Crossing the Atlantic by Sea on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth

          It took six and a half days to cross the Atlantic Ocean by ship—a trip we could have completed in a little more than eight hours by air—but Scott had long wanted to do an ocean crossing, so we decided to take the long route over and the more efficient one back. 

Queen Elizabeth in port at Ponta Delgada,  Azores

We chose to make this voyage on one of the storied “Cunard Queens” as they are the grand dames of transatlantic crossings.  The Queen Mary 2 regularly sails between New York City and Southampton (London) while the Queen Elizabeth makes the journey only a few times each year, sailing between Fort Lauderdale, Florida and somewhere in Europe.  In our case, the end point is
Barcelona.

As we sailed, we explored the history of this ship and cruise line and found many fascinating details.  Samuel Cunard began providing transatlantic steamship service in 1840.  His company was established primarily to provide mail service between Canada and England.  His first ship, the Britannia, had space for 115 passengers, a milk cow, a flock of chickens to provide eggs, and three cats to control vermin.  Samuel’s father had been born in the American colonies but was deported to Canada for supporting the British during the Revolutionary War.  The first Cunard ship sailed from Halifax, but later ships sailed from either New York City or Boston. 

Janet Gaynor on board a Cunard ship

Charles Dickens was a passenger on a Cunard ship in 1842.  The list of other celebrities—movie stars, royals, and presidents—who have sailed on Cunard ships is long, and photos of many decorate the stairwells of the current ships.

The Cunard Shipping Company had a number of “workhorse ships” which carried mail and emigrants.  Scott’s mother’s grandparents, John Love and Jane Galloway, were among those, sailing from Ireland to New York in the 1880s.  In doing research on his family, I discovered records of John Love’s passage on the Cunard manifests.

For a number of years, one of Cunard’s ships, the Carpathia, carried Hungarian emigrants to New York under contract with the Hungarian government.  In April, 1912, while on one of these voyages, the Carpathia’s radio operator was the only one to hear the distress call from the sinking Titanic.  The ship’s captain guided the Carpathia through ice floes in the dark of night and without the benefit of radar.  They rescued about 700 Titanic survivors from life boats, doubling the ship’s passenger load.  All were delivered safely to New York City where the ship and her captain were greeted with a hero’s welcome. 

The first of the “Cunard Queens,” Mary, was launched in 1934 by Queen Mary, wife of England’s King George V.  It was dubbed “the stateliest ship now in being.”  The second queen, Elizabeth, was launched a few years later in 1938 by Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI and mother of then-Princess Elizabeth.  The new ship was unable to sail commercially, however, until many years later, because her christening occurred simultaneously with Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and the beginning of World War II. 

Cunard ships were requisitioned by the British Admiralty during wartimes—including during both World Wars—ferrying troops to battle and the injured and dead home.  The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were especially important in ferrying American troops heading to the battlefields of Europe.  These two ships were built to carry about three thousand passengers each but regularly transported full divisions of up to 15,000—and once over 16,000—American soldiers to Europe and thousands of wounded back.  More than half of the soldiers participating in D-Day arrived in Europe on one of these two ships.  All told the two Queens carried more than a million soldiers across the Atlantic.  In addition, three of the meetings between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt took place on one of these ships.  One estimate is that the efficiency of the Queens for transport may have reduced the length of the war by as much as a year.   

Grand stairway in QE lobby

After the war and into the 1960s, sailing across the Atlantic and to other ports around the world was popular (think, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and An Affair to Remember).  A new Queen Elizabeth, known as the QE2, was launched in 1967.  However, air travel was becoming more popular and less expensive, and the grand dames of the Atlantic lost popularity, thus causing Cunard to lose money.

Competition exploded in the 1990s as other companies entered the cruise business and marketed themselves as all-inclusive resorts and floating entertainment palaces.  In 1998, the financially-troubled Cunard line was purchased by the Carnival Corporation, which, in addition to its own name-brand ships, acquired or developed the Holland America, Windstar, and Seabourn lines.  The Cunard name was maintained with the launch of three new ships:  Queen Mary 2 in 2004, Queen Victoria in 2007, and a brand-new Queen Elizabeth in 2010—170 years after the first ship sailed under the Cunard flag.  A fourth queen—Anne—is scheduled to join the fleet in 2023.

The Queen Elizabeth, on which we are currently sailing, was designed to recall the first Elizabeth of the 1930s and is decorated in a beautiful art deco motif.  It is an elegant ship that can carry just over two thousand passengers and a thousand crew.  So why sail to Europe when we could fly so easily?  In our case, the journey is the vacation.  For two weeks we are relaxing in luxury in a smallish but comfortable stateroom with a balcony and twice-daily maid-service.  The food is good, varied, beautifully presented, and abundant.  And the cost is reasonable.  I was talking with another passenger one day who said that she and her husband were paying less for this cruise than they would have had to pay for business-class airfare to Europe this summer. 

Calm seas in the middle of the ocean

Fortunately, on our passage, the weather and the seas have been perfect.  We were a bit worried that the Atlantic hurricane season might be troublesome, but we’ve had only a little wind and one day of light rain.  On several days, the seas were so calm that the expanse before us looked like a sheet of glass.

An unanticipated downside on this voyage has been a resurgence of covid infection numbers.  We had to present proof of vaccination and a negative covid test result to board the ship, yet the infection is present.  We don’t know how prevalent it is as no one will provide numbers, but a section of staterooms on each deck is locked off for those in quarantine.  Strict safety protocols have been enacted requiring wearing of masks and maintaining social distance wherever possible.  We are happy to comply and, so far, have remained healthy.  One unexpected safety measure was the closing of the ship’s self-service laundry rooms.  We had planned to be able to do laundry so have had to resort to washing out essentials in our bathroom sink.  But this is a rather trivial inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

Masked waiters serving afternoon tea

We have loved being on a cruise line that has such a rich history.  In addition, here are some of the other reasons that we have enjoyed this transatlantic crossing aboard the Queen Elizabeth:

The elegant ship.  As noted before, the ship is beautiful, and sometimes I just sit and delight in the small touches of swooping curtains, decorated columns, curved stairways, and detailed light fixtures.  Evenings reinforce the ship’s elegance as passengers are expected to dress for dinner in the main restaurant.  There are occasional formal evenings on which tuxedos and formal gowns appear.  I enjoy this change of pace in my days, but not everyone does.  For those who choose not to put on a dress or jacket, the Lido dinner buffet line remains open.

Three-story atrium with grand piano in the center

The music.  Throughout the afternoons and evenings, there is live music somewhere on the ship.  There are multiple venues and styles to choose from—string quartet, classical piano, Irish folk fiddle, jazz, guitar, folk singers, and easy-listening piano and song.  Each evening there is a show in the three-tiered Royal Theatre.  The on-board professional dance company and singers present different shows alternated with specialty acts brought on board just for one or two nights.

The dancing.  People who dance say that they choose the Cunard Queens for the dance floors and bands.  We are miserable dancers but have enjoyed watching those who are more accomplished and graceful as they glide around the floor each evening.  There are ballroom dancing classes offered every day.  We took one but were impatient with our uncoordinated attempts at learning to waltz and quit.  We have decided that on the next cruise we just have to go more consistently and try to learn the rhumba, fox trop, cha-cha, and other such dance steps.  We have done a bit better in the Zumba and line dancing classes where we don’t care so much about getting it exactly right, and we have gotten some good aerobic exercise as a result.

Ready to waltz on one of the gala evenings

The multiple spaces and availability of activities.  Even on sea days, this ship is large enough to allow us to find somewhere to be away from people and enjoy a good book.  The ship has a well-stocked library, and Scott has found several books to read, while I have been working my way through some of the fifty or so books downloaded on my Kindle.  I am participating in an afternoon Pilates class most days (at an added charge), and Scott is working out in the exercise room (no charge).  We could play bridge or mahjong if we wished.  There are several trivia competitions each day.  There are a number of game courts—croquet, ping pong, something like bocce ball, pickle ball, shuffleboard—two swimming pools, and a hot tub.  There is no water park or roller coaster, but I don’t need those.  The English Pub has “killer dart” tournaments daily, and there is a mostly-empty casino on board.  One of our dinner companions took a class in the basics of gambling and has enjoyed spending and winning small amounts of money.

The international clientele.  While Americans are plentiful on board, there are many other nationalities represented—Brits, Australians, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, and perhaps others.  We talked with a German man who said there are 400 Germans on board.  We enjoy hearing other languages and having opportunities to learn something about other cultures and traditions. 

Of course, there are also some things about Cunard and the Queen Elizabeth that we do not like.  Here are a few of our frustrations.

Fares are not all-inclusive which means that we have to pay extra for things like soft drinks, alcohol, and internet access.  We don’t typically drink soft drinks so that hasn’t been a problem.  Paying for alcohol by the drink turns out to have a positive side as we are consuming much less than we have on other ships. 

We have paid for a few days of access, but the internet service is intermittent at best which has caused great consternation.  And international cell service plans do not apply to cruise ships, so we have only been able to access our plan when we are in port.  But we’ve discovered that taking an internet/cell-service break and being disconnected for a few days at a time is not really a bad thing. 

Evening walk around the deck at sunset

Dinner in the ship’s Britannia Restaurant is by assigned seating at either 6:00 or 8:00.  We elected the earlier option and eat each night with two other couples—one from South Carolina and the other from Australia.  We have enjoyed getting to know the other American couple and the Australian woman, but her husband has been something of a trial to us as he seems never to stop talking.  There are alternative dining options, but we like the restaurant best. 

All in all, we have enjoyed this particular cruise.  We’ve had a few port calls and have appreciated the opportunity to get off of the ship and explore new places, but then we are happy to have another sea day.  As one of our dinner companions noted, “port days just disrupt my routine.”  And, over a number of sea days, we have developed a routine that we quite enjoy.  We may have to do this again.

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Note:  The historic information about Cunard was taken from a book by Eric Flounders and Michael Gallagher titled The Story of Cunard’s 175 Years, published by Ferry Publications in 2011.