Today would be our last full day on board the Queen Mary 2. Naturally, this is the day I finally felt relaxed, sedate, and able to gaze upon the ocean without multi-tasking my poor tired brain. I reflected at how it had taken me a full two weeks to finally decompress from the frenetic pace marking a usual day in the Entertainment Technology Center. The ocean seemed calmer, the sky bluer, the breeze more refreshing. For the first time in a long time, I felt at ease.

Jan and I sat on deck reading for much of the day. It was me and St. Augustine for much of the morning. At twelve noon the Captain's briefing, though by now usual and expected, presented us with some amazing facts: since departing San Francisco, California, on February 5th the Queen Mary 2 had traveled 7,174 nautical miles. The breakdown came in as 2,076 nautical miles at an average speed of 24.9 knots over 3 days and 11 hours from San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii; 2,270 nautical miles at 26.8 knots over 3 days and 11 hours from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Pago Pago, American Samoa; 1,553 nautical miles at 26.8 knots over 2 days and 11 hours from Pago Pago to Auckland, New Zealand; and, lastly, the journey from Auckland, New Zealand, to Sydney, Australia, would clock in at 1,275 nautical miles at 22.6 knots in 2 days and 8 hours.

This was my last chance to peruse the Queen Mary 2 bookstore and purchase books of interest. I found some volumes on the history of national flag steamship lines written by ship historian Bill Miller, who was kind enough to autograph the books for me. Bill Miller has written some 65 books on ocean liners and cruise ships, and he serves as adjunct curator of the Ocean Liner Council at South Street Seaport in New York City. I feel a special indebtedness towards Mr. Miller because he assembled the ships database for the Ellis Island Museum. From that tremendous collection I was able to purchase images of the very ships that brought my ancestors over to American from Italy.

One of the books I purchased was a history of Greek-flagged vessels. This made for especially poignant reading because it contained photographs of a ship Jan and I hold most dear: S.S. Brittanis. For all the sailing we've done through the years, the Brittanis possesses a very special place in our hearts since she was the first vessel we took on a week-long cruise. We boarded the Brittanis in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and sailed with her to Aruba, Cartegna, Colombia, the San Blas, Islands, Panama, and return. The adventure of that cruise warrants its own recollection. The ship was a converted World War II American troop ship which possessed tremendous character. She sailed under the Chandris corporate moniker and Greek flag, but she was manned by proud officers, possessed a dedicated crew, and boasted some of the finest cuisine afloat. Accommodations, however, were austere â€' and that is being kind. Jan and I laughed hysterically as we recalled the cabin on that ship: bunk beds, a single chair, pipes so rusty the hot water came out of the tap in a murky brown color, and a bathroom door that refused to remain latched and swung with the regularity of a pendulum as we sailed the Caribbean. The contrast between that cramped yet cozy cabin on the old Brittanis and the palatial stateroom and overall magnificence of the Queen Mary 2 was startling.

From Bill Miller's book on the history of Italian Liners, I relived my voyage on board the S.S. Michelangelo from Naples, Italy, to New York City. Of added significance from that summer were the recollections of my sailing from New York City to Southampton, England, on board the original Queen Elizabeth. I still recall when the ship's loudspeakers urged passengers to congregate on deck as the Queen Elizabeth was passing the Queen Mary mid-Atlantic. I scurried up the stairways and made my way among the crowded deck. There, far off in the distance (and I do mean “far off�) was a vague silhouette identified as the Queen Mary. Technically, I *did* see the two Queens pass each other mid-ocean, but, entre nous, it could just as easily had been a mirage.

Of course, here I was sailing on the Queen Mary 2 on a voyage that would remain with me forever, but which was now in its last full day at sea and cruising rapidly towards conclusion.