Moving your life on the QM2
My husband said “why don’t you write a blog about emigrating on the QM2?” and I thought it would be a good idea. So I am. But, I don’t really know where to start.
Emigrating is huge, and so convoluted. So I’ll skip quickly through the part where, in 2007, we gathered up our family, us and 2 kids, aged 4 and 12, and our life’s belongings, packed up into a container to travel across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia, Canada, where we would land with no home, no jobs, no car, no schools for the kids, but just the money we made from selling our house in Berkshire, and plummet into the unknown.Looking back, how scary is that!?
We spent 6 years in this beautiful Province. We found a large, unique home in the suburbs, my husband and I both had jobs, he in an IT company, and me selling cruises for Cruise Holidays, the kids were in school, we bought a car, and a dog - a gorgeous Labrador/Shepherd we named Indiana - and everything was hunky dory.
Except, I was homesick. For 5 years out of the 6, I wanted to come home. Why? well I guess, to quote Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz - “There’s no place like home”.
With this urge becoming greater and greater, we started making our plans for our return home. We decided it to be in all of our best interests to wait until our eldest finished high school, at age 18 in Canada, and our youngest to be ready to transfer for her final year in a junior school before entering secondary. So, 2013 it was then.
The journey home seemed even more daunting than the journey arriving here. Is this because we knew where we were returning to? we knew what had to be done to get there? we again had to sell, give away, or pack everything we owned? to sell our house? I think it was all of that, and more.
For our return trip, we thought we would make it splendid by booking a stateroom on the Queen Mary 2. I had always dreamed of doing the Transatlantic voyage, and this was my big chance. So, it was booked - on their 200th Anniversary cruise from New York to Southampton on 6th July 2013. We wanted to book our dog into a kennel onboard, but unfortunately there were none left for this date, so we had to make arrangements for him to fly home.
My husband had managed to secure a job in London, but the downside was, he had to return to start work early June 2013. He would fly back to Nova Scotia towards the end and drive with us down to New York to board our cruise, that way, it was our holiday too, and not just a way to return home.
We packed up as much as possible in the time he was there to help, which left me with the essentials to pack up before leaving. The kids were still in school, I was still working, and it was all getting a bit to stressful.
The dog actually caused the most stress, and cost the most. We booked him into cargo on my husbands flight in early June 2013. We had to measure him for a crate, which we had to buy, make sure he had his rabies vaccinations, make sure he was microchipped (he was), fill out a million forms (it felt like it), and worse of all, we had to take him to a government official vet no less than 24 hours and no more than 5 days before travel to give him tapeworm treatment and receive the stamp of approval to travel.
So, the night arrived, I dropped my husband and dog to Halifax airport in Nova Scotia and said goodbye. 2.00 am the following morning - “Hello Mrs McCowatt, your dog did not get on the flight as there was a problem with the temperature control in the cargo area. Can you collect him?” AAAAHHHHHHH
I couldn’t reach my husband, who was collecting him at Heathrow that morning. I had to rebook the dog on the flight the following evening, and I was going to a party and drinking that night. Could things get worse? No, don’t say that, don’t even think it!
The following night, off we went to the airport, again, dropped the dog, mentioning the fact I had a party to go to and would appreciate not receiving a call at 2.00 in the morning again if he doesn’t get on the flight (ha ha). The gentleman kindly said he would care for him if it came to that.
He went. All was well with the dog, who was to stay with a friend in England until we all arrived home.
So, now it was our turn. We loaded ourselves and 2 huge suitcases each, plus anything else we could carry in smaller bags (there are no baggage restrictions on a ship) into a one-way car rental down to New York to board the fabulous cruise liner. I had been looking forward to this sailing, forever, originally on the QE2, which sadly didn’t happen, but yes, now I was doing it on the QM2.
The ship lived up to my expectations. She looked so elegant with her pointed bow, an ocean liner ready for her long purpose built journey ahead. As mentioned, this was the QM2’s 200th Anniversary crossing, so there were special events planned, including the 3 Queens meeting in Liverpool that year. The sailing was so smooth, the sea was like a sheet of glass throughout the whole week.
We had booked an inside stateroom for the 4 of us, as we were emigrating and wanted to spend as little money as possible. None of us suffer with claustrophobia and the lighting was good, so no problems there. The sailing actually cost less that a flight would have cost, and it was in much greater comfort with beautiful food and fantastic entertainment, so why not?
The kids were well looked after, the youngest, 10 at the time loved the kids clubs and swimming pool, and the eldest, 18 at the time, loved the fact she was now an adult and could sit in the pub with us and enjoy a couple of glasses. The shows were amazing, equivalent to anything you would see in a West End theatre, with dancing one night, a magician the next, and a comedian too, you are kept well occupied.
The crossing went really well and I couldn’t recommend doing a Transatlantic crossing highly enough. It is such an experience, especially on a Cunard liner.
We are home, and still home in 2019. I have absolutely no regrets about anything. Life is a journey and you should follow your dreams, even if they do not go to plan. Living in Canada was a great experience for my family and I. We returned there in 2017 for a holiday. It was amazing to see all our friends and be a tourist for 3 weeks.
My husband and I are planning a once-in-a-lifetime holiday starting on the east coast of Canada, travelling by train across to Calgary, joining the Rocky Mountaineer and embarking on a cruise up to Alaska and beyond to see Denali and the Glaciers. This will be in a few years from now, I expect, but it is right up there on my ever evolving bucket list.
Official photo of my husband and I on the QM2
Official photo of the QM2’s 200th Anniversary crossing