Favourite Sailaway Memories

[guernseyguy]

Lisbon, for example, I'd want to be at the back of the ship to see the Ponte 25 de Abril pass overhead

 

And if you're really old, you sailed under the Ponte Salazar......(I've done both- one sleeping in a Dorm on the SS Uganda, the other from an aft suite on Brilliance of the Seas...).

 

I think any sailaway is magical - watching the gap grow between the ship and the quay, then slowly, but with gathering speed, forward motion begin....knowing you won't stop again until you have crossed the Atlantic.....

 

Peter

[pnhmrk]

I think any sailaway is magical - watching the gap grow between the ship and the quay, then slowly, but with gathering speed, forward motion begin....knowing you won't stop again until you have crossed the Atlantic.....

 

And a bit worrying if you happen to be in the Med, sailing from Trieste to Malta!:D

[guernseyguy]

And a bit worrying if you happen to be in the Med, sailing from Trieste to Malta!:D

 

You cruiser!:eek:

[lexxity]

Fort Lauderdale on QM2's 5th ever voyage, that was amazing, so many people were out to see her, horns beeping, lights flashing so many people waving! Amazing.

 

QM2 same trip on her maiden call to Curacao. We sailed at midnight and the fireworks were magical, it was so warm and the band were fantastic. One of my best memories ever.

 

QM2, again, leaving Vigo, we were escorted out by hundreds of small boats in the blazing sunshine.

 

Least November leaving NYC. All of the songs about NYC were playing as the sun set and Manhattan lit up. It ws freezing cold so we were all wrapped up and sipping champagne. That was worth the fare alone.

 

The saddest was Sept. 16th 2001. Slipping quitely out of Boston at midnight. So many tears.

[Ab Ovo]

Favorite QE2 sailaway: leaving Manhattan in the dark, while riding in 8082. That can be seductive ... nice space to be in, but days later I had a problem with "the duplex" because it wasn't, and drawing a large curtain around a platform does not keep out the late-night drinkers and smokers down below. Gordon worked the patch, was delightful! Then we didn't ride for a while, and for a 1998 summer crossing "they" -- Cunard will ever be "they" -- had cobbled onto the space an aft cabin and were pushing both as a Grande Suite! What? Not at that charge, so we sulked in 8105 and I looked at a lifeboat! But the return upriver in Manhattan was the usual glorious and Gordon was still about, but upstairs.

 

Favorite sailain (?): sailing into Maderia, the Maiden Voyage of QM2. Commodore Warwick had told all the night before if we could be up at 4 am it was a sight worth seeing. Yeah, I though, I'll bet. But I did it; it was magical, SO worth seeing: there in the blackness a lighted island loomed up, just like a handful of diamonds tossed into the sky. Auto headlights streamed down the mountains like lava. After docking and dawn the fireboats and (more) people came, but it was that light in the middle of the ocean I've remembered since.

 

(Later found out arriving in daylight is nothing to remember; any next trip to the Canaries will be booked only for a night Maderia arrival.)

 

This is one of the things I like about reading cc ... people have nice stories to tell. Thanks, all!

[Kindlychap]

Favorite QE2 sailaway: leaving Manhattan in the dark, while riding in 8082. That can be seductive ... nice space to be in, but days later I had a problem with "the duplex" because it wasn't, and drawing a large curtain around a platform does not keep out the late-night drinkers and smokers down below. Gordon worked the patch, was delightful! Then we didn't ride for a while, and for a 1998 summer crossing "they" -- Cunard will ever be "they" -- had cobbled onto the space an aft cabin and were pushing both as a Grande Suite! What? Not at that charge, so we sulked in 8105 and I looked at a lifeboat! But the return upriver in Manhattan was the usual glorious and Gordon was still about, but upstairs.

 

Gordon was a star, wasn't he?

 

Matthew

[Casshew]

I guess I should have asked about 'sail ins' too, on the majority of cruises I have been on we've arrived early in the morning and I've been asleep!

 

I think I would like to be up early to sail into anywhere on the QM2 though, I'm so looking forward to experiencing her.

 

Wonderful stories everyone, thank you

[Brightwaters]

:D ANY sailaway anywhere on QE2; but best of all, in summer only a few years ago, in Princess Grill, bound for Southampton, on our honeymoon!

 

The return trip, Ditto! :D

[Jayayeff]

Leaving Grand Turk this past January on the Crystal Serenity, which always leaves port playing What a Wonderful World. The only other ship there that day was HMS Lancaster and as we sailed away to the strains of Louis Armstrong all the officers and crew were lined up on her deck saluting us, then as we cleared the harbour their helicopter made a fly past of the ship. As one of the very few Brits onboard, it was a memorable departure......

[Ab Ovo]

I forgot Boston!

 

On QE2, sailing away after the maiden call .... which was a full year after the scheduled call had been cancelled due to high winds and water ... it was late August, a full moon. There on the port side along the channel out cars faced the water, flashing headlights and tooting. The waters were littered with little craft. It was quite magical.

[Casshew]

wonderful memories :)

[Coolgran]

Would anyone care to share their most memorable sailaways, what port you were at?, which ship? ect were the fireboats saluting you, people waving from the pier? Night time, daytime?

 

!995 QE2 maiden call at Stockholm(nearby actually) it was our Ruby Wedding Trip and we were accompanied by our younger son and his wife, we met up with our elder son and his family and had a great day with them( my Granddaughter was convinced I was Mrs Bucket pronounced Bouquet since we arrived by QE2) Unfortunately only the funnel of the ship could be seen from the shore, but as we sailed our Family were on one of the ships that followed us out; there were hundreds, but we were able to see them clearly and each took photos of the other. It was a truly heart warming send off and a tearful one as well. I will never forget our Ruby Wedding Cruise. It was also QE2 1001st voyage.

[Casshew]

The Bucket Woman!

 

That was a wonderful Ruby Sailaway :) thanks for sharing

[pnhmrk]

I remember sailing out of Aruba (not the most inspiring of ports). It was the QE2's maiden call there and the islanders were eager that she should return. They had singers on the quay; those singers were there from our morning arrival until after we'd sailed. It was dark when we sailed and the authorities let off fireworks - not the lavish display you expect when fireworks and QE2 are mentioned in the same sentence, but about 50 rockets let off one a once. People had come to watch her sail - when she sounded her horn all the cars sounded theirs and flashed their lights.

 

Aruba may be a dump but it's left me with very fond memories of that island.:)

[bobby1119]

Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, during the 2007 World Cruise... bonfires on the shore were lit along the way as we exited...very emotional. The departures from Yokohama and Cochin also saw crowds on the nearby shoreline. Of course, the best was the Sydney arrival & sailaway.