A Shipboard Romance With Life on the Seas
By SAMUEL D. KING
Andrea Mohin/The New York Times
Beatrice Muller, walking on the deck of the Queen Elizabeth 2.
The love affair began with a world cruise in 1995.
Robert and Beatrice Muller were so enchanted with the Queen Elizabeth 2 that they sailed the next year, and the next. They planned to spend the entire year of 2000 on the ship. From January to mid-April, they would be aboard for the world cruise, then they would tag along as the ship traveled back and forth from Southampton, England, to Pier 92 on the West Side of Manhattan, to destinations in Europe: Bordeaux, Lisbon, the fjords of Norway.
But Mr. Muller had emphysema, and by 1999 he had become critically ill. This did not stop the couple from embarking on the 1999 world cruise.
It would be their last trip together. On March 25, 1999, Mr. Muller, 85, died aboard the QE2.
"It was where he wanted to be," Mrs. Muller said.
At the age of 80, and alone for the first time after 57 years of marriage, Mrs. Muller cut short the voyage and returned home to Bound Brook, N.J.
Within a year, Mrs. Muller had returned to the QE2, not just as a passenger, but as a permanent resident.
She pays around $5,000 a month to live in Cabin 4068 on the fourth deck. Meals are included in the price; she says her only extra costs would be for drinks, gambling and clothes.
In her small cabin, she keeps photographs on the desk of her husband and their two sons. There is a closet and drawers under the bed for storage. She has a small stereo and color television. ("The in-house TV is really good," she says.) Except for the times when the ship is in dry dock, the QE2 has been home for Mrs. Muller for the last 20 months.
"It's enough for me," Mrs. Muller said. "I have everything I need here."
After Mrs. Muller's husband died, her older son, Alan, suggested that she go ahead with the plan for the 2000 cruise. Then, she thought, why leave?
"Her travel agent called us and said she wanted the arrangement, and we quickly agreed," said Deborah Natansohn, a senior vice president with Cunard Line, the owner of the QE2.
Mrs. Muller believes that the move was the best way to deal with the loss of her husband. "If I had been home, I probably wouldn't have been alive," she said.
Mrs. Muller also says that the cost is comparable to that of a retirement home. "I don't think I'm spending any more," she said. "It's a lot of value for your money."
When the ship is not sailing around the world, Mrs. Muller goes to live with Alan, 51, in Middlesex, N.J. Alan and his younger brother, Geoffrey, 45, help manage her finances.
Next year, Mrs. Muller intends to sail on her eighth world cruise. She has spent 1,000 days on Cunard Line ships, and on her bright red blazer she proudly wears a gold pin from the company.
"Mrs. Muller is very definitely a member of the family to the crew on board QE2," said John Duffy, the hotel manager of the ship. "She is known by everyone, and Bea herself knows all of the staff. It is a very warm and close relationship."
Mrs. Muller describes the QE2 as a small town. It is in many ways, with its doctor's office, library, restaurants and stores.
Asked if she misses anything about life on land, she mentions her flower garden. For her, the biggest challenges on the ship are not seasickness or even the rough North Atlantic seas, but fitting in all the things she wants to do and not eating too much of the QE2's "superb" food. But that has become easier.
"It's a little like working in an ice cream factory," she said. "Pretty soon you get bored with ice cream."
Mrs. Muller fills her days with plenty of activities: attending lectures and shows, walking around the ship. She also keeps in touch with her family through e-mail. But her two favorites are dancing and bridge, which she plays two or three hours a day.
"She never appears to be bored," said Bob Haines, a cruise director on the QE2.
This is not to say that life is all fox trots and baked Alaskas. One thing that really annoys Mrs. Muller is karaoke night. "It gets so loud that you can't hear yourself think," she said.
She has met many celebrities on board: Bill Cosby, Vic Damone, Martin Hamlisch among them. The man who touched her most, she said, was Nelson Mandela. "I think he's a saint," she said.
Mrs. Muller has met a lot of people aboard the QE2, but she still gets lonely sometimes.
"I feel close to two or three people, but not as close as if we were lifelong friends," she said.
So she looks forward to the times when her sons come on board the QE2 to travel with her, mostly during holidays. And she relishes catching up with repeat visitors to the ship.
Mrs. Muller says she will make what she calls her "palace" her permanent home until she is no longer able.
"Sometimes I feel like I've died and gone to heaven," Mrs. Muller said. "I have to look to make sure the crew members don't have wings on their backs."