Crossing

I���m going to America. But this time it���s going to be a bit different.

Here���s the backstory: I need to get to Chicago for An Event Apart in a couple of weeks. Jessica and I were talking about maybe going to Florida first to hang out with her family on the beach for a bit. We just needed to figure out the travel logistics.

Here���s the next variable to add in to the mix: Jessica is really into ballet. Like, really into ballet. She also likes boats, ships, and all things nautical.

Those two things are normally unrelated, but then a while back, Jessica tweeted this:

OMG @ENBallet on a SHIP crossing the ATLANTIC.

Dance the Atlantic 2019 Cruise

I chuckled at that, and almost immediately dismissed it as being something from another world. But then I looked at the dates, and wouldn���t you know it, it would work out perfectly for our planned travel to Florida and Chicago.

Sooo��� we���re crossing the Atlantic ocean on the Queen Mary II. With ballet dancers.

It���s not a cruise. It���s a crossing:

The first rule about traveling between America and England aboard the Queen Mary 2, the flagship of the Cunard Line and the world���s largest ocean liner, is to never refer to your adventure as a cruise. You are, it is understood, making a crossing. The second rule is to refrain, when speaking to those who travel frequently on Cunard���s ships, from calling them regulars. The term of art ��� it is best pronounced while approximating Maggie Smith���s cut-glass accent on ���Downton Abbey��� ��� is Cunardists.

Because of the black-tie gala dinners taking place during the voyage, I am now the owner of tuxedo. I think all this dressing up is kind of like cosplay for the class system. This should be ���interesting.

By all accounts, internet connectivity is non-existent on the crossing, so I���m going to be incommunicado. Don���t bother sending me any email���I won���t see it.

We sail from Southampton tomorrow. We arrive in New York a week later.

See you on the other side!