And On the Other Hand...

He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea. ~Thomas Fuller

August 15^th Part Two

Now I’m embarrassed because a small retraction is in order. The directors did finally come up with a way to get us some of the music for choir. They seemed astonished at how quickly and easily the rehearsal went when we were all on the same page in regard to pitches and rhythms. (Not that we sang anything strictly as written. They simplified many dotted quarter and eighth note to straight time.) But it made me happier to have the notes in my hand.

Then later during a heart-stoppingly beautiful piano concert by Ratko Delarko, I felt more movement in the ship that any we’d experienced previously. Later the captain came over the loudspeaker to announce that a medical emergency had required us to change course and head for Newfoundland. The Canadian coastguard was sending a helicopter to meet us, hover over the top deck, and take the ill passenger to a land-based hospital. The rest of us were forbidden to go out on deck or even on our private balconies during this procedure.  

This reminded me why it’s so important to put to sea with a cruise line with a track record of taking care of their passengers. We’ve felt very safe with Cunard, but things can happen wherever you are, at home or away. It’s reassuring to know this cruise line will do what’s necessary in an emergency.

August 17^th addendum

As we were chugging along toward New York this afternoon around 1:45, the familiar rumble of Queen Mary 2’s engines went silent. The captain came on to let us know an alarm had been raised and the matter was being investigated. In the meantime, we’re dead in the water.

Fortunately, the sea is very calm.

We went ahead to another piano recital. (This time Mr. Delarko played one of his own compositions. It’s a rare and beautiful thing to hear a composer perform his own work! It was like listening to Mozart or Beethoven or Liszt play! And yes, I bought the CD!)

But the QM2 was still floating like a stunned cod.

So we decided to head down to the secret spot we’ve found on the ship that has the best (read: not good, but better than the nothing we get in our stateroom) wifi. The elevator doors whirred open and a tall, capable-looking officer was in there. We joined him and when the doors closed again, I said, “I don’t suppose you can tell us what’s happened.”

He shook his head, but told us everything was under control and we’d be underway very soon. He got off the lift on deck 6 and we were continuing on down to 2.

“You know,” the DH said once the elevator doors closed again. “That would have been much more reassuring if he hadn’t been carrying a wad of duct tape the size of a basketball.”