Video: Crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 – revisited

Video transcription:

If you’ve ever flown between the USA and Europe cramped up in a little airplane seat, desperately hoping for the flight to finally end, there were people thousands of feet below you, doing exactly the same journey, but on a ship.

And it turns out we’re paying exactly the same.

I’m Chris Rand and I’m doing my second voyage on the Queen Mary 2 between the US and the UK.

I’m as enthusiastic about this way of travelling as I was last time and here’s why.

The Queen Mary 2 is the only ocean liner in existence mainly going back and forth between New York and Southampton in the UK.

With thousands of people doing this journey each year, it’s hardly a secret that anyone could do it and it’s very affordable; yet most people assume travelling this old-fashioned, slow way is out of their reach.

The truth is that all this costs about the same as flying and for the same money instead of of 7 hours in a cramped airplane you get 7 days in what can only be described as a top end hotel and health Spa.

I’ll talk about the ship in a minute but here are the numbers.

My recent trip has involved flying out to the US meeting up with my son who works there and the two of us spending a week travelling back to the UK here on the Queen Mary 2.

The flight cost me about £500 or US$650.

The ship coming back the other way cost the two of us £1000 or $1300, so exactly the same.

Now those prices are for the cheapest class on both the plane and the ship; you can spend a lot more.

On the airplane, unless you pay 10 times as much though, you’re always so glad the trip is over.

On the ship it may take a lot longer but nobody wants it to end.

So let’s reiterate: for two of you sharing a room, for the same money as a flight with a cramped seat and a little tray of food, you could have a week in what’s a really nice hotel with three or four silver service meals a day included for the same money.

All you need to do is bring the extra time it takes.

Right, here are my top 10 reasons that should persuade you to find the time to take a week to travel across the Atlantic rather than a day.

To say the Queen Mary 2 is a luxurious and comfortable way to travel is an understatement.

In a world where we’ve forced ourselves to tolerate awful conditions just for speed, it’s a reminder that things don’t have to be this way.

Even the cheapest cabins like ours would get a decent review as a small hotel room, and you get your own room steward to make your beds and tidy up two or three times a day.

Can’t be bad!

More expensive cabins get you more space, your own balconies and sitting areas.

Even these are only going to be costing you a couple of hundred pounds, less than $300 per night, and that includes all the food you can eat.

More on that in a moment.

Some people worry that rough seas might make a rough journey, but there are are few ships at sea which are designed to be as stable as an ocean liner.

You may not feel any movement at all.

Since the Queen Mary 2 takes several days to cross the Atlantic, your body has time to adjust to the time changes gradually, so there’s no jet lag.

On the way over from Europe to North America you get an extra hour in bed on 5 nights out of 7.

Going over to Europe, the clocks jump forward in the middle of the day on 5 days.

Either way, the time change isn’t noticeable at all.

You can actually bring your dog with you.

You can’t have them with you around the ship but the Queen Mary 2 does have kennels where they get looked after.

Owners are allowed to take them for a walk in the special deck area but the rest of us would never know they were even on board.

A surprising number of people we met on the ship were doing a two week ‘there and back again’ trip without spending any time at their destination and that’ll be a great one to bring your pet on, I guess.

The Queen Mary 2 is all about the ocean.

You can’t pretend otherwise, that’s what you’re going to see for most of the journey.

It’s not like a cruise where you open your door to a different city every day, but for me, the uninterrupted view of the Atlantic Ocean from the higher decks is from a different world.

Although as a bonus, and this is some bonus, the entrance to or departure from New York is one of the great sights of the world …and by sea is the only way to do it.

The ocean liners were the traditional way for people to emigrate to a new continent with all their belongings and although that might be pushing things a bit these days, you can bring just about anything you like onto the ship.

It gets taken from you when you arrive at the port delivered straight to your cabin.

If you wanted to make your week or fortnight on the ship like a visit to a health spa, it’s quite possible to do so …and looking at the cost of most health spas. it’s quite a bargain.

There’s a decently sized gym with hotel standard equipment …it’s busy but never usually full. That comes at no charge.

There’s a spa area which costs £15 or $20 a day for the whole trip, which includes a really nice thermal massage pool, a couple of gentle steam rooms and some nice lounger beds.

There are also plenty of individually charged massage and wellness opportunities.

Now, if you want to spend the week traveling across the Atlantic in your own little world, perhaps only talking to the waiters and the bar staff, you really can …and I suspect many people do.

But if you want to meet others it’s just as easy you can join in at entertainment activities or just ask to be sat with others at dinner.

Last night I spent the dinner chatting to a member of an 80s rock band, and the night before it was a well-known fantasy fiction author on his way to a convention.

You could write your own book about the experiences.

If you’ve been on a conventional cruise, you’ll know the sort of thing a big ship can offer: shows, lectures, games, sports, quizzes, casinos, classes, movies, all sorts.

Because it doesn’t stop in ports, the Queen Mary 2 feels that it has to offer even more than that though and it does.

There’s something starting every few minutes from 9:00am through to midnight.

Overall the feel is a little more cerebral than most cruises with the range of daily lectures probably being the high point.

Or just wander around the ship looking at all the memorabilia of Cunard’s amazing history.

When did you last enjoy the experience of being at an airport?

More importantly, would you put yourself through that experience at any time if you didn’t have to?

It’s chaotic and often unpleasant, delays can be interminable, and the security while understandable is such a chore.

Boarding the Queen Mary 2 does involve some queuing and security, but it’s light touch, doesn’t involve arguing about luggage sizes, and doesn’t involve long walks to far flung gates.

It’s how travel should be.

Food is a highlight of the trip..

Indeed we think that the cost of the food we’ve eaten on this voyage, in restaurants or hotels, might have cost as much as we paid for our entire fare, which as a reminder was about £80 or $100 each a day.

Breakfast can be brought to your cabin or you can join a super casual busy buffet, but best of all it’s available in this magnificent sitdown white tablecloth dining room, for no extra charge.

Lunch is the same, although there’s the additional option of the ship’s pubs if you prefer.

In the evening, most people head to the main dining room, where you can join others or eat in your own group as you like.

It’s very classy.

And of course there’s the famous Cunard afternoon tea which is magnificent.

The menus change daily and offer a decent choice for every meal …and they’ll bring you as many courses as you want.

They say that travelling by ocean liner is “a throwback to the Golden Age of travel, offering a sense of nostalgia and adventure so that the journey becomes a memorable part of the trip”.

Well it is absolutely a vacation in itself, no question.

There’s plenty of opportunity to spend money on board just as there is on any vacation, but crucially you’re not forced to do so …which is why you can do this bucket list journey for the price of a cheap flight.