It all worked for me - Letters - Letter to the Editor

Cruise Travel, March-April, 2002 by Walter H. Drost

Allan Jordan's article, "Hail & Farewell To The Classic Liner," (Cruise Travel, February 2002), was both interesting and well done. However, I must take issue with a concluding statement that appears to apply to a whole list of fine older ships, in which he includes the Caronia, and to which he makes a connection to those already gone. He says, "While it's true that not everything always worked on these ships, and they may have lacked the amenities of even their peers, that was part of the charm of sailing on them."

I sailed the Caronia for two weeks in October and everything worked. Under her present Carnival ownership and Cunard management, she is a well cared for, even pampered, vessel. She is beautiful, sumptuous, lush, from her state-of-the-art bridge to the classy, glassed-in alternate dining room aft overlooking a real lido on three deck levels. The recent refit gave her a glistening new interior to complement the classic lines that make her a joy to be in on the open sea. The cabin bathrooms are of polished marble identical to those of the QE2.

I've sailed the QE2 on 30 crossings in the last 10 years. Every year she gets better. Even by that standard the Caronia was impressive. Cunard ships are only as old as their last refit. This was my first time on the Caronia, but before I got off, I booked her for a month in 2002.

Of one statement in the article I am in total agreement. One does become part of an extended family: "Cunard Family" is an oft used expression. This is especially true of the QE2 because she makes regular crossings and has continuity of staffing. One is cared for as though he were a guest in an English country house in a Wodehouse novel. Now that the Caronia is British flagged and shares officers with the QE2, she is also very much a part of that family. And it is a growing family.

Walter H. Drost, Milwaukee, WI

We felt that Allan Jordan's "not everything always worked" statement applied to ships recently removed from service, and those on their last legs, not to the Caronia, a well-maintained ship from one of the leading cruise lines of the world, and one we rated worthy of recent Ship of the Month coverage.