My week on the greatest cruise ship in the world
Daunted, I walked up the gangway of the Queen Mary 2 last fall as its hulking figure floated alongside Brooklyn’s industrial coastline.
Cunard’s royally named ocean liner was about to embark on a transatlantic journey from Red Hook to Southampton, England — my first ever, and its 15th since a $132 million major refurbishment last year.
The massive ship, at 14 decks high and 151,800 tons, with a capacity to carry 2,961 passengers, was an intimidating sight. The journey ahead also loomed. Would the eight-day traverse, mostly crossing the North Atlantic, prove too many to endure? Would I find enough ways to amuse myself onboard — or would I be able to forgo my hectic New York routine and simply relax on this gigantic buoy?
In addition to new furniture and art, the 2016 makeover added 50 staterooms to the 1,355-room liner, originally built in 2003. My home for eight nights was cozy, with a dreamy bed, a desk, a loveseat and a table (transatlantic sailings start from $829 per person for double occupancy; Cunard.com). Though not all rooms have balconies, I enjoyed mine, checking on the state of the sea and sky first thing so I knew whether expect a fair or foul day.
Pricier berths, which also come with a butler, afford access to the Queen’s Grill and Princess Grill restaurants. They’re great for people-watching. Overly solicitous waiters bow and scrape before the various Mr and Mrs. Mountjoys, placing each piece of silverware at the table setting with an exaggerated solemnity that would make “Downton Abbey’s” starchy butler Carson mutter, “Really now!”
The atmosphere on the ship is mellow by day, as passengers sun themselves on royal blue deck chairs or walk laps around the ship to keep those all-important capillaries a-flowing. For even more relaxation, spa treatments are available at the onboard Canyon Ranch facility. Among other amenities, there are two pools, a shuffleboard court, a Champagne lounge specializing in Veuve Cliquot, a casino, a liquor store, a jewelry store, an art gallery and a café. QM2 also carries the world’s only kennels at sea for pups who split their time between the Old and New Worlds.
Each morning, I perused the delightfully named Daily Programme, a printout delivered to the rooms that lists the day’s lectures, concerts and activities (one afternoon on my voyage, there was a Burt Bacharach singalong by the ship’s passengers staged across several decks in the lobby).
Passengers have free rein to explore the upper decks, including the control room where the captain actually steers the ship. Every day at noon, without fail, bells blare as the midshipman announces QM2’s approximate location; it’s also a reminder to set your watch ahead an hour as you cruise through time zones.
Those who don’t want to do anything at all can hole up with a good book in the ship’s beautiful library, where the bookcases have glass doors — for protection from turbulence and water — that are locked every night by the ship’s librarian.
Although time seems suspended over the Atlantic, meal times are set in stone and a strict dress code — formal (jacket and tie) or informal (jacket sans tie) — is mandatory at 5 p.m. No exceptions: Passengers who want to eat in the restaurants and go to the lounges in the evening must dress up, which adds sparkle to every evening. (If you prefer to don jeans, you can only eat in the cafeteria-style Kings Court or hang in the adjacent Winter Garden.)
Cunard regulars go all out, in silk evening gowns and glittering jewelry, as if off to an awards show instead of the ship’s multi-tiered restaurant, Brittania. This year, a restaurant formerly helmed by Boston-based celebrity chef Todd English will be switched out for a new French venue, Verandah.
One thing that helped the time pass over the course of the week were the nightly performances by musicians from iconic jazz label Blue Note Records. I was a passenger on a jazz-centric cruise; upcoming New York-Southampton sailings on May 15, May 31 and June 15 don’t have special themes, but there’s still plenty of live entertainment. There is a disco called G32, and the Golden Lion Pub with marvelous fish and chips on a lower deck.
An astonishing array of talent, including pianists Robert Glasper and Fabian Almazen, saxophonist Marcus Strickland, guitar Mike Moreno, drummer E.J. Strickland and bassist Derrick Hodge made The Chart Room, an elegant midship lounge, the place to be. Aristocratic Brits in black tie knocked back cocktails while the band played original compositions as well as classics such as Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue.”
The star attraction on the Blue Note cruise was California-born baritone Gregory Porter, whose music was familiar to the ship’s mostly British and Irish passengers. Porter, 45, thrilled the audience at the ship’s plush Royal Court theater with Wayne Shorter’s “Witch Hunt” and “Black Nile,” among many other numbers.
As the ship approached the English coast, signs of marine life surfaced. A trio of dolphins dove in formation in front of the ship; seagulls hovered above the mast.
The QM2 staff stations an immigration official in the dining room to stamp your passport before you disembark, meaning you entirely skip any customs line in Southampton.
Packed luggage is transported to shore the night before you land. You leave it outside your cabin door before you go to bed and hope for the best — because once you’ve had breakfast and brush your teeth, you (reluctantly) have to get off the boat. Once you make your way down the gangway, grouped luggage awaits in a huge warehouse. It doesn’t take long to find your own.
Buses outside in the dock’s parking lot await to take passengers into London, or to the airport for a flight onwards. I headed back to New York — the fast way.