Anyone involved in theatre management will tell you the show begins long before the curtain rises. The kind of day the patron had at work, their dining experience, the ease or difficulty of getting to the theatre, ease or difficulty of parking, weather conditions, box office efficiency and courtesy, ease of accessing coat room, cleanliness of restrooms, whether there are knowledgeable ushers and courteous concessionaires, the orderliness of the front-of-house areas of the theatre, all of these elements create a comportment and attitude on the part of the patron before the show even begins.

I iterate the above because the experience of boarding the Queen Mary 2 left a lot to be desired.

Things began to go awry as soon as we arrived at the airport to give our luggage to the transfer company. In addition to Queen Mary 2, the cruise ship Dawn Princess was sailing that day as well, taking passengers on an eleven-day cruise to Mexico. Dawn Princess was a regular in the port of San Francisco; Queen Mary 2 was the oddity. Consequently, the task of transferring passengers for two large ships overwhelmed the company assigned this responsibility. This was compounded further by the fact that everyone associated with the transfer company was quite elderly. Responding quickly to change was a facility long-forgotten.

It took nearly three hours to transfer from SFO to dockside. There was a shortage of buses and a surfeit of passengers. We boarded our bus, when it finally arrived, and immediately headed to the international terminal to load 24 passengers who had arrived from Germany. Not only had these poor people just endured a transatlantic flight, but they now had to board a crowded bus where they were forced to carry much of their luggage on their lap. This is not how you want to begin the voyage of a lifetime.

Fortunately, our bus driver knew the streets of San Francisco intimately so he was able to avoid the queue of cars on the Embarcadero lined up to see the Queen Mary 2 in port. The scene dockside was disorganized but not chaotic, instead the chaos awaited inside the warehouse that served as the terminal.

Embarkation consisted of passengers receiving a numbered ticket as they entered the warehouse. They were also handed a document asking if flu-like symptoms had been experienced in the last few days. This latter precaution was to mitigate outbreaks of a nasty stomach virus that had disrupted many cruises in the recent past.

Herded into large groups holding similar numbers, passengers waited in a cold, dank warehouse. Interestingly enough, the warehouse served as a storage facility for a nearby circus. Some creative stevedore consequently decided to decorate the passenger queue with these circus props. So, giant Chinese vases, huge golden monkeys, massive Beijing Opera figures, corny over-sized Paper Mache cut-outs of the Golden Gate Bridge and cable cars, added a veneer of the absurd to the tedious check-in process.

We endured the check-in gauntlet for almost two hours before finally boarding the QM2. Happily, the gangway served as a veritable Stargate portal leading from the Ellis Island conditions of the seaside warehouse into the stunningly magnificent lobby of QM2. Scenes reminiscent of the move Titanic came to mind immediately as a string quartet played Bach's 'Air on a G String' and neatly attired stewards rushed about helping passengers find their way.

We stood breathless gazing upon the beautifully adorned lobby, the glass elevators hurtling upwards, and the fellow passengers standing with mouths agape absorbing the magnificence of the ship's interior. We made our way to our stateroom located on the sixth deck of QM2, a compact though neatly furnished cabin with a window overlooking the very lobby we had just traversed.

Jan and I have cruised together over twenty times. During that time we have experienced the transformation of cruising from scenes reminiscent of post-WW II immigration to the current space age. Our cabin features satellite television (I am watching CNN from somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as I write this), scores of classic and recent feature films, we can watch our journey from the POV of a camera situated on the bow of the vessel, access both American and European power outlets, and revel in every other conceivable amenity.

The highlight of the day, however, was the departure of QM2 from San Francisco. Though nowhere near as packed as upon the ship's arrival, San Francisco's wharves and bayside parks were jammed with people eager to see the Queen Mary 2 sail from the city.

The ship was ringed by police and Coast Guard boats making sure no wayward vessels got near the Queen since there would be no question whatsoever regarding the winner of any collision. The night air was crisp and clear, and the sight of San Francisco ablaze with office lights was magnificent.

Queen Mary 2 pulled away from the dock at 9:00 pm, assisted by tugs and her own bow thrusters. We made for the Golden Gate Bridge at a slow pace, sailing past explosions of camera flashes as we cruised past Fisherman's Wharf, Fort Mason Center, Presidio, Marina Park, and Lookout Point in Marin County.

The crescendo of the evening occurred when we sailed beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Once again, the bridge was filled with well-wishers who hailed the mighty Queen as she sailed into the Pacific. These folks endured freezing winds and a steady drizzle to see this potentially once-in-a-lifetime scene unfold. As we crossed beneath the bridge a mighty cheer went up from those assembled on the bridge and onboard the Queen. We joined the cheering throng as chills ran the length of our spines.

The crowning glory was when QM2 sounded her deep bass horn only to be answered by the foghorns located at the bass of the Golden Gate Bridge. These might have been machines, but at that moment they were endowed with human attributes. QM2 had said "Thank you and Good bye" and San Francisco had responded with "You're welcome and Godspeed."