a plus.

I did not make off with the men after dinner to the library to have a cigar and a brandy.  I never did find the equivalent to Queen Mary 2’s Churchill’s on board although the Frankie and Johnnie’s nightclub had that stale cigar/cigarette smell to it, along with some menacing looking ceiling fixtures.  Instead, the kids went off to their kids clubs and we either made our way to see evening’s show or the comedian in the “Punchliners” comedy club.  Is that a veiled reference to ocean liners in the name?  George Lopez is the creative consultant for this program and it appears to be very popular.  Absolutely no mention of Titanic was made by any of the comedians in any of their acts, although the adult shows dived right into much more entertaining steamy topics.  Dentures would have been hitting the floor if these guys were performing on a Cunarder.  That Catskills style comic, though, was somewhat of a bore compared to the Brooklyn born and raised comic who really hit it off with passengers, who all appeared to be from the tri-state area. Yeah, we like our friggin’ comics when they get down n’ dirty.   Lisa Lampanelli would have fit right in.  No topic was off limits, but he never touched on any Titanic humor.  I think he just ran out of time after dealing with “Princess” in the front row, who was apparently having an orgasm every time he looked at her.  You had to be there.  Let’s just say she was more than a handful and leave it at that.

While we at sea for the actual Titanic anniversary, nearing our first port of call, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carnival thankfully did not run the Cameron movie on board, have a Titanic themed diner, or even mention the tsignificance of the day in the daily program.  For that I am grateful.  A very small mention might have been nice, but the ‘Funtimes” ain’t the Daily Programme on a Cunarder. 

"Funtimes" is focuses heavy on the shipboard activities and is completely lacking the typical items I’ve become accustomed to such as detailed information on the ships position, course, and other navigation facts of the day.  Different ships, different “guests”, and different priorities I guess.  Heck, we never got any towel animals on any Cunard cruise!

 So, that night while we slept in our perfectly posh obstructed view cabin (by 1912 standards – we even had our own bathroom!), others were observing more somber remembrances of the occasion off in the North Atlantic.  We slept soundly; knowing our lifeboat would have been easy to jump right into if the need arose.  Yeah, there it is right outside our french doors in the above picture. All kidding aside, this was a great cabin - an outer cabin for the price of an inside unit, with the ability to get some fresh air and take in the sounds of the seas rushing by.  

It wasn’t until seeing the archway of Pier 54, heading back to Pier 88 on April 20^th, was I reminded of the significance of that day in history and Titanic began bearing down on us again.  Carpathia would dock at this pier 100 years ago to the day with the Titanic survivors.  Sadly, there was no Bill Miller or Ted Skull narrating our arrival up the Hudson.  I could have filled in......

As we approached Pier 88, I could make out another ship.  It was the Fred Olsen Line’s Balmoral, fresh from her historic transatlantic crossing and rendezvous with the Azamara Journey at the approximate site of the sinking of Titanic.  Passing through customs, the agent made a comment, throwing me off guard a bit, saying I should be getting back on the Balmoral, which was heading back to Southampton.  He noticed my QE2 shirt, worn proudly that day.  I sighed, “Only if she were still sailing.”  Unsolicited, the customs agent then mentions he misses her dearly and all the people he met when she used to dock in Manhattan.  Wow!  Once again, bringing it full circle all back to QE2. 

The Final Time - October 16, 2008

Despite leaving early and carving up the road, as I turned down the Henry Hudson Parkway, I could see the iconic funnel all lit up in the distance.  My heart dropped since I missed her final early morning arrival to the Manhattan pier.  Captain McNaught got her tied up at the pier a bit early, probably to guarantee a timely departure this afternoon.  With all the security measures in place, I could not park on the upper deck as I had done the past two times I had visited the pier to see the ship.  I ended up in a parking area across the street, which would later prove costly.

After watching the ship's passengers disembark through the terminal, many of whom I had seen either on my one and only January 2008 crossing or on the Farewell to the UK trip, Myles finally appeared carrying the extremely heavy bag.  After a brief chat with Matthew (kindlychap), we decided to take the subway down and ditch the bag in my car.  The car, unfortunately by now had been put up in a rack and I had to "tip" the attendant twenty bucks to get the car down and allow me to add the heavy bag that Myles walked off the ship for me. For that I will be eternally grateful since I now have a small assortment of tableware that we use occasionally for special occasions. In addition, Myles brought me my QE2 life ring which would have been very difficult to take on the plane home.

For me, this would be my very first subway adventure, ever, in New York, but I did not tell Myles that at the time.  We headed towards a subway station for a ride downtown to the South Street Seaport for a gathering of QE2 loyalists at the Sequoia Restaurant on the water, with a view of Queen Mary 2 in the distance.  As we emerged from the subway, we were basically at Ground Zero, which was a bit eery.  Both Myles and I had never seen the site and we managed to get a glimpse into the vast hole of the twin towers and saw the new construction beginning.

The Sequoia group meeting was nice, meeting up with Margaret and Frank from our UK trip, seeing Doug Newman and his dad from the January 2008 Crossing, and finally meeting Babette, from Cruisecritic.com fame and the most knowledgeable Cunard travel agent around. (I have since used her to secure cabins on the maiden QE3 tandem January Crossing with Queen Victoria in 2011)  The QE2 Memories book was carried by Myles for others to sign who were not going back on the final crossing.  Ryan and I had already signed it onboard.  I also met Margaret and Frank's daughter Alex and her husband James, who had their son with them.  They were all heading home on Queen Mary 2 for the best view of QE2's final crossing.  On an interestly side note, Alex and james had flown over a few days early and drove to Essex to take the steam train one day and visited Mystic Seaport the next day.  They were amazed home nice the area and the Connecticut River was and were shocked to hear just how close they were to my house in Haddam during the steam train ride.

Time absolutely flew by with spirited chat about various Cunard ships and QE'2 eventual fate in Dubai.  In what appeared to be short order, Myles and I had to head off back to the pier.  For Myles, he was returning home on QE2 and for me, I was going to see the final departure from a World Ship Society sponsored harbor cruise.  On this cruise, I would meet up with QE2 fellow passenger and friend Ed, who also introduced me to a few other passengers who I was familiar with from my postings on Cruisecritic.com.  On this cruise, would be writer and ocean liner enthusiast Ted Scull, who did a bit of narration on this cruise for us QE2 nutters, and also writer and ocean liner enthusiast Bill Miller, who was on our UK trip.  Both held lextures onboard QE2 and I attended them all and bought their books.  HINT...I see me doing the lexture/book thing in my future.  Bill Miller recognized me from our UK trip and we chatted a bit as we all saw QE2 sail off into the distance. 

Simply stunning, with every passenger on deck for the historic sailaway and final farewell to New York.

The sun tried to come out as she backed out of the pier and was swung around with the Moran tugs, which which have assisted her into the Manhattan and Red Hook piers so many times over the years. Magnificant...stunning...memorable...historic...these words were repeated often as we viewed the ship brilliantly all lit up.  I have to wonder if the cabin stewards had orders to open every deadlight and turn on lights in every cabin.  The ship was ablaze in lights.  I will never forget how magnificant she looked.  Theer was also a sense of pride that she was after all the finest exaple of shipbuilding on the Clyde, proudly built in my ancestrial home of Scotland.

Most of us on the ferry were up top in the open air, soaking it all in with all our senses, despite it being downright chilly.  Sitting next to Bill Miller and listening him speak, I could almost here a chapter being written for an upcoming book on QE2. Unfortunately, it was all over so quickly. Surprisingly there were no fireworks, but there was a nice fireboat display.  Finally there was the the gut wrenching horn salute as she passed the Queen Mary 2 to lead the way out of the harbor for the final time.

Goodbye QE2.  She left New York harbor at the top of her game.  Not bad for a 40 year old ship with hard Atlantic service.  As Captain McNaught told us numerous times, the world will never see the likes of her ever again.  She is the last of her breed.  Three cheers for QE2!

New York - October 10, 2009

Picture perfect weather unfolded shortly as we arrived at the Circle Line Pier today for a family day trip to New York City.  It has now been a full year since Ryan and I stepped off the QE2 for the final time.  You could say I am having a bout of cruising withdrawl, and in particular, QE2 withdrawl symptoms.  Today would help alleviate that, but would also be somewhat bittersweet since today would bring back memories of my last visit to see QE2 off for the final time.

After a somewhat late departure from the house, compounded with holiday traffic, we arrived at the pier around 1:45pm.  Prior to floating this trip to the family, I had checked the New York Cruise ship schedule and was pleased to see there would be four ships in port today.  The Carribean Princess, of the design I refer to as the "shopping cart", would fortunately be in Red Hook, while we would be treated to a full range of ships at the Manhattan terminal.  The NCL Jewel and the Carnival Triumph, which is a slightly stretched version of the Costa Magica that we have sailed on twice, were in port, but the ship that I wanted to see was the Saga Ruby. 

Standing out amongst the modern day cruise ship designs, the Saga Ruby is a welcome and familiar sight to ocean liner enthusiasts and QE2 fans.  In fact, she was often referred to as a miniature QE2 when sailing under the Cunard flag as the Caronia.  She began her career as the Vistafjord operated by the Norwegian American Lines, built by Swan Hunter in the UK in 1973.  She was sold along with her somewhat sistership, the Sagafjord, in 1983 and had her funnel painted traditional Cunard colors, but kept her original grey hull.  In 1999, after the purchase of Cunard by Carnival, the ships of the various fleets were reorganized and the Vistafjord was positioned along with QE2 as a premium ship.  After an extensive refit, which included repainting the ship's hull in traditional Cunard color, she reimerged as the Caronia, the third such ship to bear the name in Cunard history.

In 2004, Caronia would be sold to Saga Cruises, who were operating the Sagafjord, now named the Saga Rose, painted a sharp dark blue with a yellow funnel color.  Her new name would be the Saga Ruby and she went under another refit and emerged with the similar color scheme as her sister ship the Saga Rose, as well as revamped interiors.  With all the refits over time, the rumors are that the Ruby will be SOLAS compliant after 2010, unlike the Rose or QE2.  It is my hope to one day sail on the Ruby, when I attain the age limit of 50.  Hopefully she'll still be around.  In fact, a dream of many would have Saga acquiring QE2 and returning her to sea with her stablemate the old Caronia. 

Looking more carefully at the photos of the Ruby at the pier, one can see some hull damage at the stem of the bow.  I noticed the scuff on the bow when photographing her, but not until I zoomed in did the real damage become apparent.  It looks like there has been either contact with a pier or another ship.  I question the seaworthiness of the hull and whether repairs will be made before she sails back home.

Upate:  The Ruby spent two days across the Hudson RIver in Bayonne, New Jersey to have her bow damage repaired before setting off across the Atlantic.  http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3486

Our two hour Circle Line harbor cruise took us down the Hudson, past the Statue of Liberty, back up the East River (?) up to the United Nations Building and then back to Pier 86.  We got a glimpse of the "shopping cart" in Red Hook, which our tour guide referred to as QE2, not once but twice.  Ryan corrected him, telling him that QE2 was in Dubai at the moment.  We're not too sure if he appreciated the correction from a ten year old kid.

Coming back up the Hudson, we were treated to the departure of the NCL Jewel and as we docked, the departure of the Triumph.

All in all, it was a great day to be out on the water and to see a few cruise ships and one true LINER, the Ruby.

The classic stern profile of the Saga Ruby and tail fin of the Concorde; icons of British shipbuilding and aeronautical engineering.  One possible future location of QE2 could be right here!  Doesn't take much imagination with this picture to envision this.

New York - September 16, 2008

After seeing QE2 in April of 2008, I was determined to see her in port for the remaining two times she was to call on New York, which would include the gut wrenching final farewell.  Using the experience gained from the April visit to the Manhattan cruise ship terminal, I decided to park the car on the deck at the pier for the day and make a full day of it in NYC.

On the drive in, I kept thinking how easy it was to get to the pier from my house in Connecticut.  I only wish I had taken advantage of this and make the trip more often.  I left the house early at 4AM, hoping to time my arrival right and witness the ship pulling in.  As I turned off Interstate 95 to take the Henry Hudson Parkway, my heart sank as I got a glimpse of the iconic funnel all lit up in the distance.  Apparently Captain McNaught had gotten the ship in early so all my mad driving through traffic had not paid off.  Luckily, though, the parking attendant directed me to park directly next to the ship on the top deck.  I could almost reach out and touch the ship from where I parked.  No security could see me from where I parked so I grabbed a few early morning shots.  Of course, the ship was stunning and I got to get up close down at the ground level for a few more pictures.

The night before, I had purchased a pass online to use for discounts on sightseeing for the day.  I had planned on staying to see the sailaway so I had the entire day to spend in New York.  I made my way on foot from the pier to Times Square to the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up my pass.  The weather was overcast, but it was clearing.  I grabbed a quick breakfast and coffee at the McDonalds at Time Square and then headed off to the Empire State Building.  I had not been in this building since I was a sophomore in high school on a band trip.  The pass gave me access to the main observation deck and a discount to the even higher enclosed observation deck high up in the spire.  While photographing the ship from the outside observation deck, I ended up speaking to a British couple who were on "holiday."  They recognized the Cunard logo on my coat and questioned what I was doing in New York.  I could only wish I was QE2 staff or employed by Cunard.  I pointed out the ship in the distance and also told them that I was just a obsessed fan of the ship.  It really is amazing how the ship captured the hearts of the UK since they went on at length about the ship.

     QE2 and Crystal Symphony from the Empire State Building.

Next stop was going to be Radio City Music Hall for a behind the scenes guided tour.  Once again, I had experienced a show at Radio City back on my band trip many years ago and wanted to visit again and see the fine Art Deco architecture.  Our guide was quite long winded, but very informative and I soaked it all up.  I marveled at the main lobby design as it reminded me of Queen Mary Art Deco inspired interiors.  In fact, the architect was directed to design the space based on an experience the owner had on a liner, according to our guide.  Of course, I asked if the guide knew which ship, but she did not.  About halfway through the tour, I became worried that she was taking too much time.  Although it was all facinating, I had my heart set on the 3 hour tour of Manhattan in a Circle Line tour boat and the tour that fit the schedule was going to be difficult to get to unless I left on time.  I had planned on walking back to the Circle Line Pier.  There is no direct subway line in that direction nor would a taxi be much faster with all the traffic mid day so I figured walking was the best bet.  Despite a very brisk walk and numerous crossings through traffic, I just missed the boat.  In fact, I heard the horn when I was about a block away.  I made it to the window at the pier and purchased the 2 hour tour instead.  My plans of getting photos of QE2 as we made the full lap around Manhattan Island were partially foiled.  I had some time to kill now so I grabbed a hot dog on the pier and then headed back to QE2 for a few pictures.  The Crystal Symphony had docked shortly after I had arrived on the pier earlier that morning and made a nice contrast to the lines of QE2.  While QE2's lines are classic, I found the Symphony had pleasant lines and a clean modern profile.  Of course, my focus was on QE2.

Interesting new QE2 bow profile with a new mast of the Crystal Symphony.

     A study in evolution of bridge design-open wings to closed.

While photographing the ship, various bus tours were coming back to the ship and Cunard staff were on the pier.  I recognized a woman from the ship from our January Crossing and asked her if she could take a picture of me in front of the ship and told her we'd be seeing her again in two weeks in Southampton for our Final Farewell to the UK cruise.  QE2 was currently on a long Splendours of Autumn cruise that would take her to Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, and a few ports in Canada before heading back to Southampton to pick us up.

The Circle Line pier is not very far from the Pier 88/92 area and I made my way back to the pier to board my tour boat for a two hour cruise which would go down the Hudson, past the Statue of Liberty and then head up the East River, passing the South Street Seaport and then going under the Brooklyn Bridge.  The tourboat captain gave quite an informative commentary of the various buildings and significant sights along the way.  He pointed out the old White Star Pier as well as new buildings by famous architects such as Frank Gehry.  All during the trip, I kept thinking how many times QE2 had made this trip up and down the Hudson and also of my relative that made the same trip into New York Harbor.  It was also nice to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island up close.  Our January Crossing arrival was in the early morning and we missed alot of the harbor due to the darkness and the frigid cold wind.  As my trip wound down, and we returned up the Hudson to the Circle Line Pier, the captain made a few comments regarding QE2 in the distance and the fact that she was bought by Dubai to become a floating hotel.  Like I really needed another reminder. 

QE2 was getting ready to depart.  The fuel barge that had been alongside all day pulled away and I snapped away at her bow, admiring the sheer that tamed the Atlantic for 40 years, and, of course, built by the Scots in Clydebank.  There were a few diehard fans still on the pier and the security guards were not letting us up on the top deck, where I might add, my car was parked.  They mentioned security reasons for this, and that I could not photograph the ship with the pier in the background.  It just did not make sense to us few on the pier.  The camera I had brought along was my Sony MiniCam and I was experiencing the same battery problems again that I had back in April.  Fortunately, I managed to get some good video of the sailaway and was VERY startled when the famous QE2 whistle was sounded for the first time.  You could feel it in your chest and that alone brought a big grin to my face.  I echoed off the buildings and parking structure.

As QE2 backed out, the ship was aided by a newer Moran traction style tug, the Lee T Moran, but it appeared that she backed out mainly on her own.  The current of the Hudson began to take the ship sideways down the river and QE2 slowly was rotated and began heading off to her next port of call, Newport, RI.  The decks were lined with passengers for the sailaway.  I ran down back towards the Circle Line pier to try to get a few more good shots, cursing the security guards all the way that prevented me from being out on the parking deck for the best view.  At least this time, though, as she sailed off down the Hudson into the sunset, I knew I would be back onboard one final time.

     Queen Elizabeth 2, September 16, 2008, New York