In July, 2009, my wife and I had the opportunity to travel on one of the world’s largest and most luxurious cruise ships – The Queen Mary 2. (Also known as the “QM2″.) This picture shows what guests see shortly after they board, although I actually took this picture during the early morning hours of the last day of our cruise. Had I not waited until 2am on the last day to take this shot, it would be almost impossible to get it composed without someone walking into the shot.
What most people don’t realize is that photography takes a lot of patience. I knew I wanted to get this shot, but also knew the only way I’d get it without any people in it, was to stay up late (early) on the final cruise night. This is just one of the many QM2 HDR photos that I took during my photo journey from 1am-3am. As I continue to publish additional Queen Mary 2 photos, you’ll be able to view them at the “Queen Mary 2 HDR Photos” category link.
My wife and I have been on about a dozen cruises and this cruise was by far one of the most luxurious. The ship is huge and dwarfs other ships when docked at local ports. What really impressed me with this cruise ship is the way it’s laid out. Once you’ve been on several cruises, you usually get pretty good at finding your way around future cruise ships. That wasn’t the case with the QM2. The layout is completely different than any other cruise I’ve been on and it was exciting for me to journey around and explore. By the 3rd day of our cruise, I was still able to find an area of the ship that I hadn’t seen before.
We weren’t expecting this cruise to be a “party cruise”, and we were definitely right. The majority of guests seemed to be in their mid-60′s, and there were a lot of guests using wheelchairs and walkers. This didn’t bother us at all though because we walked around the ship feeling like we had just drank from the fountain of youth. If you’ve been feeling like you’re getting old and don’t have the energy you once had, just take a cruise aboard the Queen Mary 2 and you’ll realize how fortunate you are. :)
Sorry… You’re either not currently a “VIP Member” of this site, or you’re not logged in. If you were, you’d be able to see the original, horribly crooked version of this shot prior to post-processing it. Worry-not, however, for becoming a VIP Member is FREE and just a click away. Click here to learn more and signup.
