Queen Mary 2: the world's largest liner is poised to rule the waves

Cruise Travel, May-June, 2004 by Theodore W. Scull

In May 1998 Carnival Corporation purchased the venerable Cunard Line, the most famous name in the shipping business. Wasting no time, Carnival immediately announced a highly ambitious project to construct for Cunard the largest, widest, tallest, and most expensive passenger ship in history--the Queen Mary 2.

This short list of superlatives revealed only part of the story, for the new ship would be destined to become the first true trans-Atlantic liner since the Queen Elizabeth 2 entered service way back in 1969. Naysayers thought Cunard was out of its tree back then, hut the QE2 has more than proven her worth and by year's end will pass the Aquitania (1914-1949) as the longest serving Cunard liner on record. Carnival Corporation, the world's largest and most successful cruise company, had the financial resources to construct, for a premium price, a one-of-a kind ship to undertake express Atlantic crossings for half the year and to compete in the mainstream cruise market at other times. Chantiers de l'Atlantique at St. Nazaire, France, won the order; the contract was signed in November 2000; and construction commenced at the famed shipyard where earlier great liners such as the France and Normandie had been born.

Several unique design specifications make the QM2 different from a warm-water Caribbean resort ship. A long, slim hull allows her to maintain an exacting schedule between New York City and Southampton, England, by averaging just over 25 knots regardless of adverse weather conditions. If she should fall behind, her considerable reserve power can drive her up to nearly 30 knots, as she demonstrated on her sea trials in December. In heavy weather the liner's slender bow will slice through the waves (in the same conditions, the blunt bow of a cruise ship results in such pressure and stress that speed has to be greatly reduced). For added strength, the steel hull from the keel to the boat deck is 50 percent thicker, and extra care has been taken in welding procedures and stiffening the main bulkheads.

But there ale also concessions to increase her appeal as a modern cruise ship, such as eight decks of balcony cabins. Lest one conjure up a giant wave sweeping the balcony partitions away, the lowest three decks with balcony cabins are recessed into the hull well above the waterline--at the same height as One Deck on the QE2. Also, a breakwater on the foredeck will diminish the impact of a rogue wave crashing against the superstructure.

Having crossed the Atlantic by sea dozens of times since my teenage years. I had high hopes for the new ship. At the outset I winced at the cruise-ship balcony look and the glossy advertising aimed at youngish passengers looking for a resort lifestyle with a brand-name health spa and champagne bar, plus celebrity restaurateur. The curly advertising touted none of the romance of the ocean-liner experience, and the first year's sailing plan had tar ton many mundane Caribbean cruises in an already crowded market, but only 13 Atlantic crossings. However, in 2005 the ship is scheduled for 26 trans-Atlantics, making her a useful alternative to flying to and from Europe.

After some initial hesitation, I booked the QM2's maiden voyage, a 14-day crossing from England via five islands to Florida. Arriving at the dockside terminal in Southampton on an early January afternoon, I gazed up at the most imposing passenger ship I had ever seen, at her towering yet graceful forward superstructure, the long slender bow, and unmistakable Cunard red funnel. Then going aboard, initial impressions reveal public rooms, corridors, and foyers on the same generous scale I recalled from long-ago voyages on the French liner Liberte and Cunard's first Queen Elizabeth.

An open teakwood promenade, sheltered by lifeboats, stretches almost the entire length of the 1,132-foot QM2. Handsome, green-cushioned, wooden steamer chairs line the railing--or can be moved into cozy recesses between multiple bay windows. Sailing south, the weather soon warmed, and promenaders came out in force to chat with seated friends, an age old social tradition at sea.

Within, long sightlines extend the full length of the high and wide central passage, its walls framed by artful bas-reliefs depicting the four seasons and the four elements, then on through the central atrium to a large portrait of the line's founder, Sir Samuel Canard. On close examination, the portrait's ingenious effect is created by 7,000 miniature picture-postcards of the Cunard fleet.

As viewed from the entrance to the main Britannia Restaurant, a lighted dome arcs over a three-deck-high space rimmed by three tiers of balconies connected to the main level via a sweeping double staircase. A vertical tapestry, a richly colorful centerpiece, depicts a giant liner set against the New York skyline. Unlike the ship's grill rooms, the main dining room has two seatings, but no one would ever feel like a second-class passenger in this grand setting.

Equally impressive, the Queens Room--elegant, columned, and two decks high--recalls a retro Art Deco ocean-liner style with large windows looking out to sea. A white glove afternoon tea takes place in the good company of a harpist, piano player, or trio, and later in the day the room becomes a ballroom for serious dancing, and later still a lounge for cabaret acts.