June 09 Eastbound QM2 Roll Call

[DanZ]

OK... I've seen a few June 09 passengers floating around this board, but no official "Roll Call" as the veterans seem to call it. So here goes for curiosity's sake...

 

My wife and I will be on this sailing celebrating our 20th Anniversary. This is our first cruise ever but have long wanted to make a transatlantic crossing. We'll be traveling with our two boys, 7 and 11. (Worry not... they've already passed muster with hotel club floor attendants and head waiters from Hawaii to Paris. They've even managed to remove the involuntary snarls from Air France biz-class flight attendants.)

 

All of our grandparents immigrated to the U.S. in steerage (one set actually did it twice...). So, this is a sort of reverse tribute to them for their sacrifices. We're sure glad we were born now and not then!

 

Happy sailing!

[nyckruzer]

We'll be along with you on the 9th. It is terrific that you are bringing the children with you. They have such big eyes and appetites for adventure, I am sure. My first sea voyage was in 1965 at age 7 on the old Queen Mary. I thought I had reached nirvana, it was so exciting. Of course, in those days, you hosted lavish cocktail parties for people who came to see you off, at the pier in New York, and hordes of people caught our paper streamers pierside, which snapped apart as the QM inched away from her berth, as if the streamers were the final connection we had with our friends...New York...America.

 

We will not have that experience on QM2, times have changed, but we'll have the thrill of being on a great ocean liner, inching down the Hudson, barely passing under the Verrazano Bridge into the open sea, disembarking our harbor pilot, and then feeling the ship gain her express speed bound for a continent still far away. That experience has not changed since 1965 and I, for one, hope I live at least another 40 years to experience it again and again.

[DanZ]

nyckruzer:

 

If our boys' memories turn out half as well as you just penned the description of the experience, then we will have done well in filling their souls. They do love adventure. I'm just afraid our 7 year old might want to peform his Elvis impersonations in the lounge!

 

We once live in the Netherlands and returned when our first son was just over three years old. He spoke a three-year old's Dutch, but that quickly waned when he realized that we were the only ones speaking it. Now he says he's interested in French. Just trying to expose them to as much as possible!

[DanZ]

nyckruzer:

 

I see from your profile that you are a recruiter. Fascinating field. International? Don't worry, a resume is the last thing I'm packing.

[nyckruzer]

Yes Dan, I am a partner at a large global retained executive search firm.

[DanZ]

I have always been fascinated by your field and have met several very interesting recruiters. My latest contacts are with Russell Reynolds folks in Brussels and Amsterdam. But enough of that, 12 days left to go for the crossing!

[nyckruzer]

Russell Reynolds is a fine competitor of ours, especially in Europe. Dan, it's my custom to host a cocktail party on QM2 mid-crossing...vestige of the legacy of my parents' era, I guess. If you'd like, send your cabin number to my email, tteastwick@yahoo.com, and let's get you on the invitation list. Ted

[DanZ]

Are there any others on the June 9 sailing besides us and nyckruzer? I know there is PaulNH and his family from another thread, but that seems to be it. I believe the ship is fully booked for that date.