Bertram's logbook

Welcome aboard ...

... or rather, welcome to my new cruise column for the Connoisseur Circle!

I think it's been almost exactly 20 years since I boarded my first cruise ship - although the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 was never actually an "ordinary cruise ship", but rather a "proud ocean liner" on a liner service between the Old and New Worlds ...
At the time, I was still living as a freelance journalist in Berlin and New York and the assignment to write a report on the QE2 transatlantic passage came in handy. Firstly, it meant I could travel from one apartment to another for free. And secondly, for once I didn't have to squeeze into the economy class of the airline that was offering the cheapest fare on the route across the pond ...

Instead, six days of luxury on the high seas. However, it wasn't so much the luxury that stuck in my mind. Rather, it was the hours between breakfast in bed, matinée in the on-board cinema, five-o-clock tea in the saloon, dinner in the Britannia Grill and the final bedtime treat on the pillow: hours on deck looking out for whales, counting wave crests and squinting into the contrails of the planes flying by high above. Hours in the library, devouring all the books that always seemed too long for me on land. Hours spent talking to such fascinating people as the wonderful Beatrice Muller, who one day simply moved her primary residence to the QE2 because life on board seemed so much more fun and promising than in a retirement home. For several years, the old lady traveled back and forth between New York and Southampton almost continuously - and believe me, she enjoyed every single day on her floating home to the fullest and with all her heart!

Having time, losing the solid ground under your feet for a few days, no longer seeing land on the horizon, declaring the journey to be the destination - and for once reaching the destination not by the quickest but by the most beautiful route: All this fascinates me about cruising to this day.

And when I go back on board a cruise ship in the next few weeks for the next Connoisseur Circle article, I already know that I will once again feel that pleasant tingling sensation in my stomach when the ship's engines are started and that I will definitely be standing on deck again when we set sail for the first time until the mainland and everyday life behind the ship's funnel have gone up in smoke ...

With this in mind, I wish you too a great desire for the sea and lots of fun at sea - wherever you may be sailing!

Jörg Bertram

Welcome aboard ...

Jörg Bertram

BEITRÄGE

The current CC highlights

Rating - The best hotels

The world of CC Print

Friends of the Caribbean

Hospitality Awards

CC Top tip

CC VIP

Current competition

Unsere Partner