Two cheers for the new Queen

The biggest liner ever launches next year. Gary Buchanan gets a preview

From The Sunday Times (article not online any more)

Concorde has gone. The QE2 is going. How on earth are we going to get across the pond in style any more? Well, there’s a new ship on the Atlantic horizon. Three years ago, Cunard Line announced the construction of the largest passenger vessel ever. The 150,000-ton Queen Mary 2 (QM2), more than twice the size of the QE2, is due to be named by the Queen on January 8, then begin its transatlantic life.
It cost £540m, and is one of the most complex integrations of design and machinery ever attempted. But is it any good — good enough to persuade passengers to fork out as much as £19,169 for the six-day crossing? Last week, The Sunday Times was given a sneak preview at its shipyard on the Loire.

First, let me dazzle you with the statistics: 17 decks (the equivalent of a 23-storey building); four football pitches long; 2,620 passengers. There are 1,310 cabins divided into 25 grades, from modest inside cabins to split-level duplex apartments complete with butler. A whopping 955 cabins have balconies — more than any other ship serving the British cruise market (though, unless you’re sailing in high summer, inclement weather might dampen your fun).

Then there’s the entertainment. Unlike its predecessor, the Queen Mary (currently residing in Long Beach, California), QM2 is an egalitarian ship — with the exception of the Queens Grill, Princess Grill and a cocktail lounge (for those occupying the top suites), all passengers have the run of the ship. The spectacular Britannia Restaurant, three decks high, is where most passengers will dine. Alternatively, the Kings Court will serve Italian and Asian cuisine, and there is a carvery and Chef’s Galley, while Todd English (something of a celebrity chef in America) serves à la carte food both inside and around the Terrace Pool.

Passengers can indulge in afternoon tea under a canopy of crystal chandeliers in the Winter Garden, or stargaze in the 493-seat planetarium. West End-style revue shows are staged in the 1,094-seat Royal Court Theatre, and the blue-rinse brigade can waltz the night away on the largest dancefloor at sea. QM2 has a six-deck-high Grand Lobby, 14 bars, five swimming pools, 37 lifts and an art collection valued at £3.5m.

Dazzled? Yes — but does the new flagship of the Cunard fleet hark back to the grand days of ocean travel, or is she a Disneyland that has escaped to sea? The impressive bridge-front and prow stand ready to cut a swath through the world’s oceans; but the profile resembles a high-rise resort with endless balconies. This British-registered ship is an American vision of what a grand liner should look like.

There’s no doubt that QM2’s architects have drawn on Cunard’s 164-year history and come up with an interpretation of what the 21st-century trav- eller would expect of a great ocean-going liner. Imposing promenades, high ceilings and grand staircases are all there; so, too, is the latest in modern technology. Sadly, the creative flair of the designer’s pen has not been transcribed into reality. The classicism is faux, the Britishness contrived.

What is evident is that the French shipyard has built this mighty vessel to a budget — albeit the biggest budget in the history of passenger ships. Nobody could deny that the proportions are on a grand scale, it’s just that it is not the alpha and omega of refinement. Two months before the first fare-paying passengers embark, the shipyard team is applying sticky-backed plastic, instead of fine silk fabrics, to the walls of the Queens Grill; a laminate veneer, rather than inlaid wood, is being glued into place in the Britannia Restaurant; in the Kings Court, trompe l’oeil murals are being sketched where fine art should hang.

It would be unfair to describe the interior of this mighty liner as tacky. Some rooms look magnificent: the soignée Commodore Club is reminiscent of the Observation Bar on Queen Mary; the Canyon Ranch Spa (operated by a trendy US operation rather than a tried-and-trusted British name such as Champneys) is the last word in indulgence; and the Royal Court Theatre has better sightlines than any on Broadway.

But as an interpretation of the art-deco aesthetic the designers were trying to achieve, the ship falls short.

Travel details: apart from the sold-out maiden voyage from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale on January 12, there is availability on most sailings. In February and March, there will be cruises to the Caribbean and South America from Fort Lauderdale.

On April 25, QM2 sails in tandem with QE2 (its last official transatlantic crossing) from New York to Southampton before commencing a summer season in the Med and Norway. There will be 15 crossings between Southampton and New York, during which, to reflect modern trends, there will be only two formal nights. Prices start at £499pp for a four-night sampler cruise from Southampton to Guernsey and Cherbourg in April, and at £999pp for a transatlantic crossing. Call 0800 052 3840 or visit www.cunard.co.uk.