25 Places to visit before you die: No. 24. Queen Mary 2 Voyage

A 'golden age' of travel is a much-overworked phrase; many would argue that convenient and relatively inexpensive modern international travel is as much 'golden', as a time when only the privilege view could adventure. It is interesting though, that the demise of Concorde was as much lamented by those who could not expect to afford a ticket as those who could. It seems that the aspiration to adventure in style and sophistication is still part of the psyche of many. A cruise is appealing, but a voyage aboard a transatlantic Ocean Liner is on a different planet, it is the embodiment of adventure in style. And, 'The Transatlantic Ocean Liner' is RMS Queen Mary 2. A voyage on the Queen Mary 2 is an experience of a lifetime, a true golden age adventure and consequently is on Afterabc's list of 25 Places to visit before you die.

The RMS Queen Mary 2, QM2, built the early part of the 21 century, is a technological sensation and yet reminiscent of its great predecessors; in particular, Queen Elizabeth 2, QE2, launched in the late 1960's and retired from service in 2008. Indeed, in recognition Cunard's history, the Queen Mary 2 had the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) title conferred on her by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route.

QM2 is the flagship of the Cunard Line and is currently the only transatlantic ocean liner in operation as a liner, although the ship is often used for cruising, including an annual world cruise, QM2 is not a cruise ship. The distinction is more than just semantics, as an Ocean Liner, the QM2 is designed and built to speed across the Atlantic Ocean in consummate style and luxury. The difference between QM2 and other passenger ships is reflected in the costs of construction; at approximately US$300,000 per berth, about double that of contemporary cruise ships. The greater costs are due to several factors including the size of the ship, the high quality of materials, and as an ocean liner, QM2 required 40% more steel than a standard cruise ship. Many of the construction statistics are amazing; approximately 3,000 craftsmen spent around eight million working hours on the ship, and around 20,000 people were directly or indirectly involved in her design, construction, and fitting out.

In 2003 when QM2 was built, she was the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built, and with her gross tonnage (GT) of 148,528 tons, was the largest. She no longer holds this distinction after the construction of Royal Caribbean International's 154,407 GT Freedom of the Seas in April 2006, which was in turn superseded by the same company's 225,282 GT Oasis of the Seas in October 2009. However, QM2 remains the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built. Unsurprisingly, QM2 is much faster than large cruise ships, with a maximum speed of 29.62 knots (54.86 km/h; 34.09 mph) and a cruising speed of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph), with compares to the cruise ship, - Oasis of the Seas, which has a cruising speed of 22.6 knots (41.9 km/h; 26.0 mph).

The design of former Ocean Liners, such as QE2 and Queen Mary, is evident in QM2, for example, the three thick black lines that wrap around either edge of the ship's bridge screen, and at the stern end of the superstructure.  The funnel is similar in style to QE2, but because of the height of QM2 is not as tall, thereby enabling the ship to pass under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City at high tide.

QM2 is too large to dock in many ports, and consequently in such circumstances, passengers are ferried to and from the ship in tenders, which would be used as lifeboats in an emergency. While at sea, the tenders are stored in davits alongside the lifeboats. To transport passengers to shore, the tenders pull up to one of four loading stations, which each have a large hull door that hydraulically opens outwards to form a boarding platform, complete with railings and decking. QM2 is too large to transit the Panama Canal and must therefore circumnavigate South America in order to cross between the Atlantic and Pacific. The decision not to constrain her size in order to transit the Panama Canal was taken as the QE2 only transited once a year, during the world cruise and the convenience of the occasional passage was less attractive option than larger passenger capacity.

To describe the size and facilities of QM2 as large and luxurious is classic British understatement; QM2 has fifteen restaurants and bars, five swimming pools (four outdoors, one on Deck 12 covered by a retractable magrodome), a casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and the first planetarium at sea. The Linear has 14,164-square-metre (3.500-acre) of exterior deck space. On Deck 7 the promenade is a continuous wrap around the ship passing behind the bridge screen and allows passengers to completely circumnavigate the deck while protected from the strong winds generated by the ship at full speed. One circuit of the promenade is a distance of 620 m (2,030 ft).

As is the case with many modern passenger ships, many of the major public rooms onboard QM2 are on the lowest public decks of the ship, with the passenger cabins stacked above. This is the opposite of the traditional practice on ocean liners, but the design allowed for larger rooms to be contained within the stronger hull, as well as for more passenger cabins to have private balconies higher up on the ship, where they are less affected by large waves. The dining rooms are placed towards the aft, though not directly at the stern, where the fore and aft pitching of the ship is most noticeable, and where vibration from the propellers at full speed might cause discomfort to dining passengers.

Deck 2, the lowest passenger deck, contains the Illuminations theatre, cinema and planetarium (the first at sea); Royal Court Theatre; Grand Lobby; "Empire Casino"; "Golden Lion Pub"; and the lower level of the "Britannia Restaurant".

Deck 3 holds the upper levels of "Illuminations", the "Royal Court theatre" and the "Britannia Restaurant", as well as a small shopping arcade, "Veuve Cliquot champagne bar", the "Chart Room", "Sir Samuel's" wine bar, the "Queen's Room", and the "G32" Nightclub.

The other main public deck is Deck 7, on which are the "Canyon Ranch Spa", "Winter Garden", "King's Court", the "Queen's Grill Lounge", and the "Queen's Grill" and "Princess Grill" restaurants for higher-fare passengers.

The public rooms on Deck 8 include the à la carte Todd English Restaurant,  a library, a book shop and the upper part of the Canyon Ranch Spa. Also on Deck 8 is a large outdoor pool and terrace at the stern. 

The King's Court area on the ship is open twenty-four hours a day, serving as a buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch. The overall space has four restaurants: Lotus, which specialises in Asian cuisine; the Carvery, a British style grille; La Piazza, with Italian Food; and the Chef's Galley, which offers an interactive experience to food preparation.

In voyages of old, there was a passage class system, whilst today life aboard QM2 is not reminiscent of the images of  class division portrayed in the Film Titanic, the passengers' dining arrangements onboard are dictated by which 'class' of accommodation they choose to travel in. Most passengers (around 85%) are in Britannia class and therefore dine in the main restaurant. However, passengers can choose to upgrade to either a 'junior suite' and dine in the 'Princess Grill', or a suite and dine in the 'Queens' Grill'.  Those in the two latter categories are grouped together by Cunard as 'Grill Passengers', and they are permitted to use the 'Queens' Grill Lounge' and a private outdoor area on deck 11 with its own whirlpool.  However, all other public areas can be used by all passengers.

As the Britannia Restaurant takes up the full width of the ship on two decks, a 'tween deck, called Deck 3L, was devised to allow passengers to walk from the Grand Lobby to the Queen's Room without traversing the dining room mid meal. The deck consists of two corridors that run beneath the upper balcony of the restaurant on Deck 3, and above the main dining area on Deck 2. This is why the balcony of the Britannia has tiers that step up towards the hull. This arrangement is illustrated on the hull where there is a stack of three rows of windows in the area where the main restaurant sits, the two upper and lower most rows illuminate the dining room, while the centre row serves Deck 3L. There is a similar arrangement through the Royal Court Theatre. As well, the passages that run on either side of Illuminations on Deck 3 ramp upwards to compensate for the change in deck elevation between the entrance to Illuminations and an elevator bank forward of the room.

More than 5000 commissioned works of art are visible in the QM2's public rooms, corridors, staterooms and lobbies, having been created by 128 artists from sixteen different countries. Two of the most notable pieces are Barbara Broekman's tapestry, an abstract depiction of an ocean liner, bridge, and New York skyline which spans the full height of the Britannia Restaurant, and John McKenna's sheet bronze relief mural in the Grand Lobby, inspired by the Art Deco mural in the main dining room of the original Queen Mary.

A voyage aboard the Queen Mary 2 is a wonderful experience, as different to a 'normal' cruise as one imagines. The experience will set a high benchmark for all other luxury, that other adventures will be difficult to better

August 6, 2010  |  Article Posted By: Administrator 1 , London
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