#cunard ship deals

[cruisesfares]

How Can I book Queen Mary 2 Cunard Ship?

Planning a weekend getaway or, say, you want to celebrate the New Year– then Queen’s Marry 2 Cunard Ship is the best option to start with—only an exciting endeavor.  And by booking the cruise line, you will only make the best of your holiday time. Expect the expected ones with the Cunard cruise lines. With booking, the last thing that one feels overwhelmed before planning the itinerary is going through this guide to help yourself have that confidence. 

Booking a  cruise on the Queen Mary 2 is a straightforward process. Follow these steps:

1. Start with the Research and Plan

Visit the Cunard Website: Go to www.cunard.com.

Select a Cruise: Browse itineraries for the Queen Mary 2 (e.g., Transatlantic crossings, world voyages, or themed cruises).

Choose Travel Dates: Select your preferred dates, destinations, and voyage type.

2. Create an Account with the Cunard Cruise 

Register on the Cunard website to save your preferences and receive updates.

3. Select Your Stateroom

a). Choose from stateroom types: Inside, Oceanview, Balcony, Princess Grill, or Queens Grill Suites.

b). Look at deck plans for an overview of cabin locations.

4. Check Pricing and Promotions

Look for special promotions, discounts, or inclusive packages that might include drinks, dining, or excursions.

5. Book Online

Add your selected cruise to the cart.

Fill in passenger details, including passport information, special requirements, and dietary preferences.

Make a deposit or full payment to confirm your booking.

6. Book via Travel Agent (Optional)

If you prefer personalized assistance, contact a travel agent specializing in cruises.

7. Confirm and Manage Your Booking

After booking, you’ll receive an email confirmation.

Use your Cunard account to manage your trip, book excursions, or make dining and spa reservations.

8. Prepare for Your Cruise

Travel Documents: Ensure your passport, visas (if needed), and travel insurance are ready.

Packing: Check Cunard’s dress code and pack accordingly.

Camera: Make lots of space in your camera or phone to get lots of photos clicked. 

To truly experience life on board, try choosing a somewhat longer stay, even though a short voyage could sound enticing to first-time cruisers. A variety of five- to seven-night cruises are available, providing you with the ideal chance to fully engage in both port exploration and the daily activities aboard. Enjoy a well-rounded combination of leisurely days at sea, taking advantage of everything your Cunard Queen has to offer, and visiting fascinating locations where you can take in the stunning scenery, mouthwatering food, and local customs. 

Go with a week in the Norwegian fjords, a stay in the Mediterranean, or even a transatlantic crossing aboard our renowned flagship, Queen Mary 2, for first-timers sailing from Southampton.

Shore Excursion Works Shore excursions, sometimes referred to as Shore Experiences at Cunard, provide you the opportunity to fully enjoy the distinctive pleasures of your cruise destination. Imagine sampling wine in Italy's verdant vineyards, admiring the splendor of marine life while sailing a catamaran in the balmy Caribbean Sea, or admiring the breathtaking panoramic views of the Canaries from Mount Teide's volcanic summit.

Conclusion

Refer to the above-discussed information to help yourself book to know in detail about the Queen Mary 2 Cunard Ship deals. If you have any doubts, then feel free to connect with the cruise liner itself and get your doubts cleared, as there are various ways to reach them–choose according to your preferences. Having a good time with your loved ones is all that the Queen Mary 2 Cunard Ship cares for and works for the same from time to time.

[scotianostra]

On September 26th 1934 the Liner Queen Mary launched at John Brown’s shipyard, Clydebank.

The construction of still the unnamed Cunard Queen Mary ship began in December 1930 (the ship’s keel was laid down on 31 January 1931) in the yard of “John Brown & Co” at Clydebank. The launch was scheduled for May 1932, but the work on the ship was suspended in December 1931 due to the world economic depression. A loan of 9.5 million pounds from the Government was granted to the Cunard Line with enough money to complete the Queen Mary ship and to build a second liner – the Queen Elizabeth.

As a direct result of this most advantageous deal, the Cunard Line merged with its main rival White Star on 10th May 1934 into Cunard White Star Ltd. The Queen Mary construction resumed in April 1934, the liner was completed by August and launched on 26th September at a total cost of 3.5 million pounds sterling.

The work was completed in March 1936. The Queen Mary ship sailed out for preliminary trials and after being painted in Southampton, the liner was handed over to Cunard White Star Line on 11th May 1936. RMS Queen Mary ship first sailing was on 14th May with its Transatlantic itinerary being Southampton-Cherbourg-New York. By May 1937 the liner had carried a total of almost 57,000 passengers.

The main speed-rival of the QM ship was SS Normandie – a liner built in France and operated by the French Compagnie Generale Transatlantique line. The Queen Mary took the Blue Riband (the prestigious award given to a ship with the speed record for a transatlantic crossing) from the French liner SS Normandie in August 1938, with record speeds for both west- and eastbound crossings of the Atlantic Ocean – the average speeds was, respectively, 30,63 kn (35m25 mph, 56,7 km/h) and 30,14 kn (34,68 mph, 55,82 km/h).

In 1937, the Normandie liner was refitted with new propellers, enabling her to take the Blue Riband, but in 1938 the Queen Mary ship reclaim the honour for best speeds in both directions – westbound 30,99 kn (35,66 mph, 57.39 km/h) and eastbound 31,69 kn (36,47 mph, 58.69 km/h). This record was beaten by the SS United Sates liner in 1952.

The last commercial sailing of the ship Queen Mary was on 30 August 1939 departing from Southampton and then berthed at New York until the end of 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war.

Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s, Queen Mary was ageing and, though still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss.

After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored. Much of the machinery, including one of the two engine rooms, three of the four propellers, and all of the boilers, were removed. The ship serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has accepted the Queen Mary as part of the Historic Hotels of America.

RMS Queen Mary remains in Long Beach but recently it has been reported it is in need of significant repairs according to assessments and photos in 2019 and 2020. An estimated $289 million in repairs are needed after years of decline and the most recent operator going bankrupt.But even to “retire and recycle” the liner could cost up to $190m. One of the suggestions are to dismantle and sink the liner, although no long term plans have been finalised as yet.

The Queen Mary is due to open again to visitors next month, let’s hope someone can come up with a rescue plan to save her.

It has been mooted that it could return to the Clyde but the eyewatering amount of money it would take surely rules this out.

[handeaux]

Who Died First? A German Torpedo And An Irish Autopsy Roil A Cincinnati Courtroom

Victor E. Shields was a well-to-do Cincinnati liquor merchant. His wife, Retta Cohen Shields, came from a family of means. Mr. Shields wrote a will leaving everything to Mrs. Shields. Mrs. Shields wrote a will leaving everything to Mr. Shields. Both wills were simple and straightforward, plain as day.

All was well until a torpedo launched by a German U-Boat sank the RMS Lusitania on 7 May 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Shields were both passengers and, at least in the days following the horrible tragedy, were assumed to have died together and simultaneously among the 1,198 lives lost on that fatal day.

Neither Mr. Shields nor Mrs. Shields, nor their attorneys, had considered the possibility that a German submarine might shuffle both of them from this mortal coil concurrently. According to the accepted standards of the law, if the Shields did die at the same time, Mr. Shields’ estate would have reverted to his heirs, and Mrs. Shields’ estate would have reverted to her heirs. But, if either was proved to have died first, that person’s estate would have passed to the surviving spouse, leaving nothing for the heirs of the first to die.

The Shields had no children, but siblings and other relatives expressed a great deal of interest in determining who got all the money. Lawyers for the potential heirs of each spouse rushed to the Hamilton County Courthouse and filed a series of motions that constitute one of the strangest court battles in all of Cincinnati history. The courtroom drama dragged on for nine months and all of it hung on a single question: Who died first?

That question lingered without hope of resolution for more than 70 days until a very much deteriorated corpse washed ashore at Castle Gregory, a tiny hamlet in County Kerry in the far west of Ireland. The sea-mangled body wore the remnants of a Lusitania life belt. Letters found in the jacket pocket, an engraved watch and a monogrammed penknife all proved beyond any doubt that these were the earthly remains of Victor E. Shields.

At this revelation, Cincinnati attorney Sidney G. Stricker, representing the estate of Victor Shields, sprang into action. He wired the United States Consul General in Ireland to have the body of Victor Shields transported post haste to Cork, the nearest Irish town with a creditable medical college. There, an autopsy determined that Shields’ death was not caused by violence or injury as in an explosion. Nor had he drowned. The evidence suggested he died of exposure or shock, most likely exposure, and that death had occurred several hours after his last meal.

That disclosure raised the question of Retta Shields’ death. Her body was never found. Attorney Stricker told the Cincinnati Enquirer [21 August 1923]:

“To complete the chain of evidence I prepared at once and mailed through the Cunard company a printed questionnaire to each of the surviving passengers of the Lusitania, which contained a picture of Victor E. Shields on one side and of Retta Shields on the other. I propounded the same questions as to each, which were in substance, when, where, and under what circumstances they last saw Victor E. Shields and Retta Shields alive, before or after the ship was torpedoed, and what conversation, if any, they had with them at such time.”

Amazingly, almost all the survivors returned the questionnaire, many with heart-rending accounts of chaos and panic and loved ones lost as the giant ship sank. Several contained very precise information about the whereabouts of the Shieldses before and after the fatal explosion. One response, in particular, yielded conclusive evidence that Mrs. Shields had died first. According to Attorney Stricker:

“Among the numerous letters was one from a woman who sat at the same table in the dining salon with both Mr. and Mrs. Shields at luncheon as late as 10 minutes after 2 o’clock, which was 10 minutes before the ship was torpedoed. She testified that Shields left the table first, stating he was going up on deck; that Mrs. Shields left the table later, stating she was going to her cabin to prepare their luggage for disembarkation.”

The Shields cabin was very close to the point of impact of the torpedo, explaining why Mrs. Shields was never seen after the explosion. In all probability she was killed in the detonation or drowned immediately after because the ship rolled toward the gaping hole blasted by the torpedo as seawater poured through it into the hull. Other passengers testified they saw Mr. Shields rushing madly about on deck, wearing a lifebelt, looking frantically for his wife. The Lusitania sunk just 18 minutes after the torpedo’s impact.

The evidence overwhelmingly indicated that Retta Shields died within minutes of the torpedo’s explosion and that Victor Shields died of shock or exposure several hours later, floating in the ocean. The entirety of Retta Shields’ estate therefore legally passed to her dying husband as he succumbed to the elements.

Despite conclusive evidence that Victor Shields had survived long enough to inherit his wife’s estate, both sets of heirs reached an amicable agreement in February 1916, almost nine months after the submarine attack that killed Victor and Retta. According to the Enquirer [3 February 1916]:

“From the start heirs of Mr. Shields were disposed favorably to the memory of his helpmate, and this state of mind tended to bring about a speedy adjustment.”

Although few details were announced, it appeared that Mrs. Shields’ heirs received the property she had inherited from her parents and some of the insurance settlements. The bulk of the couple’s property went to heirs of Victor Shields. Attorney Stricker provided the sad conclusion to the saga:

“The body of Victor E. Shields was subsequently returned to the United States and was buried at the United Jewish Cemetery in Cincinnati on the Shields’ family burial plot, where it remains a perpetual memorial to the tragedy of the Lusitania. The body of Retta Shields probably rests at the bottom of the sea with what is left of the Lusitania.”

What is left of the Lusitania lies approximately 350 feet beneath the surface of the sea, about 11 miles south of the lighthouse at Kinsale, Ireland. Over the years, several expeditions have been organized to explore and salvage the wreck, but none have been successful. It is generally acknowledged that the attack on the Lusitania contributed to America’s decision to enter World War I.

[mary-queen-of-longbeach]

Profile: Aquitania

Vain. Compassionate. Loving. Wistful.

Aquitania is known as the Ship Beautiful, a nickname which fits nicely with the great deal of confidence she has in her physical appearance. She’s attractive and she knows it, and she plays up her vanity a bit as well, but she also cares deeply for her friends and loves to tell stories about their adventures... as well as her own, of course. Although she’s still grappling with the war and grief that plagued her career, her maturity and compassion as well as her devotion to her friends - not to mention the vivid stories she tells - have cemented her place as a hero and leader in the minds of dozens of younger ships.

Type: Ocean Liner

Class: Aquitania

Hull/Yard Number: 409

Launch Day: 4/21/1913

Country: United Kingdom

Company: Cunard (later Cunard-White Star)

Language: English

Accent: Received Pronunciation

Voice Tone: Smoky, mature, rather low, usually full of emotion (sometimes exaggerated)

Height: 6’4” / 76in / 193cm

Hair Colors: White, red, black

Eye Color: Red-orange

Alignment: Neutral Good

Skills/Abilities: Charm, ability to get along with anyone, storytelling, singing, basic medical knowledge, excellent memory

Likes: Socializing, reminiscing, singing, flowers, makeup, stargazing, Britannic

Dislikes: War, submarines, the thought of losing her loved ones again, being alone, the passage of time

Trivia:

Aquitania is a terrible liar and can’t act to save her life.

Like her cousin Lusitania, she’s a wonderful singer, although she sounds more like a smoky-voiced 1940s jazz singer than a turn-of-the-century operatic soprano.

No matter who she’s speaking to, she calls everyone “darling.” The reason? Lusitania called her that once while attempting to calm her fears about World War One, and the conversation left such an impression on Aquitania that she started using the pet name to emulate her cousin; this quickly evolved into a genuine staple of her speech patterns.

Aquitania is very much in love with Britannic, and has been since 1916.

Selected Songs:

OR3O - 100 Years (cover by Lollia)

Vera Lynn - We’ll Meet Again

Reinaeiry - Left Behind

[chrisframeofficial]

Onboard Queen Anne

Last week, I was onboard Cunard’s brand-new Queen Anne, at the Fincantieri shipyard near Venice, Italy. And it was AMAZING!

Why was I aboard Queen Anne?

For the last few months, I’ve been working with the team at Cunard to present Queen Anne to international media and travel agents. My role included presenting a maritime history keynote address at a welcome dinner in Venice, as well as hosting two of four tours aboard the ship.

A lucky group of international journalists and travel agents joined us during the week for the exclusive Queen Anne experience.

Working alongside Cunard’s Brand Manager Francis Fred, the two of us presented tours aboard the ship, and walked around 20,000 steps in the process!

She is Spectacular

I arrived in Venice a few days before the tours and had the privilege of spending two days with Francis and the Cunard team aboard Queen Anne, to familiarise myself with the ship.

Francis has been working on the Queen Anne project for years now, so he knows the ship like the back of his hand. It was really useful to get a chance to explore the ship before all the guests arrived.

I was blown away by many of the new and exciting features aboard. The huge amount of space aboard the ship really stood out. For what is effectively still a building site, the ship's internal areas look massive!

There is also a superb use of natural light throughout the ship. Queen Anne has giant windows on all the passenger decks, and even though at this stage the windows are covered in protective plastic, the light shines in and illuminates the interior of the ship.

There's a great sense of flow designed into the interior areas. Curves are used throughout to create a flowing theme, linking the public spaces. There are semi-circular stairways connecting the various passenger decks, as well as circular and oval wells, offering links between various entertainment areas.

On the top deck, an impressive curved magrodome has been incorporated into the design. This structure adds a great deal of height and presence to the Pavilion, which itself is two decks high and introduces the Cunard Wellness Cafe. In addition the space features a grill, a juice bar, a gelatiera and a DJ box!

And speaking of cool features, the ship introduces four new eateries. Sir Samuels is the steakhouse. Aji Wa serves Japanese. Aranya is Queen Anne’s Indian inspired eatery while Tramonto serves Mediterranean inspired dishes - all new to Cunard!

There’s so much more to share and I will be creating a series of video tours in the coming days!

[barclaybadger]

Luxury Cruise Line Launches New Promotion For The New Season Of Sailing

Luxury Cruise Line Launches New Promotion For The New Season Of Sailing

In order to start the new year with discounts, the opulent cruise line Cunard introduces the “Treat Yourself, On Us” wave season promotion. Available on all Cunard ships, including the line’s newest ship Queen Anne and its flagship Queen Mary 2, as well as journeys in 2023 and 2024. The promotional deal is valid from January 3 through March 28, 2023, and it includes up to $2,000 in onboard credit…

[your-resident-boat-person]

QM2 looks so much better than cruise ships because she's an ocean liner. She has no superstructure above the bridge because visibility is prioritized for the captain/officers of a ship that may potentially deal with rough weather. On a cruise ship, the bridge is a lot lower because visibility isn't as important, and the view from above the bridge is great for passengers. Cruise ships have flat 90° stern because that's the optimal way to maximize the number of passenger cabins. The QM2 has that stepped stern because waves will be potentially crashing over it. Same for the freeboard. On a cruise ship, there isn't a lot of space between the superstructure and the water. This is to maximize the number of balcony cabins. On the QM2, theres a lot more space because she's designed to deal with rougher seas. Almost every bad aesthetic choice we associate with cruise ships are to maximize profit and inherent to cruise ships. The QM2 looks so much better because she's an ocean liner. If you look at Cunard's purpose built cruise ships, they look noticeably worst than the QM2. Most of them have stumpy cruise ship bows. The QM2 has a longer more elegant bow to help deal with large waves. I hate when people say QM2 is just a glorified cruise ship. She's not. She's a purpose built ocean liner. She used like, 60% more steel in her construction than a cruise ship of a comparable size. It's because cruise ships don't need to deal with rough seas like an Ocean Liner. I love the QM2 so so much.

Looking at pictures of ocean liners and then looking at pictures of modern cruise ships is like looking at the comparisons of bad selective breeding in dogs over 100 years.

Beautiful. Elegant. Regal.

Vs

Evil. Overbred. Disfigured and dying young of inherited heart conditions.

[rmsqueenmaryonthisday]

From Time magazine on February 19, 1934, regarding Cunard’s unfinished ship, No. 534 (the future Queen Mary): 

Business: Cunard-White Star, Ltd.

For the past year headline writers have been merging the Cunard and White Star Lines about once a week. Finally in the House of Commons last week came the official announcement of the union by his Majesty’s Government of these two great North Atlantic shipping companies. For the time being the couple will be known as Cunard-White Star, Ltd., may later become British National Services. In the last five years British pride in the merchant marine has been roughly handled. Cunard’s Mauretania, commissioned in 1907, is still the fastest British ship but her old records have been broken by Germany’s Bremen and Europa, Italy’s Conte dl Savoia and Rex. White Star’s flagship Majestic is still the biggest ship afloat but soon she will be surpassed by France’s Normandie. Balm for British pride lies on the ways of John Brown & Son’s shipyard in Clydesbank, Scotland — Cunard’s unfinished No. 534 (probable name: Princess Elizabeth), the skeleton of a 73,000-ton monster which will be “world’s biggest & fastest” liner. Funds ran out and work was dropped on No. 534 two years ago. Last week, with the merger a fact, Neville Chamberlain loosened the strings of his Exchequer. For completion of No. 534 he promised the new company a loan of £3,000,000 (about $15,000,000). For working capital he promised advances up to £1,500,000 (about $7,500,000).

To the new company Cunard will turn over its fleet of 15 “ia” ships including Berengaria, Aqnitania, Franconia, Mauretania and what there is of No. 534. White Star will contribute its fleet of ten “ic” ships, including Majestic, Olympic, Homeric, Georgic and Britannic. In return Cunard will get 62% of the new stock and six directorships, White Star 38% and four directors. The Chancellor’s soft voice was heard in the clause: “It is regarded by all parties hereto as a cardinal principle of the merger company that it is to be and remain under British control.”

Still unsettled last week was Cunard-White Star’s personnel. Until stockholders of the two old companies have a perfunctory opportunity to approve the deal, operation will be directed jointly by the two general managers. International Mercantile Marine expects to continue as U. S. agent for White Star until June 30, when combined offices will probably be established at Cunard’s headquarters.

[travel-voyages]

The Lusitania, shown here on its arrival to New York City in 1907, was one of the ships which launched the modern era of leisure cruising

 The Monster Ships That Changed How We Travel

The beauty salons, swimming pools and even wireless communications of today’s huge cruise ships all got their start with the “floating palaces” of a century ago. BBC FutureKat Long

When the world’s then-largest ocean liner embarked on its first transatlantic voyage in September 1907, thousands of spectators gathered at the docks of Liverpool to watch. “She presented an impressive picture as she left, with her mighty funnels and brilliant illumination,” wrote one reporter. Cunard’s RMS Lusitania had been outfitted with a new type of engine that differed from that of its rivals – and would go on to break the speed record for the fastest ocean crossing not once, but twice.

Between 1850 and 1900, three British passenger lines – Cunard, Inman and White Star – dominated transatlantic travel. Toward the end of the century, as increasing numbers of emigrants sought passage to the US and a growing class of Gilded Age travellers demanded speed and luxury, corporate rivalry intensified. Pressure from other European lines forced the British companies to add amenities like swimming pools and restaurants.

Not unlike today's rivalries between, say, aircraft manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing, each raced to make its ocean liners the largest, fastest and most opulent. In the process, they launched the modern age of leisure cruising – and developed innovations and technologies that continue to be used on cruise ships today.

Comfort Class

In the mid-19th Century, there were two main players. Inman’s inaugural steamship, launched in 1850, made it the first major British line to replace traditional side-mounted paddlewheels with a screw propeller – an apparatus with fixed blades turning on a central axis. With the added speed and fuel efficiency this brought, plus a sleek iron hull that was more durable than wood, Inman established itself as a company unafraid to try new technology for faster crossings.

 ‘For safety and comfort, take the old reliable Cunard Line’, reads this advertisement from around 1875. Credit: Alamy.

Inman’s main rival, Cunard, focused on safety instead. “The Cunard way was to let competitors introduce new-fangled technology and let them deal with the setbacks,” says Michael Gallagher, Cunard’s company historian. “Once that technology had proved itself, only then would Cunard consider using it.”

But Cunard risked being left behind both by Inman and by a new rival which burst onto the scene in 1870 – the White Star line’s splashy debut included five huge ocean liners, dubbed “floating hotels”. Their flagship, RMS Oceanic, launched in 1871 and had efficient compound engines that burned just 58 tonnes of coal per day, compared with 110 tonnes consumed by Inman’s ships. That gave White Star the budget to invest in comfort.

The contrast with Cunard was stark. “Where Oceanic had bathtubs, Cunard offered a basin; where Oceanic had central heating, Cunard offered stoves; and where Oceanic had lavatories, Cunard managed with chamber pots,” says Gallagher. Architects for Oceanic also moved first-class cabins to mid-ship for less rocking on the waves.

In the 1880s and 1890s, each of White Star’s new ships captured the Blue Riband, an unofficial accolade which recognises the passenger liner able to make the fastest average speed on a westbound Atlantic crossing. In answer, Inman built SS City of New York and SS City of Paris. The City of Paris won the Blue Riband several times thanks to its expensive but fuel-efficient triple-expansion engines and twin screw propellers. The innovation was a first for an ocean liner, and meant that if one propeller broke, the other could compensate – finally ending the need for auxiliary sails. This suddenly freed up a lot more space on deck that would later be put to good use by providing luxury facilities for their passengers.

 In 1888, Inman introduced ships which no longer required auxiliary sails, giving ocean liners a similar look to the one they have today. Credit: Alamy.

Cunard, meanwhile, ventured into the new world of telecommunications by installing the first Marconi wireless stations, which allowed radio operators to transmit messages at sea, on its sister ships RMS Lucania and RMS Campania. First-class passengers could even book European hotels by wireless before reaching port.

“Connectivity was just as important to passengers in the past as it is today,” says William Roka, historian and public programmes manager at South Street Seaport Museum in New York City.

In 1897, Germany entered the fray. Shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd unveiled its colossal Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse – which shocked its rivals by taking the Blue Riband from Britain after 52 years. Another German liner, the SS Amerika, wowed its well-heeled guests by introducing the first à la carte restaurant at sea: the Ritz-Carlton, brainchild of Paris hotelier Cesar Ritz and renowned chef Auguste Escoffier. It allowed guests to order meals at their leisure and dine with their friends rather than attend rigidly scheduled seatings – a forerunner of the kind of freestyle dining seen on today’s cruise ships.

 The freestyle dining seen on today’s cruise ships dates back to 1905. Credit: Alamy.

To complicate matters, American banking tycoon JP Morgan was buying up smaller companies to create a US-based shipping-and-railroad monopoly. In 1901, White Star became his biggest acquisition. Inman, too, now was US-owned, having been bought by an American company in 1893. Suddenly, the battles weren’t only in the boardrooms: building the world’s top ocean liners was now a point of national pride.

With the help of a £2.6 million government loan (equivalent to more than £261 million today), Britain’s Cunard line launched the massive twins RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania. Both had the first steam turbine engines of any superliner. To reach its sustained speed of 25 knots (46.25 km/h), the Lusitania had “68 additional furnaces, six more boilers, 52,000 sq ft of heating surface, and an increase of 30,000 horsepower,” reported the New York Times. “If turbines had not been employed, at least three 20,000-horsepower engines would have been necessary.”

White Star fought back with RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic. Like the Lusitania and Mauretania, White Star’s trio would feature double hulls and watertight bulkheads. With standard reciprocating engines, they were slower than the Cunarders, but surpassed them in size and elegance. The Olympic and another White Star liner, the Adriatic, even debuted the first indoor swimming pools at sea. A first-class passenger “may indulge in Turkish and electric baths, take recreation in the gymnasium or [with] a squash racket or divert himself in the swimming pond,” marvelled one newspaper.

“It was fun for the first-class passengers to send postcards back home saying, ‘Writing to you from the deck of the world’s biggest ship, wish you were here,’” says historian William H Miller Jr.

 First introduced on ocean liners more than 100 years ago, gymnasiums – shown here on Cunard’s Berengaria around 1930 – remain a staple of cruise ships today. Credit: Alamy.

History changed course when Titanic hit an iceberg on 14 April 1912 and sank on her first transatlantic voyage. As a result of the tragedy, safety regulations were updated to require lifeboat berths for every passenger and 24-hour radio surveillance (rules which are still in place).

But there were more challenges to come. World War One broke out in 1914 and European governments requisitioned liners for war service. Then a German submarine torpedoed Lusitania off the coast of Ireland on 7 May 1915, killing more than a thousand of those on board.

Cruising On

Despite a post-war liner-building boom, US anti-immigration laws reduced the number of transatlantic emigrants – the liners’ bread and butter – in the 1920s.

“Ships only made money when there were passengers aboard,” says David Perry, a maritime historian. “The companies needed to do something to stay afloat, so they created the tourists.”

Cunard modernised the aging Mauretania to burn oil instead of coal (most liners were converted to burn oil after World War One), painted its dark hull white to reflect the sunlight and sent her to the tropics as the first cruise ship catering to the new class of passengers: US vacationers who wanted a holiday at sea, replete with the nostalgic glamour of yesteryear. “Cruising offered a way for steamship companies to keep using their older transatlantic vessels and [make] additional revenue,” says Roka.

 Cunard modernised the Mauretania and gave it a white hull, as shown in this 1930s illustration. Credit: Alamy.

After the Depression forced a struggling Cunard and White Star to merge, the new Cunard-White Star built the immense RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth. To compete with German, American and French liners, designers ratcheted up the creature comforts, like air-conditioning and private bathrooms in every stateroom. The Italian liners Conte de Savoia and Rex featured the first outdoor swimming pools “with real sand around them to make it look beachy – completely over the top,” Perry says. By 1957, more people crossed the Atlantic by ship than ever before.

But by the following year, jet passengers outnumbered them.

“Cunard said flying was a fad,” Miller says. “But if, like the company slogan said, ‘Getting there is half the fun’, then getting there faster was a lot more fun.”

 Despite Cunard’s best efforts, by the late 1950s more people were flying than taking ships to their destinations. Credit: Alamy.

Air travel and high operating costs doomed most transatlantic liners by the 1970s – only Cunard’s RMS Queen Mary 2 makes regular transatlantic crossings now.

Even so, cruising itself grew more popular over the ensuing decades. And not only does the idea of leisure cruising stem from these early days of competition, but so do many of the specific features of today’s massive ships.

Today’s vessels still feature oil-burning engines, though the power and propulsion systems are much more sophisticated. Modern perks like barbershops and beauty salons, freestyle dining, pools and libraries all were introduced on the original “floating palaces.” Even internet communication has its roots in the wireless rooms aboard the great ocean liners.

But the most important similarity may be the most basic.

“The feeling of the deck under your feet is the same,” says Perry. “That’s the transformative power of a voyage at sea.”

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-monster-ships-that-changed-how-we-travel

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[maximumninjavoid]

Still don’t have a title. Part six

and here comes the mayhem....

@fishcustardandclintbarton

makes their appearance in my fic. I couldn’t think of ANYONE I would rather share a luxury voyage with.....

Still no beta either. but that doesn’t seem to have stopped me, has it?

I suppose they had a bit of a kerfuffle trying to rearrange they way they usually do things shipboard. See, they have you sit with people at dinner, and they seat you by couple. And the Captain's table is a thing. Like dining with the Captain is quite the big deal, and as a nouveau riche lottery winner that made me sort of a semi celebrity, even if I was trying to keep a low profile. The problem was, I was traveling alone, and that screwed  up their ratios. That hadn't really occurred to me, nor had it occurred to me that I'd blow my own cover by paying for a cruise  via wire transfer. I found the library, and if I didn't know better I'd have sworn they teleported it out of a manor home, and the Churchill cigar lounge... I'd definitely be hanging out there. I found the grill and was contemplating lunch when I saw this really striking individual. Had to be about six feet tall, very dapper. In a Robert Graham shirt, with the contrasting cuffs turned up, and I've always noticed forearms. Can't help it. Wicked twinkle in his eye, and pink hair. I had found my people. I offered my hand and introduced myself. He took my hand and said his name was Vix. "So, what's a nice guy like you doing on a ship like this?" I asked. "Seriously? You're going to open with THAT?"   "well, my other option was 'X 17, do you have the papers?' but I thought that might be too weird and then you wouldn't talk to me for a hundred days, and I wasn't going to risk that". It must have worked because he smiled. What a smile. Lit his whole face up, and that twinkle in his eye? That increased about twenty fold. He told me about how he had always wanted to do a cruise on a ship like this, and a distant relative had left him an inheritance and he decided that it was found money, and booked the once in a lifetime trip. I told Vix the reader's digest condensed version of my tale of mystery and over lunch at the grill we bonded. We talked about how we took leave from our jobs, what we were excited about seeing, the places we had always wanted to go, and hours had passed, and neither of us had realized it. I was having a Casablanca moment, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We had to dress for dinner and agreed to meet up later if we didn't see one another at dinner. I was thinking my trip was looking up indeed. This being Cunard, one dresses for dinner. Not as you would for Gala; that's black tie, but, dinner jackets for the gentlemen, and elegant for their companions. I had a hundred days. I figured I'd start at the sane end of the spectrum, for me, and after putting on my face, I put some product in my hair to make it kind of spiky, black jazz Oxfords, tux pants, a corset top, and a flowing silk jacket. I has a waistline and the boobs looked epic. Off to dinner. I arrive at the right deck at the right time and am escorted to my table, with three other people I don't know. Dinner is many courses, I have none of the paired wines and its delicious, and the conversation is.....adequate. I spot Vix across from me about four or five tables away and smile. Dessert, coffee, and then I excuse myself to smoke. There are other folks in the smoking area and we make conversation. After two cigarettes,  I wander off. There's several different entertainment choices, and I go check them all out. I wind up at the piano bar, singing with the other patrons, and then I feel someone sit next to me. I recognize the cologne. I lean back."Hullo Vix, did you enjoy dinner?" "How did you know it was me?" "I could say it was my Sith training, but actually its your cologne. I love the notes of ambergris and vetiver and the subtle spice. I'd recognize it anywhere. Base notes of leather if I'm not mistaken." "Damn. Not bad, for a smoker". "So, how did you like dinner?" "It was tasty, but I was bored. So I made up back stories about my table mates between courses." "Oh you HAVE to tell me the stories!" and we left the piano bar to find more comfortable seating a little further away from the piano. Vix tells a great story, and I urged him to write them down. "I write, just not finished with my novel. I still need a publisher, I suppose."

Oh this WAS the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[cruisesfares]

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[scotianostra]

On September 26th 1934 the Liner Queen Mary launched at John Brown’s shipyard, Clydebank.

The construction of still the unnamed Cunard Queen Mary ship began in December 1930 (the ship’s keel was laid down on 31 January 1931) in the yard of “John Brown & Co” at Clydebank. The launch was scheduled for May 1932, but the work on the ship was suspended in December 1931 due to the world economic depression. A loan of 9.5 million pounds from the Government was granted to the Cunard Line with enough money to complete the Queen Mary ship and to build a second liner – the Queen Elizabeth.

As a direct result of this most advantageous deal, the Cunard Line merged with its main rival White Star on 10th May 1934 into Cunard White Star Ltd. The Queen Mary construction resumed in April 1934, the liner was completed by August and launched on 26th September at a total cost of 3.5 million pounds sterling.

The work was completed in March 1936. The Queen Mary ship sailed out for preliminary trials and after being painted in Southampton, the liner was handed over to Cunard White Star Line on 11th May 1936. RMS Queen Mary ship first sailing was on 14th May with its Transatlantic itinerary being Southampton-Cherbourg-New York. By May 1937 the liner had carried a total of almost 57,000 passengers.

The main speed-rival of the QM ship was SS Normandie – a liner built in France and operated by the French Compagnie Generale Transatlantique line. The Queen Mary took the Blue Riband (the prestigious award given to a ship with the speed record for a transatlantic crossing) from the French liner SS Normandie in August 1938, with record speeds for both west- and eastbound crossings of the Atlantic Ocean – the average speeds was, respectively, 30,63 kn (35m25 mph, 56,7 km/h) and 30,14 kn (34,68 mph, 55,82 km/h).

In 1937, the Normandie liner was refitted with new propellers, enabling her to take the Blue Riband, but in 1938 the Queen Mary ship reclaim the honour for best speeds in both directions – westbound 30,99 kn (35,66 mph, 57.39 km/h) and eastbound 31,69 kn (36,47 mph, 58.69 km/h). This record was beaten by the SS United Sates liner in 1952.

The last commercial sailing of the ship Queen Mary was on 30 August 1939 departing from Southampton and then berthed at New York until the end of 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war.

Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s, Queen Mary was ageing and, though still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss.

After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored. Much of the machinery, including one of the two engine rooms, three of the four propellers, and all of the boilers, were removed. The ship serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has accepted the Queen Mary as part of the Historic Hotels of America.

RMS Queen Mary remains in Long Beach but recently it has been reported it is in need of significant repairs according to assessments and photos in 2019 and 2020. An estimated $289 million in repairs are needed after years of decline and the most recent operator going bankrupt.But even to “retire and recycle” the liner could cost up to $190m. One of the suggestions are to dismantle and sink the liner, although no long term plans have been finalised as yet.

The Queen Mary is due to open again to visitors next month, let’s hope someone can come up with a rescue plan to save her.

It has been mooted that it could return to the Clyde but the eyewatering amount of money it would take surely rules this out.

[shipsofyore]

This blurry image shows german immigrants, travelling to New York on board the SS Deutschland (1923) in October 1924.

Source: Die Hamburger Morgenpost

Luxury and opulence are, for the modern observer, the two defining characteristics of the old ocean liners. It might be true that the big shipping companies invested millions in securing that their ships would be stylier and more comfortable than their counterparts from the competition, but, in the end, most passengers never set eyes on these interiors. For millions of travellers the opulence of the first class accomodations was little more than a dream. These were the immigrants and refugees from all parts of Europe, which were hoping to escape the opression in their native countries, their lack of possibilities or their life in poverty. They went to America, to Australia and some even to Africa. For all of them, the ocean liners became a temporary home.

The immigrant trade was one of the principal sources of income for the big shipping companies. New York the most important destiny (although many immigrants travelled further west once they arrived in the US). Both, the company and the city, developed a series of mechanisms to deal with them. New York built a variety of facilities, which controlled everyone who was entering the US. The biggest and most famous one of all surely was located on Ellis Island. Before the ocean liners could dock at their company’s piers, they had to unload all the immigrants in Ellis Island were they underwent a series of tests. The federal government wanted to avoid the entry of people they considered a danger for the society. Sick persons, immigrants which were thought of being mentally unfit or of having a criminal background were sent back to the countries they came from (the authorities tended to use sometimes grotesque techniques to test the newcomers). The lucky ones were given a permanent permission to stay and could board one of the ferries which took them to Manhattan.

The costs of sending the refused immigrants back to where they came from had to be covered by the shipping companies which brought them to New York. This is why most companies, which specialized in the immigrant trade, built gigantic complexes in their European ports in which all immigrants, before boarding the liners, were tested to assure that, once in New York, they wouldn’t be refused. All liners had accomodations for these immigrants which varied in their confort decor. Typical immigrant ships didn’t even had cabins. They had big sleeping halls instead, in which dozen of high beds stood side by side. The passengers were separated depending on if they were men or women travelling alone or families. All these ships had a big lounge, which in most cases also served as dining room. The lounge usually was equiped with a piano, which the passengers could use to organize balls and dances. The day had a strict schedule, necessary to organize life on such a crowded ship. During the journey passengers often made connections, which would come in handy once they would arrive at their destiny. The liner also was the place the passengers left their past behind, wherever they were coming from.

The immigrant trade was dominated by british and german companies, since most immigrants came from countries located beside or near german or british ports (Ireland or Eastern Europe). Companies like HAPAG, the Norddeutscher Lloyd, Cunard or White Star built specialised ships for the immigrant trade, which began to operate in routes that were no where near the companies countries of origin, like from the Mediterranean to New York. Competing for passengers, the confort the ships offered slowly began to improve. In the eve of the outbreak of World War I, ships like the Aquitania (1914) or the Titanic (1912) no longer had big sleeping halls for their third class passengers. The immigrants on these ships slept in real cabins and had much more space availible. 

In 1924 the US - Congress sanctioned a new law regulating immigration. For some years now, more and more people had worried that an excess of newcomers could lead to socio - economic problems. The law established a system of quotas, which fixed a number of immigrants that could arrive to the US per year (164.667). The immigrant trade collapsed. Many liners became obsolete and were scrapped, whilst others lost there third class accomodations, which were replaced by the tourist class.

The photo above was taken months after the new Immigration Law came into effect. However, the immigrants to the USA hadn’t changed. In their faces it is still possible to see that mixture of optimism and fear, nostalgia and determination, which marked all immigrants.

[chrisframeofficial]

Unicorn: Cunard's First Steamer!

If you follow maritime history you'll probably know that the first Cunard ship is RMS. Britannia. However this is not strictly correct. While Britannia was the first ship built for Cunard's transatlantic service, the first steamer to ever sail for the Cunard Line was the SS. Unicorn.

Unicorn was built in 1836 in Greenock, Scotland. The 700-ton ship was a paddle driven steamer, constructed for George & James Burns - yes, the same George and James Burns who were instrumental in assisting Samuel Cunard to establish the transatlantic steamship service!

The Burns' used Unicorn to link UK ports on the west coast of Scotland and England. In 1840 the wooden-hulled Unicorn was acquired by the newly established British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. (Cunard Line). At this time work was well underway on construction of Britannia – their first purpose built transatlantic steamship.

Unicorn was utilised by Cunard on a test voyage between Liverpool, Halifax and Boston in May 1840, just weeks before Britannia set sail in July 1840. The Unicorn’s transatlantic crossing was a success and created a great deal of public interest in the new Cunard steamship service.

After this maiden crossing, Unicorn was used by Cunard to undertake shuttle services along the East Coast of America, linking passengers to their transatlantic steamers.

Most of the info here comes from my Cunard history website, you can check our Unicorn info here.

[freeliverpool-blog]

Holiday in Liverpool - A City Guide

Visit liverpool

England. Liverpool is one of England's core cities, situated along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, with the city centre situated about 5 kilometers inland from the Irish Sea. Liverpool has a varied topography being built across a ridge of hills rising up to a height of approximately 70 metres over sea-level in Everton Hill.

Visit liverpool

History

In 1190 the place was called'Liuerpul', meaning a pool or creek with  Other sources of the name have been suggested, such as 'elverpool', a reference to the high number of eels in the Mersey. The roots of the city back from August 1207 when patent letters were issued by King John advertising the establishment of some the new borough of Liverpool, and inviting settlers to come and take up holdings. In that the 18th century, as trade from the West Indies climbed on top of the out of Ireland and Europe, Liverpool Started to grow.

Liverpool Expanded considerably in the 19th century and numerous big buildings were assembled. In the 1960s Liverpool became a centre of childhood culture.  In the last few decades, the town has emphasised its cultural attractions, winning the accolade of European City of Culture for 2008.

Place of curiosity

It's the inheritance of high-minded public spirit since the later 18th century, largely with Dissenter impetus, that has led to significantly more public sculptures made in in any UK city besides Westminster at London.

And highest peal of bells in the entire world.

o John Foster

Projected Metropolitan Cathedral, which was built to a simpler design from Frederick Gibberd.

A few of the famous places to visit are:

o Albert Dock

o Cunard Building

O Royal Liver Building

Conclusion Oriel Chambers design by Peter Ellis.

O The Philharmonic Dining Rooms

o Pier Head

o Wiggins

O The Beatles Story

o Town-Hall

Liverpool has some best museum and art galleries. Bluecoat Arts Center, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Museum of Liverpool Life, the Beatles Story, and Walker Art Gallery are a Number of them. Apart from museum and artwork galleries Liverpool owns some famed theaters. They symbolize Liverpool and its own culture, in addition to a fantastic tourist attraction at Liverpool. Among all of the theaters Empire, Everyman, Neptune, Philharmonic Hall, The Playhouse, Royal Court, Unity are large names to mention about.

Buying

Pedestrian shopping places together with boutiques, specialty stores, and Department stores comprise Church Street, Lord Street, Bold Street, Whitechapel, and Paradise Street. On the lake, Albert Dock also houses a set of little shops. For shopping facilities Cavern Walks on Mathew Street, the heart of Beatleland, or Quiggins Center.

To purchase that particular piece of Beatles memorabilia, ramble throughout the Beatles Shop, or even the Heritage Shop.

For a Massive Choice of British crafts, most famous places are Bluecoat Screen Center, with its own gallery of ceramics, metal, jewelry, glass, and timber bits by some 350 British craftspeople.

Frank Green's is where you can find prints with this famous local artist That has been shooting the Liverpool scene on canvas because the 1960s? These art works comprises town secular buildings, churches, along with road life.

For this world-famous town, Liverpool has to sponsor a world-class restaurant. Listed below are the very best non-hotel restaurants it has to provide: 60 Hope St., Bar Italia, Far East, Shangri-La, Just Heathcote's, Tate Café.

Instruction

Primary education is available in a Variety of forms supported by the state Including Secular, Church of England, Islamic, Hindu and Jewish Catholic.

O The University of Liverpool

Additionally, it has a university faculty, Edge Hill College of Higher Education. Liverpool John Moores University is one of the polytechnics awarded university status in 1992 and is named after the owner of this Littlewoods retail group. The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has been based to address a few of the issues created by commerce; now it continues as a post graduate school and is one of just two associations on the world that home the de facto standard anti-venom repository.

The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, which was founded by Sir Paul McCartney in 1996, is famed for coaching both the artistes and technicians.

Sports

 Liverpool Football Club (often known just as Liverpool), an English football club located at the North-West of England, are the current champions of Europe (2004-2005) and the most successful English football team.

Top of being the English club to have won the maximum number of UEFA Cups, European Supercups and English League Cups.

Liverpool Football Club isn't to be confused with Liverpool (Rugby) Soccer Club, which was formed in 1858 and is now called Liverpool St. Helens.

The dedicated staff at SleepUK can help and advise on all of your Liverpool hotel demands. Offline and online access to Liverpool's accommodation network ensures travellers will be provided the ideal possible deal in the right time of your trip whether you need luxury hotels in Liverpool or budget hotels in Liverpool.

Hotels in all categories are opening in Liverpool all of the time, Representing the city's renewed prosperity and popularity as a short-break destination.

Or travelers can choose among the nice hotels in Wirral, the  Since well as some nice resorts, Wirral also boast large regions of National Trust property, state parks and magnificent coastal scenery. On the north of Liverpool, at the graceful hotel of Southport, famous for its splendour of its Victorian shopping arcades and promenade, there is a good selection of resorts to suit each visitor.

Accommodation in the area often sells out so Make Sure You ensure Your stay by booking online now. Various Other resorts, recorded here, change from cheap to luxury resorts -Hanover Hotel, Park Lodge, The Suites Hotel, Regent Maritime Hotel, The Dolby Hotel, Radisson SAS Liverpool, Hope Street Hotel,Aachen Resort, Campanile Hotel Liverpool, The Feathers Hotel, Thistle Liverpool, Days Serviced Apartments Liverpool, Liverpool City Center Premier Travel Inn, The Sir Thomas Hotel, Throstles Nest Hotel.

Organised excursions in Liverpool have range in their subject and according Into the subject the contents additionally varies. The most commonly selected tours are located on Sports or around The Beatles. These excursions comprises place of pursuits, famous buildingsand museums etc.. Cavern City Tours is the most complete tour operator at town.

Shipping

Mersey Railway Tunnel, and two road tunnels, Queensway Tunnel and Kingsway Tunnel. There's also the Mersey Ferry, made famous from the song Ferry Cross the Mersey by Gerry and the Pacemakers. In reality that the The song is currently played on the ferryboats themselves every time they prepare to dock at Liverpool.

Speke Airport was renamed Liverpool John Lennon Airport, in honour of the late Beatle John Lennon.

Liverpool has a train system Named Merseyrail, the sections from the city centre are mostly underground. The lines terminate at Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby, Hunts Cross, Ellesmere Port, West Kirby, New Brighton and Chester.

[gemmiejewel]

Murder on the Lusitania by Edward Marston

Murder on the Lusitania by Edward MarstonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Plot September 1907. George Porter Dillman sets sail from Liverpool on the Lusitania’s maiden voyage. Hired by the ship’s captain to pose as a passenger, George is in fact a private detective for the Cunard Line. In the first days of his voyage, George only has to deal with a few petty crimes. But then an expensive piece of…