How and Why

On December 7th - no jokes please - I had a horrific accident, tripped over my toolbox and went flying, head first into the door jam, the carved, 1920's wooden door jam and heard my neck snap, actually crunch. After 2 seconds of panic, I felt my fingers move, then was able to stand up so knew I was not paralyzed. But, could have been. Two days later, I made a reservation for the Queen Mary 2: Southampton to NY and back 2 weeks later.

First view of QM2

View from stateroom 5100 balcony

Bottle of sparkling wine which I brought back 5 months later

Painting on the casino wall

Rung every day at noon

Stunning metal sculpture over the lobby

Wedgewood frieze - King's Court

After the lifeboat drill

New World sculptures in the lobby

Silver cup presented by the City of Boston

The Storm

The Long Gallery leading to Illuminations

Butter sculpture - King's Court

Mercury - at the entrance to Illuminations

The casino - 07:00 am

The Zodiac - leading to Grand Lobby

Zeus with his thunderbolt and eagle

More storm!

The Wind in the Willows Christmas theme - Grand Lobby

Snow inside the ship, in the Grand Lobby

Christmas in the US would have been very sad because of the loss of my father and brothers, and people I met on the ship kept telling me how great Christmas and New Year's Eve were aboard. I went to the booking office and there was a stateroom available. To this day, I do not know what it cost but apparently had enough to cover it.

My stateroom from NY through the Caribbean was on deck 11, with a clear, glass balcony so I could lie in bed and watch the ocean and Caribbean Sea!

New York City, about 04:30, December, 2011

View from the ship, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal

Entering Charlotte Amalie harbor, U.S. Virgin Islands

Charlotte Amalie

The government car which the governor sent for us

 His niece and her husband invited me to join them to meet the governor!!

View from the official guest house

One happy camper

The Honorable John P. deJongh, Jr., Governor

The colors of water

Curacao - without the accent mark

Sailing in the harbor at Grenada

BARBADOS

The camera battery died !?!?!

 Back aboard ship

Leaving Barados

St Maarten

On the way back to Southamption, I happened to ask about the round the world trip which was booked out. Suddenly, someone changed his or her mind and I was able to get a stateroom for the entire voyage - 108 days. So, here we go. Tomorrow, Madeira and then Tenerife. Walvis Bay and Cape Town. The most amazing aspect of this is that I am doing it - me!!