Managing Editor Rebecca Tobin spent seven days onboard the remastered Queen Mary 2, on a transatlantic crossing from New York to Southampton, England.
ONBOARD THE QUEEN MARY 2 __ A transatlantic cruise is not complete without a glass of celebratory bubbly by your side.
It's not a hard lesson to learn, nor abide by, and the Queen Mary 2 makes it easy for you.
I've been covering the Queen since 2002, and I visited the yard in France (back then Chantiers de l'Atlantique, to my mind, the most romantic of shipyard names) when the liner was under construction. The very British ship was not being built in Great Britain, where so many Cunard vessels took shape, much to the chagrin of some traditionalists. But the QM2's construction in Saint-Nazaire did provide Cunard with, among other things, a tie to one of France's most famous exports.
The QM2 was summarily christened with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, and the line's connection to the French house persists to this day.
In fact, the Queen's Veuve Clicquot Champagne lounge ranked almost as high on my to-do list as the transatlantic voyage itself. After all those years of reading, writing, interviewing and walking the ship (and one short cruise from New York to St. Thomas with Princess and Cunard's top producers), I'd never gotten onboard for the ship's signature purpose.
I will do a transatlantic cruise someday, I thought as I interviewed former Cunard president Pamela Conover and reminisced about when she met Queen Elizabeth II quayside in Southampton for the QM2's naming. I'll celebrate with a glass of Veuve when I get onboard.
Of course, the best laid plans and all that. I didn't actually make it to the Champagne bar until Day Four. But by then I'd had several other opportunities to imbibe a glass of the stuff, starting with the petite bottle of sparkling wine Cunard left in our cabin as a welcome-aboard gift.
I always love this gesture. There's nothing better than stepping out onto your balcony for the first time (you did upgrade your clients to a balcony, right?) with a glass in hand. It's just so ... celebratory. And it's a perfect bon voyage if you're not up for mingling at the sailaway party.
But mingling is in order on the QM2, as its true bon voyage is its dramatic departure from New York, when most passengers head to the top decks to watch the ship squeeze under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. This is a must-do, since it really does look like the mast and funnel are not going to make it (the clearance is something like 20 feet).
Some lines might pass tropical drinks during the sailaway, but not Cunard. It sets up stations of Veuve Clicquot.
Cunard is known for its formality; jackets are required for men even on "informal" nights. And on the first formal night (Day Three) a glass of Champagne is de rigueur when mingling with the other Brittania-class swells at the captain's cocktail party. (It's altogether possible that the captain's parties with the Princess- and Queens Grill-level passengers are even more swell).
At Verandah, the specialty restaurant that replaced the Todd English, servers suggest a glass of Champagne to start the meal, even at lunch. Ah, vacation.
There is tea service daily in the Queens Room, but for a (relatively) modest splurge, there is a Champagne tea at 3:30 p.m. at the Veuve Clicquot Champagne lounge.
About the lounge: It's elegantly done up with accents of Veuve Yellow (almost as recognizable on the ship as Cunard Red), gray, black, cream and gold. Guests can choose a windowside table to watch the sea slide by, a quiet corner or a seat by the railing that separates it from the Grand Lobby in order to passenger-watch. It's not quite as comfy as the adjacent Chart Room, but it's certainly elegant, definitely a place for a toast.
Several different varieties are for sale, from the nonvintage Yellow Label Brut to the La Grande Dame ("Uncompromising quality," says the menu). We chose a Champagne flight comprised of the Brut, rose and demi-sec wines, in order to taste the differences.
(While I'm waxing about the availability of sparkling wine onboard, I'm not suggesting a passenger can't enjoy a transatlantic cruise if they're not imbibing alcohol. My preference is a glass of sparkling water, which seems festive).
But in case you want to save your celebratory drink for the final night of the voyage, when the ship approaches land, there likely still be options onboard. Cunard loads 370 bottles of champagne (along with more than 2,300 bottles of wine) into the hold for each crossing.