SOUTHAMPTON, England – An era is ending. It was bound to happen.
When you’re the Queen Elizabeth 2 and approaching 40 – in maritime
years older than Methuselah – you somehow know something is waiting
in the wings. Or at least hope that it is to carry on your proud tradition.
That something – Cunard Line’s $800 million, 2,620-passenger
Queen Mary 2 – began a new era two weeks ago when she left her home
port here to sail to America.
The 151,400-ton liner – the world’s
largest passenger ship – is dethroning the 37-year-old QE2 as
Cunard’s flagship. She is the first true transatlantic liner built since the QE2
was launched by Queen Elizabeth II herself in 1969. Britain’s monarch performed the same honors here in stirring
ceremonies Jan. 8. With music, fireworks and all the requisite
British pomp and circumstance the event surpassed any Super Bowl
halftime show I’ve seen.
The QM2 will arrive to more hoopla Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
following her 14-day maiden voyage across the southern Atlantic.
With every stateroom sold out – prices ranged from $2,869 per person
for a cabin with no view to $37,499 for the top suite – she is
indeed making as big a splash as a pod of breaching whales. After a short stay on the QM2 just before she sailed, I am
satisfied the legacy is in good hands. The new queen is all
she is hyped up to be – the world’s tallest, heaviest, longest,
widest and most expensive passenger ship ever constructed. And classy, yet
understated.
The 14-deck QM2 is huge – four city blocks long and so big that a
fleet of 600 double-decker London buses could fit in her space.
Boarding passengers first enter a red-carpeted Grand Lobby on Deck
3. An atrium extends through six decks, with glass-walled elevators
carrying guests to the top. The lobby is regal but not overly
glitzy with pulsating neon as found, for instance, on other cruise
ships.
The two-level Royal Court Theatre, the ship’s main showroom, holds
1,094 passengers. The decor is gorgeous, with plush red seats and
only one or two poles interfering with sight lines to the
proscenium stage.
The 20,000-square-foot Canyon Ranch SpaClub is something else, with
22 massage therapy rooms, two rooms for tandem massages, a
relaxation room with sea views, a Thalassotherapy pool, a
whirlpool, and a gym and weight room with 50 pieces of equipment.
Passengers can pamper their tootsies in special pedicure loungers
and curl up in a cocoon bed – perhaps even better than the one in
their stateroom. An offshoot of the revered Canyon Ranch in Tucson
and the Berkshires in Massachusetts, it is the first for the
company on a ship.
The stunning two-level Britannia Restaurant seats 1,347 people in
early and late seatings, with tables for two and up to 12. Diners
can make a grand entrance down staircases on either side of the
art-deco-inspired restaurant, which boasts a ceiling-to-floor
tapestry of a Cunard liner. Like the QE2, the QM2 has two other
smaller, single-seating dining rooms for passengers in the most
expensive staterooms.
Celebrity chef Todd English (one of People Magazine’s “50 Most
Beautiful People”) has a knock-out alternative restaurant that
doesn’t charge extra but requires a reservation. It serves
Mediterranean fusion cuisine for 142 guests inside and 52 poolside,
weather permitting. With three burgundy velvet booths seating six,
plus tables for four, this restaurant most resembles the intimate
Princess Grill on the QE2, my favorite place to dine. This could
become my favorite hangout. Too bad you can eat there only once, to
give all passengers a chance.
Travelers never dreamed another transatlantic passenger ship would
be constructed after the venerable QE2 reached dowager status.
After all, the golden era of transatlantic travel ended in the
1950s when the jet age arrived. Who (besides me) wants to spend six
days at sea traveling to Europe – with no stops – when you can fly
there in six hours?
But when cruise giant Carnival Corp. bought the floundering Cunard
Line in 1998, company officials thought it made sense to capitalize
on Cunard’s transatlantic tradition, which goes back to 1840, and
build a liner for the future.
“We believe there is a market for a unique product that could
handle the North Atlantic on a regular basis,” Carnival Corp.
chairman Micky Arison said at a pre-inaugural press conference
onboard the QM2.
“While she is a wonderful ship, a lot has evolved since the QE2
was built, and a lot of amenities that people have come to expect
on vacation have changed over the years.”
He cited features such as staterooms with balconies, upscale health
clubs and spas, learning centers, sophisticated showrooms and
dining and entertainment options. And passengers want to be able to
get e-mail, which they can do on the QM2.
Arison said incorporating those kinds of amenities with the
strength, speed and stability necessary for a transatlantic ship
was “by far the most challenging design plan our group has ever
been involved in – and we have been building cruise ships since
1978.”
Transatlantic liners are constructed specifically to withstand
weather conditions of the unpredictable North Atlantic and to cross
in the roughest seas. They have sturdier, thicker hulls and longer,
sleeker bows to break through the waves, which sometimes crest as
high as 30 feet. They sail at about twice the speed of a cruise
ship that plies placid seas delivering guests to warm-weather
vacation spots.
Too bad they can’t build passengers to withstand the same
sometimes-bumpy crossings, although sea-sick tablets and shots are
readily available on the QM2. Her beloved namesake predecessor, the
Queen Mary, now a hotel moored in Long Beach, Calif., had a
different solution. Mirrors in first-class staterooms and lounges
were tinted peach so passengers could see themselves with healthy
complexions in case they got a little green around the gills.
Some Brits who previewed the ship here found the QM2 “too
American” and “too much like a cruise ship.” Almost 75 percent
of the QM2’s staterooms have balconies – and transatlantic liners
of the past had few if any verandas.
No one ever contended, however, that the QM2 – or QE2, for that
matter – would make only crossings. Each was intended to do
cruises, as well. That doesn’t take away from the fact that the QM2
was built to withstand the transatlantic seas.
Other questions at the press conference focused on the ship’s size.
Commodore Ronald Warwick, master of the QM2, conceded that the ship
is too big to dock at many ports, thus requiring tenders, or small
boats, to take passengers ashore, which usually requires extra
time. Many newer cruise ships also must use tenders.
He praised the ship’s maneuverability, however. “When we came into
Southampton we ordered tugs, just in case anything did go wrong,”
he said. “But we were able to dock the ship without the assistance
of tugs.”
Cunard Line president Pamela Conover answered succinctly when
pressed by a reporter whether the QM2 is a liner or a cruise ship:
“She’s a transatlantic liner.”
Said Arison, “Whether you call it a liner or a cruise ship, I
don’t care. She goes 30 knots (about 34 mph), is stable as can be,
strong as can be, maneuverable as can be and is the best resort in
the world.”
The QM2 will make 13 North Atlantic crossings her inaugural year –
the only scheduled crossings between Europe and North America – as
well as cruises to the Caribbean, South America, New England,
Canada and Europe. The 1,791-passenger QE2 will continue to do
cruises in Europe and her annual four-month, around-the-world
cruise, which she has sailed since 1975.
The new queen is making fewer crossings than her sister did, at
least during her maiden year, because Cunard wants to give her mass
exposure in as many ports as possible.
Come April 25 in New York, the baton officially will be passed. It
will mark a historic moment – the first time since 1940 that two
Cunard queens are berthed together in the harbor.
And another notable rite will occur. The tall, silver, handsome
Boston Cup – presented to company founder Samuel Cunard by the
residents of Boston in 1840 in commemoration of the Britannia’s
maiden arrival – will be transferred from the QE2 to the QM2. The
loving cup traditionally sails in a glass showcase of honor on the
flagship of Cunard Line.
Then, the two ships will depart for Southampton, the QE2 leading
the way for her younger sister. They will sail down the Hudson,
past the Statue of Liberty, under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and
into the open Atlantic.
Six days later, when they reach Southampton, an era will have
ended, an era will have begun.
—————————————-
Queen Mary 2 at a glance
Tonnage: 151,400
Length: 1,132 feet
Height: 236.2 feet (keel to funnel)
Width: 135 feet
Draft: 32 feet, 8 inches
Cost: $800 million
Passenger decks: 14
Average speed: 28.5 knots (about 32 mph)
Maximum speed: 30 knots (about 34 1/2 mph)
Passenger capacity lowers: 2,620
Passenger capacity uppers and lowers: 3,090
Ship personnel: 1,253
Officers: British and international
Crew: International
Social staff: British and American
Duplex apartments: Five
Forward suites: Four
Penthouses: Six
Suites: 82
Junior suites: 76
Seaview staterooms with balcony: 706
Seaview staterooms: 138
Interior staterooms with atrium view: 12
Interior staterooms: 281
