Queen Mary 2 Returns to Service

Cunard's grand Queen Mary 2 has returned to service after her most significant refurbishment in years, which saw every cabin and several public rooms receive a new look. Before she went to sea, a specially-commissioned portrait of Her Majesty The Queen was unveiled. The Queen named the ship in January 2004 and the portrait will hang in the Grand Lobby.

The refurbishment took place at the Blohm & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, from November 24 to December 6, with work undertaken in all staterooms, the Canyon Ranch SpaClub, the Queens Grill and Princess Grill Restaurants, the Commodore Club, the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar, Sir Samuel’s Bar and Lounge and children’s Play Zone. The popular Golden Lion Pub was completely redesigned.

Peter Shanks, Cunard President and Managing Director, said: “Queen Mary 2 is an iconic leader in the world of luxury ocean travel and receives consistently high ratings by guests and the cruise industry. A ship that still turns heads everywhere she goes, she is unquestionably the pride of our fleet. We are committed to maintaining that impeccable reputation, and this significant refurbishment is an important investment on behalf of our guests.”

The 14-day refit required a team of thousands of workers replacing the equivalent of almost ten football fields of carpet and manufacturing about 18 miles of fabric into over 6,000 individual items. Over 1,250 loads were craned on to the ship and 20,000 litres of paint and varnish used.

For more info and booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's luxury cruise specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

Cruise For A Tenor With Cunard!

Cunard has introduced a new four-night winter voyage on board Queen Mary 2, departing Southampton on December 81. With prices starting at just £599 per person, the voyage’s star entertainment will be the four-tenor classical pop group, Blake.



Peter Shanks, Cunard President and Managing Director, explains: “We have been able to introduce this extra pre-Christmas sailing because the ships' planned refit in November can be completed in less time than we allowed. Passengers on this additional voyage will not only benefit from keen pricing and top quality entertainment, but they will also be the first to experience the totally refurbished Queen Mary 2!”



In the November dry-docking, all the cabins and most of the public rooms on the ship will be refurbished. The itinerary for the Southampton round-trip voyage features Le Havre (for Paris) and Zeebrugge (for Bruges), as well as a whole relaxing day at sea.



Blake launched their first album in 2007, and saw it go straight to number one in the UK Classical Album Chart. In 2008, the group secured a Brit Award for Album of the Year. They have subsequently sold over half a million albums. This short voyage is an ideal way to experience Queen Mary 2 for the first time, and it will make an ideal Christmas break for those anxious to get into the festive mood.



For more information, vist www.cunard.com or contact the luxury crusie agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

Cunard's Royal Flush

Here's a fun little press release from Cunard this week: The three most famous ships among UK adults, according to a new survey, were all named by The Queen.

The YouGov survey, which included a random sample of 2,065 adults and weighted to represent the population as a whole, showed the most recognised ship in unprompted responses from the general public is Cunard's former flagship Queen Elizabeth 2, closely followed by the company's current flagship Queen Mary 2, and the newly-launched Queen Elizabeth.

The survey also targeted those who had cruised in the last five years and the top three most recalled ships again comprise Cunard's total current fleet! In first place is Queen Mary 2, followed by Queen Victoria - named by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall in 2007 - and then Queen Elizabeth. Other findings in the survey, which was commissioned by Carnival UK and conducted last November, also show Cunard deliver against the key attributes which are important to cruisers in such areas as food quality, service standards, trustworthiness and standard of accommodation.

For information about Cunard Cruises, visit www.cunard.co.uk or contact luxury cruise agents The Cruise Line Ltd.

Cunard's Grand New Programme

With three ships now in the fleet, Cunard Line has announced its widest ever range of voyages for 2012, with 84 voyages visiting 129 ports and 48 countries around the world. The launch is supported by a comprehensive range of Early Booking incentives including, for the first time, an additional 10% saving on all voyages booked before May 31.

Cunard Line will celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and Her Majesty’s long association with Cunard, with a unique Three Queens Event in Southampton on June 5, 2012, the Bank Holiday Jubilee Celebration.

Queen Elizabeth will spend the first half of the summer sailing out of Southampton before setting off on her inaugural Mediterranean Fly-Voyage season from Venice, Civitavecchia (Rome) and Athens on a series of 12-night voyages. In early 2013 she will embark on a new Pacific Islands voyage, offering a 91-night sailiing from Southampton or a 36-night voyage from Los Angeles.

Queen Victoria has developed a very loyal following and will spend the summer sailing out of Southampton to the most popular Northern Europe and Mediterranean destinations. A new feature will be overnight stays in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Istanbul, St Petersburg, Madeira and Venice – giving guests more time to experience the destinations.

Queen Mary 2 goes from strength to strength on her unique Transatlantic Voyages and will cross the Atlantic 20 times during 2012. She will also offer voyages to Northern Europe, Canada and New England and a new 16-night Central Mediterranean voyage. The Transatlantic is fast becoming a ‘must do’ choice for regular cruisers.

The programme goes on sale worldwide on April 4. Other highlights include:

Value for Money - This year, Cunard is offering exceptional savings to those booking prior to May 31. For example, Early Booking Savings of up to £900 per couple are available on a typical 12-night voyage. There is also complimentary onboard spending available of between $40 and $1000 per couple on Mediterranean fly-cruises and transatlantic crossings. And complimentary car parking is available to guests booking 2012 Southampton round-trip voyages with durations of five nights or more (excluding round-trip transatlantic crossings and World Voyages).

Overnight Stays – Feedback from passengers has shown that they would like to spend more time in big-hitting destinations, so all three ships will now offer overnight stays that include Amsterdam, Venice, Rome, Hamburg, St Petersburg, Boston, Quebec, Madeira and Barcelona.

Traditional Values – As the pace of life accelerates, the values, traditions and White Star Service experienced with Cunard are gaining more and more recognition, both from loyal Cunarders and with first-timers to the brand. For example, on many cruise lines shorts can often be seen in dining rooms. This would never happen on a Cunard ship. Dancing is going through a renaissance through high-profile television programmes in many countries. With state-of-the-art ball rooms, the biggest dance floors at sea, big bands and dance hosts, Cunard is setting the standards and attracting many passengers who hanker for a taste of tradition and class.

For more information, visit http://www.cunard.co.uk/ or contact the specialist agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

Inside Queen Mary 2

We were thrilled with the latest edition of World of Cruising magazine (our summer issue), which came out superbly well with a good blend of adventure cruising, luxury style and ship reviews, as well as our 'regulars' like The Admiral, Aft View and the essential World of Spas.

But we also had a LOT of the special Queen Mary 2 cuisine feature by photo-journalist Andrew Maclear which we couldn't fit into the 5-page spread, even though the photos we were able to use illustrated the piece beautifully.

However, Andrew has very graciously posted the full photographic study that he put together online, so readers of both World of Cruising and Time Spent At Sea can see the genuine in-depth visual presentation that went with it.

You can look up the full details here: Queen Mary 2 photo-spread

New World of Cruising

The new edition of World of Cruising is now up and running and available for order, for anyone who is not already a subscriber.

The Summer issue is packed with great destination features and ship reviews, plus some superb historical perspectives on the evolution of cruising. We start with our in-depth look at the region of Chilean Patagonia with Nomads of the Seas (as we've previewed here on Time Spent At Sea), and then journey out take in The Nile, the Gulf of Arabia, the Brahmaputra River in India and on to the Galapagos.

We highlight the world's largest ship, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, and one of the smallest, the unique British-flagged Patricia of Trinity House. We also have another of our special Cruise Cuisine features, focusing on the large-scale but high-quality offerings of Cunard's Queen Mary 2.

Staying topical, we have an in-depth look at the subject of 'Green' Cruising and what makes a ship eco-friendly, while we obviously also have our usual array of regular features, like The Admiral, Aft View, Cruise Fashion and the Passenger Perspective view.

The essential World of Spas section visits the top spas of the Mediterranean, as well as offering the latest News and Beauty File treatments.

It all adds up to the very best reading anywhere in the wide World of Cruising, so make sure you're on board this summer!

PS: To subscribe click here!

Anticipating Oasis

I have just finished putting together a preview feature on Oasis of the Seas for the next issue of World of Cruising magazine (but you'll have to wait to Sept 15 to read it, though!).

With the latest 'webisode' of the Oasis story now up on their website, it is pretty amazing to see this gargantuan undertaking all coming together.

Her maiden voyage is set for December 1 and this 220,000-ton leviathan (did I say 220,000? It seems only a few years ago that 100,000 tons was pretty mind-boggling) will not just break into the record books but stomp all over them for some time to come.

The statistics of the ship alone are staggering - the longest-ever at 1,181ft (finally beating the Queen Mary 2), bigger by 66,000 tons than the previous largest, 48 categories of stateroom, 17 dining choices, her own purpose-built terminal at Port Everglades, etc, etc.

But the steady stream of info from Royal Caribbean has ensured they have maintained a good, solid interest in the new vessel, whether it's for record-breaking reasons or just because she's a fascinating piece of hardware.

The build process has highlighted the incredible technology involved (check out the Building Incredible and Introducing Oasis 'webisodes' on the site) and it does leave you asking - how will guests get to grips with something this large?

With 16 passenger decks and a beam in excess of 200ft, this is truly a ship of overwhelming proportions. The Royal Promenade is more than twice as wide as the Freedom and Voyager-class vessels and the entertainment offerings are even more dazzling.

It will take people at least a week to get their bearings, find out where everything is - and then it will be time to get off!

But one thing is for sure, NO-ONE will ever again be able to come out with the hoary old objection to cruising of: "It's so boring!"