ROYALTY OF THE HIGH SEAS
Queen Mary 2 has a majesty about it
Normally in this space, I’d tell you about a cruise that takes you to some far-flung ports of call, but today I want to talk about a cruise with no ports of call whatsoever — and why that’s a good thing.
There are plenty of cruise lines that offer transatlantic crossings. Travelling from North America to Europe or vice versa, these are usually one-off repositioning voyages. One line, however, has made it a point to offer regularly scheduled transatlantic crossings — and has been doing so since 1840.
Between May and December of this year, Cunard Line (cunard. com) will send its massive flagship, Queen Mary 2, on a series of transatlantic journeys between Southampton, England, and New York. Typically a week in duration, these voyages have nothing but open ocean ahead for a solid week.
Queen Mary 2 is, for many reasons, one of my favourite ships afloat. She is the only ship in the world designed as a modern-day ocean liner, with an imposing superstructure that rises 72 metres into the sky from keel to funnel. Designed to maintain her schedule during all weather conditions, she is as rugged as she is beautiful, with sweeping lines that recall the grand ocean liners of times gone by.
Inside, she’s everything a modern cruise ship should be, with dozens of public rooms, lounges, dining options and entertainment venues. A substantial refit last year has reimagined many of her public spaces, and has refreshed all of her staterooms on board, from her economical inside staterooms to her top-ofthe-line Princess and Queens Grill Suites.
So what do you do with six days of uninterrupted ocean ahead of you? Anything you want. I’ve completed two crossings on this great ship, with a third booked for later this year and I can say this: boredom is never an option. She has the largest ballroom at sea, the largest library at sea, and the only planetarium at sea. Her Canyon Ranch Spa features a soothing hydrotherapy pool and thermal suite, and classic pastimes like Pub Lunch, trivia, and live music throughout the ship each evening add up to an experience unlike any other.
Cunard also offers a number of special themed crossings each year, like the second annual Transatlantic Fashion Week cruise (departs Aug. 31); the World Space Week crossing (Oct. 6); and a special celebration of the 500th anniversary of the port of Le Havre, France, which features a special send off for Queen Mary 2 on her Sept. 14 crossing from Southampton to New York, with a special call on the historic port city.
Even if your crossing isn’t a theme cruise as such, Cunard puts a number of special guest speakers and lecturers on each sailing — and publishes that schedule on its website so you can see exactly who is sailing, when. You could make the crossing with a volcano specialist; a former astronaut; a Royal Air Force squadron leader; an espionage expert; writers, journalists, reporters, war correspondents, theatre critics, actors and even noted maritime historian Ted Scull.
On one of my crossings, I listened intently as a former Concorde pilot described his love affair with flying the supersonic passenger jet. On another, the National Symphony Orchestra kept me up late with classical music performances. On yet another, I watched as members of the Julliard Musical Academy in New York performed intimate concerts during evenings — always a special time on a Cunard ship.
Now, I don’t want to make it sound like QM2 is Cunard’s only ship. Far from it. The line also has two “smaller” sisters, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. They offer all the elegance Queen Mary 2 does, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. While you can sometimes find the odd transoceanic crossing on these ships, they are more destination-focused than their passage-making fleetmate. In fact, just last month Queen Victoria became the largest passenger ship to sail the Amazon river, as the sixth port of call on her 32 port, 120-night world cruise.
Cunard pioneered that, too. It offered the first scheduled World Cruise in 1922. It also coined the slogan, “getting there is half the fun.” Which, to this day, is also very true — no matter what Cunard ship you find yourself on.
Happy cruising.