January 8th 2004: RMS Queen Mary 2 is christened and is the largest ocean liner ever built. Still.
Cruises have never appealed to me. There could be endless gourmet food, a microbrewery and Pearl Jam playing an acoustic set in the Tropicana Lounge, I'd still be in a floating retirement home where the bored crew are running out of places to shag. But taking a trip on an ocean liner... that's a journey with purpose. That's crossing the Atlantic. That's waving goodbye to Blighty and running up to the rail as the Statue of Liberty hoves into view.
That's travelling in the wake of history.
And there's really only one way to do that now. RMS Queen Mary 2 is the only transatlantic liner left. There are cruise ships that are taller and longer and wider and larger. But QM2 was designed to move people across the Atlantic - the rough, turbulent Atlantic - at comparative speed.
I rather fancy spending some time in the cigar room or the planetarium. But I'd really love to revel in the pleasure of arriving somewhere that's either the beginning of an adventure or its last chapter.
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