On Cunard: Postcards from Sea, Then & Now
Style
A guest from New York City noted: “I prefer Cunard for lots of reasons but mostly because it is still dressy – and that’s what evenings on a big, beautiful ocean liner should be!”
Cunard Cruising
Another guest told me: “My grandmother loved Cunard and its very British style. Often she took the Queens to and from Southampton. But once, in the early 1960s, she took the Mauretania on a 65-day cruise around the entire Mediterranean. I think there was something like 25 ports of call. She loved Cunard’s formality and rituals: dressing for dinner, afternoon tea, the grand British service!”
Two Cunard liners compared: the Queen Elizabeth (left) and the Mauretania (right), the latter shown in Cunard’s distinctive “cruising green” livery used during her later cruise service years. From the William H. Miller Collection.
Linen Napkins
Invited to lunch in the Veranda Grill (excellent Dover Sole with cream spinach and even creamier mashed potatoes!). I did a talk at 4 pm and then invited to dinner (in the Britannia Restaurant) by a pair of world cruisers.
Royal Link
Cunard has had a long link to the British royal family – generally beginning in the 1920s and continuing to modern times. Below: Capt. Chris Wells explains details to the late Queen during the naming and commissioning of the Queen Elizabeth in Oct. 2010.
Earlier, the Queen had been to the launching of the original Queen Elizabeth back in Sept. 1938 and did a short trip onboard that ship in Oct. 1946. As Princess, she named the Caronia in Oct. 1947. And of course, Her Majesty named the QE2 in Sept. 1967 and the Queen Mary 2 in Jan. 2004.
Deep Affection
“You never forget your first love – and my first love was the QE2,” said a lady from Atlanta. “I had my very first cruise on her and had 40 or 50 afterward. It was beautiful, cozy and friendly – but most of all, it had a soul. It was as if the ship, the woods and panels and art, reached out and ‘hugged’ you!”
Romance on the High Seas
A lady from London lost her husband after 40 years of marriage, but now has recently remarried and told me: “We realize life can be short – and so we are doing the entire 15-week World Cruise and in Queens Grill as our honeymoon. I’ve never cruised before and so it is a big jump, something very different for me. Most of all, I’m worried about too much food. I could be a far different person when we finally return to Southampton!”
Underrated!
A guest from the UK, himself an engineer, told me: “The Queen Mary [1936] was a great ship and rightfully much loved and much honored, but I feel the Queen Elizabeth [1940] was also very fine and, in ways, even superior to the Queen Mary. So often, it has been underrated, in second place. Much had been learned from the innovative Normandie and so the Queen Elizabeth was actually superior, more advanced, even more modern and certainly improved.”
He added, “I was fortunate: I made a crossing on the Queen Elizabeth in her final Atlantic season, in 1968, and later visited the ship in Fort Lauderdale (seen below) in 1970, when there were shortlived plans to redo it as a hotel and museum similar to the Queen Mary in California.”
Memories
A guest from New York noted: “I still love the days of the QE2 and sailing (or arriving) in Manhattan. Watching the great skyline from the open decks was a highlight of any QE2 voyage. It was especially beautiful, even glorious, in late afternoon and as the skyscraper windows shimmered in that golden light. I also remember nighttime departures and when the City lights sparkled like jewels. And early morning arrivals when the City skyline emerged out of the mist or even fog. The orange-yellow light of early morning was brilliant!”
Maritime Memories
A New Yorker, Elsie, began crossing the Atlantic as a child in the 1950s. Her father was an international businessman and with family in England as well and so the family all but “commuted” on the great Atlantic liners. “I don’t think my list is quite complete,” she told me with a nostalgic smile, “but we crossed often on Cunard – on the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Mauretania – but also on the United States, America, Nieuw Amsterdam and later of course on the France and QE2. They were wonderful days on wonderful ships! Cunard was the most proper, the French had the best food and the Dutch were immaculate. The Americans were pleasant, but less formal and more friendly.”
Elsie is now on the world cruise, her 60th Cunard voyage.
Shampoo & Curlers
Fellow guest Jon told me his mother worked for Cunard for 12 years. She was employed in the beauty salon – and mostly on the Mauretania and Caronia, but occasionally also on the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. “But the Caronia was my mother’s favorite,” he noted. “It was said to be the most luxurious ship in the world, noted for its long, long cruises and its loyal clientele of mostly American millionaires. Mother actually made enough tips, large tips, onboard the Caronia to buy the family house and later a brand new car. She was a favorite hairdresser with rich ladies and especially on formal nights. She was booked from morning until night! And an added bonus: she saw the world while onboard. After she left the sea, she took the family to New York in the Queen Mary on one of that ship’s last crossings in 1967.”
Two Cunard liners from different eras: the Caronia at Durban during one of her Round Africa cruises (left) and the Queen Mary departing New York in 1957 with the Mauretania alongside (right). From the William H. Miller Collection.
Cocktails Before Dinner
From Birkenhead near Liverpool, fellow guest Geoff told me: “My father was a barman on the old Britannic [in the 1950s] and on the Media and Parthia. He sailed regularly between Liverpool and New York. He was very proud to work on Cunard ships. To him, Cunard was the ultimate shipping firm then in the very large British merchant navy. He had done a trip to South Africa on the Ellerman Lines, on the City of Exeter, but then was hired by Cunard. He was with Cunard for almost ten years. Working for Cunard in those days was very prestigious. He said Cunard crews even walked ashore with a certain style, a certain air of superiority.”
Two Cunard liners in port: the Britannic at New York’s Pier 54 beneath the Cunard White Star terminal sign (left) and the 250-passenger liner Media at Liverpool (right). From the William H. Miller Collection.
