July 4^th, 2025

Boston

Looking out of our stateroom this morning we actually had a view! They were in the process of lowering the lifeboats and brilliant sunshine was streaming into the room.

I suppose they were checking out that the mechanism for lowering the lifeboats was working. Thankfully it looked like it was working well, and we appreciated the brief ability to get a good look at what was happening outside our balcony.

We didn’t get to enjoy the view for long. We disembarked and walked along the pier, past the Norwegian Jewel, past several parking lots, to the rideshare pick up place and headed off to spend the day with friends in Waltham.

We have known Richard and Loueen since University in the early 70s. The last time we had got together was when I was in Boston on Queen Mary 2 on the 175^th anniversary of Cunard’s first crossing to Boston, so it seemed fitting that my next visit was on the 185^th anniversary of that crossing.

We spent a wonderful day eating, drinking, talking, and relaxing in the shade of their beautiful yard, close to the banks of the Charles River, surrounded by their magnificent plants. We had a lot of catching up to do, and of course reminiscence about our misspent youth at university. It was absolutely wonderful. Good times.

Their plants were certainly spectacular – we were so enchanted by them we forgot to take any photos. We learned that the secret to their gardening success was the use of “worm juice”. Worm juice, also known as worm leachate, is a liquid byproduct of vermicomposting (worm composting). It’s essentially the excess liquid that drains from a worm farm, containing nutrients and beneficial microbes. We were introduced to the worms and got to see the liquid up close. I can’t say it was very pleasant, but the liquid certainly is effective.

Relaxing near the river we were far far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Boston where people were descending in their thousands (estimated 300,000) to listen to the Boston Pops and watch the fireworks.

We headed back to the ship just before 10:00 and were treated to a spectacular display of the Boston fireworks as we drove along the freeway. Strangely enough there was very little traffic and we were back at the port in no time.

We had missed out on the festivities onboard the ship. There was a special festive meal (maybe that’s why last night’s dinner hadn’t been that special), and then the Boston Pops concert had been shown in the Royal Court Theater and on a big screen out on deck 13^th, where there had also been a dance party.

When we arrived back on board we headed straight to Deck 13, but the party was over, and the crew were clearing up. 4th of July party hats and little American flags were strewn around the deck. I picked up a flag to add to my collection. I am obsessed with the Queen Mary 2 funnel, and it  was looking spectacular.

We looked at the lights of the city:

And then we went to the Commodore Club for a nightcap. From where we were sitting, we could see fireworks from the Boston suburbs still being set off, and this continued until almost midnight. I was a bit disappointed at not watching any fireworks up close and personal, but I certainly did get to see some distant magnificent displays. That’s good enough for me.

When we booked this voyage the itinerary described an “overnight in Boston”. I had assumed that this meant that we would sail away from Boston in the evening of July 5^th, giving us two days to enjoy the city. The description was not accurate (rather like complimentary room service). The back on board time was 11:59 with sail away scheduled for 12:00 midnight.

I waited around until 12:30 to see us sail, but with the time change for Halifax, it was actually 1:30, so I decided to miss watching us sail. It was a good thing too. As a result of tide conditions, we didn’t actually sail until 4:00 AM.

The late sail away did give folks time to enjoy the downtown festivities and make it back to the ship in good time, even if they got stuck in traffic. I would have liked an extra day in Boston, but thinking about it, even Queen Mary 2 would be hard pressed to sail from Boston to Halifax overnight. Yes, we really did need a sea day in between. I’m always happy to have a sea day.