Colorado Springs, CO.  Red Carpet Cruises. Luxury Cruise Specialists

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Queen Mary 2 Labor Day Cruise

Day 1: Embarkation

We pulled into Pier 12 in Brooklyn, New York this morning to begin our short, four-day Labor Day cruise on the legendary QUEEN MARY 2.  Now perhaps having priority boarding privileges as a Queens Grill Suite guest had something to do with it but as far as embarkations go, this was the fastest I’ve ever seen; just under ten minutes.  The terminal was spit shined, polished and had a definite Cunard air of sophistication.  We were directed to a separate ‘Grills Guest’ line and had our boarding cards within a matter of minutes.  Great start to our cruise!

So we eagerly took the elevator to Deck 10 and started looking for Suite 10060.  About 100 feet later, there it was.  Now I have to say I’ve heard a lot about Cunard, I’ve read a lot about the Cunard experience and Crystal and I have taken nearly thirty hours of Cunard coursework and exams to get our certifications as Commodores (Cunard certified experts).

However as I walked up to our stateroom, it only took a second to see something unique that confirmed this was going to be a very different cruise experience for us.  Look at the pic that shows our 10.060 stateroom number.  Now look just a little lower in that pic.  That’s a doorbell, folks.  Yup, a doorbell…for a cruise ship stateroom.  It seems that the proper way for your personal BUTLER to enter your stateroom is not by rudely knockin’ on the polished hardwood door but to politely ring the doorbell!  So yes, we have our own personal butler to attend to our needs and help make the rigors of cruising a little easier on us.  ;)

Queens Grill Suites:

Our Queens Grill suite is beautiful and at approximately 550 square feet is the largest stateroom we’ve ever had the pleasure of staying in (thanks to Judy Pippin, our Cunard BDM).  I took a few pictures of the room for you to see but the one that lets you know how spacious it is, is the shot of the walk-in closet!  The bathroom is huge and here’s another first for us, not just a standard shower but also a tub, and not just a plain old tub but a Jacuzzi tub!

Besides the beautiful, spacious stateroom, there are a number of additional amenities that come with a booking a Queens Grill Suite.  You have a private restaurant reserved just for Queens Grill guests.  You also have a private lounge and outside deck area reserved just for you. And where the rest of the guests have to go to the purser’s office on Deck 2 to check on things like shore excursions, specialty dining reservations, etc., there is a private Queens Grill concierge lounge on Deck 9 where coffee, tea, and light snacks are available as well as two concierge attendants to assist you with any issues or questions you may have.  One could get used to this!

QUEEN MARY 2: “She will be heir to all that has gone before, and will carry the grace and elegance of a bygone era into the future.”  The London Times.

And so we began our first luxury cruise aboard Cunard’s QUEEN MARY 2, currently the largest cruise ship in the world (although she will soon hand over that title to the Oasis of the Seas). Robin Leach would be right at home doing an episode of ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ on this ship.  It is the epitome of British elegance and sophistication.   

At a length of just under four football fields, QUEEN MARY 2 is enormous and every inch of her is dressed in the finest of everything.  Here’s a sampling in our stateroom alone; Waterford crystal, Wedgwood china, Villeroy & Boch porcelain, Gilchrist & Soames toiletries, daily fresh cut exotic flowers and Crystal's favorite amenity, a shower pouf (she told me to mention that but I have no idea what it is).

The décor throughout the entire ship is the same, rich walnut trim, artist original creations, the best of everything, everywhere.  Hopefully some of the pictures I took will give you some sense of the beauty of this ship.

The Cunard Legacy

However, gorgeous as she is, luxury is an amenity that can be duplicated and a few other cruise lines also do a wonderful job in that department and the bar is constantly being raised in the cruise industry.  But what no other cruise line can ever duplicate and what immediately struck me about this ship as I went exploring this first day, is Cunard’s unique and storied heritage. 

Cunard is the Grande Dame of cruise lines and has been in business if you can believe it, for 170 years.  Cunard defined the ‘Golden Age’ of cruising and the QUEEN MARY 2 in addition to being a unique luxury cruise liner is an incredible floating museum. 

When you sail on this ship you get an appreciation for Cunard’s lineage, something that no other cruise line can begin to match.  On each floor you see glimpses of its past in the ships that have sailed under the Cunard name over the years. Throughout the ship there are genuine artifacts, photographs and storyboards of its history.  I tried to take a few pictures to give you just a little sense of what you’ll see when you sail on this ship.

Day 2: Breakfast in Bed, Cunard Style.

So what do you do if have a butler waiting to pamper you with Cunard’s famous white glove service?  Why have breakfast in bed of course! Last night we placed a breakfast order to be delivered to our suite and this morning promptly at 9:30 AM our butler arrived.

Now I assumed he would simply be dropping off a tray with our breakfast order but I was wrong.  I’ve taken a pic to show you breakfast in bed, QUEEN MARY 2 style. Our butler set a full table for us, complete with linen for us to enjoy.  What a wonderful way to start the day.

Captain’s Reception

One of the benefits of completing our Commodore certification is that Crystal and I were immediately granted Platinum status in Cunard’s members program and with it, an invitation to the Captain’s reception tonight.  So as you can see from a few pics, the men were all decked out in their tuxes and the women in formal gowns. 

Crystal and I got to meet Captain Bernard Warner and talk cruise shop for a few minutes.  I got a nice shot of Crystal and Captain Warner together.  We also got a chance to meet some of the other Grills guests, most from the US on this short cruise but a few from various parts of the world.  Cunard’s guest profile generally has a definite international flavor but this short Labor Day cruise was primarily American.

Dinner with the Hotel Manager

It was a busy social schedule today.  From the Captain’s Reception it was straight to a special dinner invitation with the Hotel Manager of the QUEEN MARY 2, David Stephenson.  This was also arranged though our Cunard BDM, Judy Pippin, and it was an honor for us to be able to sit down with David for an hour and a half and get a unique perspective on the inner workings of the ship.

These meetings and social events were great for Crystal and me but also for our clients.  We have an insight now into Cunard and the QUEEN MARY 2, as well as personal contacts at the ship level that will be invaluable to our clients in the future when it comes to booking you on this ship, being able to answer your questions with first hand knowledge and having an insider’s experience in things like stateroom placements (i.e. Deck 10 balconies definitely preferred over Deck 9), dining venues and much more.

Black and White Ball

The highlight of our first formal night is the traditional Black and White Ball in the Queens Room.  The Cunard crowd is a definite ballroom dancing group and the Black and White Ball is a highlight event where people can get out on the largest ballroom dance floor on the high seas and strut their stuff!  I’ve got some good pics and a couple of short videos to show you this beautiful dancing venue and people having, well, a ball!

As a matter of fact, we have a large group booking in 2010 for USA Dance chapters across the country for the very popular, 5-day, 4^th of July cruise out of New York on the QUEEN MARY 2 just for this ballroom dance floor!  This particular sailing is usually a sell out each year. It should be a great time and no doubt there will be some serious dance talent on the floor during this cruise.

Day 3 Port Stop: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Today is our one port stop on this short cruise and we’re at Saint John in New Brunswick, Canada.  We were going to just walk around town for a few hours but met a great cabbie named Mike and wound up having him take us all around Saint John, which turned out to be a great move on our part as he showed us a great time with an insider’s knowledge of the area (he’s been doing it for 31 years!). 

The main tourist attraction was the Bay of Fundy and its unique, 28.5 foot change in water level from high tide to low tide over 12 hours, and the mini rapids it produces as a result of water constantly rushing in and out of the bay. I’ve got a couple of videos of jet boats blasting through the rapids, and a night time video as the QM2 had to wait until nearly midnight for the water level to come up high enough to get our of the bay.

Illuminations Planetarium

This was one of my favorite experiences on the ship.  Illuminations is a theatre venue that rivals the Royal Court Theatre.  It’s used to present the renowned Cunard Insights series, lectures with guest speakers on topics that range from Arts & Entertainment, World Affairs, History, Literature, Business & Economics to Science and Discovery.

It’s also used to present some spectacular IMAX type movies on a special dome shaped screen that deploys from the ceiling.  When you watch one of these movies there are special color-coded red seats that you sit in that lean back so you can comfortably look up into the universe!  The movie we saw was ‘Search for Life in the Universe’, narrated by Harrison Ford.  It was awesome.

I was talking to one of the attendants after the show and was told that it takes $5,000,000.00 worth of specialized projection equipment spaced throughout the theatre to co-ordinate and present these shows.  This is a must see when you visit the QUEEN MARY 2 and there is nothing else like it at sea.

Evening in Saint John.

Let me try and convey a sense of just how much I enjoy cruising and this new business venture that Crystal and I have started.  Right now its 10:45 PM, we’re almost at high tide and getting ready for an 11:30 PM departure from St. John in New Brunswick, Canada.  I’m happily typing away while sitting in an extremely comfortable lounger out on our beautiful stateroom veranda.  It’s a warm Indian summer night with a full moon. 

Our veranda is dockside, so I’m looking out on the city below (I’m ten stories up).  There was a band from Saint John to greet and entertain us this morning as we disembarked.  Tonight there was a single bagpipe player in the docking area to say goodbye as the last of the passengers returned from a day of exploring the city.  I got a bit of him playing in one of the video clips that you can listen to.  It’s obvious that the residents of Saint John were looking forward to seeing the QUEEN MARY 2 and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome.

I thought I might be writing for a while tonight, so I just had room service deliver a complimentary pot of coffee to our stateroom.  It got here in less then ten minutes, piping hot.  But then I decided that I didn’t want to be up all night, so I opened a bottle of Baileys Irish Crème (also compliments of Cunard as a Queens Grill guest) and made myself a nice Bailey’s Irish coffee nightcap.

The point is, when you’re on a luxury cruise ship like the QUEEN MARY 2, you are treated like royalty for a few wonderful days and the crew is dedicated to making sure you feel that way. Talk about a wonderful way to purge yourself of the stresses of everyday life and to recharge your batteries. I feel privileged to be on this ship and to be able to enjoy all she has to offer.  I say a brief  ‘thank you’ every day.

Day 4: At Sea, Heading Back to New York.

Well as expected, the first three days have gone by in the blink of an eye and today is our last day, as we’re at sea heading back to New York.  But we still have a few things to sample.

High Tea

The most British of traditions, High Tea, is served at 3 PM each day on the Queen Mary 2.  It is a very popular ritual.  High Tea is a mid-afternoon snack where you are tempted with various teas, scones, cakes, cookies, jams and creams that you can indulge in.

The first day we went to High Tea in the Queens Room (which as you can see in a couple of pics is hugh) and made the rookie mistake of showing up right at 3 PM.  Not a chance! It was already standing room only with lots of people cruising around looking for an open table.  We gave up after 15 minutes.

However, did I mention that being a Queens Grill Guest has certain privileges?  Like a private Queens Grill Lounge just for us?  And that High Tea is served privately each day just for those guests? Yes, I’ve come to the conclusion that when old cruisers die, if they’ve been really good, they pass through the pearly gates on the way to their Queens Grill Suite for their eternal rewards.

So tucked away in our private lounge we arranged to meet with our dinner tablemates for afternoon High Tea and a shoot the breeze session.  High Tea is enjoyable and the culinary treats are delicious, but more so it’s a good excuse to get together with friends. What I’ve found is that every time Crystal and I cruise we meet some wonderful people.  This time was no exception and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our dinner mates; Arthur & Lynn, Bill & Candy and Lee & her wonderful mother.

Final Thoughts.

This was an excellent cruise and a treat to be able to sample luxury cruising, British style.  No two cruise voyages or cruise lines are the same and this was no exception.  The cruising experience on the QUEEN MARY 2 is decidedly upscale, sophisticated and elegant.  There’s a reason the Queen Mary 2 sails back and forth between New York and London, two of the most sophisticated cities in the world. 

The atmosphere on the ship for the most part is quiet and serene.  So if you want to party ‘til you puke, this is not the ship or the cruise line for you.  However;

- if you’re accustomed to the finer things in life (or simply would like to experience that world for a few days),

- if you like being exposed to new things and being mentally stimulated with a world renowned lecture series presented by expert guest speakers,

- if you’d enjoy listening to the timeless music of James Taylor, or ballroom dancing on a transatlantic voyage,

- and if you appreciate fine dining with an attention to detail and presentation that’s been all but forgotten in today’s fast food world, then my friend, Cunard and the QUEEN MARY 2 may just be your…cup of tea!

Until next time,

Ric Rooney/Red Carpet Cruises

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