On Her Majesty's Not-So-Secret Service

The launch of Queen Mary 2 almost five years ago proved to be a remarkable marketing success. With great fanfare, she enterred the cruise market and attracted throngs to see what all the excitement was about. QM2 was the largest passenger vessel in the world until Royal Caribbean eclipsed her with Freedom of the Seas and her two twin sisters. While Cunard went back to a smaller ship with the launch of Queen Victoria, Royal Caribbean continues their tradition of moving to even larger ships, with 220,000 ton Oasis of the Seas, which will boast 2700 staterooms and include a Central Park with a large lawn and ziplining across it. It seems like it would almost make QM2 seem small. Not quite.

I had the privilege of touring QM2 in San Pedro this week as part of a group of top producing travel agents, and she is a massive ship. Whereas with Carnival, I frequently say that they should embark people at night, because in the day time their ships aren't nearly as impressive, boarding Queen Mary 2 immediately reminds you that you are on a wonderful British ship steeped in traditions of the Golden Age of Cruising.

Most of the public spaces have high ceilings, something which for me always makes a cruise ship far more impressive. The bars and lounges look like the kinds of elegant places where James Bonds of earlier eras would have enjoyed a "Martini, shaken, not stirred." While walking around the ship, there is this intentional effort to reinforce the fact that you are part of the proud history of Cunard, from the massive bronze engravings to impressive paintings to the string quartet playing in the atrium. There's even a public display about the history of Cunard, which Samuel Cunard started in 1840 to deliver mail between Europe and America in only 14 days. Adding passengers made the runs more profitable and soon became the dominant business at hand.

Many immigrants came to America aboard Cunard ships, and famous celebrities of the twentieth century like Walt Disney and Bob Hope re-traced their own family histories on elegant versions of those historic voyages.

Giving you the opportunity to relive those classic transatlantic voyages, QM2 is much faster than those first ships. She now makes the crossing in only six nights. Taking QM2 to Europe gives passengers the chance to adjust to the time change with only a one hour change per day.
QM2 also makes trips around Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which can be combined with transatlantic crossings to make it possible to cruise Europe without flying there. This can take researching your heritage to a new level of comfort and sophistication.

Queen Mary 2 also has other itineraries, including an amazing world cruise that changes each year to allow guests to return year after year for a new voyage of 102 nights or so. If getting away for that long would be frowned upon by your boss and your creditors, there are other great trips, including Canada/New England in the fall and a few short cruises over holidays.
Trips many New Yorkers and people who would like to spend a few days in the Big Apple savor are the Caribbean itineraries. Because Queen Mary 2 is an ocean liner rather than a cruise ship, she travels at speeds about 40% faster than traditional cruise ships. This allows her to reach the Southern Caribbean including ports like Barbados in a ten night cruise roundtrip from NYC.

If you've always dreamed of cruising aboard a Cunard luxury ocean liner, what's stopping you? Celebrate a special occasion or tap into your family history with a memorable cruise. Did I mention ballroom dancing? If, like my old friend Chris Crabtree and his lovely wife Patti, you have taken ballroom dancing classes and now glide like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, you'll find noplace more elegant to exhibit your skills than the Queen's Room at a fabulous black and white ball where a full orchestra plays perfect music for the occasion.