Grande Dame of the Seas

Beatrice Muller is the only resident of the QE2. Pamela Spencer discovers how she has forged a new life on the ocean wave.

Many travellers would testify that long ocean cruises can have a mesmeric, almost addictive quality. The sense of living in an elegant, self-enclosed world, surrounded by illimitable sea, far from the jarring rhythms and pressures of ordinary life, is soothing and profoundly therapeutic. But there are few who take this love of sailing to quite the same extreme as Beatrice Muller.

Beatrice Muller:

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‘Why should I go back on land,
go home to my vacuum cleaner to keep house?’

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Beatrice, known as Bea, has lived aboard the QE2 since January 2000. A youthful octogenarian, and the ship's sole resident, Bea is a good sailor ("touch wood"), and the life clearly suits her - she could pass for sixtysomething.

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I'm quite proud of being 86," says Bea, "I don't believe it, but that's what it says on my passport.

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Bea, an American (her Huguenot family escaped from France to America in 1630) first "reluctantly" boarded the QE2 in 1995 for a round-the-world cruise with husband Bob, a retired architect. Unimpressed by what she'd heard from her mother-in-law, a "cruise aficionado", she was not looking forward to the social life on board.

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It sounded snobbish and pushy, with lots of furs and fancy jewellery. I thought it would be boring and no fun at all.

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But within a week, she and Bob had fallen in love with the ship. For the next four years, they joined the large group of passengers who return year after year for the three-and-a-half-month world cruise.

They always went ashore at each of the 40 ports of call -

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one must keep one's land legs

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When Bob died in 1999, aboard the QE2, and Bea returned home to her two married sons in the States, they suggested that as all her friends were on the QE2, why didn't she live on the ship?

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"At my age, I hadn't many family left,she reflects, "and most of my friends in New Jersey, where I grew up and raised my family, had either died, or gone to the South of France.

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So she spent the next eight months selling everything she could get her hands on, including three houses, four cars and unwanted family treasures, and in January 2000 joined

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this caring, welcoming ship".

"It's a wonderful place to live,

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It's like home to me. My sons are delighted that I'm safe and happy - if I run out of money, I think they'll keep me here just to stay out of their hair!

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E-mail keeps Bea in touch with family and friends on land. Passengers frequently ask Bea: "Are you the lady who lives here? How can I do it?" She replies that unless you are extremely wealthy

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"which I am not

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"

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The greatest difficulty is giving up one life and starting another, but as I don't have grandchildren, and my sight is not good enough for me to drive, I feel I'm at the age where I need to live here. But I'm learning to drive the ship: they've taught me how to blow the whistle.

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Every two years, the ship goes into dry dock, usually in Germany. So what does Bea do then?

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I either go to friends, or stay with my sons, in Boston or just outside New York. I especially appreciate seeing trees - there are so few trees on the ocean!

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Two years ago, Bea returned to the US for a hip replacement. The operation was a success, and she's now teaching her new hip to dance each night after dinner in the Queen's Room.

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My priorities on this ship are ballroom dancing, playing duplicate bridge, and trying not to eat - not necessarily in that order. I like all kinds of dancing, but right now I'm not dancing sambas or the cha cha - I don't want to jump on my new hip just yet."

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I've read all the Harry Potter books - twice. J K Rowling is a fantastic writer. If I'm down in the dumps, I read Harry Potter, then I can laugh again.

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With a passenger complement of 1,600, plus 1,000 crew, Bea doesn't lack for company.

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So many wonderful people travel on this ship," she says. "Six years ago, I met Nelson Mandela. He sailed with us from Southampton to Cape Town. What an incredibly sainted man to have put up with so much of what he did.

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During the next dry-docking, this spring, Bea will visit her literary editor in the States to discuss the book she is writing about her shipboard experiences. She's been greatly encouraged by the president of Cunard, who told her: "Write your book - I'll sell it on my ship."

Bea cannot see herself living on land again. She would only leave the QE2 if it was put out of service.

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Why should I go back on land, go home to my vacuum cleaner to keep house? After all, houses don't go anywhere, and nobody puts chocolate on your pillow each night.

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[ 07-15-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

Maybe she will give up life at sea when QE2 does too? Maybe she will transfer to QM2 or QV? Whatever, I expect it is is hard decision for her to make.