North Atlantic Storms Slow Queen Mary 2's Maiden Voyage to New York
By JAMES BARRON

After rocking in gale-force winds that sent crystal glasses and flower vases flying and passengers clamoring for seasickness medicine, the Queen Mary 2 is running late on its maiden voyage to New York.

Exactly how late remains to be seen, but definitely too late for the "Today" show. The arrival of the Queen Mary 2 - the 1,132-foot-long Cunarder that is the world's longest, tallest, widest and most expensive passenger ship - had originally been timed for morning television tomorrow.

For much of the day yesterday, Cunard officials said that they expected the ship to make up much of the time it lost when it slowed down for two cyclonelike weather systems in the North Atlantic. But last night, they said it would not sail under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and dock in Manhattan until about 10 a.m., two hours behind schedule.

Yesterday, the ship was reported 160 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, the location of the telegraph station that picked up distress signals after the Titanic hit the iceberg that sank it in 1912. Among the 2,600 passengers and 1,250 crew members on board are cruise buffs who have crossed the Atlantic on the ship's smaller predecessors, gossip columnists and tabloid reporters writing about jewel-topped tables and lobster dinners, and waitresses waiting to see New York for the first time.

From the Queen Mary 2, passengers told of waves that slammed against the upper decks of a ship as tall as a 20-story building. They said the ship was bobbing through seas so rough that cabin doors slammed and drinks were flung from the well-polished bars.

"It's definitely been an adventure," Julie Davis, a Cunard official, said by telephone yesterday. "We had a wild ride that first night. We were rocking and rolling."

Another passenger said that on Monday, there was cheering as waves crashed against the plate-glass windows in a third-deck restaurant.

"It was very much a carnival atmosphere," said the passenger, Alistair Turk, a civil engineer from London, "and the passengers and waiters were keeping an eye on the windows to see when the next big wave was coming on."

Six levels above, in the Commodore Club, "you were getting the spray coming right over the windows, which was excellent," he said.

The ship left Southampton, England, on Friday, and ran into bad weather off Scotland. Debbie Nathanson, a Cunard senior vice president in Miami, said that over the weekend, the ship was buffeted by winds of 55 to 63 miles an hour - the strength of a tropical storm, weather experts say.

By yesterday, Ms. Nathanson said, the ship was pushing through a patch of the Atlantic where winds were 39 to 46 miles an hour.

Todd Miner, a meteorologist with Penn State University, said the Queen Mary 2 had sailed through two powerful weather systems. "It took a one-two punch, with punch No. 1 being stronger in terms of magnitude and duration," he said.

Cunard says the Queen Mary 2 can cruise at 30 knots, or about 34.5 miles an hour. But Ms. Nathanson said the captain, Commodore Ronald W. Warwick, had reduced speed considerably to avoid damage.

"His report is, the ship is performing extremely well," Ms. Nathanson said. "I've gotten some e-mails from passengers who just love it, because they're steamship buffs and they like a slightly rougher ride. The ship is built to cover the Atlantic in these conditions, and from everything we're hearing from the officers, it's performing beautifully."

Mr. Turk, who said he had made more than a half-dozen trans-Atlantic crossings on the Queen Elizabeth 2, said there was always a chance that an April trip would be bumpy.

Ben a charming fellow, gets to ‘drive the boat’ (his words, not mine) said he was hoping for the chance to give the ship a real test!

The New York branch of the World Ship Society reports that QM2 has now made up the lost time and will arrive on schedule tomorrow morning. Given the storm reports, this represents fantastiic performance on QM2's real maiden voyage....the rest were just practice runs.

Brian

[ 04-21-2004: Message edited by: Brian_O ]

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I had a chat onboard the QM2, pre Transatlantic with the third officer, Ben Lyons, the first ever American Office of a Cunard vessel. (He's a mere 25 years old too, I belive)

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When I was working aboard the QE2, a young passenger was crossing with his father, and he was so enthralled by the QE2. He reminded me of myself, when I was his age...so enthusiastic about the Queen Mary and ocean liners. It was a dream come true for this kid at such a youg age to be crossing on the QE2. (it was also a dream come-true for myself to be working aboard the QE2) I spent some time with him touring the ship, and I remember giving him a tour of the dog kennels. After I signed-off of QE2, I stayed in touch with this kid, and watched over the years as he advanced through schooling to become an officer. He worked aboard the Patriot as an officer, in it's brief stint with United States Lines. He's written ship articles for Porthole Magazine, and others. I bumped into him aboard the Travel Agent pre-inaugral cruise on the Zaandam.

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Originally posted by Barryboat:
He worked aboard the Patriot as an officer, in it's brief stint with United States Lines.

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That's the guy!

I wonder if Ben was onboard when I was on during the January media cruise? Two days just ain't enough time to explore that vast ship.