September 17 – Queen Mary, Rough Seas

A bit of our stateroom...inside, no windows.

Paul decided that we should try breakfast at the restaurant instead of the buffet.  Just to see how it is.  We both decided it was okay but nothing exceptional so will likely try the buffet tomorrow where there will likely be a larger selection.

We walked around a bit but it was a little chilly out on the decks (and windy).  Paul spent much of the morning slogging through his huge backlog of emails. 

After a light lunch Mary went to see a classical pianist concert and Paul spent more time on the computer. 

Tonight was a formal night so Paul put on a suit and tie and Mary dressed up and we were off for dinner.  The two missing people showed up tonight so we were a table of 10 Americans.  Good conversation, no politics. 

By late afternoon we were getting some seas and by dinner time the waves were pretty big.  While at dinner on Deck 2 we could watch the waves and occasionally some would break across our window.  Pretty high waves indeed.  However, we really didn’t feel the rough seas very much.  The Queen Mary seems to handle the rough seas very well (although one of our table mates has been in much, much rougher seas so she thinks our seas are currently only moderately rough.  We would hate to be in a smaller ship in these kinds of waves.

John, one of our table mates, said that the Queen Mary II is currently the only ocean liner sailing the seas.  All the others are cruise ships (and of course, cargo ships).  But he couldn’t really explain the difference other than part of the difference had to do with the shape of the hull.  This will need to be the subject of a google session whenever we get internet access.

NOTE:  After further research - an ocean liner has a much longer, more tapered bow than a cruise ship.  This allows it to cut through the waves easier.  Plus it is built more strongly with more steel in the hull and has a deeper draft for more stability.  A liner is classically intended to go from point A to point B (such as England to New York - i.e. in a line).  

The early cruise industry started out with liners retired from the transatlantic runs but soon determined that they don't routinely need to worry about the heavy weather of routine Atlantic crossings so didn't need the tapered bow.  Instead, they made the cruise ships boxier so that they can hold more staterooms.  And with the shallower draft they are able to enter many more ports.