Crossing the “Pond”…Experiencing a Trans- Atlantic Ocean crossing on the Cunard-Queen Mary 2!

I have always loved cruising and being on board a ship, so when the opportunity to board the beautiful Queen Mary 2 and experience a Trans-Atlantic sailing became available I jumped at the chance. I had worked on the Travel designer training through Cunard Cruise Lines and the more I learned about it the more I was excited to embark. What many people didn’t know including me (until I took the courses and did additional research about Cunard) is that Cunard merged with the White Star Line in May of 1934. The Great Depression had hurt both companies and so the British government agreed to help the two companies if they merged their North Atlantic operations to avoid their potential loss. The history behind the Cunard plays an important part of my trip on the beautiful Queen Mary 2.

Photo/image credit: Cunard Cruise Lines

First off I would describe the ship as sort of a museum to the ships in the Cunard line and particularly to one very historical Trans-Atlantic crossing. The White Star Line might sound familiar to you, as it was the company/owner of the ill-fated ship, the Titanic. That was something that was intriguing to me about this sailing. The Queen Mary 2 show cases the relevance of the Cunard ships and the people who have been a part of the iconic trans-Atlantic crossing experiences. Passengers include famous Hollywood actresses Liz Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland as well as well known people including Noel Coward and Walt Disney. Each deck of the Queen Mary 2 showcases different, photos, images, and memorabilia from different points in the Cunard ships’ history. Even the route of this particular sailing has historical significance… It was starting in Southampton, UK and heading to New York, NY just like the Titanic.

Phot/Image credit: Cunard Cruise Lines

This particular sailing was a Westbound Transatlantic Crossing from Southampton, 17 October 2024 (8 nights) until October 25, 2024. Arriving at the Southampton Cruise Terminal, I learned it was actually the same terminal in which the Titanic set sail from over 100 years ago. From the moment I arrived at the port, the process of embarkation was a breeze. Cunard staff was waiting as my driver pulled in, to take my luggage onto the ship for me. Since I had read the embarkation procedures I knew travelers were required to have a hard copy of the Cunard boarding pass, so I had printed it for me and my friend/sorority sister who was sailing with me. We entered the terminal and took the escalator to the 2nd floor. The check in process took about 5 minutes, where the agent, took our photo, scanned our passports, and handed us a “What to expect” document. From there we walked to the gangway and boarded the ship. As we entered a string quartet was playing in the Grand Lobby. The staff dressed in their formal red uniforms greeted us with smiles and a friendly warm “welcome aboard”.

We made our way to our cabin and dropped off our backpacks. Our luggage was going to be delivered to the cabin for us and to our surprise, our bags were being delivered as we were walking to our cabin door. Our sailing cards/ship cards were outside our door. We were staying in a Britannia Balcony (sheltered) cabin which is approximately 269 sq. ft. Our cabin steward greeted us and introduced herself to us. She also showed us how to work the AC unit, showed us the robes and slippers provided by Cunard to each cabin and let us know she would be coming by twice a day to clean the room and turn down the beds sometime around dinner. The cabin was well decorated and quite large. There was plenty of closet space and the bathroom also had cabinet space under the sink. The shower stall had a curtain and a shower head that could also be a hand held. There was two towel hooks, three small shelves and plenty of counter space. We had the beds arranged as two twins, but there was an option to have 1 queen bed. Each bed was flanked with a night stand and there was a sofa which could be converted into a bed. The balcony had two lounge chairs and a small table. The room also had a TV hanging on the wall, a dressing table, chair, two lamps and a mini refrigerator. Cunard provided us with a small bottle of champagne to welcome us aboard. The queen Mary 2 has a variety of cabin types and suites.

After unpacking and settling in we decided to tour the ship to get an idea of where things were and what we could expect for the next 8 days. The ship was amazing. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that there are plenty of elevators throughout the ship, however sometimes the ship seemed like a maze navigating through the different areas. The Queen Mary 2 offers a variety of restaurants, bars and dining experiences. While cabins are assigned a main dining room, travelers have the option to eat at specialty dining restaurants (for an extra cost) or the main buffet or other included restaurant options. The ship also has the largest onboard library at sea in the world. The Spa was something we took advantage of and truly enjoyed. The casino isn’t large, but has table games and slot machines. The QM2 also has an onboard kennel for travelers who bring their dogs on the trip. The kennel gives every dog a Cunard jacket and there are even a faux dog park with a light pole and fire hydrant for the dogs to explore on during their outdoor time. The outdoor space was vast with plenty of chairs to enjoy the multi-day sea days. The ship has a golf simulator, pickle ball court, ping pong and a pool area with a retractable roof. The view from the observation deck was perfect for star gazing, but it gets really chilly at night and early in the morning.

The activities on board ranged from dancing and painting classes, Bingo, casino tournaments, Broadway style shows, classical music performances, ball room dancing shows, silent discos, educational lectures with a variety of topics, onboard shopping, trivia, wine pairing, mixology classes, ship tours, afternoon champagne and tea, destination lectures, gym and spa classes and experiences and movies. We played bingo daily and took part in the water color painting classes. I personally had never taken a painting class so I found it very interesting and relaxing. We purchased a thermal spa pass which gave us access to the wet and dry areas within the spa daily and the special promo also included a massage. I also participated in an Eye photography activity. It was fun and the final image of my eye turned out as a beautiful print.

The two ports on the particular west bound sailing on QM2 were Southampton, UK and Le Havre, France. In Southampton my friend and I walked around the quaint port town and had lunch at a yummy restaurant called “Pig in the Wall” (https://www.thepighotel.com/in-the-wall/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local&utm_campaign=GMB-pig-in-wall) which is also a local hotel in addition to to being a restaurant. A majority of the food items had some sort of pork or bacon as a main ingredient. The restaurant was so cute and reasonably priced. I also went to a local Abbey called Netley Abbey. This abbey was over 800 years old. The grounds were beautiful and only about 15 minutes from the Southampton cruise terminal.

In Le Havre, France we again walked around the town, visited the Normandy War Memorial and beach. I learned so much about the devastating effects WW2 had on Le Havre. While it has been rebuilt and grown over the years, the city still has a lot of historical statues and relics.

The Trans-Atlantic crossing was a wonderful experience, where I met lots of new friends and learned a lot about the Cunard brand. I hope that I can experience the sailing again someday and I would love to help travelers have the amazing experiences that I had on board. If you are interested in taking a Trans-Atlantic crossing either West bound or East Bound, call LH World Travel and I am happy to help you plan your trans-Atlantic adventure.