Her arrival had been anticipated for days. Newspaper marked her position from the time she departed Acapulco, Mexico, until her arrival in San Francisco. The significance of the occasion had been promoted by all Bay Area media. Radios broadcast how this would be the largest passenger liner ever to enter San Francisco, in fact, the largest cruise ship ever to sail the Pacific Ocean. Television journalists went to great lengths delineating the difference between a “cruise ship” and an “ocean liner,” making sure to categorize the Queen Mary 2 as an “ocean liner” in the grandest Cunard tradition.

Samuel Cunard, a Canadian businessman and mariner, had launched transatlantic cruising back in 1840 when he launched Britannia and began regular sailings between Halifax, Nova Scotia, Boston, Massachusetts, and Southampton, England. Queen Mary 2, consequently, sails for Cunard Lines, a division of the much larger Carnival Corporation, which also happens to own Holland-America, Costa, Seaward, its signature fleet of Carnival ships, and myriad other cruise brands. One could imagine Carnival competing against itself by virtue of owning so many of the same businesses offering similar services, but in actuality each of these lines caters to its own particular demographic.

The most recognizable of these lines is the brand name Carnival which is very forthright in promoting their vessels as “fun ships.” ETC faculty and students who remember the two-night cruise-to-nowhere on board the Carnival Liberty might recall the nonstop Bacchanalia that marked those two days at sea. Partying is the name of the game. Awards are given poolside for the “hairiest chest” contest while calypso and reggae music fills the air.

Of all of Carnival’s cruise brands, however, none plays upon illusion, fantasy, and remembrances of things never experienced, as does Cunard. Cunard is the pure luxury brand of this cruise holding company. For all its history and longevity, Cunard has been known for being the finest example of British seamanship and, commencing in 1936, her ships have carried royal monikers, first with the launching of the Queen Mary, followed shortly thereafter by the Queen Elizabeth. The ships carry the R.M.S. prefix, meaning Royal Mail Ship.

The magic of anything Cunard is the presumption that stepping on board a Cunard ship is the same as entering a time machine. The expectation is of being transported back to a bygone era of rank, luxury, decorum, deference, politeness, and wanton consumption of quality food and drink. Oddly enough though, it is an era and manner of living many of us wish to experience, but which very few of us genuinely desire to live in for any extended period of time. Opting for two solid weeks of this was something I had to think seriously about before committing, since I have a nasty habit of over-indulging the food and drink part of the voyage.

What appealed to me most about his voyage though was the chance to celebrate my wife’s fiftieth birthday, as well as our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, while also using the Queen Mary 2 as an actual mode of transportation to get me from San Francisco, and our ETC-Silicon Valley campus, to Australia and the forthcoming new semester at ETC-Australia in Adelaide. This to me was an once-in-a-lifetime convergence of important dates and necessary geographic positioning.

The Queen Mary 2 isn’t big: she is gargantuan. ETCers who remember our delightful voyage to Nassau, Bahamas, onboard the quaint but ancient Regal Empress should note that the QM2 is seven times the size of that former ocean liner. The QM2 is 50% larger than the massive Carnival Liberty of our memorable cruise-to-nowhere out of Norfolk, Virginia. QM2 is so big she had to wait for the tide to go out before she could venture under the Golden Gate Bridge for fear a wayward ocean swell might thrust her smokestack against the bridge and do great damage.

Jan and I thought we would go down to Fisherman’s Wharf to watch QM2 make her historic entrance into San Francisco Bay. Since her scheduled arrival time coincided with the Super Bowl we anticipated sparse crowds lining the wharf. So, we then figured we’d drive down to Marina Park for an even better view of the festivities, heck, maybe we’d even pack a picnic, park and walk onto the Golden Gat bridge for an even more spectacular view. What delusion!

Truly, all I could think as we inched our way through the absolute gridlock that halted us as far back as the Ferry terminal along Embarcadero was, “What Super Bowl?” I had never seen so many people in my life gathering for any single event. This was more than I had experienced at the myriad rock concerts of my adolescence, this beat the World Series and All-Star Games I had attended, this was even greater gridlock than what one encounters trying to get to the airport the day before Thanksgiving. It seemed as though all of San Francisco had turned out to welcome the Queen Mary 2 into their gorgeous city.

The gridlock worked ultimately to our favor though as we were ‘parked’ on Marina Boulevard when the great liner emerged from the spray put up by the SFFD fire boats. While sounding incredulous, believe me when I say the ship dwarfed the great Golden Gate Bridge. Her appearance brought forth an audible sigh from the throngs lining the waterway combined with shouts, cries of joy, clinking of champagne glasses, and other hysterical hoopla and euphoria.

That evening we had dinner at Scoma’s Restaurant in Sausalito, a favorite dining establishment of mine in one of my most desirable towns anywhere in the world. The table next to us was describing and discussing the arrival of QM2 to San Francisco. This conversation was being repeated as well at a table one over from where we were seated. Unable to resist the temptation any longer, I leaned over to both tables and mentioned how my wife and I were sailing on board the Queen the very next day. Well, we became instant celebrities. This was ‘fame by association’ and I admit it felt really cool.

The drive back to CMU West and our accommodation in the NASA Lodge, another fantasy-like experience for us but for completely different reasons, was filled with recollections about the day’s events. We knew we had been part of something historically significant. We had witnessed a seaport city live up to its image. For all the hi-technology of Silicon Valley, San Francisco today had reverted to its nautical past and sea-going history. One Queen of the Ocean was welcoming another, and we had been present at court. Truly we felt as though a little royal pixie dust had rubbed off on us.

Tomorrow: We Sail!