Experience the magic of Cunard on popular Canada-New England trips

It’s no secret that one of my all-time favourite cruise experiences (one I try to repeat every year) is a transatlantic crossing with Cunard (cruise.center/ cunard/) aboard its legendary flagship, Queen Mary 2. Sailing for seven uninterrupted days at sea between New York and Southampton, England, is a magical experience.

However, I also know not everyone finds the thought of crossing the Atlantic with zero ports of call as enticing as I do. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to experience the magic of Cunard from here in Canada.

This fall, Queen Mary 2 returns to the shores of Eastern Canada to operate the popular Canadian and New England voyages that run between Quebec City and New York.

These are fantastic voyages, with calls on ports in the Maritimes and the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Queen Mary 2’s first weeklong journey from New York to Quebec departs on Sept. 23. Except for a day call in Rockland, Maine, the remainder of Queen Mary 2’s first Canadian and New England itinerary focuses exclusively on Canadian ports.

Stops are made in Corner Brook, N.L., on Sept. 27; in SeptÎles the following day; and an overnight stay in Quebec City to round out the voyage.

The reverse itinerary — Quebec to New York — sets sail Sept. 30 and features an all-Canadian itinerary.

Queen Mary 2 stops first in beautiful Saguenay — home to what just might be the friendliest cruise ship welcome I’ve ever experienced, complete with live music, traditional dance and even maple taffy rolled across bins of snow.

From there, Queen Mary 2 continues on to friendly Sydney, N.S., and Halifax, where the ship ties up between the Pier 21 Immigration Museum and the pierside statue of Cunard founder Samuel Cunard, who was born in Halifax in 1787 and founded Cunard Line in England in 1840 as the verbose British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. Cunard seems much more iconic in retrospect.

Although it doesn’t start in Canada, you can combine the previous two voyages into one 14-day journey that operates round trip from New York, Voyage M836A.

Those on the West Coast aren’t left out, either.

Though Queen Mary 2 isn’t bound for Vancouver (its immense height prohibits the ship from clearing the Lions Gate Bridge), the equally elegant Queen Elizabeth will make its debut at Canada Place next year, inaugurating Cunard’s first Alaska cruises in over a decade in May 2019.