what an interesting thread! we’ve talked of spending a few months in Europe in warmer weather during January/February and taking the Queen Mary II because they take dogs. Apparently, the kennel reservation is harder to get than a cabin reservation because there are so few!
Would love a trip report from @thumper1 !
If I have decent internet, I’ll send pics!
Is this booked typically as a round-trip cruise, or one-way?
I think if I were going to do it, I’d likely do the one-way option: sail the seas to Europe, spend a week there, and fly home.
They’re usually one way. I think a lot of them are repositioning cruises at the beginning or end of the season.
I remember when my grandparents sailed to Europe on the Queen Mary in the early 1960s. The whole family boarded the ship in New York for a reception and then we got off and waved goodbye and threw streamers from the dock as the ship pulled out. I bet they don’t do that anymore.
The Cunard site certainly sells the passage as a round trip, but I’d think the allure would fade for the return trip. Friends who took it previously adored the crossing to Europe, but took a repositioning back to NY from Italy on a line less stately than Cunard, and were less than impressed. From what I understand, it is a better environmental choice than flying, though have not looked up the details.
I think that would hold true for me as well - one way and done.
I love to cruise and love sea days so the only concern I would have would be the rough seas, and no one has any control over that - nor a 100% accurate way to forecast it.
I’ve recently read two travel blogs - one by a couple of seasoned cruisers who cruised to Antarctica and had to pass through the Drake Passage (notoriously really rough seas), and another who recently accompanied her parents on the Cunard transatlantic from NY to Europe (a bucket list item for her parents).
The wife of the couple who cruised to Antarctica was prone to seasickness and suffered greatly even though the Drake Passage when they crossed was considered the “Drake Lake” (only 9ft seas). Can’t imagine what the “Drake Shake” conditions are like!
The woman who did the Cunard crossing also experienced a couple of days of rough seas (and ensuing seasickness). She did say that she fully enjoyed the ship and service that Cunard provided. Even though she was not keen on having to follow a dress code, she understood the rules before booking and followed them without complaint. She concluded that she was a one and done for a transatlantic cruise but was glad to be able to do it with her parents.