2004 Europe

Diana with Two Queens - QM2 on the right and QE2 on the left



July 1 – Up and at ‘em early this AM. We’re supposed to get off the ship at 8:45. At 7AM we were in a huge line to see immigration. Now you have to remember that this ship is over 300 yards long. We went down the C staircase, that’s about three quarters of the way back from the bow. When we got to deck 2 we found ourselves in a big crowd, on one side headed aft, on the other side headed forward. This was the line for immigration. The end of the line was at the atrium, which is about one third of the way back from the bow. If you consider that the room where the immigration officers were located is the most forward room on the ship and the line went from there all the way aft to C staircase and then back again to the atrium, the line was actually longer than the ship. Yikes. One reason not to like big ships for sure.



We eventually worked our way up to the front and had our passports stamped by a very bored looking immigration officer. We are not over our customs limit so we don’t have to see Custom’s smiling faces so it’s off to breakfast.



Here’s where the day started to go really wrong. After breakfast you have to vacate your room by 8:30. Not really a problem if you’re getting off the ship at 8:45. So we went down and retrieved our hand luggage from the room and reported to our designated location for disembarkation. When we got to the upper level of the show room it was packed. With all the luggage and people it was impossible to get in so we figured we’d just wait outside until our number was called. Well, to make a long story short, 9:45 rolls around, 10:45 rolls around and we’re still standing there. Finally at about 11AM our number is called so we go into the terminal, claim our luggage, grab a longshoreman and head for the exit.



Once we were out of the terminal we asked for directions to the Penn Station bus and are told it is further down the line. On arriving there we find some passengers in a conversation with the driver and overhear that he doesn’t think he’s going to Penn Station. Someone who appeared to be coordinating the busses assures us that he is, but she doesn’t talk to him directly. Finally I tell her that I’m convinced that he’s going and she seems to be convinced he’s going, but it appears that the driver is still unsure. With this provocation she finally goes over to talk to the driver. A lengthy discussion ensues during which he is finally convinced that he has been hired to go to Penn Station. Ah, New Yorkers, what a treat!!



After all this he informs us that he can’t take all of us and there’s another bus further down the line that also goes to Penn Station. Since I still wasn’t convinced that he’d actually go to Penn Station, this was sweet music to my ears. Unfortunately our longshoreman was long gone and we have more luggage than we can deal with on our own in one trip. Finally we drag all the LUGgage down to the next bus and it is loaded without much hassle. I begin to relax. One corollary to Murphy’s famous, ‘If something can go wrong, it will go wrong.’ law is; ‘If you carefully examine any situation and nothing seems to be going wrong, you’ve overlooked something.’ Well, I should have remembered that before relaxing.



Thus, the relaxation was a little premature on my part. It seems that this bus is going to the Port Authority Building first, Grand Central Station second and finally Penn Station. The Port Authority is very close by and although afternoon traffic is terrible in NYC we arrive without too much trouble. Problem is the driver doesn’t know where to drop the people off. (I’m beginning to get suspicious and a lot less relaxed.) Finally he pulls under the terminal and drops them off in the middle of nowhere. He pulls a bunch of luggage out from under the bus and asks the lady if they have all their luggage and she says yes. (I’m observing this closely out my window because I don’t trust the driver much anymore.) What he really should have asked is if all the luggage he got out was hers because the answer to that was NO! As he begins to pull away, the lady starts waving and shouting, he’s going to ignore her but we all call his attention to her and he stops and opens the door. She says there are two suitcases on the sidewalk that are not, in fact, hers. Whereupon the couple in front of me says, ‘Those are ours!!!’ The driver puts them back under the bus and off we go, next stop Grand Central.



Now the traffic is really bad so the going is very slow. Grand Central Station is a landmark in NYC. It’s a machine age structure built during the height of train travel and it’s gorgeous inside. The driver goes right past it. One of the passengers in the very front seat has a map that he gives the driver and with the passenger’s help we drive way out of our way to get back to the station. (Now my confidence I the driver is completely shaken and I am anything but relaxed.) Finally he gets back to the station and drops off the people going there.



Now we’re on the way to Penn Station. Apparently this is the one thing in NYC he actually knows how to find. Traffic is worse and it takes forever but we do finally get there. I should have mentioned that there are police everywhere, way more than usual. He drops us off on 31st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues. Our car rental agency is on 34th St. between the same two avenues so we have 4 blocks to walk with more luggage than we can handle in one trip. Diana looks around at all the police cars and all the police persons in the area and tells me she feels safe enough there for me to take some of the luggage and walk to get the car and come back for her and the luggage. I don’t like the idea much but I don’t see a better solution so off I go.



Renting the car is the first thing that has gone entirely right this AM other than breakfast. Now the trick is getting back to Diana. This would be normally be easy, but the rental car lady has informed me that the entire city is on heightened alert because of the July 4th holiday coming up. She says they might not let a private car on the street where the bus dropped us off. Great news!! I set out on the journey of Don Quixote looking for my windmill, the only thing I’m missing is Sancho Panza and she’s waiting for me on 31st St. I head north on 8th Avenue because that’s the only way you can go, looking for a place to turn east. The first street is one-way the wrong direction, the traffic controller at the next street, a stern looking black woman, will not let me turn east and so of course the next street is one-way the wrong way too. At 36th Street I turn east while the traffic director is busy scolding a truck driver for blocking part of the intersection and head for 7th Avenue to turn south. This is no problem as there is no traffic director there. Well almost no problem.



Side Note: For those of you who’ve never driven in NYC and may someday, here’s some valuable information. Trucks, taxis, busses, bicyclists, rollerbladers and pedestrians all treat private cars with no respect whatsoever. You will sit, locked in place forever if you are not very aggressive. To be aggressive is not to be overly pushy or reckless. It’s a subtle thing that, coupled with a quick accelerator foot and finesse on the brakes, combines to get you where you’re going. Fortunately, having grown up in eastern PA I have a lot of experience with NY drivers. Here’s one basic secret that will help you a lot. Use your peripheral vision to look at almost everything. They all watch you closely and if they see you look at them you’re dead because they know you’ll stop or give way to avoid a collision. So you look straight ahead, they think you don’t see them, and not being completely stupid, they don’t challenge you for the space. Works miracles! Listen to Yoda, Luke. Use the force! Remember, I’m a sixth degree black belt in city driving. As you will recall, I’m the guy who rents cars in large cities like Rome and London just to mix it up with the locals. I love it as long as I’m not looking for street signs on streets that change names every 3 blocks and are poorly marked, like Rome.



Several Taxis were vying for the same space, but using a rollerblader in a basketball pick move I beat them all to it. Now I’m headed south on 7th Ave. and looking for 31st Street. When I get back police cars have surround the entire Penn Station. There were lots there when I left and there are 10 times more now. When I got to 31st there was a mobile command center set up on the corner. As I turned west on 31st I waived to the cop on the corner and he waived back. Phew, I thought I was going to have trouble there. In the area where I left Diana there are about 20 police cars with one empty space next to them so I pulled in there. While I walked back to where Diana was waiting I spoke to every cop I passed. They were all friendly and seemed fairly happy. I think most of them were on overtime because of the alert.



We loaded the luggage and were off through the Lincoln Tunnel under the Hudson River and across New Jersey to Allentown, Pa., my birthplace. We checked into the hotel, had dinner at the Waffle House and called it a day. Have I mentioned that I ‘Love NY’! It’s the challenge of the place that I appreciate.



Traveler’s Note: This has been a tremendously enjoyable trip and I have all ready mentioned the contribution that Joe Calwell and his European Experience tour made to that. But Grace Easley of Cruise Specialists, Inc. in Seattle made a much larger overall contribution to this trip. She took care of all the details of the Holland America Line cruises and the Cunard trip home. She also booked the Trafalgar tour of Ireland. We have been cruising for 23 years and have been with Grace for the last 10 years during which we have done over 80% of our cruising. She is knowledgeable, efficient and very thorough. ‘Why would you have a travel agent in Seattle when you live in Southern California?’, you ask. Service and Price is the answer. Grace can be contacted at the following url: http://www.csiseattle.com/index.htm. She and the rest of Janet Lanterman’s staff at CSI will exceed your travel expectations.

(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger