For years I thought I would never be able to return to Europe because I didn't like to fly. Then in September 2010 I found out about the Queen Mary through an email advertisement. The more I explored the possibility, the more excited I got. We saved our $$$ and bought our tickets in late April, 2012 for the July 6, 10-day sailing to Hamburg. You say, but didn't you fly from Tucson, Arizona where you live to New York City? And didn't you fly back after disembarking in Brooklyn on August 3? No! We went by surface the entire way from Tucson, Arizona all the way to Hamburg, Germany and back again. We rented a Ford Mondeo at the Hamburg Airport when we were there. It took us 76 days and cost us over $40,000.00, but it was well worth it. In other words for us, Queen Mary 2 was the ultimate form of surface transportation. This might sound eccentric in the era of jets, which displaced cruise ships in the 1960's. But my interest in the North Atlantic Passage is more like what most passengers used to think like one hundred years ago and through the 1930's and 1950's when the original Queen Mary was ferrying people back and forth across the North Atlantic. Back then they cared how long it took and had races to see who could sail the fastest. That's why one of my only criticisms of the current Queen Mary 2 is that Cunard keeps on making the voyages longer (to save on fuel, of course). I would rather have a 5-day crossing than a or 7 day one to Southampton. Now they're selling 8-day crossings. But I guess I should be glad they're selling crossings at all. QM2 is the only true ocean liner left.