In August 2015 we took our first ever ocean cruise. You would think that living in Seattle, it would be a no-brainer to take one of the many Alaska cruises that depart from here. But we’ve never gotten that into our vacation schedule. Steven has been on a windjammer sailing cruise in the Bahamas many years before. Neither of has had been on a full-on cruise ship. Quite frankly, we’ve always thought why would you want to go on the exact same vacation with thousands of other people? On the other hand, there was always the allure of the glamour of a transatlantic crossing from the days before the jet age. With a fascination for the Titanic and having missed out on the Queen Elizabeth 2 before her retirement, it was time to check off a buck list item.

The initial push came from our dear friends in Texas, Kevin and Charmaine. I’ve know Charmaine since college, though we hadn’t kept in very good touch until the days of Facebook ‘reunited’ us. Her husband Kevin had been in the Navy and had sailed all the world’s oceans except the Atlantic. He brought up the idea of doing so for his milestone birthday. It just so happens, this year is a milestone birthday for me. Also a milestone for our unofficial anniversary. So why not go all out on a Grand Voyage?

It didn’t make sense to go all the way to England without spending at least some time on the other side of the pond. So what to do?

Steven had been doing recent on his family tree and found that he has Scot ancestry and Kevin did a study abroad program in Ireland during college. Our hope was to be able to go to both Scotland and Ireland. In early planning it became evident that both would not be possible in the time we had. So Scotland became the choice this time.

Of course, the trip became more and more complicated as the planning went along, but as they say, planning is half the fun.

In the posts below, please follow along on our journey. We’ve provided some glimpses of the people, places and things we encountered along the way. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventure.

Bon Voyage!

Steven & Kevin

QM2/Scotland

Scotland – Inveraray Castle

Saturday morning, Aug. 15th by Kevin (and some by Steven) – We ambled down to breakfast at Thistle House. The room is bright and clean with yellow walls, white trim, and white furnishings…and we were the only ones there. It was a little odd being the only ones there for a while, but soon enough another […]

· Kevin
Dining

Out of the Blue – Partie Deux

A quick ride home and on to a 2nd dinner at Out of the Blue Bistro! The countryside of Argyll is spectacular. After lunch we headed back to Thistle House for a rest and perhaps even a nap. We had arrangements to go back to Out of the Blue to meet the owner and talk […]

· Kevin
Dining

Scotland – Out of the Blue Bistro

14 August by Kevin – Friday evening at Thistle House and the Out of the Blue Bistro In our last post we said there would be more about Out of the Blue Bistro. So here it is. At the B&B we stayed, Thistle House Guest House, there is a binder with recommended places to see […]

· Steven
England

UK – Onward to Scotland

By Steven – Thursday, 13 August What a lovely visit we had in York with Linda, Kate and Bill! But now it’s time to move along. Our next stop is Glasgow. With our “goodbyes” to Bill and their lovely daughters, Kate took us to the train station with one more scenic stop along the way at […]

· Steven
England

UK – Back on Terra Firma

Southampton to York by Kevin – Landing day and disembarking from the QM2 went pretty smoothly, except for the 15 min or so delay due to an issue at the dock (we never found out what that was). My colleague and friend, Karen and her husband Digby met us at the ship and off we […]

· Steven
QM2/Scotland

QM2 – Ship Photos

By Steven – Let’s have a tour of the ship, shall we? Here are a few shots from around the ship. Most are from embarkation day, but others throughout the voyage. I’ll start with these from near the bow of the ship. Any guesses at to what these are? [David and Tony – no fair […]

· Steven
QM2/Scotland

QM2 – Life At Sea

By Steven So, we’ve already covered our departure from New York and the food aboard. But we haven’t talked much about the day-to-day life and activities on board the ship. I’ll try to keep this as brief as I can to cover the six days on the ocean in one post – partly as that’s […]

· Steven
QM2/Scotland

QM2 – Food & Drink

by Kevin – It’s easier to disdain than it is to be fair. After several days at sea, it’s become far harder to step back and put in perspective the many meals, service, and general impressions of our culinary adventures on the QM2. One caveat: we’ve had little interaction with Britannia food options, other than […]

· Kevin
New York City

QM2 – Verrazzano Bridge

by Steven -  Here's a video I forgot to post earlier. This is as the ship passes under the Verrazzano Bridge as we leave New York. We clear by only a few feet! Fortunately, the ship was specifically designed with this bridge in mind.  

· Steven
QM2/Scotland

Day 4 – QM2 Embarkation Day

4 August 2014 New York and Brooklyn by Kevin - Embarkation - Caught cab a little after 11am going speedily across town to the FDR where we encountered traffic due to a stalled car and road work. Made it just after Noon to the docks. Seeing the Queen for the first time as we crossed […]

· Steven
New York City

Day 3 – New York City

3 August 2014 by Stacie – As I’ve gotten older I’ve decided that life is about memories, it’s up to you to make those memories whenever you can. I decided what better way to make some is to meet my dear uncles for their brief stay in NYC. I took a 6am train from Richmond […]

· Stacie
New York City

Day 2 – New York

2 August 2015 by Steven (edits by Kevin) So, just so you know, we haven’t been entirely diligent about getting these posts written. We’re actually on Day 5 (9 August) of the QM2 crossing and I’m just now getting around to writing about our couple of days in New York. It took some time just […]

· Steven