After a whole two days at home, I was off again - this time back to New York to join Cunard's Queen Mary 2 for a transatlantic cruise back to the UK.
Surprise number one. I got in a cab at JFK Airport and asked for the cruise terminal in Brooklyn, only for the taxi driver to ask me where it was. I replied that I was kind-of hoping he would know, but said I did remember it was near Brooklyn Bridge.
Thanks to heavy traffic and several wrong turns, what should have been a $40-ish ride, according to a piece of paper thrust in my hand at the airport, the meter ran up $70. "I never even knew this was here and now I do," the driver enthused. Rather wish it had not been at my expense.
Surprise number two was that on boarding (an incredible 15 minutes from walking into the terminal to walking onto the ship, which has to be a record), there was no one escorting passengers to their cabins - or staterooms, as Cunard likes to call them.
I actually like finding my own way but I had expected ranks of crew waiting to show passengers the way given Cunard prides itself on being so traditional.
Over the next week, internet willing, I will be reporting back from the ship as well as keeping an eye on other things happening in the world of cruising, so keep checking back.
Jane Archer
